Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams -27 August 2022

Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams – 27 August 2022

::NATIONAL::

Modi urges people to watch DD serial on unsung heroes of freedom movement

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi has urged Indians to watch the newly-launched serial ‘Swaraj: Bharat Ke Swatantra Sangram Ki Samagra Gatha’ on Doordarshan focussed on the unsung heroes of the freedom movement.
• “This is a great initiative to acquaint the younger generation of the country with the efforts of unsung heroes and heroines who took part in the freedom movement… I urge you to take time out to watch it… So that a new awakening will arise in our country about these great heroes of the birth of freedom,” Modi said in his monthly Mann kiBaat radio programme on Sunday.
• The serial is being aired every Sunday at 9pm on Doordarshan and will have 75 episodes. It will be dubbed into English and nine regional languages Tamil, Telegu, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Gujarati, Oriya, Bengali, and Assamese.
• Rani Abbakka, Bakshi Jagabanhdhu, Tirot Sing, Sidhu Murmu, Kanhu Murmu, Shivappa Nayaka, Kanhoji Angre, Rani Gaidinliu, Tilka Majhi are among those who will feature in the serial.
• Modi attended a special screening of the serial along with BharatiyaJanata Party chief JP Nadda, Union home minister Amit Shah and Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla.

::INTERNATIONAL::

US warships transit Taiwan Strait, first since Pelosi visit

• Two US Navy warships sailed through the Taiwan Strait on Sunday, the first such operation since the unprecedented Chinese military drills around the Taiwan, held in response to US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to the self-governed island earlier this month.
• Two guided missile destroyers – USS Antietam and USS Chancellorsville – of the US navy were transiting through the Taiwan Strait, conducting a routine transit, the US 7th Fleet said in a statement on Sunday.
• “Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruisers USS Antietam (CG 54) and USS Chancellorsville (CG 62) are conducting a routine Taiwan Strait transit August 28 through waters where high seas freedoms of navigation and overflight apply in accordance with international law,” the statement said.
• The Chinese Navy is expected to closely monitor the passage of the two US warships and issue a strong statement criticising the passage.
• Tensions in the Taiwan Strait soared to their highest level in years this month after Pelosi visited Taiwan, which Beijing claims as its own territory and has not ruled out using force to bring it under its control. It routinely issues warnings and threats of retaliation at formal interactions between Taiwan and a third country.
• Since Pelosi’s visit, the China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has continued to hold naval drills around the island through the month in the backdrop of more visits by US and Japanese diplomats to Taipei.
• A group of five US lawmakers visited Taiwan soon after Pelosi’s short but high-profile visit. The PLA’s eastern theatre command organised multi-service joint combat readiness patrols and combat drills in the sea and airspace around Taiwan in response to their visit.
• “These ships transited through a corridor in the Strait that is beyond the territorial sea of any coastal State,” the US Navy said in its statement, without mentioning China or Taiwan by name.
• “The ship’s transit through the Taiwan Strait demonstrates the United States’ commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific. The United States military flies, sails, and operates anywhere international law allows,” the statement said.

::ECONOMY::

