Daily Current Affairs 14 August 2024, WBPSC Exam Current Affairs

Daily Current Affairs for WBPSC Exam

Click Here To Download Daily Current Affairs 14 August 2024 PDF In English

International

India and Maldives sign MoU to introduce UPI in island nation

• During the visit of External Affairs Minister S. Jaishnakar, India and the Maldives decided to fortify their bilateral relations by signing two memorandums of understanding (MoU). From August 9 to August 11, 2024, Dr. S. Jaishanker traveled to the Maldives for a three-day visit.

• The first Indian minister to visit the Maldives since the government of Mohamed Muizzu took office in November 2023 was Dr. Jaishankar.
• President Muizzu's pro-China stance and his affiliation with the India Out movement in the Maldives caused tensions in relations between India and the Maldives.

• Dr. Jaishankar visited Maldivian Foreign Minister Moosa Zameer and President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu during his official visit to the country.
• Additionally, he had a meeting with the president of the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), Abdulla Shahid, and his entourage.
• In line with President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu's 5 Million Tree Project and Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "Ek Ped Maa ke Naam" initiative, Dr. Jaishankar, Environment Minister Thoriq Ibrahim, and Foreign Minister Moosa Zameer of the Maldives planted a tree at Male's Lonuziyaaraiy Park.
• Two Memorandums of Understanding were signed between the two nations during Dr. Jaishnakar's visit.
• Over the years 2024–2029, India will train one thousand civil servants from the Maldives.
• The Maldives will adopt the Unified Payment Interface (UPI), an Indian payment system.

Jaishankar launched the Maldives project with assistance from India

• The Indian-funded project to build a water and sewage network over 28 islands in the Maldives was jointly inaugurated by Maldivian Foreign Minister Moosa Zameer and Dr. S. Jayashankar in the presence of President Muizzu.
• He also officially opened the Addu Reclamation and Shore Protection Project and the Addu Detour Link Bridge Project, both of which are sponsored by Indians.
• Additionally, he went to the location of the Greater Male Connectivity Project (GMCP), which is funded by India and would link Male with the nearby islands of Villingili, Gulhifalhu, and Thilafushi.
• Additionally, six Indian grant-funded High-Impact Community Development Projects (HICDPs) about speech therapy, special education, mental health, and street lighting were launched.

• Capital of Maldives: Male
• Currency: Rufiyaa
• President: Mohamed Muizzu

National

The government of India issues Operational Guidelines for the Implementation of 'Model Solar Village’ under PM-Surya Ghar (Muft Bijli Yojana)

• The operational rules for implementing the 'Model Solar Village' program under the 'Prime Minister (PM)-Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana' were released by the Ministry of New & Renewable Energy (MNRE) on August 9, 2024.
• One Model Solar Rural has been established in each district of India as part of the scheme component, to encourage the use of solar energy and empower rural communities to become self-sufficient in energy demands.

• On February 29, 2024, the Union Cabinet, led by Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi, authorized the PM-Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana.
• The program, for which the Government of India (GoI) has allotted Rs 75,021 crore, would be carried out until the Financial Year 2026–2027 (FY27).
• Households will receive up to a 40% subsidy under the program to put solar panels on their roofs.
• It seeks to give one crore Indian households 300 units of free power every month.

• The Model Solar Village scheme component is covered by these guidelines.
• Budget Allocation: The MNRE has set up Rs 800 crore for the program's execution, with Rs 1 crore in central funding assistance given to each hamlet.
• Village Eligibility Requirements: A village shall be evaluated in the competition mode by the scheme parameters. A village must also have a population of at least 5,000 people (or 2,000 in special category states) and be a revenue village.
• Selection Procedure: Six months after the District Level Committee (DLC) announced the possible candidate, the villages will be chosen based on an evaluation of their total distributed Renewable Energy (RE) capacity installed.
• Every State district with the highest RE capacity will have a winning village.
• implementing Agency: Under the direction of the DLC, the Renewable Energy Development Agency (REDA) of each state or union territory (UT) will carry out the plan.
• This will guarantee that the program's chosen villages successfully make the switch to solar electricity and act as role models for other villages around the nation.

Economic

RBI notifies approval for FPI investments in sovereign green bonds in IFSC

• Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) will be able to purchase Sovereign Green Bonds (SGrB) at the International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) in Gujarat starting in the second half of the Financial Year 2024–25 (FY25), according to an announcement made by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

• In response, the RBI modified the Forex Management (Debt Instruments) Regulations, 2024, enabling non-residents to trade SGrBs if they have securities accounts in the IFSC.
• FPIs may use money from foreign currency accounts or inward remittances to cover the cost of SGrBs. Net of any relevant taxes, the sale or maturity profits from SGrBs may be sent outside of India.
• Through green bonds, the government has raised Rs 36,000 crore between 2022 and 2023. Due to unfavorable bids, only Rs 1,697 crore of the Rs 12,000 crore objective has been raised in FY25.

