DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS - 10 JULY 2021

1. MOONS OF SATURN

NASA’s Cassini spacecraft has detected an unusually high concentration of methane, along with carbon dioxide and dihydrogen, in the moons of Saturn by flying through their plumes. The spacecraft has found that Titan has methane in its atmosphere and Enceladus has a liquid ocean with erupting plumes of gas and water.

About:

• Saturn has 82 moons with confirmed orbits that are not embedded in its rings.
• Particularly notable among Saturn's moons are Titan, the second-largest moon in the Solar System (after Jupiter's Ganymede), with a nitrogen-rich Earth-like atmosphere and a landscape featuring dry river networks and hydrocarbon lakes , Enceladus, which emits jets of gas and dust from its south-polar region, and Iapetus, with its contrasting black and white hemispheres.

Are there methane-producing organisms on Earth?

• Most of the methane on Earth has a biological origin.
• Microorganisms called methanogens are capable of generating methane as a metabolic byproduct.
• They do not require oxygen to live and are widely distributed in nature. They are found in swamps, dead organic matter, and even in the human gut.
• They are known to survive in high temperatures and simulation studies have shown that they can live in Martian conditions. Methanogens have been widely studied to understand if they can be a contributor to global warming.

Source : Indian Express

2. HARIBHANGA MANGOES

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina had sent a consignment of Haribhanga mangoes for President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on July 4. She also sent mangoes for the Chief Ministers of West Bengal, Mizoram, Tripura, Assam and Meghalaya as a gesture of goodwill.

About:

• The Haribhanga mango is a mango produced in the northwest part of Bangladesh, especially in the Rangpur district. Locally called Haribhanga, these mangoes are round in shape.
• Haribhanga is highly fleshy and typically weighs 200 to 400 grams.
• In July 2021, India received 2600 kilos of Haribhanga mangoes from Bangladesh as a memento of friendship between the two neighbouring countries. It was sent through the Petrapole border of Bangaon in West Bengal.

Source : All India Radio

3. GIANT PANDAS

Giant pandas are no longer classified as endangered but are still vulnerable, Chinese officials say.

About:

• The classification was downgraded as their number in the wild has reached 1,800.
• The new classification comes years after the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) had already removed the animal from its endangered species list and re-labelled it as vulnerable in 2016.
• At the time, however, Chinese officials had disputed the decision, saying that it could mislead people into believing that conservation efforts could be relaxed.
• This week’s announcement by China’s environmental ministry is the first time the animal’s status was changed on its own endangered species list, which uses similar standards as the Swiss-based IUCN.
• Experts have said that the success is largely due to Chinese efforts to recreate and repopulate bamboo forests. Bamboo makes up some 99 per cent of their diet, without which they are likely to starve.

Source : All India Radio

4. ISLAM QALA

The Taliban have captured a major border crossing between Afghanistan and Iran. They captured Islam Qala crossing which is one of the biggest trade gateways into Iran, generating estimated USD 20 million monthly revenue for the government.

About:

• Islām Qala, known historically as Kafir Qala, is a border town in the western Herat province of Afghanistan, near the Afghanistan–Iran border.
• It is the official entry by land from neighboring Taybad, Iran.
• It plays an important role when it comes to the economy of Afghanistan because a lot of trade between Afghanistan and other countries passes through this town.
• Asian Highway 1 (AH1) passes through the town, part of the Asian Highway Network leading from Tokyo, Japan to west of Istanbul where it connects to the E80 which reaches to Lisbon.

Source : All India Radio

5. BRICS INNOVATION COOPERATION ACTION PLAN (2021-24)

All BRICS countries have agreed to the STI-led BRICS Innovation Cooperation Action Plan (2021-24) proposed by India during 12th Meeting of BRICS S&T Steering Committee.

About:

• Indian had proposed the plan to facilitate sharing of experiences of each other’s innovation ecosystem and networking of innovators and entrepreneurs.
• The Details of the Action Plan would be worked out by BRICS Science, Technology Innovation Entrepreneurship partnership (STIEP) Working Group.
• It was agreed that the proposal may be forwarded to BRICS STIEP working group through the respective country's STI focal point.
• Department of Science and Technology (DST), India, hosted the 12th Meeting of BRICS S&T Steering Committee on 8th July, 2021. Scientific ministries and agencies of all BRICS countries participated in it.

