(FREE) UPSC Current Affairs 2024 PDF

Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 11 July 2022

::NATIONAL::

To bolster measurement of air pollution in rural India, the Indian Institute of Technology-Kanpur, is embarking on a $2.5 million project (₹19 crore) to install nearly 1,400 sensors in rural blocks of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.

About:

The three-year pilot project is expected to pave the way for a national network of air quality sensors in rural India.
Air pollution in India is largely framed as an urban blight though causes of pollution, such as biomass burning, and reliance on diesel gensets for electricity are worsening air quality in villages too.
In 2019, the government launched the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) to achieve 20-30% reduction in particulate matter (PM) air pollution by 2024 with 2017 as the base year for comparison. This however is primarily aimed at 122 cities that have been categorised as India’s most polluted cities.
Cities, because of their population density and industrial establishments, continue to be the overwhelming source of emissions.
The country’s current annual safe limits for PM 2.5 and PM 10 are 40 micrograms/per cubic metre (ug/m3) and 60 micrograms/per cubic metre.

At least 16 people have been killed after sudden rains triggered flash floods during an annual Hindu pilgrimage to the cave shrine of Amarnath in Indian Kashmir.

About Flash flood:

A flood caused by heavy or excessive rainfall in a short period of time, generally less than 6 hours.
Can occur within minutes or a few hours of excessive rainfall.
Can also occur even if no rain has fallen, for instance after a levee or dam has failed, or after asudden release of water by a debris or ice jam.

Amarnath Temple:

Amarnath Temple is a Hindu shrine located in Jammu and Kashmir, India.
The cave is situated at an altitude of 3,888 m (12,756 ft),[1] about 141 km (88 mi) from Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir, reached through Pahalgam town.

About:

The Day was first marked on 11th July 1990 in more than 90 countries. In 2011, the world reached a population of 7 billion.This year, the number will hit 8 billion.
The theme for World Population Day 2022 is ‘A world of 8 billion: Towards a resilient future for all - Harnessing opportunities and ensuring rights and choices for all.
The objective of the day is to increase the awareness of the people towards the worldwide population issues.
World Population Day, which seeks to focus attention on the urgency and importance of population issues, was established by the then-Governing Council of the United Nations Development Programme in 1989.
By a resolution in December 1990, the United Nations General Assembly decided to continue observing World Population Day enhance awareness of population issues, including their relations to the environment and development.

Nightly protests in North Macedonia over the past week have left dozens injured. At the heart of the turmoil is the small Balkan country’s long-running quest to join the European Union, a process that has faced one hurdle after the other.

About:

North Macedonia is a country in Southeast Europe. It gained independence in 1991 as one of the successor states of Yugoslavia. It is a landlocked country bordering Kosovo to the northwest, Serbia to the north, Bulgaria to the east, Greece to the south, and Albania to the west.
North Macedonia has been an EU candidate for 17 years. The country emerged from the breakup of Yugoslavia in the 1990s and sought to forge a strong national identity.
The most recent obstacle is a veto by EU member Bulgaria.
Bulgaria blocked the renamed nation’s attempts to join the EU, accusing Skopje of disrespecting shared cultural and historic ties.

The global transition away from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources could trigger financial challenges for India and major developing countries such as Russia, Brazil and China because of their high dependence on revenues from fossil fuel, according to a study by the International Institute of Sustainable Development (IISD).

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Though India is a net importer of petroleum products, it earns substantial revenues — via cesses and taxes — from the consumption of petrol, diesel and oil.
The study finds that by 2050, overall fossil fuel revenues in Brazil, Russia, Indonesia, India and China could be as much as $570 billion lower than a business-as-usual scenario where governments fail to phase down fossil fuels enough to avoid the worst climate impacts.
The widest gaps are expected to occur in India ($178 billion), China ($140 billion), and Russia ($134 billion).
Public revenues from fossil fuel production and consumption currently account for 34% of general government revenue in Russia, 18% in India, and 16% in Indonesia. The share stands at 8% in Brazil, 6% in South Africa, and 5% in China. This includes only direct, first-order, government financial revenues.
By comparison, such revenues form a smaller fraction of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in developed countries. A policy paper by the organisation, Resources for Future, estimates $138 billion as revenue from fossil fuel to the U.S. government in 2019, or about 4.5% of the $3.46 trillion it earned as revenues that year.

A study revealed the presence of high levels of toxic chemical NP in drinking water across India.

About:

Nonylphenol (NP) is commonly used in the production of Nonylphenol Ethoxylates (NPEs), which isused as surfactants as well as in day-to-day consumer products such as detergents, wetting agentsand dispersants.
However, there are no standards exclusively for NP in drinking and surface waters in India.

Impacts in Human:

NP is a Endocrine disruptor associated with adverse effects like birth defects, skinand eye irritation etc.

In Tennis, Serbian star Novak Djokovic won Wimbledon 2022 after beating Australia’s Nick Kyrgios 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 in London. Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan clinched the Women's Singles title.

About:

Novak Djokovic became the fourth player in the open era after Roger Federer, Pete Sampras, and Bjorn Borg to win four Wimbledon titles in a row. Djokovic has a total of seven Wimbledon titles with his last four titles coming in 2018, 2019, 2021, and 2022.
It is Djokovic’s 21st Grand Slam title overall, putting him one behind record-holder Rafael Nadal.