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Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 07 September 2021

::NATIONAL::

The Tamil Nadu government tabled a Bill in the Legislative Assembly making it mandatory for establishments to provide seating facilities for employees.

About:

The Bill introduced to amend the Tamil Nadu Shops and Establishments Act, 1947 by adding a sub section to mandatorily provide seating facilities for the staff.

The proposed Section 22-A to the Act reads:

The premises of every establishment shall have suitable seating arrangements for all employees so that they may take advantage of any opportunity to sit which may occur in the course of their work and thereby avoid ‘on their toes’ situation throughout the working hours.
The Bill said that persons employed in shops and establishments in the State “are made to stand throughout their duty time” resulting in varied health issues.
The subject of providing seating facility to the employees was placed in the State Labour Advisory Board Meeting held on September 4, 2019 and was unanimously approved by the members of the Board.

Footprints of 3 dinosaur species found in Thar Desert, Rajasthan’s Jaisalmer district.
All the three species, belonging to the early Jurassic period, were carnivorous.
Thar Desert is the 18th largest subtropical desert land and also one of the most populated ones as40 percent of the human population of Rajasthan lives in Thar Desert.
It extends from Sutlej river and is enclosed by the Great Rann of Kutch, the Aravalli Mountains and the Indus River.

To speaking at 6th Eastern Economic Forum summit, India highlighted the time tested friendship between India and Russia.

About:

It was established in 2015. Eastern Economic Forum is an international forum held each year inVladivostok (Russia).
It works towards the economic development of Russia’s Far East and expand international cooperation in the Asia Pacific region by encouraging foreign investment.
In 2019, India launched its Act Far East Policy at the forum, providing a US$1 billion line of credit for development of the resource-rich region

Since earlier this week, the Internet has been abuzz with news that the next-generation iPhone could have satellite connectivity, thus enabling it to make calls without a cellular network.

About:

It all started when top Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said the Apple’s next-generation iPhone 13 will feature a low-earth-orbit (LEO) satellite communication mode.
Low earth orbit (LEO) satellites operate 311 miles (roughly 500 kilometers) above the Earth’s surface. There are hundreds of satellites that move around at this height.
Because they are closer to the earth’s surface, unlike traditional satellites that are stationed higher at roughly 36,000 km, the time needed for data to be sent and returned is shorter.

What is a satellite phone?

A satellite phone, or satphone as it is commonly called, works by connecting to a telecommunications satellite in space.
They are capable of receiving and making calls anywhere in the world, even in the remotest parts be it the Himalayas or an uninhabited island in the Pacific.
The first satellite phone was launched by Motorola in 1989.

The insolvency regulator has called for public comments on a proposal to introduce a code of conduct for Committees of Creditors (CoC), of companies undergoing insolvency proceedings under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC).

Why is a code of conduct necessary for CoCs?

Under the IBC, a CoC composed of financial creditors to the Corporate Debtor (CD) — or operational creditors in the absence of unrelated financial creditors — is empowered to take key decisions, including decisions on haircuts for creditors, that are binding on all stakeholders, including those dissenting.
The CoC is also empowered to seek and choose the best resolution plan for a corporate debtor from the market, and its role is vital for a timely and successful resolution for a CD.
The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) noted that a code of conduct for CoCs would promote transparent and fair working on the part of CoCs.

What are the issues that the code of conduct is seeking to address?

The IBBI noted several cases in which certain lenders have withdrawn funds from a CD undergoing insolvency proceedings and contributed to delays in the insolvency process.
Delays in resolution are seen as contributing to loss of value in corporate debtors and have become a key criticism of the IBC, with over 75 per cent of ongoing insolvency proceedings having crossed the 270-day timeline.

Elon Musk’s SpaceX announced that ‘Inspiration4’, its first all-civilian, non-governmental spaceflight, is on track for launch on September 15.
The Crew Dragon spacecraft is set to be launched from NASA’s Kennedy Space Centre in Florida in the US. It will take a group of four private citizens into space for three days.

What is Inspiration4?

All four seats on the spacecraft have been purchased by US billionaire Jared Isaacman, founder of the fintech company Shift4 Payments.
The mission involves circling the Earth for three days, and then splashing down into the Atlantic Ocean.
Inspiration4 will orbit the Earth at 575km, higher than the International Space Station (408km) and the Hubble space telescope (547km). This will be the farthest distance travelled by a crewed mission since 2009, when astronauts last went to repair the Hubble.
The Dragon module that the group will be using has also been modified for the mission. Usually, the SpaceX module is used for travelling to the ISS, where it has to dock or join the floating laboratory.