Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams – 04 July 2022

Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams – 04 July 2022

::NATIONAL::

Part-time PhD courses for working professionals likely to be rolled out

• Universities in India will now be able to offer part-time doctoral programmes to working professionals, provided they attend at least six months of the course full time, according to officials at the high education regulator.
• The provision will be a part of the UGC (Minimum Standards and Procedure for Award of Ph.D. Degree) Regulations, 2022, which will soon be notified by the education ministry, officials of the University Grants Commission said.
• The regulations allow part-time PhD programmes, provided applicants satisfy eligibility conditions for full-time PhD programmes. The changes will come into effect in the upcoming academic session.
• “Their PhD work will be assessed in the same way as done for full-time PhD students. The applicants for the part-time PhD will be working professionals and, hence, they won’t be eligible for PhD fellowship,” UGC chairperson M Jagadesh Kumar said.
• The doctoral candidates will have to attend at least six months of course work in full time. The professionals will also need to submit a no-objection certificate (NOC) from employers.

::INTERNATIONAL::

Russia claims its forces captured last major Ukrainian-held city in Luhansk

• Russia’s defense minister says Moscow’s forces have taken control of the last major Ukrainian-held city in Ukraine’s Luhansk province.
• Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu told President Vladimir Putin on Sunday that “as a result of successful military operations, the armed forces of the Russian Federation, together with units of the People’s Militia of the Luhansk People’s Republic, have established full control over the city of Lysychansk,” Russian news agencies reported.
• Ukrainian fighters spent weeks trying to defend Lysychansk and to keep it from falling to Russia, as neighbouringSievierodonetsk did a week ago. A presidential adviser predicted late Saturday that the city’s could be determined within days.
• Ukrainian officials did not immediately provide an update on its status.
• Earlier Sunday, Luhansk’s governor said Russian forces were strengthening their positions in a grueling fight to capture the last stronghold of resistance in the province.
• A river separates Lysychansk from Sievierodonetsk. OleksiyArestovych, an adviser to the Ukrainian president, said during an online interview late Saturday that Russian forces had managed for the first time to cross the river from the north, creating a “threatening” situation.
• Arestovych said they had not reached the center of the city but that the course of the fighting indicated the battle for Lysychansk would be decided by Monday.
• Luhansk and neighboring Donetsk are the two provinces that make up the Donbas, where Russia has focused its offensive since pulling back from northern Ukraine and the capital, Kyiv, in the spring.

::ECONOMY::

Commerce ministry looking to release new FTP before September: Official

• The commerce ministry is working to release the new five-year foreign trade policy (FTP) before September this year and Districts as Export Hubs scheme would be part of that document, which aims at promoting exports and job creation, an official said.
• The directorate general of foreign trade (DGFT), the commerce ministry’s arm which is formulating the policy, will soon send the proposal to the finance ministry for seeking funds for the scheme.
• Under the scheme, the aim is to initially focus on 50 districts which have products that are scalable and hold huge export potential, the official said.
• “It will be a kind of competition among states and districts. We will come out with detailed guidelines for that. The scheme will find a place in the FTP. It will be a centrally-sponsored scheme, where 60 per cent of the total cost will be borne by the Centre, and the remaining by states. We are trying to release the new FTP before September,” the official added.
• According to a document of the commerce ministry, states need to be engaged actively in the export promotion activities as exports cannot be exponentially increased without their active involvement.
• Districts as Export Hubs scheme aims to target export promotion, manufacturing and employment generation at grassroot level.
• The current foreign trade policy (2015-20) is in force till September 2022.
• On March 31, 2020, the government had extended this policy for one year till March 31, 2021 due to the COVID-19 outbreak and the lockdown. It was again extended till September this year.
• In the policy, the government announces support measures for both goods and services exporters.
• In 2021-22, the country’s merchandise exports touched USD 420 billion and services exports aggregated at USD 254.4 billion. The government is looking at USD one trillion exports of goods and services each by 2030.

::Science and tech::

India’s Tejas is Malaysia’s ‘top choice’ to replace ageing MiG-29s: HAL chief

• Tejas, India’s very own single-engine fighter jet, has emerged as the ‘top choice’ for Malaysia, which is looking to replace its fleet of the ageing MiG-29 combat aircraft, R Madhavan, chairman, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), has said.
• “I am very confident about the deal, unless some political shift takes place. The negotiation is almost in the final stages. We are the only country which is offering Malaysia support for their Su-30 aircraft as, other than Russia, only India can support Kuala Lumpur to the extent they require for their Sukhoi fleet,” Madhavan said in an interview to news agency PTI.
• As part of the overall package, India has offered to set up in the southeast Asian nation, an MRO (Maintenance, Repair, Overhaul) facility, for the Russian-origin Su-30 fighters. As western nations have imposed sanctions against Russia in retaliation to Moscow’s ongoing ‘special military operation’ in Ukraine, Malaysia is facing difficulties in procuring spares for its Su-30 fighters.
• According to Madhavan, the Malaysian government also looked at China’s JF-17, South Korea’s FA-50, as well as Russia’s MiG-35 and Yak-130 jets. However, the HAL chairman and MD described Tejas as a ‘much superior’ aircraft.
• Designed by the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA), Tejas is manufactured by the Bengaluru-based HAL. It is based on the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) programme, and got its present name in 2003. It is also capable of operating in high-threat environments.

 ::Sports::

Wimbledon: Nadal’s priceless message to Federer ahead of his last 16 clash

• Rafael Nadal has made a splendid return to Wimbledon after a gap of three years. He dropped a set each in his victories in the first two rounds before scripting a dominating straight-set win against LorezoSonego to the fourth round in the Wimbledon for the fourth successive time in his career, which included two runs to the semi-final as well. And ahead of his big round of 16 match, against Botic van de Zandschulp, on the Centre Court, Nadal had a special message for Roger Federer.
• Despite his third-round match being filled with controversy which left journalists eager to decipher in the post-match conference, for which Nadal had even apologised, the Spaniard shifted focus to his old rival Federer. The Swiss maestro has been absent from tennis since the 2021 Wimbledon where he had lost to Hubert Hurkacz in the quarter final.
• The Nadal-Federer rivalry, better known as FEDAL, has been one of the most loved and watched rivalry in sports history, with their greatest ever meeting being at the All England Club, back in 2008 when the Spaniard had defeated Federer in a five-set epic thriller to claim his maiden Wimbledon title.

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