12 JUNE 2021 CURRENT AFFAIRS

1.BUDDHADEB DASGUPTA

Buddhadeb Dasgupta (1944 – 2021) died at the age of 77 on 10 June 2021.

About:

• He was an Indian Bengali poet and filmmaker, most known for films like Bagh Bahadur, Tahader Katha, Charachar and Uttara.
• Five of his films have won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film. As a director, he has won National Film Award for Best Direction twice.
• Over the years he has published several works of poetry including Govir Araley, Coffin Kimba Suitcase, Himjog, Chhaata Kahini, Roboter Gaan, Sreshtha Kabita, and Bhomboler Ascharya Kahini O Ananya Kabita.
• Dasgupta brought Indian cinema back on the international stage after the death of Satyajit Ray in 1992, winning several international accolades.
• He will be remembered among the greats of Indian cinema that Bengal has produced, including the legendary Ritwik Ghatak and Mrinal Sen.

Source : Times of India

2.DINGKO SINGH

PM Modi has condoled the demise of boxer Shri Dingko Singh. He died of liver cancer.

About:

• Ngangom Dingko Singh (1979 – 2021) was an Indian boxer from Manipur.
• He is considered to have been one of the most outstanding boxers India ever produced.
• Dingko rose to prominence by winning the 1997 Kings Cup in Bangkok.
• He who won the gold medal at 1998 Asian Games in Bangkok bringing India its first boxing gold medal in 16 years.
• He also represented India at the 2000 Summer Olympics.
• He was awarded Arjuna Award in 1998 and Padma Shri in 2013.
• He was also a service personnel of the Indian Navy.
• He coached the Navy to team championship victory in the 2009 inter-Services meet and groomed some top boxers, including Olympian Anthresh Lakra and Commonwealth Games champion Suranjoy Singh.

Source : Hindustan Times

3.NANJUNDESHWARA TEMPLE

After noticing that B.Y. Vijayendra, son of Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa, has admitted to entering Sri Nanjundeshwara temple in Nanjangud recently, the Karnataka High Court asked the State government why then even ordinary citizens are not allowed to enter temples like him despite a ban imposed in view of COVID-19 lockdown.

About:

• The Nanjundeshwara Temple is also called Srikanteshwara Temple.
• It is an ancient temple in the Hindu pilgrimage town of Nanjanagudu in the Karnataka.
• it is dedicated to god Nanjundeshwara (another name for the god Shiva, also known as Nanjundeshwara).
• Nanju in Kannada means poison; the name Nanjundeshwara means the "God who Drank the Poison" (halahala), a word that has its origins in the legend of the Great Churning of the Ocean of Milk; thus the town got the name 'Nanjangudu' which means "the abode of the god Nanjundeshwara". 

Source : The Hindu

4.CLIMATE CHANGE AND HUMAN HEALTH

Dr. Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare digitally addressed the first meeting of the World Health Organization High-Level Coalition on Health and Energy Platform of Action.

Key Highlights of his address

• An expert body called the National Action Plan on Climate Change and Human Health was constituted by government of India with the multiple objectives of creating awareness amongst the general population, health-care providers and policy makers regarding impact of climate change on human health.
• This National Expert Group submitted its report recently in April 2021 with inclusion of Subject Specific Health Action Plans on identified Climate Sensitive Diseases and ‘One Health’.
• In the context of “Green and Climate Resilient Healthcare Facilities”, India became signatory to the Malé Declaration in 2017 and agreed to promote climate-resilient healthcare facilities to be able to withstand any climatic event. 

Source : PIB

5.RAILWAYS SAFETY

The Union Cabinet has approved the proposal for allotment of 5 MHz Spectrum in 700 MHz frequency band to Indian Railways for public safety and security services at stations and in trains.

About:

• With this spectrum, Indian Railways has envisaged to provide LTE (Long Term Evolution) based Mobile Train Radio Communication on its route.
• The estimated investment in the project is more than Rs. 25,000 Crore.
• The project will be completed in the next 5 years.
• The purpose of the LTE for Indian Railways is to provide secure and reliable voice, video and data communication services for operational, safety and security applications.
• It will be used for modern signalling and train protection systems and ensure seamless communication between loco pilots and guards.
• It will also enable Internet of Things (IoT) based remote asset monitoring especially of coaches, wagons & locos, and live video feed of CCTV cameras in the train coaches to ensure efficient, safer and faster train operations. 

Important Info :

Other steps

• In addition to this, Indian Railways has approved TCAS (Train Collision Avoidance System), an indigenously developed ATP (Automatic Train Protection) System, which will help in avoiding train collisions thereby reducing accidents and ensuring passenger safety. 

