April 6th current affairs
- INS VIRAAT
INS Viraat, the Navy’s decommissioned aircraft carrier, has become the “private property” of a ship-breaker who has already torn down 40% of its body, chiefly for scrap, the Supreme Court told a private company, that wants to turn the vessel into a maritime museum-cum-adventure centre.
About:
On February 10, the court had ordered a stay on the process of dismantling the ship.
The carrier was bought by the Gujarat-based Shree Ram Group, a ship-breaking firm, in a bid. The 67-year-old iconic warship was towed to the breaking yard after over three decades’ service in the Navy.
Important Info :
Do you know?
INS Viraat was a Centaur-class aircraft carrier of the Indian Navy.
INS Viraat was the flagship of the Indian Navy before INS Vikramaditya was commissioned in 2013.
The ship was completed and commissioned in 1959 as the Royal Navy’s HMS Hermes, and decommissioned in 1984. It was sold to India in 1987. INS Viraat was commissioned into the Indian Navy in 1987 served till 2016 when it was decommissioned.
Source : The Hindu
Defence & Security (April 6th current affairs)
- The Prime Minister has lauded the completion of Arch closure of the Chenab Bridge, World’s highest Railway Bridge in Jammu & Kashmir by Indian Railways.
About:
The length of the Chenab bridge will be 1,315 metres with 17 spans, of which the span of the main arch across Chenab river will be 467m.
The bridge is part of an ambitious 272-km rail link project and is being constructed by the Northern Railway at an estimated cost of ₹28,000 crore.
The bridge will be able to withstand earthquakes with a magnitude of up to eight and high-intensity blasts.
The bridge, which will include a 14-metre dual carriageway and a 1.2-metre-wide central verge, will have a design speed of around 100 kilometres per hour with a lifespan of 120 years.
Source : PIB
Geography (April 6th current affairs)
- TRIBUNALS REFORMS (RATIONALISATION AND CONDITIONS OF SERVICE) ORDINANCE, 2021
The President of India has promulgated the Tribunals Reforms (Rationalisation and Conditions of Service) Ordinance, 2021, by which the appellate authorities under nine Acts have been done away with and the right to hear appeals under the statute has been conferred to High Courts.
About:
Section 184 of the Finance Act, 2017 has been amended to empower the Central Government to make rules for qualifications, appointment, term of office, salaries and allowances, resignation, removal and other terms and conditions of service of Members of Tribunals.
The Ordinance omits following Tribunals/ Appellate Authorities from the purview of Finance Act:
Airport Appellate Tribunal established under the Airport Authority of India Act, 1994
Appellate Board established under the Trade Marks Act, 1999
Authority for Advance Ruling established under the Income Tax Act, 1961
Film Certification Appellate Tribunal established under the Cinematograph Act, 1952
Further, it substitutes the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission established under the erstwhile Consumer Protection Act, 1986 with a National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission established under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019.
Source : The Hindu
Polity & Governance (April 6th current affairs)
- CENTRAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION (CBI)
The Supreme Court told the government that interim appointments to the post of CBI Director cannot go on.
About:
The remark came during the hearing of a petition filed by Common Cause, represented by advocate Prashant Bhushan, objecting to the appointment of Praveen Sinha as interim CBI Director following the retirement of Rishi Kumar Shukla on February 2.
The petition said the government had failed to appoint a regular Director through the high-power selection committee of the Prime Minister, Chief Justice of India and Leader of Opposition.
The Common Cause has argued that an interim appointment through an executive order was not envisaged in the statutory scheme of the 1946 Act.
The agency should function independently outside the pale of the Executive or political powers. This was exactly why a high-powered committee selects the CBI Director.
Important Info :
Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI)?
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is the premier investigating agency of India.
It operates under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions.
(India), Originally set up to investigate bribery and governmental corruption, in 1965 it received expanded jurisdiction to investigate breaches of central laws enforceable by the Government of India, multi-state organised crime, multi-agency or international cases.
The CBI headquarter is located in New Delhi.
Source : The Hindu
Polity & Governance (April 6th current affairs)
- SADABAHAR
Shrikishan Suman (55 years), a farmer from Kota, Rajasthan, has developed an innovative mango variety which is a regular and round-the-year dwarf variety of mango called Sadabahar, which is resistant to most major diseases and common mango disorders.
About:
The fruit is sweeter in taste, comparable to langra and being a dwarf variety, is suitable for kitchen gardening, high-density plantation, and can be grown in pots for some years too.
