25 OCTOBER 2021 DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS | UPSC CDS CAPF AFCAT NDA SSB

1. 52nd INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL

Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting Shri Anurag Thakur has announced that Mr. Istevan Szabo and Mr. Martin Scorsese will be conferred the Satyajit Ray Lifetime Achievement Award at 52nd International Film Festival of India in Goa.

About:

Istvan Szabo is one of the most critically acclaimed Hungarian film directors of the past few decades known for masterpieces like Mephisto (1981) Father (1966).
Martin Scorsese is one of the major figures of the New Hollywood era, widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential directors in film history. The 52nd edition of India’s most prestigious film festival will be held from 20th to 28th November 2021 in Goa.
The Minister informed that for the first time ever, IFFI has invited major OTT players to participate at the Festival. In a first, Netflix, Amazon Prime, Zee5, Voot, and Sony Liv will participate at the Film Festival through exclusive Masterclasses, content launches and previews, curated film package screenings, and various other on-ground and virtual events.
BRICS Film Festival: Shri Thakur also announced that for the first time ever, films from five BRICS nations will be showcased through the BRICS Film Festival alongside IFFI. The five countries viz. e. Brazil, Russia, South Africa, China, and India are also the Focus Countries of the 52nd IFFI.

Source: PIB

2. BARAK VALLEY

The defacing of Assamese slogans on hoardings of Jal Jeevan Mission in the Bengali-majority Barak Valley has led to a call for the bifurcation of Assam.

About:

Miscreants had over the past few days smeared some hoardings in black to protest the “imposition” of the Assamese language in Barak Valley, where Bengali is the official language.
The Barak Valley is located in the southern region of the Indian state of Assam.
The region is named after the Barak river.
The Barak valley mainly consists of three administrative districts of Assam - namely Cachar, Karimganj, and Hailakandi.
The main city of the valley is Silchar.

Source: The Hindu

3. PARTNERSHIP ON NEW INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION (PartNIR)

India as the current BRICS Chair convened the 7th Meeting of BRICS Communications Ministers on 22nd October 2021.

About:

Ministers adopted the Terms of References of Digital BRICS Task Force and supported the advancement in work of the BRICS Partnership on New Industrial Revolution (PartNIR) across several Working Groups meeting in 2021.
Ministers also appreciated the discussion on the "360-degree approach on New Industrial Revolution" in a seminar during Working Group on ICTs Cooperation
Ministers encouraged continuous cooperation in ICTs activities in international organizations and multilateral forums such as the International Telecommunications Union and other organizations.
Ministers adopted the proposal to host the Digital BRICS Forum annually to facilitate sharing of information and knowledge, practices, initiatives, etc. on agreed cooperation areas.

Source: PIB

4. PARADIP NUMALIGARH CRUDE PIPELINE (PNCPL)

A pipeline ‘Right to Use (RoU)’ sharing agreement was inked between Numaligarh Refinery Limited (NRL) and Indradhanush Gas Grid Limited (IGGL), which is a joint venture of NRL with Indian Oil Corporation (IOCL), Oil & Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), Gas Authority of India Limited (GAIL) and Oil India Limited (OIL), on 21st October 2021.

About:

NRL is in the process of laying the 1,630 KM long Paradip Numaligarh Crude Pipeline (PNCPL), a crude pipeline originating from Paradip Port in Odisha and traversing through West Bengal, Jharkhand, Bihar, before terminating at its refinery in Numaligarh (Assam).
The pipeline project is a crucial part of NRL’s mega Integrated Refinery Expansion project for capacity expansion from 3MMTPA to 9 MMTPA, which is being executed with an investment of more than Rs. 28,000 crores.
IGGL is executing the laying of a natural gas pipeline from Guwahati to Numaligarh as part of its marquee project for connecting India’s North-east Region (NER) with the National Gas Grid.
IGGL’s natural gas pipelines will connect Guwahati to major cities of NER like Itanagar, Dimapur, Kohima, Imphal, Aizwal, Agartala, Shillong, Silchar, Gangtok and Numaligarh.
NRL and IGGL’s pipeline sharing agreement leverages synergies between the PNCPL project and NER Gas Grid project as the pipelines share a common route from Baihata (North Guwahati) to Numaligarh for around 386 KM.
This pact follows NRL’s earlier pipeline RoU sharing agreement with GAIL, signed on 14th October 2020, for a 550 KM stretch from Purnia in Bihar to Baihata, also a part of the Pradhan Mantri Urja Ganga Project.

