Daily Current Affairs Quiz: July 01, 2022

ANSWER: B

• Pay Roll Automation for Disbursement of Monthly Allowances (PADMA),an automated Pay & Allowances module for the Indian Coast Guard was inaugurated by Shri Rajnish Kumar, Controller General of Defense Accounts (CGDA), Ministry of Defence.
• The CGDA emphasized that the Government has campaigned for Digital India to ensure dedicated services and reduce manual intervention at every level & to promote E-Governance in a big way.
• Launch of PADMA will strengthen the Digital India concept. Also, it is an ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ initiativeas the entire module has been designed and developed by Indian entrepreneurs assisted by domain experts.

About the PADMA:                        

• PADMA is an automated platform leveraging latest technology which will provide seamless and timely disbursal of Pay & Allowances to around 15,000 Indian Coast Guard personnel.
• This module has been developed under the aegis of Defense Accounts Department and will be operated by Pay Accounts Office Coast Guard, Noida.
• The launch marked the beginning of the Centralized Pay System (CPS), the foundation of which is being laid down by the Defence Accounts Department Headquarters to provide one stop pay accounting solutions for all organisations under the Ministry.

ANSWER: C

• The NASA researchers successfully launched CAPSTONE spacecraft to the moon from New Zealand.
• The launch took place on Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket. Mission CAPSTONE stands for Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment.
• With a price tag just shy of $30 million, NASA hopes the mission will verify that a specific type of moon orbit is suitable for the lunar Gateway space station that the agency aims to launch later this decade.

About the CAPSTONE:

• CAPSTONE is a microwave oven-sized spacecraft with the aim to study a specific type of moon orbit that will be suitable for the lunar Gateway space station that NASA aims to launch later this decade.
• The lunar Gateway space station will be a small space station for astronauts in orbits where they can stop before and after going to the moon’s surface.

ANSWER: C

History:

• It was initially observed on June 29, 2007, to honour Professor Mahalanobis’ exceptional contributions to statistical research and economic planning.
• It was decided to designate his birthday as National Statistics Day. On June 5th, 2007, the Indian Gazette initially published a notification about this.

KEY POINTS:

• National Statistics Day is observed in India on June 29 each year. The day aims to raise public awareness of the value of statistics in everyday life as well as in the planning and development process.
• The celebrated statistician, Professor Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis, is recognised on National Statistics Day for his contributions to economic planning and statistics. Additionally, the Indian Statistical Institute’s founder, Professor PC Mahalanobis, celebrates his birthday on 29 June.
• The theme of National Statistics Day 2022 is ‘Data for Sustainable Development ‘.

ANSWER: C

Dak Karmayogi E-learning Platform

• The Dak Karmayogi, which is an e-Learning portal of the department of posts was launched by Shri Ashwini Vaishnav minister of communication, railways, electronics, and IT, and Shri Devusinh Chauhan minister of state for communications.
• The function was held at Stein auditorium Indian habitat Centre on 28 June 2022. This portal has been developed under the vision of mission Karmayogi which was initiated by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi with a view of bringing efficiency in the actions of all the employees of the Government of India and transforming the efficiency of bureaucracy with minimum Government and maximum governance.

Objectives:

• Dak Karmayogi portal aims to enhance the competencies of about 4 lakh Gramin Dak Sevaks and department employees by enabling the trainees to access the uniform standardized training content online and in blending campus mode to enable them to effectively deliver several G2C services for enhanced customer satisfaction.
• When the trainee completes the final summative assessment successfully, a system-generated course completion certificate will be sent to the trainee’s registered email ID automatically.
• The portal allows the train to give their feedback, ratings, and suggestions for every video and other learning content for future enhancement.

ANSWER: D

• The United Kingdom government has announced a partnership with leading businesses in India to offer 75 fully funded scholarships for Indian students to study in the UK from September, in celebration of the 75th anniversary of India’s independence. Additionally, the British Council in India is offering around 18 scholarships for women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) covering over 12,000 courses across more than 150 UK universities.

About the Chevening scholarships programme:

• The programmes on offer include Chevening scholarships for a one-year Master’s programme, with the opportunity to study any subject at a UK university.
• HSBC, Pearson India, Hindustan Unilever, Tata Sons and Duolingo are among the companies supporting this initiative to celebrate India’s 75th year of independence. HSBC India will sponsor 15 scholarships, Pearson India will sponsor two, Hindustan Unilever, Tata Sons and Duolingo will sponsor one each as part of the 75 scholarships.
• The Chevening scheme is the UK government’s international awards scheme offered in 150 countries, aimed at developing global leaders since 1983. India’s Chevening programme is the largest in the world with over 3,500 alumni.
• The fully funded scholarships include tuition, living expenses and travel cost for a one-year-postgraduate programme. A minimum of two years’ work experience is required for candidates to be eligible for the award and details will be made available through the Chevening website.

