DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS 27th August 2021
EASE 4.0
- The Union Finance Minister undertook the annual performance review of the public sector banks (PSBs) and launched the EASE 4.0 or Enhanced Access and Service Excellence Reform Agenda.
- EASE 4.0 is a common reform agenda for PSBs aimed at institutionalizing clean and smart banking.
- EASE 4.0 commits PSBs to tech-enabled, simplified, and collaborative banking to further the agenda of customer-centric digital transformation.
- EASE Agenda was launched in January 2018 jointly by the government and PSBs.
- It was commissioned through Indian Banks’ Association and authored by Boston Consulting Group.
- EASE 1.0: The EASE 1.0 report showed significant improvement in PSB performance in resolution of Non-Performing Assets (NPAs) transparently.
- EASE 2.0: It was built on the foundation of EASE 1.0 and introduced new reform Action Points across six themes to make reforms journey irreversible, strengthen processes and systems, and drive outcomes.
- Ease 3.0: It seeks to enhance ease of banking in all customer experiences, using technology.
- As part of the EASE Reforms, Doorstep Banking Services is envisaged to provide convenience of banking services to the customers at their doorstep through the universal touch points of Call Centre, Web Portal or Mobile App.
e-Shram Portal
- Registration of Unorganized Workers begins across the Country as Government of India launches the e-Shram Portal.
- Portal will help build a comprehensive National Database of Unorganized Workers (NDUW) in the country.
- Portal will prove to be a huge boost towards last mile delivery of the welfare schemes for crores of unorganized workers: Shri Bhupinder Yadav
- Game changer in the history of the country, where more than 38 Crore workers would register themselves under one portal.
- Registration is totally free, and workers do not have to pay anything.
National Food and Nutrition Campaign for farmers
- National Food and Nutrition Campaign for the farmers is being organized by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR).
- Union Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Shri Kailash Choudhary said that the Government has resolved to solve the problem of malnutrition and has also launched several schemes and programs in this direction.
- Shri Choudhary said that the year 2023 will be celebrated as the International Year of Millets under the leadership of India, which is a matter of pride for India.
- Dr. Trilochan Mohapatra, Director General, ICAR informed that during the festival the achievements of the agriculture sector will be shared among maximum farmers as well as they will be benefitted.
37th Pragati Meeting
- The Prime Minister (PM) chaired the 37th edition of Pro-Active Governance and Timely Implementation (PRAGATI) – the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) based multimodal platform, involving Central and State governments.
- The PM reviewed various projects worth Rs 1,26,000 crores along with the ‘One Nation – One Ration Card’ (ONORC) scheme’.
- The ONORC scheme aims at providing subsidized food grains to migrant workers and their family members at any fair price shop anywhere in the country under the National Food Security Act, 2013.
Northeastern Region District SDG Index
- A milestone towards localizing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) was achieved with the release of the first edition of the Northeastern Region (NER) District SDG Index Report and Dashboard 2021–22 by NITI Aayog and Ministry of Development of Northeastern Region.
- The Index first of its kind in the country as it focuses on the Northeastern Region, which is of critical significance to the country’s development trajectory.
- The Index measures the performance of the districts of the eight States of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura on the Sustainable Development Goals and their corresponding targets and ranks the districts based on the same.
- The index is based on NITI Aayog’s SDG India Index –the principal and official tool for monitoring progress on the SDGs at the national and State/ Union Territory levels and shares the common ethos of benchmarking performance and ranking on the SDGs to foster competition among the districts.
Drone Rules, 2021
- Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS), commonly known as drones, offer tremendous benefits to almost all sectors of the economy like – agriculture, mining, infrastructure, surveillance, emergency response, transportation, geo-spatial mapping, Defence, and law enforcement etc.
- Drones can be significant creators of employment and economic growth due to their reach, versatility, and ease of use, especially in India’s remote and inaccessible areas. In view of its traditional strengths in innovation, information technology, frugal engineering and huge domestic demand, India has the potential to be global drone hub by 2030.
- Key Features of Drone Rules 2021:
- Built on a premise of trust, self-certification, and non-intrusive monitoring.
- Number of forms reduced from 25 to 5.
- Types of fees reduced from 72 to 4.
- Digital sky platform shall be developed as a user-friendly single-window system. There will be minimal human interface and most permissions will be self-generated.
- No remote pilot license required for micro drones (for non-commercial use) and nano drones.
- No requirement for security clearance before issuance of any registration or license.
- No restriction on foreign ownership in Indian drone companies.
- Import of drones to be regulated by DGFT.
- Requirement of import clearance from DGCA abolished.
- Coverage of drones under Drone Rules, 2021 increased from 300 kg to 500 kg. This will cover drone taxis also.
- Drone corridors will be developed for cargo deliveries.
- Drone promotion council to be set up by Government with participation from academia, startups, and other stakeholders to facilitate a growth-oriented regulatory regime.
- More Details: 30 Key Features Of Drone Rules 2021
Kabul airport attack kills 60 Afghans, 12 US troops
- Two suicide bombers and gunmen attacked crowds of Afghans flocking to Kabul’s airport Thursday, transforming a scene of desperation into one of horror in the waning days of an airlift for those fleeing the Taliban takeover.
- At least 60 Afghans and 12 US troops were killed, Afghan and the United States officials said.
- Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the attack outside the Kabul airport.
- The US officials said 11 Marines and one Navy medic were among those who died. They said another 12 service members were wounded and warned the toll could grow. More than 140 Afghans were wounded, an Afghan official said.
- India’s evacuation mission from Afghanistan named “Operation Devi Shakti” so far has evacuated over 800 people amid a deteriorating security situation in Kabul.
- More Details: Kabul Airport Attack Kills 12 US Troops And 60 Afghans
REVIEW QUESTIONS
- Minister of AYUSH
- Shripad Naik
- Sarbananda Sonowal
- Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi
- Thawar Chand Gehlot
ANSWER: B
- Minister of Rural Development
- Narendra Singh Tomar
- Giriraj Singh
- Hardeep Singh Puri
- Dharmendra Pradhan
ANSWER: B
- Minister of Steel
- Dharmendra Pradhan
- Ramchandra Prasad Singh
- Piyush Goyal
- Ashwini Vaishnaw
ANSWER: B
- Minister of Food Processing Industries
- Harsimrat Kaur Badal
- Narendra Singh Tomar
- Pashupati Kumar Paras
- Gajendra Singh Shekhawat
ANSWER: C
- Minister of Jal Shakti
- Gajendra Singh Shekhawat
- Ravi Shankar Prasad
- Raj Kumar Singh
- Kiren Rijiju
ANSWER: A
- Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas
- Hardeep Singh Puri
- Raj Kumar Singh
- Kiren Rijiju
- Mansukh L. Mandaviya
ANSWER: A
- Minister of Chemicals and Fertilizers
- Mansukh L. Mandaviya
- D. V. Sadananda Gowda
- Prakash Javadekar
- Santosh Kumar Gangwar
ANSWER: A
- Minister of Heavy Industries
- Mansukh L. Mandaviya
- D. V. Sadananda Gowda
- Mahendra Nath Pandey
- Santosh Kumar Gangwar
ANSWER: C
- Minister of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying
- Giriraj Singh
- Parshottam Rupala
- Jitendra Singh
- G. Kishan Reddy
ANSWER: B
- Ministry of Information and Broadcasting
- Anurag Thakur
- Kiren Rijiju
- Pralhad Singh Patel
- Parshottam Rupala
ANSWER: A
