(FREE) UPSC Current Affairs 2024 PDF

Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 31 August 2021

::NATIONAL::

The employment exchange, tentatively named SACRED, acronym for Senior Able Citizens for Re-Employment in Dignity, will start off as a facilitatory web portal, as per plans drawn up by the social justice and empowerment ministry.

About:

The inter-ministerial committee formed to set up the exchange has approved Rs 10 crore for the purpose and another Rs 60 crore for creation and maintenance of the portal and its publicity for the next five years.
Taking a cue from the gig economy model, the portal will allow for various work models – full-time, part-time, freelance and pro bono options – which can work to mutual benefit, said people aware of the matter. Retraining and reskilling options are also being planned to bring senior citizens up to date, if required.

Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) said that, electoral bonds worth ₹3,429.56 crore were redeemed by parties in 2019-20, and 87.29% of this was received by four national parties – the BJP, Congress, TMC and the NCP.

About:

In electoral bond is like a promissory note that can be bought by any Indian citizen or company incorporated in India from select branches of State Bank of India.
The citizen or corporate can then donate the same to any eligible political party of his/her choice.
The bonds are similar to bank notes that are payable to the bearer on demand and are free of interest. An individual or party will be allowed to purchase these bonds digitally or through cheque.

When was electoral bond introduced?

The electoral bonds were introduced with the Finance Bill (2017). On January 29, 2018 the Narendra Modi-led NDA government notified the Electoral Bond Scheme 2018.

How to use electoral bonds?

Using electoral bonds is quite simple. The bonds will be issued in multiples of Rs 1,000, Rs 10,000, Rs 100,000 and Rs 1 crore (the range of a bond is between Rs 1,000 to Rs 1 crore). These will be available at some branches of SBI.
A donor with a KYC-compliant account can purchase the bonds and can then donate them to the party or individual of their choice.
Now, the receiver can encash the bonds through the party's verified account. The electoral bond will be valid only for fifteen days.

When are the bonds available for purchase?

The electoral bonds are available for purchase for 10 days in the beginning of every quarter.
The first 10 days of January, April, July and October has been specified by the government for purchase of electoral bonds. An additional period of 30 days shall be specified by the government in the year of Lok Sabha elections.

Chinese regulators slashed the amount of time players under the age of 18 can spend on online games to an hour of gameplay on Fridays, weekends and holidays.

About:

The rules, published by the National Press and Publication Administration, said users under the age of 18 will only be able to play games from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. local time on those days.
Online gaming companies will be barred from providing gaming services to them in any form outside those hours and need to ensure they have put real name verification systems in place, said the regulator, which oversees the country's video games market.
Previously, China limited the total length of time minors could access online games to three hours on holiday or 1.5 hours on other days.

Recently, India was elected to the Council of Administration (CA) at 27thUniversal Postal Union (UPU) Congress in Abidjan(Ivory Coast).
It was established in 1874 and located in Bern, Switzerland). UPU is a specialized agency of UN with 192 membercountries.
Any non-member country of the United Nations may become a UPU member provided that itsrequest is approved by at least two-thirds of the member countries of the UPU.
UPU aim is to establish international regulations for postal services and to promote cooperationin postal matters.

India is proposing to mandate using green hydrogen in fertilizer and in refining.

Green Hydrogen

Use of green hydrogen would cut imports of ammonia andnatural gas required for fertiliser production.
Green hydrogen is hydrogen produced from electrolysis(splitting of water into oxygen and hydrogen) by passingelectricity from renewable sources resulting in no carbonemissions.
National Hydrogen Energy Mission has been launched to enablecost competitive green hydrogen production.

Researchers from the Indian Institute of Astrophysics have observed three supermassive blackholes from three galaxies merging to form a triple active galactic nuclei (AGN).

About AGN:

Many galaxies have very bright nuclei, so bright that the central region can be more luminousthan the remaining galaxy light. These nuclei are called AGN.
Much of the energy output of AGNs is of a non-thermal (non-stellar) type of emission, with manyAGN being strong emitters of X-rays, radio and ultraviolet radiation, as well as optical radiation.

Sumit Antil wins F64 Javelin Throw gold medal with World record on his debut at Paralympic Games in Tokyo.
The 23-year-old Sumit Antil, who switched to Javelin Throw from wrestling only in 2018, made his intentions clear with an opening throw of 66.95m for a World record.
He improved that to 68.08m with his second throw. His nearest rival, Australia’s Michael Burian had a best throw of 66.29m and Sri Lanka’s Dulan Kodithuwakku got bronze with a best effort of 65.61m.
Sumit Antil, who trains at the Sports Authority of India’s Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium here, was involved in a motorcycle accident as a 17-year-old in 2015 and lost his left leg below the knee. That forced him to give up his dreams of pursuing a career in wrestling. But, using a prosthetic leg, he has been an inspiration, taking a three-year break from sport to focus on his education.