ANSWER: C

• Forum is an acronym that stands for Far-infrared Outgoing Radiation Understanding and Monitoring.
• The Forum satellite will be assembled by aerospace giant Airbus at its factory in Stevenage.
• It will monitor far-infrared radiation coming up from our planet’s surface.
• It’s this particular type of light that makes molecules of gases such as carbon dioxide and water vapour vibrate, leading to a heating of the atmosphere – a key aspect of climate change.
• Forum is an Earth observation mission of the European Space Agency (ESA)
• Forum falls in ESA’s Earth Explorer class of missions. These are experimental satellites that do novel science in areas of pressing environmental interest.
• Forum would be the ninth one in the series.
• The UK has played significant roles in the preceding missions, at both manufacturer and science investigator level.

ANSWER: D

• The US and its allies, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, and the United Kingdom, have launched a new initiative called Partners in the Blue Pacific for effective and efficient cooperation with the region’s small island nations in response to China’s aggressive push to expand its sphere of influence in the Pacific.
• After China pushed for a broad, common cooperation pact with 10 Pacific states, it became obvious the planned extent of its expanding influence and the geostrategic competition in the region increased.

About Partners in the Blue Pacific (PBP):

• A five-nation informal framework, the PBP aims to support Pacific islands and strengthen regional political and economic ties.
• It calls for further cooperation to improve “prosperity, resilience, and security” in the Pacific. It simply means that these nations will contribute more resources through the PBP, both collectively and individually, to block China’s aggressive outreach.
• Members of the initiative have also promised to strengthen ties with the Pacific Islands Forum and promote regionalism in the Pacific.
• The five member countries said in a joint statement announcing the project that the forum “remains open to engaging with additional partners,” adding that “at every point, the Pacific Islands will be led and guided by us.”
• On the choice of the PBP’s lines of effort and its flagship projects, we shall look to the Pacific for advice.
• The climate issue, connectivity and transportation, marine security and protection, health, prosperity, and education are among the sectors where PBP seeks to improve cooperation.

ANSWER: D

• Eight core sectors are: Coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertiliser, steel, cement and electricity.
• Led by healthy growth in coal, crude oil, fertilisers, cement and electricity production, output of eight core industries grew to a 13-month high of 18.1 per cent in May this year, according to official data released.
• The growth of core infrastructure sectors expanded by 16.4 per cent in the year-ago period and 9.3 per cent in April this year. The last high growth was recorded in April 2021 when it was 62.6 per cent.
• In May, the output of coal, crude oil, refinery products, fertiliser, cement and electricity rose by 25.1 per cent, 4.6 per cent, 16.7 per cent, 22.8 per cent, 26.3 per cent and 22 per cent, respectively.
• Growth rate in the production of natural gas and steel slowed down by 7 per cent and 15 per cent in the month under review as compared to 20.1 per cent and 55.2 per cent, respectively in May 2021.
• Cumulatively, during April-May 2022-23, the output of these eight sectors declined to 13. 6 per cent as compared to 36.3 per cent during the same period of FY22.
• It is expected that the IIP (Index of Industrial Production) or factory output to expand by 16-19 per cent in May 2022, benefitting from the high growth in the core sector as well as various other high frequency indicators.
• The eight core industries account for 40.27 per cent of the IIP.

ANSWER: C

• Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat and Telangana are among the seven states categorised as top achievers in the ranking of states and Union Territories based on the implementation of the business reform action plan 2020.
• Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha and Madhya Pradesh are the other states categorised as achievers in the ranking.
• The Aspires category includes seven states, including Assam, Kerala and Goa.  In the category of emerging business ecosystems, there are 11 states and UTs, including Delhi, Puducherry and Tripura.

ANSWER: A

• The performances of various districts in Himachal has marginally improved and Mandi figured in the ‘Uttam’ category in the performance grading index for districts released by the Department of School Education and Literacy, Ministry of Education.
• The index has been released for 2018-19 and 2019-20 and Mandi district, which improved its score from 357 out of 600 in 2018-19 to 388 in 2019-20, figures in the ‘Uttam’ category (61-70 per cent).
• Meanwhile, Kangra, Shimla, Hamirpur, Una, Kullu, Bilaspur, Kinnaur and Chamba with scores between 300 and 359 are in the Prachesta–I category (51 to 60 per cent) and Sirmaur, Solan and Lahaul and Spiti with scores between 270 and 300 are in the Prachesta–II category (41 to 50 per cent).
• The score card is based on performance of districts on 83 indicators in six domains, namely outcome, effective classroom transaction (ECT), infrastructure, facilities, student entitlements, school safety and child protection, digital learning and governance process.
• In 2018-19, Kangra,Mandi, Shimla, Hamirpur, Una, Kullu, Bilaspur and Chamba districts were in the Prachesta–I category while Kinnaur, Sirmaur, Solan and Lahaul and Spiti districts were in the Prachesta–II category.
• The score of Kullu increased by 18 points, Kinnaur by 15, Sirmaur and Hamirpur by 10 each, Shimla, Una and Lahaul and Spiti by six, Solan by four and Bilaspur by two points. Kangra witnessed a decline of one point but there was no change in the score of Chamba district.
• The index is prepared on the basis of data filled by districts on an online portal. The idea is to assess the performance of the school education system at the district level by creating an index for comprehensive analysis and help in identifying gaps and improve their performances in a decentralised manner.
• Himachal had scored 839 out of 1,000 marks in the performing grading index (PGI) 2019-20 for states and union territories based on outcomes in five categories, namely learning outcomes and quality, access, infrastructure and facilities, equity and governance processes released earlier.