Source : LiveMint

6. RAIL CARGO MOVEMENT

Rail Cargo movement between India and Nepal today gets a big boost

About:

• The Railways Ministry said, Cargoes in all categories of wagons that can carry freight on Indian Railways network within India can also now carry freight to and from Nepal.
• This liberalization will allow market forces to come up in the rail freight segment in Nepal and is likely to increase efficiency and cost- competitiveness, eventually benefiting the Nepalese consumer.
• These cargo train Operators include public and private container trains Operators, automobile freight train operators, special freight train operators or any other operator authorized by Indian Railways.
• The liberalization will particularly reduce transportation costs for automobiles and certain other products whose carriage takes place in special wagons.
• India and Nepal had signed a Letter of Exchange, LoE to the India-Nepal Rail Services Agreement 2004 on 28th June this year. It has come into effect.

Source : All India Radio

7. INCLUSIVE CITIES CENTRE

National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA) conducted Webinar to Commemorate the Launch of the Inclusive Cities Centre.

About:

• The Inclusive Cities Center (ICC), set up at NIUA, aims to develop tools and frameworks for institutional strengthening of city authorities to promote inclusivity.
• ICC will facilitate cities in evidence-based planning and investments to improve quality of life and productivity for all.
• It will focus on the most vulnerable of the city residents including the urban poor, persons with disabilities, women, children, youth and elderly.
• The centre will implement activities to address challenges related to spatial, social, economic and digital inclusion in cities.

About NIUA

Established in 1976, NIUA has been supporting the Government of India in policy formulation, research, and capacity building for the successful implementation of urban development projects.

Source : PIB

8. INDIA-UK FINANCIAL MARKETS DIALOGUE

India and the United Kingdom (UK) held the inaugural meeting of the India-UK Financial Markets Dialogue (‘the Dialogue’) virtually.

About:

• The Dialogue was established at the 10th Economic and Financial Dialogue (EFD) in October 2020 to deepen bilateral ties in the financial sector.
• The Dialogue was led by senior officials from the Indian side by the Ministry of Finance and from UK, Her Majesty’s Treasury, with participation from Indian and UK independent regulatory agencies, including the RBI, SEBI, Bank of England, and the Financial Conduct Authority.

Discussions during the Dialogue were focused on four themes:

• GIFT (Gujarat International Finance Tec-City) City, India’s flagship international financial centre,
• banking and payments,
• insurance, and
• capital markets

Source : PIB

9. INDIA INDUSTRIAL LAND BANK (IILB)

GIS Enabled Land Bank is gaining popularity.

About:

• The India Industrial Land Bank (IILB) is a GIS-based portal - a one-stop repository of all industrial infrastructure-related information – connectivity, infra, natural resources & terrain, plot-level information on vacant plots, line of activity, and contact details.
• Currently, the IILB has approximately 4000 industrial parks mapped across an area of 5.5 lakh hectare of land, serving as a decision support system for investors scouting for land remotely.
• The system has been integrated with industry-based GIS systems of 17 states to have details on the portal updated on a real-time basis and will achieve pan-India integration by December 2021

Source : PIB

10. THE RAMAYANA OF SHRI GURU GOBIND SINGH JI

The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi has received the first copy of the book, ‘The Ramayana of Shri Guru Gobind Singh Ji’ penned by Late Mrs. Baljit Kaur Tulsi Ji, who is the mother of noted lawyer Shri KTS Tulsi Ji.

PM Modi and the Govind Ramayan controversy

• PM Modi had made a mention of Shri Guru Gobind Ji's Gobind Ramayan during his address at the Bhoomi Poojan of the Ram Janmbhoomi on August 5, 2020.
• However, the statement was criticized by many and it was said that the Sikh guru never wrote anything as such, with some even staging protests.
• The book has now been published by the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA).

Important Info :

• Guru Gobind Singh was the tenth and last of Sikh gurus in human form.
• He was enthroned at the 'Guru Gaddi' at the age of 9 after his father Guru Tej Bahadur Ji, the 9th Guru.
• A spiritual master, warrior, poet, and philosopher, Guru Gobind Singh was born in 1666 in Patna.
• He transformed the Sikh religion into what it is at present with the institution of the Khalsa solidarity. Sahib Ji completed the sacred scripture, the Guru Granth Sahib Ji, in the final form that he ordained as the next and perpetual Guru of the Sikhs.

Source : PIB