Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 30 August 2021

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The civil aviation ministry has notified the liberalised Drone Rules, 2021, that replace the Unmanned Aircraft System Rules (UAS), 2021, which came into force in March.
The new rules are aimed at making it significantly easier for people and companies to own and operate drones. They also streamline a labyrinthine certification process for manufacturers, importers and users.

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According to the new rules, special drone corridors will be developed for cargo deliveries. Several approvals have also been abolished.
They include unique authorisation number, unique prototype identification number, certificate of manufacturing and airworthiness, certificate of conformance, certificate of maintenance, import clearance, acceptance of existing drones, operator permits, authorisation of R&D organisation, student remote pilot licence, remote pilot instructor authorisation, drone port authorisation etc.
Building on its attempt to make rules easier, the new rules say no pilot licence will be required for micro drones (for non-commercial use), nano drones and for R&D organisations.
There will no longer be a ban on the use of drones by foreign-owned companies registered in India. No security clearance will be required before any registration or licence is issued.

Union Minister for Labour and Employment Minister has launched the e-Shram portal. It is a database of unorganised sector workers.

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The government aims to register 38 crore unorganised workers, such as construction labourers, migrant workforce, street vendors and domestic workers, among others.
The workers will be issued an e-Shram card containing a 12 digit unique number, which, going ahead, will help in including them in social security schemes.
The registration of workers on the portal will be coordinated by the Labour Ministry, state governments, trade unions and CSCs.
A worker can register on the portal using his/her Aadhaar card number and bank account details, apart from filling other necessary details like date of birth, home town, mobile number and social category.

The Union Cabinethas approved the signing of Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) and Institute of Professional Accountants of Russia (IPAR).

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The Memorandum of Understanding between ICAI of India and IPAR of Russia, is expected to give ICAI Members a boost in their quest for professional possibilities in Russia.
The goal of the MoU is to collaborate in order to build a mutually beneficial relationship that benefits both ICAI members and the two organisations.
The ICAI will be able to help deepen the partnership with Russia by providing Export of Accountancy Services under the terms of the MoU.

About IPAR of Russia

The Institute of Professional Accountants of Russia (IPAR) is the largest not-for-profit accounting organisation of Russia.
IPAR was founded in the year 1997 under the auspices of the Ministry of Finance of the country to carry out the government’s policy of accounting reform and to bring together members of the profession.

About ICAI

The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India is a statutory body which was established under the Chartered Accountants Act, 1949 to regulate the profession of Chartered Accountants in the country.
ICAI has made significant contributions to the advancement of the globally recognised profession of chartered accountants via education, professional growth, and the maintenance of high accounting, auditing, and ethical standards.

Scores of people were killed in several explosions at Kabul’s Hamid Karzai Airport.
The Afghan offshoot of the terror organization “Islamic State,” known as ISIS-Khorasan, IS-K or ISIS-K claimed responsibility for the attacks.
The group takes its name from the Khorasan Province, an area that once included wide swaths of Afghanistan, Iran and central Asia in the Middle Ages.

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Islamic State in Khorasan Province (ISK) is also known as ISISK, IS-KP, or ISIS-K. The group takes its name from the Khorasan Province, an area that once included wide swaths of Afghanistan, Iran and central Asia in the Middle Ages.
It is a militant branch of the ISIS, mainly active in the border region of eastern Afghanistan and northern Pakistan (Nangarhar province in the eastern part of Afghanistan bordering Pakistan). However, its area of operations also includes other parts of South Asia, such as India where individuals have pledged allegiance to it.

It was set up in 2015

Activities: IS-K has targeted Afghan security forces, Afghan politicians and ministries, the Taliban, religious minorities, including Shia Muslims and Sikhs, US and NATO forces, and international agencies, including aid organisations. However, it has failed to hold any territory in the region, suffering huge losses because of Taliban and US-led military operations.
It recruits both Afghan and Pakistani jihadists. it mainly comprises defectors from Tehrik-i-Taliban (TTP) and Afghan Taliban who don't see their own organisation as extreme enough. However, some maintain that ISKP is run by Pakistan’s Inter State Intelligence.

According to CRISIL, there are only a few takers for the debt restructuring facility offered by theRBI under its Resolution Framework 2.0 amid demand recovery.

About Resolution framework 2.0:

Released in May 2021 for Covid related stressed assets of individuals, small businesses and micro,small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) with aggregate exposure of up to Rs. 25 crores.
Facility was available for entities which had not availed benefits under earlier restructuring frameworks and were classified as standard accounts as on March 31, 2021.

It is organised by the Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR&D) under Ministry ofHome Affairs in coordination with the Innovation Cell of the Ministry of Education and AICTE.

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It is unique national initiative to identify innovative concepts and technology solutions for addressing the security challenges of the 21st century faced by our intelligence agencies.
Challenges like Fake Content Identification, predictive Cyber Crime data analytics, etc.
Manthan 2021 will be held in two phases.
In the first phase, the participants will submit their concepts against the problem statements which they want to solve on the portal.
The ideas will be evaluated by a group of experts and only the innovative ideas will be selected for the second round scheduled from November 28.