Current Affairs-March 29, 2023

 

INDIA

• Centre sanctions 800 crore rupees under FAME Scheme Phase -2 for setting up 7,432 public fast charging stations.
• Education Ministry selects 9000 schools for flagship Pradhan Mantri Schools for Rising India scheme.
• National Gallery of Modern Art to organise Spring Fiesta 2023 to celebrate 69 years of Museum.
• The first batch of Agniveers from INS Chilika in Odisha is all set to be inducted into the Indian Navy.

ECONOMY & CORPORATE

• India’s overall exports cross all time high of 750 billion US dollars.
• Government estimates that over 341 lakh MT wheat will be procured during Rabi Marketing Season 2023-24.
• International conference on cooperation on trade finance among G20 member countries held in Mumbai.
• The last date for linking PAN and Aadhaar has been extended to 30th June, 2023.

WORLD

• Pakistan government tables bill in Parliament to curb powers of Chief Justice.
• World Bank: Transboundary solutions important to curb air pollution in South Asia.
• Scotland’s Parliament confirmed Humza Yousaf as the new First Minister; becomes the youngest First Minister and the first Muslim leader of a government in western Europe.
• Myanmar dissolves Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy Party.

SPORTS

• India outplays Kyrgyzstan 2-0 and lifts the Tri-nation International Football competition title.
• Messi scores 100th international goal for Argentina.

Current Affairs-March 31, 2023

 

INDIA

• Ministry of Defence signs Rs 19,600 crore contracts for acquisition of 11 Next-Gen Offshore Patrol Vessels and six Next-Gen Missile Vessels for Indian Navy.
• National Maritime Week commences as the National Maritime Day is celebrated on April 5.
• Defence Ministry signs over Rs 9100 crore contracts for Akash Weapon System and Weapon locating Radars.
• Second Sherpa Meet under India’s G20 Presidency to begin at Kumarakom, Kerala.

ECONOMY & CORPORATE

• Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board has introduced implementation of Unified Tariff of Rs 73.93 rupees per MBTU.
• All drugs and food imported for treatment of all rare diseases listed are now fully exempted from basic customs duty.
• Agriculture exports register over 6% rise during April 2022 to January 2023.

WORLD

• Spouses of H-1B Visa holders have been allowed to work in United States.
• Donald Trump has been indicted over hush money by a Manhattan grand jury; becomes first ex-President to be charged with crime

SPORTS

• Madrid Spain Masters tournament: PV Sindhu and Kidambi Srikanth enter quarterfinals.

Current Affairs-March 30, 2023

 

INDIA

• New India Literacy Programme launched to cover target of 5 crore non-literates in age group of 15 years and above.
• Government identifies 1275 railway stations under Amrit Bharat Station scheme for development of Railway stations.
• The first G20 Disaster Risk Reduction Working Group meeting begins at Gandhinagar.
• IIT Madras develops pocket-friendly device to detect milk adulteration in 30 seconds.
• National Gallery of Modern Art organizes Spring Fiesta 2023 to celebrate 69 years of museum.
• Ministry of Defence (MoD) signs deal to procure Automated Air Defence Control and Reporting System ‘Project Akashteer’ for Army and Sarang Electronic Support Measure (ESM) system for Navy.

ECONOMY & CORPORATE

• Centre aims to borrow ₹8.88 lakh cr. for the first half of financial year 2023-24, after consultation with RBI.
• SEBI unveils norms to ensure better disclosures and boost transparency.
• National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) says “No charge on normal UPI payments”

WORLD

• Death toll from landslip in Ecuador reaches eleven and about sixty people were still missing.
• Saudi Arabia agrees to join Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) as a dialogue partner.
• Australia creates landmark laws that will make its biggest greenhouse gas polluters reduce their emissions or pay for carbon credits.
• East Europe governments urge tech firms to fight disinformation on their social media platforms.

SPORTS

• Nitu Ghanghas clinches Gold in 48 kg category of the IBA Womens World Boxing Championship
• Indian weightlifters Dhanush and Jyoshna win bronze medals in IWF World Youth Championships

QS World University Rankings 2023

 The QS World University Rankings by Subject 2023, released on March 29th, 2023, has ranked over 1,600 universities from around the world, evaluating their performance across 51 subjects. Indian universities have made significant progress this year, with 44 courses from Indian universities ranked among the global top 100.

Ranking Universities by Subject Categories

The QS World University Rankings by Subject aims to provide students, parents, educators, and policymakers with a tool for assessing the performance of universities in specific subject areas. The rankings are based on four indicators: academic reputation, employer reputation, citations per paper, and H-index.

Indian Universities’ Performance in QS World University Rankings by Subject

According to the QS World University Rankings by Subject 2023, Indian universities have performed well in several fields. Indian universities have excelled in Computer Science, Chemistry, Biological Sciences, Business Studies, and Physics. In the dentistry program, the Saveetha Institute of Medical and Technical Sciences had the best performance globally, achieving a perfect score in citations per paper and H-index.

IIT Delhi’s Electrical Engineering program broke into the top 50 categories globally in the QS World University Rankings by Subject 2023. Jawaharlal Nehru University’s Sociology program took 68th place, showing a rise of 33 places.

