Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 04 July 2021

SSC CGL Current Affairs

Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 04 July 2021

::NATIONAL::

Kejriwal demands PM Narendra Modi to give Bharat Ratna to medical fraternity

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to consider awarding Bharat Ratna to healthcare professionals such as doctors, nurses and paramedics’ community in the country for their services during the Covid-19 pandemic. Bharat Ratna is India’s highest civilian honour given yearly.
“I want to request the central government to award this year’s Bharat Ratna to an ‘Indian Doctor’. By an ‘Indian Doctor’, I mean the entire medical community - all doctors, nurses and paramedics should be given the award, collectively,” CM Kejriwal said in his letter to the Prime Minister, adding that this was the best way to pay homage to all those who were martyred while serving the nation while on Covid duties.
According to the Indian Medical Association estimate 1,492 doctors have succumbed to Covid-19 pandemic apart from a large number of other healthcare professionals. The Kejriwal government has been giving out an ex-gratia of ₹1 crore to the families of frontline workers and doctors who lost their lives on Covid duty.
The Bharat Ratna award is conferred yearly in recognition of exceptional service/performance without distinction of race, occupation, position, or sex to in the fields of arts, literature, science, public services or any field of human endeavour.

::INTERNATIONAL::

INS Surveyor completes survey support of MV X-Press Pearl at Colombo Port

Indian Navy's Hydrographic Survey Ship INS Sarvekshak successfully completed survey action around the site of ill-fated MV X-Press Pearl on July 2 and handed over the survey data to the Sri Lankan authorities.
The ship equipped with the state of the art survey equipment including the Side Scan Sonar was deployed on June 25th at the request of the Government of Sri Lanka, said a press release of the Ministry of Defence.
The survey operations in three search areas around the wreck were progressed in coordination with Sri Lanka Navy and Sri Lanka's National Aquatic Resources Research and Development Agency (NARA).
The ship undertook a total of 807 miles of Side Scan Sonar survey and identified 54 prominent underwater debris from MV X-Press Pearl and also one additional uncharted wreck, read the official release.
The survey of the wreckage area would facilitate the issuance of advisory to both mariners and fishermen, and the subsequent removal of debris by Sri Lankan authorities.
INS Sarvekshak is based at Southern Naval Command at Kochi and is fitted with state-of-the-art survey equipment like Deep Sea Multi beam echo sounder system, Side Scan Sonar, Sound Velocity Profilers, and a fully automated digital surveying and processing system.
In addition, the ship carries a Chetak helicopter which was extensively deployed during the survey for aerial recce. In the past, INS Sarvekshak has also undertaken foreign cooperation surveys in Sri Lanka, Mauritius, Seychelles, Tanzania and Kenya, said the release.

::ECONOMY::

GAIL eyes expansion in petrochemicals, renewables

State-owned GAIL India Ltd is eyeing expansion in petrochemicals, specialty chemicals and renewables as it pivots a new strategy to expand the business beyond natural gas, its chairman Manoj Jain said.
The nation's largest gas marketer and shipper has adopted a revised future blueprint, called 'Strategy 2030' to define its journey through the next decade. "This strategic plan will help us to address our challenges in changing industry scenarios and provide new areas for growth with geographic expansion," he told PTI in an interview.
GAIL transports over 70 per cent of all gas shipped in the country through its network of 13,340-km network of natural gas trunk pipelines. It sells 55 per cent of all natural gas in the country and has petrochemical plants at Pata in Uttar Pradesh and Lepatkata in Assam that gives it a 17.5 per cent market share.
The firm will convert an existing LPG Plant at Usar in Raigad district of Maharashtra into 500,000 tonnes per annum polypropylene complex with an estimated investment of ₹8,800 crore by 2023-24, he said adding the company will explore opportunities in the petrochemicals segment to meet high future demand of polyethylene and polypropylene.

::SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY::

Astronauts at China's new space station conduct first spacewalk

One of the astronauts - Liu Boming, was transported via mechanical arm to a work site and the other - Tang Hongbo was moved by climbing on the outside of the cabin.
Astronauts at China's new space station conducted their first spacewalk on Sunday, news agency AFP reported quoting the Chinese state media. This comes as part of Beijing's plan to expand its extraterrestrial ambitions.
Three spacemen blasted off in June, docking at the Tiangong station where they are to remain for three months in China's longest crewed mission to date. On Sunday morning, two of them exited the core cabin, said state broadcaster CCTV.
One of the astronauts - Liu Boming, was transported via mechanical arm to a work site and the other - Tang Hongbo was moved by climbing on the outside of the cabin. Their mission involves elevating the panoramic camera outside the Tianhe core module, as well as verifying the robotic arm's transfer capability.
Television footage showed the astronauts preparing for the spacewalk by donning gear and conducting health checks while exercising in the cabin. The astronauts were later shown opening the cabin door and exiting the module, in the first of two spacewalks planned for the mission, both expected to last six or seven hours.
The crew underwent more than 6,000 hours of training for preparation.

::SPORTS::

Norway's KarstenWarholm sets a world record in the men's 400m hurdles at the Diamond League Athletics in Oslo

Norway’s KarstenWarholm broke Kevin Young’s 29-year-old 400m hurdles world record when he completed the race in 46.70 seconds at the Diamond League meeting in Oslo on Thursday.
Warholm beat 1992 Olympic champion Young’s mark of 46.78secs, which was set four years before the Norwegian was born and was the longest-standing record in men’s track.