Daily Current Affairs for State Exams: 25 March 2022

Daily Current Affairs 25/03/2022

Important News: World

NASA's Artemis I moon mission

Why in News

Recently, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) rolled out its Artemis I moon mission to the launchpad for testing at the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida, United States.

Key Points

NASA’s Artemis mission is touted as the next generation of lunar exploration.
With the Artemis program, NASA aims to land humans on the moon by 2024.
Artemis I (formerly Exploration Mission-1) is the first of NASA's deep space exploration systems.
It is an uncrewed space mission where the spacecraft will launch on Space Launch System (SLS) — the most powerful rocket in the world — and travel 2,80,000 miles from the earth for over four to six weeks during the course of the mission.

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)’s Moon Exploration Efforts:

Chandrayaan 1
Chandrayaan-2
ISRO recently announced India’s third lunar mission Chandrayaan-3, which will comprise a lander and a rover.

Source: The Hindu

Important News: India

About 7% of India’s workforce will need digital skills training in next year: Report

Why in News

About 27.3 million workers, representing 7% of the country’s workforce, will require digital skills training for their jobs over the next year, as demand for such skills, especially cloud-related skills, became more acute during the pandemic, according to a new report.

Key Points

The report – ‘Building Digital Skills for the changing workforce’, has been prepared by AlphaBeta and commissioned by Amazon Web Services, Inc. (AWS).
It is based on a survey of 1,012 digitally skilled workers in both technology and non-technology roles, and 303 employers in India, with representation from the public, private, and non-profit sectors.

Related Initiatives:

IndiaSkills 2021
DigiSaksham initiative
YuWaah Platform
Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana
National Career Service Project
Skills Acquisition and Knowledge Awareness for Livelihood (SANKALP)
Young, Upcoming and Versatile Authors’ (YUVA) scheme
Kaushalacharya Awards
Scheme for Higher Education Youth in Apprenticeship and Skills (SHREYAS)
National Skills Qualification Framework
Atmanirbhar Skilled Employee Employer Mapping (ASEEM)

Source: The Hindu

Ministry of Education to conduct first-of-its-kind 'Foundational Learning Study'

Why in News

The Ministry of Education will be conducting a ‘Foundational Learning Study’ in order to draw a first-hand understanding of the learning levels of the students at the foundational learning stage (at the end of Grade 3).
The study is first of its kind in the world as it aims to set-up benchmarks for reading with comprehension in 22 Indian languages.

Key Points

About Foundational Learning Study:

The Foundational Learning Study will be conducted by the NCERT in all States and UTs over a window of four days i.e., 23rd, to 26th March, 2022 in the sampled schools.
Approximately, 10000 schools and 1 lakh students are expected to participate in this study.

Specific objectives of the foundational learning study:

To conduct a large-scale assessment of the foundational learning of grade 3 students to establish a baseline for the NIPUN Bharat mission
To establish reading proficiency benchmarks for fluency with comprehension for each of the languages being assessed under the study
To provide the data for SDG 4.1.1. (Covering aspects of foundational literacy and numeracy)

Note: The Ministry of Education, has launched the ‘National Initiative for Proficiency in Reading with Understanding and Numeracy’ (NIPUN- BHARAT) mission to provide the roadmap for strengthening the domain of foundational learning at the national level.

Source: India Today

Union Minister of Rural Development felicitates 75 trained candidates of Project UNNATI under Mahatma Gandhi NREGA

Why in News

Union Minister of Rural Development & Panchayati Raj, Giriraj Singh felicitated 75 trained candidates of Project UNNATI under Mahatma Gandhi NREGA at Dr. Ambedkar International Centre, New Delhi as part of the celebration of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav.
Along with 75 Trained Candidates of Project UNNATI, the Minister also felicitated Bankers associated with RSETI of States/UTs, who have contributed towards the successful completion of training of Project UNNATI candidates.

Key Points

About Project 'UNNATI':

Project 'UNNATI', as a skilling project intends to upgrade the skill base of the Mahatma Gandhi NREGA beneficiaries, and thereby improving their livelihoods, so that they can move from the current partial employment to full-time employment and hence reduce their dependence on Mahatma Gandhi NREGS.
This project is meant for providing training for one adult member (of age 18-45 years old) of a household who has completed 100 days of work under Mahatma Gandhi NREGA in the previous financial year from the year of commencement of the project. The households from which candidates are selected for the training, are continuing to enjoy 100 days of work under Mahatma Gandhi NREGA.
As of now, a total of 2,00,000 beneficiaries shall be imparted training under this project in a span of three years in 26 States and 2 UTs. A total number of 18,166 candidates have been trained under Project UNNATI.

