June 29th Current Affairs

1. Leteku

IN NEWS:

In a major boost to harness the export potential of agricultural and processed food products from north-eastern states, a shipment of fresh Burmese grapes referred as ‘Leteku’ in Assamese language has been exported to Dubai from Guwahati by air route.

KEY POINTS:

• A consignment of Leteku, which contains vitamin C and Iron, was sourced and packed at a collection centre in Darang district of Assam.
• Consignment was exported by APEDA registered Kiega EXIM Pvt Ltd from Guwahati airport to Dubai via Delhi.
• Recently, APEDA facilitated exports of the first consignment of ‘red rice’ to the USA from Assam. Iron rich ‘red rice’ is grown in Brahmaputra valley of Assam, without the use of any chemical fertilizer.
• The rice variety is referred to as ‘Bao-dhaan’, which is an integral part of Assamese food.
• APEDA assisted in exports of Geographical Indications (GI) certified KajiNemu (Assam lemon) to London.
• So far around 40 metric tonnes of Assam Lemon has been exported.
• APEDA has provided financial assistance to the private sector to set up a pack house at Guwahati which has fulfilled the mandatory requirement or infrastructure for export of fresh fruits and vegetables to Europe.

SOURCE:PIB

2. Agni P Ballistic Missile.

IN NEWS:

Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) successfully flight tested a New Generation Nuclear Capable Ballistic Missile Agni P from Dr APJ Abdul Kalam island off the coast of Odisha, Balasore at 1055 hrs on June 28, 2021.

KEY POINTS:

• Various telemetry and radar stations positioned along the eastern coast tracked and monitored the missile.
• The missile followed text book trajectory, meeting all mission objectives with high level of accuracy.
• Agni P is a new generation advanced variant of Agni class of missiles. It is a canisterised missile with range capability between 1,000 and 2,000 kms.
• It can hit targets up to a range of 2000 kms, and is very short and light in comparison with other missiles in this class.
• A lot of new technologies incorporated in the new missile,” according to the DRDO.

SOURCE:LIVEMINT

3. Economic Relief Package after Covid- Second Wave

IN NEWS:

• The Indian Finance Minister announced some fresh relief measures for the economy, after the second COVID-19 wave.
• It  focuses largely on extending loan guarantees and concessional credit for pandemic-hit sectors and investments to ramp up healthcare capacities.

KEY POINTS:

Health:

• Government will provide guarantee and the interest rate will also be capped at 7.95%,
• This will be the maximum rate which the banks can charge while lending.
• A separate ₹23,220 crore has been allocated for public health with a focus on paediatric care, which will also be utilised for increasing ICU beds, oxygen supply and augmenting medical care professionals for the short term by recruiting final year students and interns.
• Expansion of the existing Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS)
• It is extended by ₹1.5 lakh crore.
• A new ₹7,500 crore scheme announced to guarantee loans upto ₹1.25 lakh to small borrowers through micro-finance institutions.

Tourism:

• Free one-month visas for five lakh tourists,
• Plan to support over 11,000 registered tourist guides and travel agencies
• Working capital or personal loans to be provided
• Loans will be provided with a 100% guarantee under the scheme to be administered by the Ministry of Tourism.
• New seed varieties for farmers and additional outlays over the next two years to expand broadband to all Gram Panchayats.

SOURCE:IE

4. National Statistics Day 2021

IN NEWS:

National Statistics Day is being observed on June 29, 2021. This day commemorate the birth anniversary of late Professor Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis.

KEY POINTS:

• June 29 has been selected to celebrate this day at national level to recognise Mahalanobis’ invaluable contribution in establishing National Statistical System.
• Theme of National Statistics Day 2021 is UN sustainable development goal 2 to “End Hunger, Achieve Food Security and Improved Nutrition and Promote Sustainable Agriculture”.
• It seeks “sustainable solutions to end hunger by 2030 and to achieve food security.

Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis

• C. Mahalanobis is often referred to as ‘father of Indian statistics’.
• He was born on June 29, 1893 in Calcutta.
• He is best remembered for Mahalanobis distance which is a statistical measure.
• He was one of the members of first Planning Commission of India.
• He founded Indian Statistical Institute (ISI) and contributed to design of large-scale sample surveys.

Mahalanobis distance

• This formula is used to find distance between a point and a distribution.
• It is based on measurements in multiple dimensions.
• This formula is widely used in field of cluster analysis and classification.

SOURCE:PIB

5. Baihetan Hydro Project

IN NEWS:

China operationalised the two units of giant Baihetan hydropower plant, which is the largest hydro project under construction worldwide on June 28, 2021.

KEY POINTS:

• Yangtze river in southwest China generated electricity for the first time.
• First two 1-gigawatt (GW) turbines of the hydro project will go into formal operation after a three-day trial that started on June 28.

About Baihetan Hydro Project

• This hydro project has been built by China Three Gorges Corporation which is the operator of world’s largest hydropower plant.
• This three Gorges Dam is located on the border between southwestern provinces of Yunnan and Sichuan.
• It was constructed on upstream section of Yangtze River called Jinsha.
• Total installed capacity of the project is 16 million kilowatts.
• Hydropower station is equipped with 16 hydro-generating units. Each unit have a capacity of 1 million kilowatts. This is the largest single-unit capacity worldwide.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION:

Background

• Dam has been operationalised in the backdrop of 100th anniversary of ruling Communist Party of China (CPC) on July 1. 
• Project symbolises the efficiency of CPC in planning and completing large-scale projects.

Yangtze River

• It is the longest river in Asia and third-longest in world.
• This river is also the longest worldwide to flow entirely within one country.
• It originates from Jari Hill in Tanggula Mountains in Tibetan Plateau and flows for 6,300 km in east direction to drain into East China Sea.
• It is considered as sixth-largest river by discharge volume in world. The river drains one-fifth of China’s land area.

Jinsha River

• It is the Chinese name for upper stretches of Yangtze River.
• River flows across  Qinghai, Sichuan, and Yunnan provinces in western China.
• It passes through Tiger Leaping Gorge.
• It is significant in generating hydroelectric power. Several world’s largest hydroelectric power stations have been constructed on Jinsha river.

SOURCE:IE