Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 09 September 2021

SSC CGL Current Affairs

Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 09 September 2021

::NATIONAL::

Railways will have to pay compensation for late running of trains: Supreme Court

The Supreme Court recently gave a landmark observation as it stated that every passenger's time is "precious" and that the Indian Railways is liable to pay compensation to impacted passengers unless it proves that the reason for the delay in train service was beyond its control.
The Supreme Court upheld the NCDRC's decision that North-Western Railway is liable to pay Rs. 30,000 as compensation to impacted passengers. This included Rs. 15,000 for taxi expenses, Rs. 10,000 for booking expenses and Rs. 5,000 for mental agony and litigation expenses.
A bench of Justices M.R. Shah and Anirudh Bose refused to accept North Western Railway's appeal against the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC) order. The NCDRC had upheld the compensation order passed by the lower consumer court, which had approved Sanjay Shukla's complaint.
Shukla along with three others was unable to catch a flight to Srinagar in 2016 as his train arrived at Jammu Tawi station four hours after the scheduled arrival time. They had boarded the train from Alwar in Rajasthan.
The court did not agree with North-Western Railway's argument that the late running of the train cannot be termed as a reduction in railway services. The court also dismissed acceptance of some of the plaintiff's rules which say that there will be no obligation to pay compensation for North Western Railways in case the train runs late as there can be many reasons behind trains running later than scheduled times.

::INTERNATIONAL::

International Literacy Day 2021 was observed on 8 September; Theme: "Literacy for a human-centered recovery: Narrowing the digital divide"

International Literacy Day 2021, which is being celebrated on Wednesday (September 8), focuses on narrowing digital divide as the COVID-19 pandemic has deprived several children as well as the adults from learning. The pandemic has exposed the inequalities in access to literacy learning opportunities around the world.
Observed as a day to emphasise the importance of education, the International Literacy Day was first celebrated in 1967. “Despite progress made, literacy challenges persist with at least 773 million young people and adults lacking basic literacy skills today,” says the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO).
The theme of this year is “Literacy for a human-centred recovery: Narrowing the digital divide”.
Highlighting the divide that the pandemic has created, the UNESCO said, “Youth and adult literacy were absent in many initial national response plans, while numerous literacy programmes have been forced to halt their usual modes of operation.”
The COVID-19 has exposed the truth of the education system around the world and has reminded once again of the critical importance of education.
Further, this year’s theme focuses on how literacy can contribute to building strong foundation for a human-centered recovery, the UNESCO said in its message on International Literacy Day.
The United Nations body further aims to create ways to bridge the digital gap not just during the pandemic but also as a long-term plan to ensure education reaches all.

::ECONOMY::

MSP of all Rabi crops increased for 2022-23

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) on Wednesday approved an increase in the Minimum Support Prices (MSP) for all the mandated Rabi crops for the Rabi Marketing Season (RMS) 2022-23 with an aim to realign the MSPs in favour of oilseeds, pulses and coarse cereals.
This has been done to encourage the farmers to shift to larger area under these crops and adopt best technologies and farm practices to correct demand-supply imbalance, a Cabinet release said.
The government has increased the MSP of Rabi crops for RMS 2022-23 to ensure remunerative prices for the growers for their produce. The highest absolute increase in MSP over the previous year has been recommended for lentil (Masur), rapeseeds and mustard (Rs 400 per quintal each), followed by gram (Rs 130 per quintal).
In case of safflower, there has been an increase of Rs 114 per quintal in comparison to last year. The differential remuneration is aimed at encouraging crop diversification.
The increase in MSP for Rabi crops for RMS 2022-23 is in line with the Union Budget 2018-19 announcement of fixing the MSPs at a level of at least 1.5 times the all-India weighted average cost of production, aiming a reasonably fair remuneration for the farmers.
"The expected returns to farmers over their cost of production are estimated to be highest in case of wheat and rapeseed and mustard (100 per cent each), followed by lentil (79 per cent), gram (74 per cent), barley (60 per cent) and safflower (50 per cent)," the Cabinet release said.
Additionally, the National Mission on Edible Oils-Oil Palm (NMEO-OP), the centrally sponsored scheme recently announced by the government, will help increase the domestic production of edible oils and reduce imports dependency.

::SCIENCE AND TECH::

Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft completed 9,000 orbits around the Moon

India’s Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft has completed more than 9,000 orbits around the Moon, and imaging and scientific instruments onboard have been providing excellent data, officials said on Monday.
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is holding a two-day Lunar Science Workshop 2021, which began on Monday, to commemorate the completion of two years of operation of Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft around the lunar orbit.
“Till date, the Chandrayaan-2 has completed more than 9,000 orbits around the Moon,” added Sivan, also Secretary in the Department of Space (DoS).
According to the Bengaluru-headquartered ISRO, data product and science documents were released by Sivan, along with data from Chandrayaan-2 orbiter payloads.
“The science data are being made available for analysis by academia and institutes, for a greater participation to bring out more science from Chandrayaan-2 mission,” ISRO said.
Sivan said he has reviewed the science results, and found them to be “very much encouraging”.
Chairman of Apex Science Board, ISRO, A S Kiran Kumar said the imaging and scientific instruments onboard the Chandrayaan-2 satellite have been providing excellent data.