Current Affairs 05,06.11.2022

 

Current Affairs 05,06.11.2022

1. India has been ranked ahead of China and Vietnam for cheaper manufacturing costs according to a report. According to the US News and World Report, India has been ranked 31st overall among 85 countries.

The report assessed 85 countries across 73 attributes. The attributes are grouped into ten subcategories including adventure, agility, entrepreneurship, openness for business, social purpose and quality of life.

India scores 100 percent when it comes to cheaper manufacturing costs under the Open for Business subcategory. India rank 37 in Business category. But it scored 16.2 out of 100 in the favorable tax environment, 18.1 in the non-corruption category, and 3.5 in the transparent governance category.

Similarly, in the quality of life category, India scores 1.9 in income equality. 4.3 in 'safe', 2.3 in well-developed public health system and 9.9 in economically sustainable sub-parameter.

 

These results come at a time when the Narendra Modi-led government is trying to make India a global manufacturing hub. The Atmanirbhar Bharat or Swavalambana Bharat campaign, launched by his government in 2020 months after the Covid-19 outbreak, aims to boost the country's production capacity by attracting foreign players. The government has taken steps to make India a global manufacturing hub by implementing product related incentive schemes and reducing the compliance burden.

The list of top 10 countries with cheapest production costs is led by India, followed by Thailand fourth, Philippines fifth, Bangladesh sixth, Indonesia seventh, Cambodia eighth, Malaysia ninth and Sri Lanka tenth.

China, India's main economic competitor in the South Asian region, has an overall openness score of 17 for business, the report said. However it is second only to India when it comes to cheaper manufacturing costs. Vietnam, which has attracted apparel and footwear manufacturers over the past few years, ranked third in the category of countries with the cheapest manufacturing costs. It ranks 47th in the Open for Business overall category.

Switzerland topped the chart in the overall best countries ranking. Germany, Canada, the US and Sweden follow.

2. Switzerland is now home to the longest passenger train in the world. This train has 100 coaches. 1910 meters and has 4,550 seats. A train is seen passing through a mountain landscape in the Swiss Alps. To mark the 175th anniversary of Switzerland's first railway, the country's railway operators have teamed up to create a new Guinness World Record-holding train with 100 carriages, a weight of 2,990 tonnes and a length of 1.91 km 1.19 miles.

There were 150 passengers on the train. It was wounded by dazzling sunlight reflecting off its glittering silver roof. The train comes with a digital destination sign on the front that reads Alpine Cruise. It took the spectacular Albula Bernina route, listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The route covers about 25 kilometers from Prida to Alvaneu in less than 45 minutes.

3. Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami inaugurated the Lakhapati Didi Fair at India Maidan Survey in Hatbarkala, Dehradun. The fair was held as a part of the BJP government's program for women empowerment in the state. Uttarakhand Government's Rural Development Department has made preparations to make 1.25 lakh women Lakhapatis of SHGs by 2025.

In 2025, the state will complete 25 years of formation. Similarly, this project will also be completed by 2025. Out of 3.67 lakh women belonging to Self Help Societies, 1.25 lakh will become Lakhpati with the objective of livelihood.

Under the Lakhapati Didi Scheme, women belonging to self-help groups are encouraged to take up micro-enterprises involving skill development.

Government ties up e-commerce platforms like Amazon, Flipkart and government e-marketplace. So that SHG products get national and international markets.

4. Nivesh didi program launched. By Nivesh Didi Women To promote financial literacy for women, India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) organized a Floating Financial Literacy Camp in Srinagar, J&K. This is India's first camp. The Nivesh Didi Initiative was founded on the principle of women for women. Because rural women can easily discuss their problems with another woman.

It was launched by Nivesh Didi program launched by Ministry of Corporate Affairs, IPPB in collaboration with Investor Education and Protection Fund Authority IEPFA.

A wide range of topics were discussed, including banking and financial products, the value of using mainstream financial services offered by regulated businesses, protection against various types of investment risks and fraud prevention techniques.

India Post Payments Bank was established under the Department of Posts of the Ministry of Communication. The entire equity is held by the Government of India.

The bank was founded with the aim of creating India's most accessible, affordable and reliable bank for the average person.

5. Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar launched CM Dashboard Portal. It contains real time data of all departments and decisions taken on major schemes. CM Dashboard Portal Block provides live monitoring of every department at district and panchayat levels. The portal contains information about the decisions taken by the administrative department on major schemes. It allows tracking of reporting methodology and analysis. Further helps in comparison of old and new data.

Departments integrate their day-to-day operations for effective monitoring on the CM Dashboard portal. Know the timelines and deadlines for a particular task. The portal also provides information on whether any target set by a department for a particular task has been achieved or if anyone has defaulted and for what reason.

The CM Dashboard Portal will be beneficial in advancing good governance which is the ambition of the state government. CM Manohar Lal Khattar launched a special eUpper portal to auction his gifts. Bed bid amount is determined. Payment is directly transferred to Chief Minister's Relief Fund.

6. 2022 AP7 A team of scientists discovers three massive near-Earth asteroids hidden from the Sun's light. One of them, 2022 AP7, is expected to be potentially harmful to Earth and the largest planet-killer-sized asteroid discovered in a decade.

The three asteroids are part of a group orbiting Earth and Venus. However, they are difficult to see because the sun's brightness prevents telescopic views of them.

Scientists observed only at dusk. Each night is a brief but ideal 10-minute window because they are obscured by the sun's brightness.

They used the Dark Energy Camera at the Inter-American Observatory at Cerro Tolo in Chile.

Using a high-tech camera, part of the US National Science Foundation's NOIRLAB initiative, they were able to photograph vast areas of the sky.

The camera was originally designed to survey dark energy. It was conducted by the US Department of Energy and NSF between 2013 and 2019.

Asteroids are obscured and deformed by Earth's atmosphere. Because they are near the horizon. This presented a further challenge to astronomers in dealing with the light from the Sun.

Asteroids far from the Sun are easy to find.

Scientists have so far discovered only 25 asteroids with orbits close to Earth's orbit. Shepherd's team has found three of these so far. Shepard said of two of the three asteroids found, two of the largest near-Earth asteroids we found were about 1 kilometer across, a size we call planet killers. The orbits of two objects, 2021 LJ4 and 2021 PH27, are safely within the parameters of Earth's orbit. 2021 LJ4 is the smallest, less than a kilometer in diameter. Currently known asteroid 2021 PH27 is closest to the Sun. This causes the lead to melt on its surface.

About Asteroid 2022 AP7:

One of the three asteroids, the 1.5-kilometer-wide asteroid 2022 AP7, stands out among the others because of its future path of crashing into Earth. Little is currently known about the asteroid, including information on its composition and path.

ISRO's heaviest rocket LVM3 has successfully put 36 satellites into orbit. An asteroid now crosses Earth's orbit only when it is on the other side of the Sun or when the Sun is directly in front of the asteroid.

It takes about five years for an asteroid to orbit the Sun, so it lasts for several centuries. An asteroid of this size could have a devastating impact, according to Sheppard. That's because Earth's atmosphere has been covered with dust and pollutants for years, blocking out sunlight.