Source : PIB

6.ALL INDIA SURVEY ON HIGHER EDUCATION (AISHE) 2019-20

Union Education Minister released the report of All India Survey on Higher Education 2019-20.

About:

• In 2019-20 There are 1043 Universities(2%), 42343 Colleges (77%) and 11779 Stand Alone Institutions (21%) listed on AISHE web portal. 307 Universities are affiliating i.e. having Colleges.
• The top 8 States in terms of highest number of colleges in India are Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat.
• Bangalore Urban district tops in terms of number of colleges with 1009 colleges followed by Jaipur with 606 colleges. Top 50 districts have about 32% of colleges.
• College density, i.e. the number of colleges per lakh eligible population (population in the age-group 18-23 years) varies from 7 in Bihar to 59 in Karnataka as compared to All India average of 30.
• Total enrolment in higher education has been estimated to be 38.5 million with 19.6 million boys and 18.9 million female. Female constitute 49% of the total enrolment.
• Uttar Pradesh comes at number one with the highest student enrolment followed by Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu.
• Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) in Higher education in India is 27.1, which is calculated for 18-23 years of age group. Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER), the percentage of students belonging to the eligible age group enrolled in Higher Education, in 2019-20 is 27.1% against 26.3% in 2018-19 and 24.3% in 2014-2015.
• Highest share of foreign students come from the neighboring countries of which Nepal is 28.1% of the total, followed by, Afghanistan 9.1%, Bangladesh 4.6%, Bhutan constitutes 3.8% and Sudan 3.6%.
• Pupil Teacher Ratio (PTR) in Universities and Colleges is 28 if regular mode enrolment is considered whereas PTR for Universities and its Constituent Units is 18 for regular mode.
• Gender Parity Index (GPI) in Higher Education in 2019-20 is 1.01 against 1.00 in 2018-19 indicating an improvement in the relative access to higher education for females of eligible age group compared to males.

Source : Times of India

7.CANADIAN HYDROGEN INTENSITY MAPPING EXPERIMENT (CHIME)

Scientists with the Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment (CHIME) Collaboration have assembled the largest collection of fast radio bursts (FRBs) in the telescope’s first FRB catalogue.

About:

• CHIME is an interferometric radio telescope.
• It is located in British Columbia, Canada.
• It consists of four antennas consisting of 100 x 20 metre cylindrical parabolic reflectors with 1024 dual-polarization radio receivers suspended on a support above them.
• The antenna receives radio waves from hydrogen in space at frequencies in the 400–800 MHz range.

Source : The Hindu

8.HERITAGE TREES

The Maharashtra government will make amendments to the Maharashtra (Urban Areas) Protection and Preservation of Trees Act of 1975, to introduce provisions for the protection of ‘heritage trees’.

About:

• Under the proposed amendment, a tree with an estimated age of 50 years or more shall be defined as a heritage tree.
• It may belong to specific species, which will be notified from time to time.
• In addition to the age, the state climate change department (which will be implementing the Tree Act), will also consider a tree’s rarity, its botanical, historical, religious, mythological and cultural importance in defining a heritage tree.
• The local Tree Authority will have to ensure tree census to be carried out every five years along with counting of heritage trees.

Source : Indian Express

9.DISCOVERED SMALL FIELD BID ROUND-III

Discovered Small Field (DSF) bid round-III for international competitive bidding was launched by Dharmendra Pradhan, Minister of Petroleum & Natural Gas and Steel.

About:

• Government of India had launched Discovered Small Field (DSF) Policy in 2015 for awarding discovered acreages and monetize the unmonetized discoveries.
• The DSF policy has multiple attractive features like revenue sharing contract model with low regulatory burden, no minimum biddable work programme, no prior technical qualification required, no upfront signature bonus, etc.
• In DSF Round – I launched in 2016, 134 bids were submitted for 34 contract areas by 47 companies. 30 Revenue Sharing Contracts were signed.
• In DSF Round – II launched in 2018, 145 bids were submitted for 24 contract area. 24 Revenue Sharing Contracts were signed.
• Encouraged by the success of DSF bid rounds-I &II, the Government of India has extended the DSF Policy by launching DSF bid round-III.

Source : PIB

10.NEW ATLANTIC CHARTER

The New Atlantic Charter is an agreement that was signed by the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Boris Johnson and the President of the United States Joe Biden on 10 June 2021.

About:

• The agreement was signed at the first face-to-face meeting between Johnson and Biden at the 2021 G7 Summit in Cornwall, England.
• The agreement is a new version of the Atlantic Charter, signed by Winston Churchill and Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1941.

Source : The Hindu