Daily Current Affairs 20 June 2024, MPSC Exam Current Affairs

Daily Current Affairs for MPSC Exam

International

Wärtsilä Opens First Large-Scale Power Plant in the World with 100% Hydrogen-Ready Engines

• The Wärtsilä 31 is a fuel-efficient, medium-speed, 4-stroke marine engine that synchronizes with the grid 30 seconds after starting. It also provides exceptional load-following capabilities and great part load efficiency. Energy security is ensured by fuel flexibility.
• With over 1,000 Megawatt (MW) of installed capacity worldwide, it has completed over one million running hours and can operate on natural gas and 25% hydrogen (H2) by volume mixes.
• The proposal for a hydrogen-ready engine power plant has been approved by TÜV SÜD, the Technical Inspection Association (Technischer Überwachungsverein).
• There are three steps and three related certificates in the H2-Readiness certification process. With a Concept Certificate for the conceptual design of its engine power plant, Wärtsilä has completed the first step of the process.

National

Rules for Offshore Minerals Were Introduced by GOI Before the Auctions

• The "Offshore Areas (Existence of Mineral Resources) Rules, 2024" are a comprehensive regulatory framework that specifies exploration requirements to enable accurate evaluation and sustainable development of offshore mineral resources.
• The Government of India (GoI) introduced the rules on June 6, 2024.

• Under the authority granted by section 35 of the Offshore Areas Mineral (Development and Regulation) (OAMDR) Act, 2002 (17 of 2003), the Gol enacted the regulations.
• The recently implemented regulations establish distinct guidelines for the exploration of various deposit types and mineral types, such as silica sand suitable for construction, calcareous sand that is not suitable for construction, phosphatic sediments, calcareous mud, minerals containing Rare Earth Elements (REEs), hydrothermal minerals, and nodules, among others.

• Union Minister- G.Kishan Reddy

• Minister of State (MOS) - Satish Chandra Dubey

Economic

In FY25, net direct tax revenue increased by 21% year over year to Rs 4.62 lakh crore

• As of June 17, 2024, the total amount of net direct tax collected is made up of Corporation Tax (CIT) of Rs 1,80,949 crore (net of refund) and Personal Income Tax (PIT) of Rs 2,81,013 crore (net of refund), which includes Securities Transaction Tax (STT).
• The Finance Ministry said that as of June 17, 2024, the provisional total of Advance Tax revenues for the Financial Year 2024–2025 was Rs 1.48 lakh crore. When compared to the Advance Tax receipts of Rs 1,16,875 crore during the same period in the preceding FY 2023–24, this is a 27.34% increase.
• Corporation Tax (CIT) of Rs 1,14,353 crore and Personal Income Tax (PIT) of Rs 34,470 crore make up the Rs 1,48,823 crore Advance Tax collection.
• Refunds worth Rs 0.53 lakh crore have been issued in the current FY up to June 17, 2024, which is a 33.70% increase over the refunds made during the similar time in the previous year.

Defence

SIPRI Report: India Has More Nuclear Weapons Than Pakistan, with 172 Warheads

• The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), situated in Sweden, reports that India's nuclear arsenal increased from 164 warheads in January 2023 to 172 warheads in January 2024. SIPRI is an annual assessment of the state of armaments, disarmament, and international security.
• With 170 warheads in 2023 and 2024, Pakistan has not increased its nuclear arsenal, whereas India now possesses more nuclear weapons than the country.

ICAN Report: USA leads the world in 13% increase in nuclear spending

• The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) research estimates that global expenditure on nuclear weapons would reach a record USD 91.4 billion in 2023, a 13% rise from the previous year. This is a 10.7 billion USD increase above worldwide spending in 2022.
• USD 2,898 is spent every second on the planet, or USD 91.4 billion.
• At USD 51.5 billion, the USA accounted for 80% of the increased investment in nuclear weapons.

About Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI):

• Established- 1966
• Director- Dan Smith
• Headquarters- Solna, Stockholm, Sweden

Sport

Neeraj Chopra, the Olympic champion, wins gold at the Paavo Nurmi Games

• The renowned javelin thrower from India, Neeraj Chopra, confirmed his supremacy by winning the gold medal in the athletics competition at the Paavo Nurmi Games in Turku, Finland in 2024.
• With a personal best throw of 89.94 meters, Chopra owns the men's national record for India. On his third try, he turned in a remarkable performance, taking first place on the podium with a throw of 85.97 meters.

