Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 01 May 2021

SSC CGL Current Affairs

Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 01 May 2021

::NATIONAL::

Telangana government gets nod for delivery of covid 19 vaccine by drone

In a key development, the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) & Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Friday granted a conditional exemption to the Government of Telangana for conducting experimental Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) drone flights for delivery of vaccines. The exemption, which is granted to the government of Telangana for a period of one year or until further orders, is intended to achieve the dual objective of faster vaccine delivery and improved healthcare access by ensuring primary healthcare delivery at the citizen’s doorstep.
Announcing the news on its official Twitter handle, MoCA wrote, "GoI, in the exercise of the powers conferred by Rule 70 of the UAS Rules, 2021, granted Govt of Telangana conditional exemption from the rules, subject to complete adherence to the conditions and the directions/exemptions issued (or to be issued in future) by MoCA."
In another tweet, the ministry cleared the air around the time period of the exemption, and wrote, "This exemption will remain valid for a period of one year from the date of approval of the said SOPs or until further orders, whichever is earlier."

::INTERNATIONAL::

NATO begins military exercise DEFENDER-Europe 21

Exercise Defender Europe 21 has started once again. This year's exercise involves 26 nations, including the U.S., and around 28,000 multinational forces all focused on building operational readiness and interoperability between NATO allies and partners.
"It's defensive in nature, focused on deterring aggression, while preparing our forces to respond to crisis and conduct large-scale combat operations if necessary," said Pentagon Press Secretary John F. Kirby, during a briefing today at the Pentagon.
Another key attribute of Defender Europe 21, Kirby said, is the transparency surrounding what it is all about, who will participate, what is meant to be accomplished.
"[Defender Europe] is an exercise that's annual. We've been doing it a long, long time ... it's a defensive exercise. And it's one that helps us build interoperability," Kirby said. "Here's the other thing that's different: we actually come to the podium and tell you about it."

::ECONOMY::

Andhra Pradesh to provide tap water connections to households under JalJeevan Mission

The government of Andhra Pradesh led by Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy is ready to implement yet another scheme for the rural people in the state. It has decided to install fresh water taps in all households in rural areas as well as in towns. The Department of Water Resources has given administrative permission for the installation of taps across the state. A total of Rs. 4,800.59 crores will be released. In rural areas each person needs 43.5 litres to 55 litres of water per day.
However, many people go to the boreholes and tanks to fetch water, who is a burden and takes lot time. In addition, the water problem is exacerbated during the summer. The central government has been installing taps for the last 20 years under the name of JalJeevan Mission.
The Center will provide 50% of the funds to the State as part of the JalaJeevan Mission scheme to provide drinking water taps to 91,40,605 houses in rural areas of Andhra Pradesh. However, 33,88,160 houses already have tap connections and the remaining 57,52,445 houses need to be provided with tap connections. For this, the authorities have prepared a plan with a total of Rs 10,975 crore.
The government has decided to provide water connections to 32 lakh households in the first phase. Therefore, the state water resources department has approved the proposals sent by the authorities for Rs 4,800.59 crore. In the second phase, taps will be installed for the remaining 25.52 lakh houses respectively.

::SCIENCE AND TECH::

Scientists develop new soybean variety MACS 1407

Indian Scientists have developed a high-yielding and pest-resistant variety of soybean. This newly developed variety called MACS 1407 is suitable for cultivation in the states of Assam, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and North-Eastern states and its seeds will be made available to farmers for sowing during the 2022 Kharif season.
In 2019, India produced around 90 million tons of soybean, widely cultivated as oil seeds as well as a cheap source of protein for animal feed and many packaged meals and is striving to be among the world’s major producers of soybean. High-yielding, disease resistant varieties of the legume can help achieve this target.
Accepting this challenge, scientists from MACS- Agharkar Research Institute (ARI), Pune, an autonomous institute of the Department of Science & Technology, Government of India in collaboration with Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), New Delhi have developed higher yielding varieties and improved practices for the cultivation of soybean. Using the conventional cross breeding technique they developed MACS 1407 which gives 39 quintals per hectare making it a high yielding variety and is also resistant to major insect-pests like girdle beetle, leaf miner, leaf roller, stem fly, aphids, white fly and defoliators. Its thick stem, higher pod insertion (7 cm) from ground, and resistance to pod shattering make it suitable even for mechanical harvesting. It is suitable for rain-fed conditions of north- east India.
Mr SantoshJayb hay, ARI scientist who led this work said, ‘MACS 1407’ showed 17% increase in yield over the best check variety and 14-19 % yield advantage over the qualifying varieties. It is highly adaptive to sowing from 20 June to 5 July without any yield loss. This makes it resistant to the vagaries of Monsoon as compared to other varieties."

::SPORTS::

Ashleigh Barty wins women's singles title at Porsche Tennis Grand Prix

she was not only the first Australian to win the singles final by beating ArynaSabalenka from Belarus 3-6, 6-0, 6-3 but also secured the doubles title immediately afterwards together with Jennifer Brady (USA). She is the first player in the history of the time-honoured Stuttgart tournament to pull off the feat in the Porsche Arena.
The last person to claim both titles was the American Lindsay Davenport in 2001 - back then the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix was still at home in Filderstadt. Her win has also now put Ashleigh Barty into the lead of the Porsche Race to Shenzhen, the official qualifying ranking for the WTA Finals.