Source: PIB

5. DI-AMMONIUM PHOSPHATE (DAP)

An acute shortage of di-ammonium phosphate (DAP) in Haryana has seen desperate farmers pelting stones at the police, blocking roads in protest, and even resorting to “loot” the fertilizer from a private dealer’s outlet in Mahendragarh district of south Haryana.

Why is DAP so important for farmers?

Diammonium phosphate (DAP) is the world’s most widely used phosphorus fertilizer.
DAP fertilizer is an excellent source of P and nitrogen (N) for plant nutrition. It’s highly soluble and thus dissolves quickly in soil to release plant-available phosphate and ammonium. A notable property of DAP is the alkaline pH that develops around the dissolving granule.
Being a basic nutrient for Rabi crops, the DAP fertiliser has to be sprinkled at the time of sowing crops like mustard and wheat. The farmers say they need a bag of at least 45 kilos for sowing an acre of land. Any delay in its supply could adversely impact the sowing of crops. So, the farmers of the state have started turning impatient as they see a lack of supply of the fertilizer.

Important Info :

Non-agricultural uses

DAP also acts as a fire retardant. For example, a mixture of DAP and other ingredients can be spread in advance of a fire to prevent a forest from burning. It then becomes a nutrient source after the danger of fire has passed.
DAP is used in various industrial processes, too, such as metal finishing. And, it’s commonly added to wine to sustain yeast fermentation and to milk to produce cheese cultures.

Source: Indian Express

6. AZADI AMRUT CHAI

M/s Andrew Yule & Co Ltd, a Central Public Sector Enterprise in the Tea Sector under the Ministry of Heavy Industries has come out with a series of Azadi Amrut Chai in Orthodox, Elaichi, Adrakh, and Masala flavors to commemorate the 75th year of India’s Independence and to celebrate Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav.

About:

Azadi Amrut Chai was launched by the Union Heavy Industries Minister, Dr. Mahendra Nath Pandey. It will be available for retail sale soon at an introductory price of Rs 75 per 100 gms pack, at the Tea Board counter of Parliament, Trifed outlets, Udyog Bhawan, and other Central Government offices.
M/s Andrew Yule & Co Ltd, the a 158 years old company, has 15 Tea Gardens spread over Assam and West Bengal having close to 14000 employees. All its gardens are more than 100 years old producing 110 Lac Kgs of high quality, CTC, Orthodox, Green, and White Tea.

Source: PIB

7. AMENDED TECHNOLOGY UP-GRADATION FUND SCHEME (ATUFS)

Union Minister of Textiles Piyush Goyal reviewed the Amended Technology Up-gradation Fund Scheme (ATUFS) to boost the Indian textile industry by enabling the ease of doing business, bolstering exports and fuelling employment.

About:

Ministry of Textiles had introduced Technology Upgradation Fund Scheme (TUFS) in 1999 as a credit linked subsidy scheme intended for modernization and technology up-gradation of the Indian textile industry, promoting ease of doing business, generating employment and promoting exports. Since then, the scheme has been implemented in different versions.
The ongoing ATUFS has been approved in 2016 and implemented through web based iTUFS platform. Capital Investment Subsidy is provided to benchmarked machinery installed by the industry after physical verification.
ATUFS was approved for a period from 2015-16 to 2021-22 with an allocation of Rs. 17,822 crore (Rs. 12,671 crore for committed liability of previous versions of TUFS & Rs. 5151 crore for new cases under ATUFS).
The scheme is being administered with a two stage monitoring mechanism by Technical Advisory-cum-Monitoring Committee (TAMC) and Inter-Ministerial Steering Committee (IMSC). ATUFS is implemented through web based platform, iTUFS.
Modifications carried out in scheme guidelines in 2018 and further streamlining of procedures have simplified the process for availing the subsidy under the scheme
In 2019, IMSC decided to introduce physical verification of machinery and computation of subsidy before releasing committed liability under previous versions of scheme (MTUFS, RTUFS & RRTUFS).