• With a personal best throw of 84.19 meters, Toni Keranen of Finland won the silver medal. Oliver Helander, a fellow countryman who had denied Chopra the gold two years prior, had to settle for bronze with a throw of 83.96 meters. With a throw of 82.58 meters, Grenada's two-time world champion Anderson Peters came in fourth.
• Chopra, the current Olympic and world champion, won his third competition of the year in Turku. On May 10, he started his season with an impressive second-place result at the Doha Diamond League with a throw of 88.36 meters.
• After winning an Olympic gold medal, he returned to compete in India, throwing 82.27 meters to win a gold medal in the Federation Cup in Bhubaneswar.
• A minor muscle twitch during training caused Chopra to withdraw as a precaution from the Ostrava Golden Spike sports competition in Czechia, where he was scheduled to compete last month.
• Chopra threw for 1. 83.62 meters, 2. 83.45 meters, 3. 85.97 meters, 4. 82.21 meters, 5. X, and 6. 82.97 meters in the Paavo Nurmi Games 2024.
• The gold medallist from Tokyo 2020 had a solid comeback to competition in Turku, leading the opening series before Helander passed her in the following round. But Chopra returned to the top of the leaderboard with an incredible throw of 85.97 meters in the third series, and he held that position until the very finish.
• Max Dehning of Germany, who is only 19 years old and is the youngest javelin thrower to break the 90-meter mark, placed seventh in the eight-man competition with a throw of 79.84 meters in the same event. In February, Dehning had previously recorded a world record of 90.20 meters in Halle.
• Keshorn Walcott of Trinidad and Tobago, the Olympic champion from London 2012, placed sixth in Turku with a season-best throw of 81.93 meters.

Award

The first Indian to get the "Nelson Mandela Lifetime Achievement Award" is Vinod Ganatra

• Renowned children's filmmaker Vinod Ganatra has received the coveted "Nelson Mandela Lifetime Achievement Award" from South Africa in recognition of his contributions to the motion picture industry.
• Vinod Ganatra receives the Nelson Mandela Lifetime Achievement Award, making him the first Indian recipient of the honor. At the 7th Nelson Mandela Children's Film Festival, Vinod Gantra received an award for his exceptional contribution to children's films.

• Vinod Ganatra, a well-known filmmaker and editor from Gujarat who currently resides in Mumbai, began producing films and television shows in 1982.
• Almost 400 newsreels and documentaries have been edited and directed by him. He has produced twenty-five bilingual children's and youth television shows. Doordarshan gave his debut TV show, BAINGAN RAJA, the "Janakinath Gaur Award."
• His Gujarati film Harun Arun, which was shot near the Pakistani border, was awarded the 26th Chicago International Children's Film Festival's "Liv Ullmann Peace Prize." The only other Indian to receive the esteemed "Liv Ullmann Peace Prize" is him.
• Ganatra has received 36 honors both domestically and abroad. Additionally, the Association of Film and Video Editors has awarded him the "DadaSaheb Phalke Lifetime Achievement Award."
• In addition, Ganatra holds the honor of serving on the juries of more than 100 national, regional, and international film festivals throughout the globe.

• The nation of South Africa had its first black president, Nelson Mandela (1918–2013).
• born in South Africa, where racial segregation was enforced by the government's apartheid policy.
• enrolled in the African National Congress (ANC) in 1944 and began actively battling against apartheid.
• arrested in 1964 and given a life sentence for attempting to topple the government
• served 27 years in prison, 18 of them were spent on Robben Island.
• became a well-known black leader in South Africa and a symbol of the anti-apartheid campaign.
• released from prison in 1990 following the conclusion of apartheid through negotiations
• elected in 1994 to become South Africa's first African American president
• jointly received the 1993 Nobel Peace Prize with Frederik Willem de Klerk
• Presented with the Bharat Ratna, the highest civilian honour in India, in 1990.
• July 18 is Nelson Mandela International Day.

Appointment

Centre appoints IAS officer Ashwani Kumar as MCD commissioner

• Ashwani Kumar, a senior IAS officer, has been named MCD commissioner by the Union home ministry.
• Ganesh Bharti, an Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer, was moved to the Union Women and Child Development Ministry in March and appointed additional secretary. Kumar will take over for him.
• Currently employed by the Delhi government, Kumar holds the positions of assistant chief secretary (home) and divisional commissioner for Delhi.
• He served as the together Municipal Corporation of Delhi's (MCD) first special officer.
• Kumar is an IAS officer from the Arunachal Pradesh-Goa-Mizoram and Union Territory (AGMUT) cadre, having been appointed in 1992.