Besides, the flesh of the fruits, which is bourn round the year, is deep orange with sweet taste, and the pulp has very less fiber content which differentiates it from other varieties.
The innovative attributes of the variety have been verified by the National Innovation Foundation (NIF), India, an autonomous institution of the Department of Science & Technology, Government of India.
NIF has also facilitated the plantation of Sadabahar mango variety in the Mughal Garden at Rashtrapati Bhawan in New Delhi.
Source : PIB
Economy
INTEGRATED HEALTH INFORMATION PLATFORM (IHIP)
- The Union Minister of Health, Harsh Vardhan launched the Integrated Health Information Platform (IHIP).
About:
The Integrated Health Information Platform (IHIP) is the next generation highly refined version of the presently used Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP).
According to the minister, India is the first country in the world to adopt such an advanced disease surveillance system.
The new version of IHIP will house the data entry and management for India’s disease surveillance program.
In addition to tracking 33 diseases now as compared to the earlier 18 diseases, it shall ensure near-real-time data in digital mode, having done away with the paper-mode of working.
Terming this as the world’s biggest online disease surveillance platform, he stated that it is in sync with the National Digital Health Mission.
Source : PIB
Health (April 6th current affairs)
- CHAFF TECHNOLOGY
Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has developed an Advanced Chaff Technology to safeguard the naval ships against enemy missile attack.
About:
Defence Laboratory Jodhpur (DLJ), a DRDO laboratory, has indigenously developed three variants of this technology namely Short Range Chaff Rocket (SRCR), Medium Range Chaff Rocket (MRCR) and Long Range Chaff Rocket (LRCR) meeting Indian Navy’s requirements.
Chaff is a passive expendable electronic countermeasure technology used worldwide to protect naval ships from enemy’s radar and Radio Frequency (RF) missile seekers.
The importance of this development lies in the fact that very less quantity of chaff material deployed in the air acts as decoy to deflect enemy’s missiles for safety of the ships.
Source : The Hindu
Defence & Security
Indian Navy Ships INS Satpura and INS Kiltan along with P8I Long Range Maritime Patrol Aircraft are participating, for the first time; in multi-lateral maritime exercise La Pérouse, being conducted in the Eastern Indian Ocean Region from 05 to 07 April 2021.
- About:
The Indian Navy ships and aircraft will exercise at sea with ships and aircraft of French Navy (FN), Royal Australian Navy (RAN), Japan Maritime Self Defence Force (JMSDF) and United States Navy (USN) during the three day exercise at sea.
The exercise La Pérouse is led by French Navy.
Exercise La Pérouse will witness complex and advanced naval operations including surface warfare, anti-air warfare and air defence exercises, weapon firing exercises, cross deck flying operations, tactical manoeuvres and seamanship evolutions such as replenishment at sea.
Source : LiveMint
International (April 6th current affairs) - SPICES BOARD INDIA
Spices Board India and UNDP India’s Accelerator Lab signed a MoU, with the aim to build a blockchain based traceability interface for Indian spices to enhance transparency in supply chain and trade.
About:
The project will be piloted with over 3,000 farmers engaged in chilli and turmeric farming in select Districts of Andhra Pradesh.
Blockchain is a decentralized process of recording transactions on an open and shared electronic ledger. This allows for ease and transparency in data management across a complex network, including, farmers, brokers, distributors, retailers and consumers, thus simplifying the supply chain.
Important Info :
About Spices Board?
Spices Board is one of the five Commodity Boards functioning under the Ministry of Commerce &Industry.
It is an autonomous body responsible for the export promotion of the 52 scheduled spices and development of Cardamom (Small & Large).
Source : PIB
Economy
- GLOBAL GENDER GAP REPORT
- India has fallen 28 places in the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report 2021, and is now one of the worst performers in South Asia, trailing behind neighbours Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka and Myanmar.
- About:
- India is now ranked 140 among 156 countries.
South Asia incidentally is one of the worst performing regions, followed only by the Middle East and northern Africa.
many countries have fared worse in this year’s rankings compared to last year’s, on account of economic performance.
On its current trajectory, it will now take 135.6 years to close the gender gap worldwide.
The gender gap in political empowerment remains the largest: women represent only 26.1 per cent of some 35,500 parliament seats and just 22.6 per cent of over 3,400 ministers worldwide, according to the report.
In 81 countries, there has never been a woman head of state, as of January 15, 2021.
Source : Indian Express
Social Issues (April 6th current affairs)