Source: Business Standard

8. SUSTAINABILITY OF THE ELECTRICITY SECTOR

Ministry of Power notified rule for the sustainability of the electricity sector and promotion of clean energy to meet the India’s commitment towards Climate Change.

About:

The following Rules notified by the Ministry of Power under Electricity Act, 2003 are in the interest of the electricity consumers and the stakeholders:
- Electricity (Timely recovery of costs due to Change in Law) Rules, 2021.
- Electricity (Promotion of generation from renewable sources of energy by addressing Must Run and other matters) Rules, 2021.
Timely recovery of the costs due to change in law is very important as the investment in the power sector largely depends upon the timely payments. At present the pass through under change of law takes time.
This impacts the viability of the sector and the developers get financially stressed. The Rules would help in creating investment friendly environment in the country.

Source: PIB

9. INTERNATIONAL SOLAR ALLIANCE (ISA)

The fourth general assembly of the International Solar Alliance (ISA), was held virtually between October 18th and October 21st, 2021.

About:

It was presided by Union Minister Shri R.K. Singh, Minister for Power, New and Renewable Energy, Government of India and the President of the ISA Assembly.
A total of 108 countries participated in the Assembly, including 74 Member Countries and 34 Observer & Prospective Countries, 23 Partner Organizations and 33 Special Invitee Organisations also participated.
It was announced that ISA targets US$1 trillion of investment in solar by 2030, which would be significant in bringing the world closer to energy transitions needed.”
Under the Modi-Johnson leadership, UK and India will together bring the ‘Green Girds Initiative’ and ‘One Sun, One World, One Grid’ at COP26. This is aimed at mobilizing the global technical, financial and research cooperation because it is only by working together that we will deliver the scale and pace of the clean power transition aim.”
During the assembly, two new programmes were launched: Management of Solar PV panels & battery usage waste & Solar Hydrogen programme.
The new Hydrogen initiative is aimed at enabling the use of solar electricity to produce hydrogen at a more affordable rate than what is available currently (USD 5 per KG), by bringing it down to USD 2 per KG.
Aiming to synergize its efforts and actions with other similar initiatives globally, One Sun One World One Grid (OSOWOG) has joined hands with GGI to form a unified GGI-OSOWOG initiative, which aims to contribute to the collaborative, rapid development of resilient grids globally – building on continental, regional and national grid infrastructure programs.
The International Solar Alliance (ISA) also announced a partnership with Bloomberg Philanthropies to mobilize $1 trillion in global investments for solar energy across ISA’s member countries.
The two organizations will work with World Resources Institute (WRI) to develop a Solar Investment Action Agenda and a Solar Investment Roadmap, which will be launched at COP26.

Source : PIB

10. RK LAXMAN

The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi has paid tributes to cartoonist RK Laxman on his 100th birth anniversary.

About:

Rasipuram Krishnaswami Laxman (24 October 1921 – 26 January 2015) was an Indian cartoonist, illustrator, and humorist.
The Common Man is a cartoon character created by Indian author and cartoonist R. K. Laxman.
For over a half of a century, the Common Man has represented the hopes, aspirations, troubles and perhaps even foibles of the average Indian, through a daily comic strip, You Said It in The Times of India. The comic was started in 1951.
It became one of the most recognised feature on The Times of India the largest-circulation English language daily broadsheet newspaper in the world.
Laxman also created a popular mascot for the Asian Paints Ltd group called "Gattu" in 1954.
He was awarded Padma Vibhushan (2005) and Ramon Magsaysay Award for Journalism, Literature and Creative Communication Arts (1984).

Source : The Hindu

25 OCTOBER 2021 DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS | UPSC CDS CAPF AFCAT NDA SSB

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