Appointment

Finance Secretary Somanathan appointed Cabinet Secretary

• Rajiv Gauba, whose term expires this month, has been replaced as India's Cabinet Secretary by Senior IAS Officer T.V. Somanathan. On August 30, 2024, Somanathan will start his two-year term. Until he formally takes up the position of Cabinet Secretary, he will also work as an Officer on Special Duty (OSD) in the Cabinet Secretariat.

• Previous Roles: Somanathan, an IAS official from the Tamil Nadu cadre who was born in 1987, has performed several important roles. He has been the Finance Secretary since April 2021 and the Expenditure Secretary since December 2019. In addition, he held several positions in his home country and overseas, including the Prime Minister's Office.
• In addition to being a certified Chartered Accountant (CA) and Company Secretary (CS), he has a PhD in Economics from Calcutta University and speaks five languages fluently: English, French, Hausa, Hindi, and Tamil.
• In his capacity as Finance Secretary, Somanathan was instrumental in the FY22 budget's enhancement of fiscal transparency. He has a distinguished academic background with over 80 papers and publications on economics, and he has also been active in examining the government employee pension system.
• Rajiv Gauba has held the position of Cabinet Secretary for an unprecedented five years. Three extensions were given to him throughout his tenure, the most recent one being approved in August 2023.
• Gauba's contribution to the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019 is acknowledged, as it resulted in the division of the state into two Union Territories.

Science & Technology

MEA and NSIL signed an MoU for grant assistance for the launch of the Munal satellite

• To launch the Nepalese satellite Munal, the Indian Ministry of External Affairs and New Space India Limited (NSIL) has inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU). As per the Memorandum of Understanding, NSIL will get funding from the Ministry of External Affairs to launch the satellite.
• Anurag Srivastava, Joint Secretary (North) of the ministry, and Arunachalam A., Director of NSIL in New Delhi, signed the Memorandum of Understanding.
• An agreement for the launch of the Munal satellite was signed by the NSIL and the Nepal Academy of Science and Technology (NAST) during the visit of Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishanker to Nepal in January 2024.

• Under the auspices of the Nepal Academy of Science and Technology (NAST), a group of Nepalese students have created the Munal satellite. The Nepali government established the NAST, an independent organization, to advance science and technology in the nation.
• Antarikchya Pratishan Nepal (APN), a Nepalese space business, has helped Nepalese students with the Munal satellite's design and construction.
• The goal of the Munal satellite is to compile a database of the Earth's surface vegetation density.
• The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) of NSIL will launch the satellite.

• Established: 6 March 2019
• Headquarters: Bengaluru, Karnataka
• Chairman and Managing Director (CMD): Radhakrishnan Durairaj

Defence

Indian Navy approves Mazagon Dock to build 6 submarines with German collaboration

• Under the 'Project 75 India (P751)' initiative, the Indian Navy (IN) has given Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDL) permission to build six cutting-edge submarines in collaboration with ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems (TKMS) of Germany.
• With an estimated cost of Rs 60,000 crore, the project is essential to bolstering India's naval power in the Indian Ocean, especially in light of China's and Pakistan's increasing influence.

• The decision to use MDL came after successful testing of submarines fitted with Air Independent Propulsion (AIP) systems, which allowed the subs to stay underwater for up to two weeks in order to recharge their batteries.
• For this contract, MDL and TKMS faced off against Navantia and Larsen & Toubro.
• With AIP technology, diesel-electric submarines will have more endurance and capabilities than earlier generations.
• In addition, the government has launched Project 76, a joint venture between IN and the Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO) that aims to construct six conventional submarines with a fully indigenous design.

• Headquarters: Mumbai, Maharashtra
• Chairman & Managing Director (CMD): Sanjeev Singhal

Important Day

World Elephant Day – 12 August

• Elephants are crucial to maintaining ecological balance and biodiversity as keystone species. World Elephant Day 2024, observed on August 12th, is a global event dedicated to raising awareness about the urgent need to protect and conserve elephants worldwide.
• World Elephant Day highlights the challenges faced by these magnificent creatures and promotes initiatives that ensure their long-term survival in their natural habitats. As we approach World Elephant Day 2024, it is crucial to understand its history, significance, and the ongoing conservation efforts in India.

• World Elephant Day was first celebrated in 2012, initiated by the Elephant Reintroduction Foundation and Canadian filmmaker Patricia Sims . The goal was to draw attention to the challenges faced by these magnificent animals among people and cultures worldwide.

• Since then, World Elephant Day has become an annual event, bringing together individuals, organizations, and governments globally to protect and preserve elephants for future generations.

• More than 60% of the world's wild Asian elephant populations are found in India.
• There were roughly a million wild elephants in India ten years ago. Poaching is the main cause of the sharp drop and is a problem throughout Asia.
• There are four areas in India where wild elephants can be found: the northeastern states, the Himalayan foothills in the north, the forests of east-central India, and the forested Western and Eastern Ghats in the south.
• Since 2022, India has been conducting elephant censuses every five years to determine the number of wild elephants by utilizing the methodologies of direct count and dung count.
• As per the results of the 2017 census, 29,964 elephants are dispersed throughout an area of 110,000 square kilometers in India, of which 33 elephant reserves occupy 65,000 square kilometers.
• In 2010, the elephant was designated as India's National Heritage Animal.