• Capital :- New Delhi
• Lieutenant governor:- Vinai Kumar Saxena
• Chief minister :- Arvind Kejriwal

MOU

The MoU on Governance Reforms was extended for five years between India and the Gambia

• A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on "Refurbishing Personnel Administration and Governance Reforms" was signed by the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG), the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions (MoPPGP), the Government of India, the Public Service Commission, the Office of the President, and the Republic of the Gambia.
• The agreement was extended for an additional five years, starting on July 8, 2024.
• On July 8, 2021, the current Memorandum of Understanding was signed, with a three-year term.
• At a ceremony conducted in the Civil Services Officer' Institute (CSoI), New Delhi, Delhi, V. Srinivas, Secretary, DARPG, and Mustapha Jawara, Ambassador of the Gambia to India, signed the Memorandum of Understanding on behalf of the Public Service Commission, Gambia.

• The principal aim of the Memorandum of Understanding is to enhance and foster bilateral collaboration in the areas of personnel administration and governance reforms between the Gambia and India.
• It comprises research articles, webinars on good governance, capacity-building initiatives, and the exchange of best practices, with a primary focus on administrative reforms.
• The Memorandum of Understanding addresses three areas of cooperation: e-recruitment in government, implementation of a contributing pension plan, and improvement of the performance management system in government.
• To develop a roadmap for bilateral cooperation, a Joint Working Group on Public Administration and Governance Reforms will be established under this Memorandum of Understanding.

• President- Adama Barrow
• Capital- Banjul
• Currency- Gambian Dalasi (GMD)

Obituary

Literary, and history scholar Kr. Pt. Deshpande passed away

• Senior writer, history scholar, and cultured children's storyteller Krishnarao Pandharinath and Kr. Pt. Deshpande (age 83) died of old age.
• He was working as a teacher in Maharashtra Vidyalaya of Pune Vidyarthigriha for 31 years. He also worked as a supervisor.

• He has written and edited stories, poems, novels, biographies, investigative writings, reviews, educational literature, novels, Kumarawangmay, knowledge-hobby-cultural, plays, and musicals. He has published around 135 books including editing.

• He wrote mainly on history and for children. 'Matrikatha', 'Krantichandra', 'Agnifule: Poem by Savitribai Phule', 'Senapati Tatya Tope', 'Story of Revolutionaries', 'Flames of Johar', 'Story of Obedience', 'Story of Courage', 'Indian Mythology' are his important works There are books.

• He was honored with the National Award as an exemplary teacher in 1991.
• Along with this 'Mahanubhavane Sati Granth: Form and Review' of Ph.D. Three awards for the best dissertation (1979-80), Maharashtra Government Award for Best Literature (1981-82) for 'Mas Mahima-Ashwin', Pune Municipal Award (1983), Shikshacottam Acharya Atre Award (1985), J. Sh. He has received awards such as Vaidya Awarded Adarsh ​​Teacher Award (1991), Adarsh ​​Teacher Award, National Award (1992), Pune Vidyarthigriha Award (1992), Pune Marathi Library Anniversary Award (1998), Ninad, Gurutattva Award (2014).

Important Day

World Refugee Day -  20 June

• June 20 is Refugee Day, which is observed annually. The purpose of the day is to increase public awareness of the global refugee crisis and to encourage the integration and acceptance of refugees into host communities.
• To provide a haven for all displaced individuals and to find a long-term solution to the worldwide refugee issue, World Refugee Day is observed. It also acts as a reminder of how crucial global unity and collaboration are to solving this problem.

Theme 2024: 'For a World Where Refugees Are Welcomed.'

• On June 20, 2001, the inaugural World Refugee Day was observed to mark the 50th anniversary of the 1951 Convention about the Status of Refugees.
• Before being formally designated as an International Day for Refugees by the UN General Assembly in December 2000, the day was known as Africa Refugee Day.
• On World Refugee Day, we should take a moment to consider the suffering that refugees face on a global scale and to reaffirm our commitment to finding long-term solutions to this urgent problem.

• "Refugees are among the most vulnerable people in the world," claims un.org. Their protection is aided by the 1951 Refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocol.
• They are the only international legal documents that specifically address the most crucial facets of a refugee's existence.
• Their requirements state that refugees should, at the very least, be treated under the same norms as other foreign nationals residing in a particular nation and, frequently, in the same manner as citizens."