Source: PIB

4th Poshan Pakhwada

Why in News

The Ministry of Women and Child Development is celebrating the 4^thPoshan Pakhwada from 21^st March to 4^th April, 2022.

Key Points

For the celebration of Poshan Pakhwada, the emphasis is on two broad areas viz. identification & celebration of Healthy Child, and integration of modern and traditional practices for healthy India within the thematic areas around Poshan MITRA (Modern, IT based, Traditional& Regional Activities).

Under the theme for integration of modern and traditional practices, special focus will be on the following:

Measurement of Height and Weight of Children under 6 years who are beneficiaries in the Anganwadi Centres
Activities focused around Gender Sensitive Water Management and generating awareness in women about the importance of water conservation and promoting rainwater harvesting structures including in Anganwadi Centres
Test Treat and Talk Anaemia
Promote traditional food for healthy mother and child esp. in Tribal Areas

About POSHAN Abhiyan:

POSHAN Abhiyan launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 8th March 2018 has reached a long way in ensuring wider people’s participation.
Poshan Abhiyan endeavors to improve nutritional outcomes in a holistic manner in convergence with other Ministries.
Ministry of Women and Child Development will be the nodal Ministry for coordinating activities during the Poshan Pakhwada.

Source: newsonair

Important News: Defence

Exercise ‘Suraksha Kavach 2’

Why in News

Recently, Agnibaaz Division organized a joint exercise ‘Suraksha Kavach 2’ between Indian Army and Maharashtra Police at Lullanagar, Pune.

Key Points

The aim of the exercise was to harmonize the drills and procedures undertaken by Army and Police to counter any likely terrorist actions in Pune.
The exercise involved the participation of the Counter-Terrorism Task Force (CTTF) of the Indian Army, Anti-Terrorism Squad of Maharashtra Police along with Quick Reaction Teams (QRTs), Dog Squads, and Bomb Disposal Teams of both agencies.

Source: HT

Important News: Science

Jitendra Singh announces the launch of Data-Driven Research to Eradicate TB- “Dare2eraD TB”

Why in News

Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science & Technology Dr. Jitendra Singh announced the launch of Data-Driven Research to Eradicate TB- “Dare2eraD TB”by the Department of Biotechnology, M/o Science & Technology, on the occasion of World TB Day.

Key Points

In March 2018, Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired the Delhi End TB Summit. At the Summit, the Prime Minister gave the clarion call to End TB in India by 2025, five years ahead of the TB-related SDG targets of 2030.
Singh said that in India, we are still carrying on with the stigma of Tuberculosis with around 2-3 million cases every year, which is a matter of concern.

India’s Efforts:

National Strategic Plan (NSP) for Tuberculosis Elimination (2017-2025), The Nikshay Ecosystem (National TB information system), Nikshay Poshan Yojana (NPY- financial support), TB Harega Desh Jeetega Campaign.

Source: PIB

Important News: Sports

India’s First-ever SAI National Centre of Excellence for Mountain Terrain Biking and Bicycle Motocross to be set up in Shimla

Why in News

The Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports in collaboration with the Youth Services and Sports department of the Government of Himachal Pradesh is set to build India’s first-ever SAI National Centre of Excellence (NCOE) to train athletes in Mountain Terrain Biking and Bicycle Motocross in Shimla.

Key Points

The NCOE is being set up to provide world-class training facilities to Indian cyclists so that they can compete for the 18 Olympic medals in the disciplines of MTB and BMX.
This centre, one of the best high-altitude training facilities in the world, at an altitude of 2000 meters above sea level, will have world-class infrastructure, a state-of-art sports science high-performance center, Olympic-level track and coaches of international repute, where India’s best cyclists and local sporting talent can train.

Source: PIB

Important News: Personality

Former Chief Justice of India R C Lahoti passes away

Former Chief Justice of India (CJI) Ramesh Chandra Lahoti passed away at 81.
Justice Lahoti was appointed the 35th CJI on June 1, 2004. He retired on November 1, 2005.
He was a former independent director on the Board of directors of the Press Trust of India.

Source: The Hindu