(FREE) UPSC Current Affairs 2024 PDF

Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 02 June 2022

::NATIONAL::

Two days after issuing an advisory asking people to refrain from sharing photocopies of their Aadhaar Card, the Unique Identification Development Authority of India (UIDAI) opted to withdraw the notification.

Key highlights:

It stated that the action was to avert any possibility of ‘misinterpretation’ of the (withdrawn) press release, asking people to exercise “normal prudence” in using/sharing their Aadhaar numbers.
The Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies Benefits and Services) Act, 2016 makes it clear that Aadhaar authentication is necessary for availing subsidies, benefits and services that are financed from the Consolidated Fund of India.
In the absence of Aadhaar, the individual is to be offered an alternate and viable means of identification to ensure she/he is not deprived of the same.
The confidentiality needs to be maintained and the authenticated information cannot be used for anything other than the specified purpose.
The NPCI’s Aadhaar Payments Bridge (APB) and the Aadhaar Enabled Payment System (AEPS) facilitate direct benefit transfer (DBT) and allow individuals to use Aadhaar for payments. This requires bank accounts to be linked to Aadhaar.
More than 200 central and State government websites publicly displayed details of some Aadhaar beneficiaries such as their names and addresses. Both were made possible by the lack of robust encryption.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the country’s first liquid nano urea plant at Kalol. This patented product is expected to not only substitute imported urea, but to also produce better results in farms.

About:

Liquid nano Urea is a patented chemical nitrogen fertiliser developed by IFFCO’s Nano Biotechnology Research Centre at Kalol withnano nitrogen particles (from 20-50 nm).
One nanometre is equal to a billionth of a metre.

It is sprayed directly on the leaves of plants and gets absorbed by thestomata- pores found on the epidermis of leaves.
Benefits:

Improved agricultural produce with reduced urea consumption as the efficiencyof liquid nano urea is as high as 85-90% in comparison to 25% of conventional urea.
Liquid nano urea is sprayed directly on the leaves and gets absorbed by the plant.
Fertilisers in nano form provide a targeted supply of nutrients to crops, as they are absorbed by the stomata, pores found on the epidermis of leaves.
2-4 ml of nano urea should be mixed a litre of water and sprayed on crop leaves at active growth stages.

The 118th meeting of the Permanent Indus Commission (PIC) comprising Indus Commissioners of India and Pakistan concluded.
During the meeting, the annual report for the year ending on March 31, 2022, was finalised and signed.

About:

PIC is a communication channel created under Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) for the governments to gather and resolve questionsabout the treaty’s implementation.It is required to meet at least once in a year.
IWT was signed in 1960 by India and Pakistan with the WorldBank as a third-party guarantor.
It is a water-distribution treaty and delimits the rights andobligations of both countries concerning the use of waters onthe Indus River System.
Under this, waters of three eastern rivers namely Ravi, Beasand Sutlej, have been allocated exclusively to India.
Western rivers, namely Indus, Chenab and Jhelum, are forPakistan with India given some rights like agriculture,navigation, domestic use and also right to generatehydroelectricity through run of the river projects.
IWT does not have a unilateral exit provision, and is supposed to remain in force unless both the countries ratify another mutuallyagreed pact.

India will strongly oppose continuation of a moratorium on imposing customs duties on electronic transmissions at the World Trade Organization’s crucial 12th ministerial meeting (MC12).

Key highlights:

India will push for a review of the moratorium as it would help developing countries generate more revenue through customs duties.
In 1998, WTO members agreed not to impose customs duties on electronic transmissions and the moratorium has been periodically extended at successive ministerial conferences.
At MC12, many WTO member nations are seeking temporary extension of the moratorium until the next ministerial.
At the 12th MC next month, many WTO members are seeking temporary extension of the moratorium till 13th MC but India does not want this time to continue this further. India will take a hard stand this time on the matter.

The government has released ₹86,912 crore to the state governments, clearing all the Goods and Services Tax (GST) compensation dues till 31 May, 2022.

About:

The government has made the full payment despite only about ₹25,000 crore being available in the GST compensation fund. The balance money has been paid from the Centre’s own resources pending collection of cess.
Of the ₹86,912 crore released to states, ₹47,617 crore worth of compensation was due up to January, ₹21,322 crore was due for February-March, and ₹17,973 crore was due for April-May.
Bi-monthly GST compensation to states for the period 2017-18, 2018-19 was released on time out of the Compensation Fund.

Recently, Scientists used Machine Learning to predict the match of pairs of metals that can formbimetallic nanoalloys.

About:

Nano alloys, also called core-shell nanocluster alloys, are alloys with one metal forming core andanother stays on surface as a shell.
The formation depends on the cohesive energy difference, atomic radius difference, surfaceenergy difference and electronegativity of the two atoms.
Nanoalloys can have other configurations as well such as homogeneously mixed alloy andcluster-in-cluster.
The periodic table has 95 metals of different categories ranging from alkalis to alkaline earth, which can potentially form 4465 pairs.