Research Output and Citations

India is the fourth-largest producer of research globally, according to the QS. Between the years 2017 and 2022, research output in India grew by 54%. However, only 15% of India’s publications were cited in top journals from 2017 to 2021, a lower percentage than the United Kingdom and Germany, which have top journal citation percentages more than double that of India.

India’s Overall Performance and Progress

India’s overall performance improved by 17.2% year on year in the QS World University Rankings by Subject 2023. This progress is noteworthy, considering the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, among countries having over 10 universities featured in the rankings, Mainland China improved the most in the QS World University Rankings by Subject 2023.

International Day of Zero Wastes

 Every year on March 30, people around the world celebrate the International Day of Zero Waste, a day designated by the United Nations General Assembly to promote reducing waste and sustainable consumption and production patterns. This day promotes the creation of a more sustainable and waste-free world.

History of the International Day of Zero Waste

The United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution on December 14, 2022, designating March 30 as the International Day of Zero Waste. The proposal was co-sponsored by Turkey and 105 other countries and is part of a series of resolutions dealing with waste. It aims to achieve all the objectives and targets in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development by promoting zero-waste initiatives.

Theme of the International Day of Zero Waste 2023

The theme of the International Day of Zero Waste in 2023 is “Achieving sustainable and environmentally sound practices of minimizing and managing waste.” This theme emphasizes the importance of promoting sustainable consumption and production patterns to reduce the negative impact of waste on the environment.

Impact of Waste on the Environment

According to the UN data, around 2.24 billion tons of municipal solid waste are produced each year. Only 55% of them is being disposed of in managed facilities. Also, an estimated 931 million tons of food are either lost or wasted every year, and approximately 14 million tons of plastic waste enters aquatic ecosystems each year. These numbers highlight the adverse consequences of waste on the environment, including landfills, pollution, and resource depletion.

Promoting Sustainable Consumption and Production Patterns

The International Day of Zero Waste seeks to promote sustainable consumption and production patterns by encouraging individuals, communities, and organizations to adopt practices that minimize waste, reuse and recycle materials, and reduce the amount of waste generated. Initiatives like clean-up campaigns, recycling drives, educational programs, and advocacy campaigns are being conducted on this occasion to enable community mobilization towards a more sustainable and waste-free world.

Sustainable Development Goals Promoted by the International Day of Zero Waste

The International Day of Zero Waste promotes SDGs 11 and 12, which aim to make cities and communities more sustainable and promote responsible consumption and production. These goals align with the broader agenda of the United Nations to promote sustainable development and address the challenges posed by climate change, environmental degradation, and poverty.

Observance of the International Day of Zero Waste

International Day of Zero Waste is jointly overseen by the UN-Habitat and the UNEP. Member countries, UN organizations, civil societies, private entities, academia, youth and other stakeholders are encouraged to participate in activities that create awareness of of national, subnational, regional, and local zero-waste initiatives and their role in enabling a sustainable development.

Source: https://www.gktoday.in/topic/international-day-of-zero-wastes/

Gaping gap: Editorial on pay gap between men and women

 Psychological stress is also the result of embedded discrimination

An important sign of gender inequality across the world is the pay gap between men and women doing the same job and with the same level of productivity. Globally, women earn only 77 cents on an average for every dollar earned by a man. This gap is present in India too, and may be worsening over time. Between April and June 2022, the female wage rate ranged across states from just over 50% to 93.7% in rural India, and from just under 50% to 100.8% in cities. The gap in rural areas has worsened over the last decade in most states. The urban gap has, however, diminished. The data have been released by the National Statistical Office in the report, Women and Men in India 2022. In some states where the male wage is among the highest in India, the gender gap is also the widest. The data do not reveal any obvious patterns. According to the report, in the states of West Bengal, Gujarat and Chhattisgarh, the rural wage gap has increased by more than 10% between 2011-12 to 2022. These three states have different patterns of development, ranging from very rapid to quite slow. The figures are perhaps indicative of the deep-rooted patriarchal belief that women are less productive and more likely to leave the labour force or be absent.

The pay gap is not only unfair in terms of the ethics of equal pay for equal work but it also has long-term consequences for the economic development of a nation. The lifetime earnings of women turn out to be less compared to men. Women often end up in poverty despite having similar wage employment. Poverty is disempowering. Thus, the ability of a woman to have an effective influence over decisions affecting her own life, such as education, health, personal expenses and childcare, is likely to be poor. This engenders low self-esteem and self-worth, reinforcing beliefs of gender inequality. Psychological stress is also the result of embedded discrimination. In some situations where women may have other job opportunities available, they may not work for the same employer for long. This creates a self-fulfilling condition of lower productivity for women. This is caused by the fact that they are either constantly on the lookout for higher-paying jobs or for matrimonial alliances to augment their access to a higher family income. Getting rid of the wage gap and other forms of discrimination is not too difficult, provided there is adequate political will among those who govern.

Source: Telegraph, 27/03/23

Quote of the Day March 28, 2023

 

“Cheerfulness and contentment are great beautifiers and are famous preservers of youthful looks.”
Charles Dickens, novelist (1812-1870)

“खुश रहना और संतुष्ट रहना सौन्दर्य बढ़ाने और युवा बने रहने के श्रेष्ठ तरीके हैं।”
चार्ल्स डिकिन्स, उपन्यासकार (1812-1870)