Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 15 April 2021

SSC CGL Current Affairs

Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 15 April 2021

::NATIONAL::

Union Education Minister addresses the 34th Convocation of IGNOU

Union Minister of Education Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank' addressed at the 34th Convocation of Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) through virtual mode.
The University awarded 2, 37,844 degrees, diplomas and certificates of different programmes to the successful students at 34th convocation today. The Convocation function was held virtually from the IGNOU Headquarter in light of the surge in COVD-19 cases.
Congratulating the successful students Union Minister of Education lauded the role played by IGNOU since its inception in making quality higher education accessible to all through the affordable Open and Distance Mode.
The Minister in his speech stressed on the need to provide education that could make one self-reliant. He further said that Self- Reliance is the key-highlight of the New Education Policy that integrates vocational education bringing constructive changes in the education system. In order to achieve the goal of 50% GER (Gross Enrolment Ratio) by 2035, the university will have to be a crucial contributor, he added.
Highlighting the Choice Based Credit System (CBCS) which is a key part of the New Education Policy, 2020, the Minister said that it provides learners with the flexibility to choose his bouquet of courses and also letting him/her to complete it even after a gap. He urged the university to revamp the existing undergraduate and postgraduate programmes while working on the new programmes according to the needs of the country which not only provide education but also employment to accrue the demographic dividend. On the occasion, he congratulated the University for getting NAAC A++ grade. The Minister also congratulated the meritorious students for their performance.
29 Medals were awarded to the meritorious students at the ceremony virtually. 55 PhD and 13 MPhil Degree certificates were also conferred to the successful students in different streams at the convocation.
This time female students have excelled and out of total 29 medals, 21 were awarded to female students and of the total Phd and MPhil degrees awarded, 37 were to female students.

::INTERNATIONAL::

Parcel train with 468 tonnes of cotton yarn from India reaches Bangladesh

A parcel train containing 468 tonnes of cotton yarn arrived at Benapole in Bangladesh on Tuesday. The train has 20 parcel vans and it covered a distance of 1700 kilometres after being flagged from the Ambala Cantonment Station on 27 June.
It is for the first time that cotton yarn has been sent from India through the rail route to Bangladesh. Earlier, the cotton yarn was being sent by road in small quantities which was expensive.
Moving consignment by goods train required the bulk mobilisation of the cotton yarn. The Indian Railway authorities took the initiative to facilitate movement of small consignments of upto 500 tonnes in each trip and scheduled a special train for Bangladesh.
The consignment will also contribute to the Bangladesh made clothing and textile business.

::ECONOMY::

NCDC (National Cooperative Development Corporation) has obtained a loan of Rs 600 crore from Deutsche Bank of Germany for lending to cooperative societies in the country

The National Cooperative Development Corporation, NCDC has secured Rs 600 crore loan from Deutsche Bank, Germany's largest bank, for onward lending to cooperatives in the country. An agreement in this regard was inked today between NCDC and the German Bank in presence of Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar in New Delhi.
The Minister also presided over the signing of an agreement between the Indian Chamber of Commerce and NCDC to boost farmers' linkages with markets.
Speaking on the occasion, MrTomar said, Prime Minister NarendraModi, has given a new vision to India's agrarian landscape and also to the economic relations with Germany. He added that the Farmer Producer Organizations being set up in the country would be able to access easier credit and market through the NCDC agreements with ICC and Deutsche Bank and it will help small and marginal farmers.

:: SCIENCE AND TECH::

Astronomers find a group of appearing and disappearing stars

An international collaboration of astronomers has identified a curious occurrence of nine stars like objects that appeared and vanished in a small region within half an hour in an old photographic plate.
Astronomers collaborating across counties track vanishing and appearing celestial objects by comparing old images of the night sky with new modern one, register unnatural phenomena, and probe deep into such phenomena to record changes in the Universe.
Scientists from Sweden, Spain, USA, Ukraine, and India, including Dr. Alok C. Gupta, Scientist from ARIES, investigated early form of photography that used glass plates to capture images of the night sky from the 12th of April 1950, exposed at Palomar Observatory in California, USA and detected these transient stars which were not to be found in photographs half an hour later and not traced since then.
Such a group of objects appearing and disappearing at the same time have been detected for the first time in the history of astronomy.
The astronomers have not found any explanation in well-established astrophysical phenomena like gravitational lensing, fast radio bursts, or any variable star that could be responsible for this cluster of fast changes in the sky.

::SPORTS::

Asian Wrestling Championship: India wins gold, two bronze medals

Wrestling, SaritaMor stamped her authority in the Asian Wrestling Championships in Almaty, Kazakhstan by defending the women's 59 kg title. Indian women also won two bronze medals through Seema and Pooja besides Sarita's gold.
The 25-year-old Haryana wrestler made a dramatic turnaround in the closing stages of the six-minute final bout to score a thrilling 10-7 win over Mongolia's ShoovdorBaatarjav.
In the Asian Championships held in February 2020 in New Delhi, Sarita had won gold while in the 2017 edition of the continental competition, she had won silver in 58kg. India picked up their second medal, a bronze in the women's 50 kg category, when Seema scored a thumping 10-0 win over Yung Hsun Lin of Taipei.