Financial inclusion major step towards inclusive growth: FM Sitharaman

• Financial inclusion is a major step towards inclusive growth which ensures the overall economic development of the marginalised sections of the society, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said.
• The success of the PradhanMantri Jan DhanYojana (PMJDY) since August 28, 2014 is reflected in terms of opening of over 46 crore bank accounts with deposit balance of Rs 1.74 lakh crore with its expanded coverage to 67 per cent rural or semi-urban areas as well as 56 per cent of women Jan Dhan account holders, she said on the eighth anniversary of the flagship financial inclusion scheme.
• “Continuation of PMJDY beyond 2018 saw a marked shift in approach to meet challenges and requirements of the emerging FI (financial inclusion) landscape in the country.
• “There has been a shift in focus from ‘every household’ to ‘every adult’, with added emphasis on usage of accounts by enhancing Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) flows through these accounts, promoting digital payments through the use of RuPay cards, etc,” an official statement quoted the minister as saying.
• The underlying pillars of PMJDY — namely, banking the unbanked, securing the unsecured and funding the unfunded — has made it possible to adopt multi-stakeholders’ collaborative approach while leveraging technology for serving the unserved and underserved areas as well, she observed.
• The Jan DhanYojana, which was announced by Prime Minister NarendraModi in his Independence Day address in 2014, was launched on August 28 in the same year.
• She also said the JAM (Jan Dhan-Aadhaar-Mobile) pipeline created through account holders’ consent-based linking of bank accounts with Aadhar and mobile numbers of the account holders, which is one of the important pillars of the financial inclusion ecosystem, has enabled instant DBT under various government welfare schemes to the eligible beneficiaries.
• The advantage of the architecture created under FI ecosystem came handy during the COVID-19 pandemic when it facilitated direct income support to farmers under PM-KISAN and transfer of ex-gratia payment to women PMJDY account holders under PM GaribKalyan Package in a seamless and time-bound manner, Sitharaman said.

::Science and tech::

Artemis I launch: All eyes on NASA’s mega-moon mission

• The liftoff of US space agency NASA’s uncrewed next-generation Artemis I moon mission rocket – slated for Monday – has grabbed wide attention amid massive anticipation. Launch teams reached the Kennedy Space Center in Florida and spent a final full day of preparations ahead of the much-awaited launch of the debut test flight, kicking off the first Moon-to-Mars program, 50 years after the end of the Apollo mission. 
• Weather forecasters have sounded 80 per cent chances of favourable conditions for the rocket launch. “Everything to date looks good from a vehicle perspective,” said Jeff Spaulding, senior NASA test director for the landmark uncrewed Artemis mission. “We are excited, the vehicle is ready, it looks great.” The Artemis I launch is set for 8:33am EDT (6:03pm IST).
• Just two days before the launch, on Saturday, lightning rods at the launch site were struck during a storm, Spaulding told Reuters, adding he had not “seen anything on the ground systems that give us any concerns.”
• Later NASA said there was no damage caused to the spacecraft or launch facilities in the incident.
• The Space Launch System (SLS) rocket is set to propel an uncrewed capsule named Orion around the moon and back on a six-week test flight designed to put both vehicles through their paces before flying astronauts in a subsequent mission targeted for 2024.
• The SLS-Orion combo, standing 322 feet (98 meters) tall, form the centerpiece of the US space agency’s successor to the Apollo moon program of the 1960s and 1970s.
• Between 100,000 and 200,000 visitors are expected to attend the launch of Artemis 1, the first test for future crewed flights, in Florida. “The plan is to drive very early in the morning and get a spot” on Cocoa Beach, said a tourist, speaking to AFP. “I know it’s going to be from a far distance, but I still think it’s going to be a sight to behold.”
• The SLS for Artemis program has been under development for more than a decade due to delays and cost overturns. It has, however, generated tens of thousands of jobs and billions of dollars in commerce under the primary contractors Boeing Co for SLS and Lockheed Martin Corp for Orion.
• This is the first humans-on-moon mission since Apollo 17, the two-man descent team of 1972.

::Sports::

Cristiano Ronaldo proves snub of Carragher was ‘personal’, pranks Rio Ferdinand

• Having recently snubbed Jamie Carragher, Cristiano Ronaldo proved that it was personal ahead of Manchester United’s Premier League match vs Southampton on Saturday. Ahead of United’s win against Liverpool, Ronaldo totally ignored the Liverpool legend, but greeted former teammates Gary Neville and Roy Keane. 
• Fans pointed out that the snub could be due to Carragher being a former Liverpool player, but then on Saturday, the Portugal striker proved it wasn’t an anti-Liverpool gesture when he greeted Peter Crouch, who represented the Anfield outfit during his playing career.

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