(FREE) UPSC Current Affairs 2024 PDF

Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 22 March 2022

::NATIONAL::

Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY), a government flagship programme has reduced indoor air pollution deaths by 13%, according to an independent study.
The researchers have claimed that the scheme had prevented 1.5 lakhs of pollution-related premature deaths in the year 2019 alone.
The study also claimed that the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) had aided in avoiding at least 1.8 million tones of fine particulate matter (PM 2.5) emissions that year.

About PM Ujjwala Yojana:

Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana, launched on May 1, 2016, aimed at providing concessional LPG connections to over 50 million below poverty line (BPL) families, in three years, with an initial outlay of Rs 1,600 per connection.
Government had achieved the target of the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana in September 2019 by providing cleaner fuel to over 28 crore households in India.
The numbers had upsurged from 61.9% in the year 2015 to 99.8% in the year 2019. According to the Indian Oil Corporation, over new nine crore beneficiaries are also now availing the benefits of the government’s flagship Ujjwala 2.0 scheme.

Himachal Becomes First ‘smoke-free state’

Himachal Pradesh has become the first ‘smoke-free state’ in India.
Further, the Himalayan state has also become the 100% LPG-enabled state in the country.
It simply refers to the fact that 100% of households in Himachal have LPG connections in their houses.

Government has extended the timeline for startups to change convertible notes into equityshares from earlier 5 years to now 10 years.

What is a Convertible Note?

A convertible note is a way for seed investors to invest in a startup that isn’t ready for valuation.
They start as short-term debt and are converted into equity in the issuing company. Investors loan money to the startup and are repaid with equity in the company rather than principal and interest.
The convertible note is automatically changed into equity once a specific milestone has been reached, usually when the company is officially valued for later investments.

Why Are Convertible Notes Used?

Startups that need pre-seed or seed funding use convertible notes to raise money before offering equity funding.
Since founders can buy their shares when they’re incorporated at a price specified in the articles of incorporation, turning around a few months later and selling shares at a significant markup would look suspicious. 
Convertible notes are used to avoid this issue. There often isn’t enough data to form a valuation of the company in the early stages.
Using the seed funding to get the company up and running provides a stronger foundation for valuation before the Series A funding round.

Benefits of Convertible Notes:

Convertible notes allow startups to focus on growing their business before they have to start paying back debt. This is particularly important for tech companies that need to spend a lot of time fine-tuning their product.
Convertible notes are a fast and straightforward way for startups to raise money. Issuing equity is a more complicated process, and convertible notes bypass that by using debt. 
Startup companies with high-growth potential offer an outsized return on their investment when everything goes well.
Particularly with convertible notes with a low valuation cap and a steep discount, investors can end up with a lot of equity obtained at bargain-basement prices.

India ranks 136th in the World Happiness Report 2022.
The Finland becomes the happiest country for the fifth consecutive year.
The top five countries in the list are part of Europe. While the United States held the 16th spot in the happiest countries list.

What is the World Happiness Report?

The World Happiness Report, presents a framework gauging people’s qualitative assessment of their lives, progress and well-being through quantitative indicators.
The report aspires to prioritise discussions on happiness among governments and academics for assessment and establishment of social and economic objectives.
United Nations (U.N.) adopted Resolution 65/309 titled “Happiness: Towards a holistic approach to development” in July 2011.
They called on governments to impart greater importance to happiness and well-being whilst pursuing social and economic development.
The U.N. General Assembly adopted Resolution 66/281 proclaiming March 20 as the International Day of Happiness to be observed annually. The World Happiness Report is released every year on the same date.
Bhutan has a self-devised Gross National Happiness Index that assess happiness and well-being of the population using 33 indicators under 9 domains.

It will soon be a month since Russia invaded Ukraine, and it remains unclear when and how the war might end.Among the scenarios that have been seen as potentially workable is the “Finlandization” of Ukraine.

Crucial findings:

‘Finlandization’ refers to the policy of strict neutrality between Moscow and the West that Finland followed during the decades of the Cold War.
The principle of neutrality was rooted in the Agreement of Friendship, Cooperation, and Mutual Assistance (or YYA Treaty, from the Finnish “Ystävyys-, yhteistyö- ja avunantosopimus”) that Finland signed with the USSR in April 1948.
The 1948 treaty formed the basis of Helsinki-Moscow relations until 1992, when Finland signed a new agreement with post-Soviet Russia. It lay at the heart of Finland’s foreign policy doctrine especially when Juho Kusti Paasikivi (1946-56) and Urho Kekkonen (1956-82) were President, and is known in international relations studies as the “Paasikivi-Kekkonen line”.

Dredging Corporation of India (DCI) and Cochin Shipyard signed an agreement to build India's first domestically-manufacturedhigh-capacity dredger.
It will help in bringing down the logistic costs of cargos.

About:

DCI is a premier dredging organization catering to the dredging and allied services to Major Ports,Minor Ports, Indian Navy etc.
Dredging is the process of desilting river bodies, or removal of soil, mud, and dirt at the shores orthe bottom.
Currently, 70% of our dredging requirement is for maintenance dredging (maintaining waterbodies previously dredged), while the rest accounts for capital dredging (desilting for newprojects).

They are small unmanned aircraft that are packed with explosives that can be flown directly at atank or a group of troops that are destroyed when it hits the target and explodes.
Also called Switchblade drones as their bladelike wings spring out on launch.

Key features:

Difficult to detect on radar, can hit targets without human intervention, based on facial recognition, can adjust the blast radius and are cost effective.
They are presently being supplied to Ukraine by US in war against Russia.