These current affairs are written in a easy to remember format and are useful for competitive exams like - UPSC Civil Services, UPPSC, BPSC, MPPPSC, State PSCs and other competitive examinations.
Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD)
Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam has sparked an almost decade-long diplomatic stand-off between Addis Ababa and downstream nations Egypt and Sudan.
The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), formerly known as the Millennium Dam and sometimes referred to as Hidase Dam is a gravity dam on the Blue Nile River in Ethiopia.
With a planned installed capacity of 6.45 gigawatts, the dam will be the largest hydroelectric power plant in Africa when completed, as well as the seventh largest in the world.
Ethiopia says the $5 billion dam is essential to promote economic development and make sure the vast majority of its people don't lack electricity.
International Relations
Anti-methanogenic feed supplement "Harit Dhara"
Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) institute has developed an anti-methanogenic feed supplement "Harit Dhara".
When given to bovines and sheep, it not only cuts down their methane emissions by 17-20%, but also results in higher milk production and body weight gain.
Methane is produced by animals having rumen, the first of their four stomachs where the plant material they eat - cellulose, fibre, starch and sugars - gets fermented or broken down by microorganisms prior to further digestion and nutrient absorption.
Carbohydrate fermentation leads to production of CO2 and hydrogen. These are used as substrate by archaea - microbes in the rumen with structure similar to bacteria - to produce methane, which the animals then expel through burping.
Methane's global warming potential is 25 times of carbon dioxide (CO2) over 100 years.
Science & Tech
Khadi Prakritik Paint
Minister for Road Transport and Highways & MSME Shri Nitin Gadkari declared himself the "Brand Ambassador" of Khadi Prakritk Paint and said he would promote it.
Khadi Prakritik Paint was launched by Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) on 12th January 2021.
It is based on cow dung as its main ingredient, cost-effective as well as odourless and has been certified by the Bureau of Indian Standards(BIS).
The Paint has been launched with the twin objectives of increasing farmers' income and creating self-employment across the country.
To enable maximum people to benefit from this innovation, KVIC has included this project under the Prime Minister Employment Generation Program (PMEGP), a flagship scheme of the Central government for employment generation.
Available in two variants - Distemper and Emulsion, Khadi Prakritik Paint contains AshtaLaabh; i.e. the eight benefits like anti-bacterial, anti-fungal and natural thermal insulation properties.
This paint is eco-friendly, non-toxic, odorless and cost-effective.
The paint is free from heavy metals like lead, mercury, chromium, arsenic, cadmium etc.
Environment
National Film Archive of India (NFAI)
National Film Archive of India (NFAI) has announced a significant addition of the original camera negative of Rajkumar Hirani's film PK (2014) in its collection.
PK was shot on celluloid, the transition from celluloid to digital in terms of production of films in India happened during 2013-14.
The original Negatives of Rajkumar Hirani?s earlier films like Munnabhai MBBS (2003), Lage Raho Munnabhai (2006) and 3 Idiots (2009) are already being preserved at NFAI.
The National Film Archive of India (NFA) was established as a media unit of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting in February 1964. It is a member of the International Federation of Film Archives.
Its three principal objectives are: to trace, acquire and preserve for posterity the heritage of Indian cinema; to classify, document data and undertake research relating to films; to act as a centre for the dissemination of film culture.
Social Issues
Dalai Lama celebrated 86th birthday
The Tibetan spiritual leader the 14th and current Dalai Lama (Tenzin Gyatso) celebrated 86th birthday.
The Dalai Lama made the hillside town of Dharmsala his headquarters after a failed uprising against Chinese rule in 1959. China doesn't recognize the Tibetan government-in-exile.
Dalai Lama is a title given by the Tibetan people to the foremost spiritual leader of the Gelug or "Yellow Hat" school of Tibetan Buddhism, the newest of the classical schools of Tibetan Buddhism.
In 1913, several Tibetan representatives proclaiming mutual recognition and their independence from China, however the legitimacy of the treaty and declared independence of Tibet was rejected by both the Republic of China and the current People's Republic of China.
The Dalai Lamas headed the Tibetan government afterwards despite that, until 1951.
International Relations
Counter Unmanned Aircraft System (CUAS)
The Indian Air Force (IAF) has issued a tender for procurement of 10 counter-drone systems, Counter Unmanned Aircraft System (CUAS), through indigenous route.
The CUAS is intended to detect, track, identify, designate and neutralize hostile UAS.
Only Indian vendors may respond to the RFI but can tie up and offer the technology with foreign partners.
The composite CUAS should comprise of sensors, phased array radar, Radio Frequency (RF) sensor and electro optical and infra-red (EO/IR) system.
On the kill options, the RFI stipulates global navigation satellite jammer system and RF Jammer for soft kill and Laser Directed Energy Weapon (Laser-DEW) as the hard kill option.
Defence
Cinematograph (Amendment) Bill 2021
The Standing Committee on Information and Technology grilled the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting on the "super censorship" clause introduced in the draft Cinematograph (Amendment) Bill 2021.
The Cinematograph Act, 1952
The Cinematograph Act, 1952 prescribes a rigorous and time-tested mechanism to certify films that can be shown in cinema halls and at other public places.The law also creates the statutory film-certification body Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC).
Based on the Union government's guiding principles, the CBFC determines the category under which a film shall be classified and also suggests modifications to align the content with its guidelines.
All CBFC members, regional officers and the advisory panel are appointed by the Union government.
Proposed amendments
The proposed amendments aim to make two important changes to the certification process.1) The category U/A will be subdivided based on age into U/A 7+, U/A 13+ and U/A 16+.
2) The amendment will empower the Union government to direct the CBFC to reconsider the certificate it has issued to a film, if the government feels that it does not conform to the "Guiding Principles" under Section 5B(1).
Polity
Puri Jagannath Rath Yatra
Ratha Yatra ('Car Festival or Chariot Festival') is a Hindu festival associated with Lord Jagannath held at Puri in Odisha.
This annual festival is celebrated on second day in bright fortnight of Ashadha month.
The festival commemorates Jagannath's annual visit to Gundicha Temple via Mausi Maa Temple near Saradha Bali, Puri.
Social Issues
Online Course Mobile App "Matsya Setu"
Union Ministery for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying launched the Online Course Mobile App "Matsya Setu".
The app was developed by the ICAR-Central Institute of Freshwater Aquaculture (ICAR-CIFA), Bhubaneswar, with the funding support of the National Fisheries Development Board (NFDB), Hyderabad.
The online course app aims to disseminate the latest freshwater aquaculture technologies to the aqua farmers of the country.
Upon successful completion of each course module, an e-Certificate can be auto-generated.
Gov. Schemes