Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 08 September 2021

SSC CGL Current Affairs

Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 08 September 2021

::NATIONAL::

PM Narendra Modi launches major education initiatives

Modi also announced the launch of Vidyanjali 2.0, a portal that will facilitate donations, contributions from Corporate Social Responsibility funds, and volunteering, all aimed at developing and improving schools.
From educational tools for the differently abled to an assessment framework for schools to a new teacher’s training programme, Prime Minister NarendraModi launched several important educational initiatives which he said were aimed at ushering an “education revolution” in the country and placing India’s educational system on the “global map”.
Addressing the inaugural session of an educational conclave organised by the union education ministry under its ongoing “ShikshakParv” celebration, the PM said “we have to constantly redefine and redesign our teaching-learning process in order to make our education sector world-class; in this rapidly changing era, our teachers also have to learn about new systems and techniques rapidly.”
The ‘shikshakparv’ is being observed between September 5 and September 17 to recognise the contributions of teachers. Between September 8 and September 17, the ministry will conduct webinars on themes including technology in education, nurturing inclusive classrooms, foundation literacy and numeracy, and other practices and initiatives which can be adopted by the schools across the country.

Environment Minister BhupendraYadav launched “PRAN” portal for regulation of air pollution in non-attainment cities under National Clean Air Program (NCAP)

Union Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change on Tuesday launched 'PRANA', a national portal for Regulation of Air Pollution in Non-Attainment Cities and inaugurated a smog tower in Delhi coinciding with the International Day of Clean Air for Blue Skies.
The PRANA portal will provide all information related to various policies/programmes/schemes/activities of the stakeholders along with the progress made towards improvement in air quality across the country. This portal will be a platform for monitoring and feedback on all efforts made for air quality improvement.
"These forests will work as lungs of the cities and will help in improving air quality of these cities," Yadav said as he said in 2018, out of 132 cities, only 6 cities had particulate matter (PM) concentration less than National Ambient Air Quality Standards, which increased to 11 cities in 2019 and 28 cities in 2020.
"Also, 86 cities showed better air quality in 2019 in comparison to 2018, which increased to 104 cities in 2020," he said.
With the portal, information should bring attitudinal and behavioural changes, he said.
Minister of State for Environment, Forests & Climate Change Ashwini Kumar Choubey gave a slogan of 'SwachchaPavan, Neel Gagan' (clean air for blue sky), to which Yadav complimented by adding, 'Swastha Man aurSwasthaPran' (healthy mind, healthy body because of healthy air)."

::INTERNATIONAL::

Mullah Hassan Akhund appointed prime minister of new Taliban government; Mullah Baradar will be his deputy

The Taliban announced a new government filled with senior officials from the militant group, including the leader of a U.S.-designated terrorist organization.
Mullah Mohammad Hassan, the little-known head of the Taliban’s leadership council, was named as acting prime minister, spokesman ZabihullahMujahed said at a press conference in Kabul on Tuesday. Taliban co-founder Mullah Abdul GhaniBaradar, the main public face of the group, will serve as his deputy.
SirajuddinHaqqani -- the leader of the Haqqani Network, a U.S.-designated terrorist organization -- will serve as acting interior minister. That may complicate any moves by the U.S. to cooperate with the Taliban, particularly as President Joe Biden urges the Taliban to cut all ties with terrorist groups.
The U.S. and its allies have been watching to see whether the Taliban would form an inclusive government that can stabilize the country and prevent a return to civil war. Other demands include freedom of travel for those who want to leave Afghanistan and rights for women, who faced extreme repression when the Taliban last held power at the turn of the century.

::ECONOMY::

Supreme Court directs the government to constitute the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Appellate Tribunal

“The constitution of National and other Benches of the appellate tribunal under Section 109 of the CGST Act, 2017 is an absolute necessity of the hour and the respondents (government) cannot drag its constitution for an indefinite period,” Sahni said, adding that the litigants are unable to get speedy justice.
A PIL in the Supreme Court has sought directions to the Centre for setting up of the Goods and Services Tax Appellate Tribunal, as mandated under the Central Goods and Services Act, 2017, to avoid hardships caused to litigants and to curb huge backlog of cases.
Even after four years of the CGST Act coming into existence, the tribunal has not been constituted, activist lawyer AmitSahni alleged in its PIL. The GST Bill was passed in both the Houses of Parliament in 2016 and the Central Goods and Services Act, 2017, came into force from July 1 that year only.
“Any person aggrieved by the order passed by the Appellate Authority under Section 107 or by the Revisional Authority under Section 108 may appeal to the appellate tribunal under Section 112 within three months of passing such order,” the petition said, adding that these appeal arising against the orders/directions passed by the appellate authority are pending due to absence of any appellate tribunal, thus defying the objectives of introducing the GST Act.
Earlier this year, the Allahabad High Court had also directed the central government to specify by notification under the CGST Act, the creation of the state bench of GST Tribunal at Allahabad and four area benches at Ghaziabad, Lucknow, Varanasi and Agra.

::SCIENCE AND TECH::

NASA confirms first rock sample collection on Mars by Perseverance rover

NASA’s Perseverance rover today completed the collection of the first sample of Martian rock, a core from Jezero Crater slightly thicker than a pencil. Mission controllers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Southern California received data that confirmed the historic milestone.
The core is now enclosed in an airtight titanium sample tube, making it available for retrieval in the future. Through the Mars Sample Return campaign, NASA and ESA (European Space Agency) are planning a series of future missions to return the rover’s sample tubes to Earth for closer study. These samples would be the first set of scientifically identified and selected materials returned to our planet from another.
“NASA has a history of setting ambitious goals and then accomplishing them, reflecting our nation’s commitment to discovery and innovation,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. “This is a momentous achievement and I can’t wait to see the incredible discoveries produced by Perseverance and our team.”
Along with identifying and collecting samples of rock and regolith (broken rock and dust) while searching for signs of ancient microscopic life, Perseverance’s mission includes studying the Jezero region to understand the geology and ancient habitability of the area, as well as to characterize the past climate.
“For all of NASA science, this is truly a historic moment,” said Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for science at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “Just as the Apollo Moon missions demonstrated the enduring scientific value of returning samples from other worlds for analysis here on our planet, we will be doing the same with the samples Perseverance collects as part of our Mars Sample Return program.

::SPORTS::

Coal India Limited contributed Rs 75 crore to the National Sports Development Fund of the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports

The Coal India Limited has contributed Rs 75 crore towards the National Sports Development Fund (NSDF), which will be utilised for the construction of three hostels at Sports Authority of India’s (SAI) Academies at Bangalore, Bhopal and Lakshmibai National Institute Of Physical Education, Gwalior.
Coal India handed over the cheque towards its contribution for NSDF, as part of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), to Anurag Thakur, Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports here on Tuesday.
During his address, Thakur said that the contribution by Coal India to NSDF has come at an appropriate time in the backdrop of unprecedented performance by Indian sportspersons at the recent Olympics and Paralympics in Tokyo. He congratulated the Indian athletes for their best-ever performance at the Paralympics and for winning 19 medals at the Tokyo Paralympic Games.