Goaltide Daily Current Affairs 2021

Nov 19, 2021

Current Affair 1:
Accidental Deaths and Suicides India’ (ADSI) report

 

The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) recently released the annual ‘Accidental Deaths and Suicides India’ (ADSI) report for the calendar year 2020. The report is the official source of comprehensive data related to accidents and suicides in the country.

Suicides increased by about 10% in 2020 & Men constitute 71% of the victims.

Five states account for more than 50% of suicides reported in the country

The greatest number of suicides in 2020 was reported in the state of Maharashtra where 19,909 suicides were reported, followed by Tamil Nadu with 16,883 suicides. Along with Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, and Karnataka, the five states together accounted for 50% of the suicides reported in the country in 2020.

Illnesses and Family Problems cause more than half the Suicides

Suicide Mortality is an indicator under SDGs.

The suicide rate is an indicator under Sustainable Development Goal 3: Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages.

The goal is to bring down premature mortality of non-communicable diseases by one-third, through prevention & treatment and promotion of mental health and well-being. This includes mortality attributed to cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes or chronic respiratory disease and suicide.

Current Affair 2:
Russian military conducted an anti-satellite test (ASAT)

 

The Russian military conducted an anti-satellite test (ASAT) this week, shooting down one of its own satellites in low Earth orbit.

More than 1,500 large pieces of trackable debris were generated from the explosion of the satellite, as well as potentially hundreds or thousands of untraceable smaller pieces, according to the US government.

Previous ASAT tests

  1. In the 1960s and 1970s, during the Cold War, the Soviet Union conducted a series of ASAT tests, declaring them a success.
  2. Since the end of the Cold War, this is the fourth ASAT test conducted in space by any country with missiles launched from Earth.
  3. India was the most recent, conducting an ASAT test under Mission Shakti in 2019, shooting down MicroSat-R, a low-cost DRDO satellite. Over 400 pieces of trackable debris were generated, and put ISS potentially at risk, but most burned up in the atmosphere within a few weeks.
  4. In 2007, China conducted a similar test blowing up a satellite at a much higher orbit, with it breaking up into over 35,000 pieces, with debris spreading across the entire width of low Earth orbit — from 200km to 3,850 km altitude.
  5. In 2009, the US conducted Operation Burnt Frost, where a defunct satellite was hit at a height of 220km, generating hundreds of pieces of debris.

Space debris can build up exponentially in a cascading process called Kessler’s Syndrome, where a piece of debris hits another satellite, which in turn creates thousands of more pieces of debris.

Current Affair 3:
Nagara Architecture of Ayodhya’s Ram Mandir:

 

News: The grand temple at Rama Janmabhoomi in Ayodhya will follow the Nagara style of temple architecture.

 

What is Nagara style of temple architecture? The basic form of a Hindu temple contains the following architectural elements:

  1. Garbhagriha - the small room where the principle deity/deities of the temple reside
  2. Mandapa - the portico or hall at the entrance of the temple generally designed to house a large number of people
  3. Shikhara - the mountain like spire which can have different shapes from pyramidal to curvilinear
  4. Vahana - the mount of the main deity placed generally in line of sight from Garbhagriha

Now, we want you to read the Temple Architecture of NCERT. Please read. It has lot of examples of Temples of different region of various styles. Important for Prelims. Click here to read. It is bit long, so select your time.

Current Affair 4:
Enforcement Directorate of India:

 

Directorate of Enforcement is a Multi-Disciplinary Organization mandated with the task of enforcing the provisions of two special fiscal laws – Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 (FEMA) and Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA).

Besides directly recruiting personnel, the Directorate also draws officers from different Investigating Agencies, viz., Customs & Central Excise, Income Tax, Police, etc. on deputation.

Let us see its origin:

The origin of this Directorate goes back to 1st May, 1956, when an ‘Enforcement Unit’ was formed, in Department of Economic Affairs, for handling Exchange Control Laws violations under Foreign Exchange Regulation Act, 1947 (FERA ’47);

In the year 1957, this Unit was renamed as ‘Enforcement Directorate’. The administrative control of the Directorate was transferred from Department of Economic Affairs to Department of Revenue in 1960. With the passage of time, FERA’47 was repealed and replaced by FERA, 1973.

With the onset of the process of economic liberalization, FERA, 1973, which was a regulatory law was repealed and, in its place, effective 1st June, 2000, a new law – Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 (FEMA) came into operation. Further, in tune with the International Anti Money Laundering regime, Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA) was enacted, and entrusted for its enforcement to the Directorate, w.e.f. 01.07.2005.

Carved in the role of a multi-dimensional Organisation, the Directorate enforces two laws;

  1. FEMA, a Civil Law having quasi-judicial powers, for investigating suspected contraventions of the Exchange Control Laws and Regulations with the powers to impose penalties on those adjudged guilty and
  2.  PMLA, a Criminal Law, whereby the Officers are empowered to conduct enquiries to locate, provisionally attach/confiscate assets derived from acts of Schedules Offences besides arresting and prosecuting the Money Launderers.

Current Affair 5:
Developments related to Individuals/Retail investors purchasing Government Securities (G-Secs):-

 

  1. Earlier Individuals/Retail Investors were not allowed to purchase G-Secs in the Primary Market (Sec Market they were allowed) ——->
  2. Then after some time Individuals/Retail Investors were allowed to purchase G-Secs in Primary Market but not directly but through Banks/NBFCs ——>
  3. Now (few days back) Individuals/Retail Investors have been allowed to purchase G-Secs in Primary Market directly by opening a Gilt Account with RBI.
  4. When Govt. wants money it issues G-Secs in Primary Market and Banks/NBFCs (called Primary Dealers) participate in bidding/auctioning process and through this auctioning 'Interest Rate' gets discovered on G-Secs. If there are less Banks/NBFCs interested in purchasing G-Secs then interest rate will move up and it will be costlier for Govt. to borrow.
  5. Even now, Individuals/Retail Investors are not allowed to participate in the bidding/auctioning process of G-Secs in Primary Market. Banks/NBFCs participate in the bidding/auctioning process and interest rate gets discovered and the Individuals/Retail Investors will be allotted G-Secs at the discovered interest rate, if they have applied to purchase G-Secs in Primary Market.

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