Daily Current Affairs for UPSC IAS: 23rd June 2022

Unemployment In India:

The unemployment rate saw a decrease of 0.6% and fell to 4.2% in 2020-21, compared with 4.8% in 2019-20, according to the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) for 2020-21 released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation.

• This means that only 4.2% of adults who looked for jobs could not get any work in rural and urban areas of the country in 2020-21.
• Rural areas recorded an unemployment rate of 3.3% and urban areas 6.7%.
• The Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR), the percentage of persons in the labour force (that is, working or seeking work or available for work) in the population, was 41.6% during 2020-21. It was 40.1% in the previous year.
• The Worker Population Ratio (WPR) was 39.8%, an increase from 38.2% of the previous year.
• The WPR is defined as the percentage of employed persons in the population.
• Migrants are defined in the survey as a household member whose last usual place of residence, at any time in the past, was different from the present place of enumeration. The migration rate, according to the survey, is 28.9%.
• The migration rate among women was 48% and 47.8% in rural and urban areas, respectively.

Findings Of SIPRI Yearbook 2022:

The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) launched the findings of SIPRI Yearbook 2022.

• A key finding is that despite a marginal decrease in the number of nuclear warheads in 2021, nuclear arsenals are expected to grow over the coming decade.
• Russia and the USA together possess over 90 per cent of all nuclear weapons.
• India had 160 nuclear warheads as on January 2022 and it appears to be expanding its nuclear arsenal.
• While India’s nuclear stockpile increased from 156 in January 2021 to 160 in January 2022, Pakistan’s nuclear stockpile has remained at 165.
• China is in the middle of a substantial expansion of its nuclear weapon arsenal, which satellite images indicate includes the construction of over 300 new missile silos.
• China had 350 nuclear warheads in January 2021 and 2022.

Unique Set Of Fossilised Dinosaur Eggs:

A team of researchers from the University of Delhi has discovered a unique set of fossilised dinosaur eggs, with one egg nesting within the other.

• While eggs-within-eggs are a rare phenomenon, they are so far known to occur only in birds and never known in reptiles.
• Until this discovery, no egg-in-egg fossil egg was found in dinosaurs and other reptiles such as turtles, lizards and crocodiles.
• The findings talk about the “egg-in-egg” phenomenon in a titanosaurid dinosaur egg found at Bagh in Madhya Pradesh’s Dhar district .
• The new discovery of an ovum-in-ovo egg, brings out newer connections between reptilian and avian evolution.
• Dinosaurs of the Sauropod family were among the largest land animals that ever lived and widespread millions of years ago in the territory that is now India.
• Fossils of these animals have been found in Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Meghalaya.
• The Upper Cretaceous Lameta Formation of Central India is long known for its dinosaur fossils (both skeletal and egg remains).

Global Trends Report On Forced Displacement In 2021:

The 2022 annual Global Trends Report was published by United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

• June 20 is designated as World Refugee Day by the United Nations.
• The theme for World Refugee Day 2022 is whoever, whatever, whenever. Everyone has got a right to seek safety.

Highlights of the Report:

• Globally 100 million people were forced to flee their homes last year due to violence, human rights abuses, food insecurity, the climate crisis, war in Ukraine, and other emergencies from Africa to Afghanistan.
• There were 23.7 million new internal displacements globally due to disasters (these are in addition to those internally displaced due to conflict and violence). This represented a decrease of seven million, or 23%, compared to the previous year.
• The largest displacements in the context of disasters in 2021 occurred in China (6.0 million), the Philippines (5.7 million), and India (4.9 million).
• The majority of the internally displaced persons returned to their home areas, but 5.9 million people worldwide remained displaced at the end of the year due to disasters.
• The number of people forced to flee their homes has increased every year over the past decade and stands at the highest level since records began, a trend that can be only reversed by a new, concerted push towards peacemaking.
• India:Nearly five million people in India were internally displaced due to climate change and disasters in 2021.

Project NIPUN:

An innovative project for skill training of construction workers called ‘NIPUN’ i.e. National Initiative for Promoting Upskilling of Nirman Workers was launched.

• NIPUN is creating a future labour force for the construction industry which will propel innovation and large-scale development in the country.
• The construction sector is on track to become the largest employer by 2022, and it will require 45 million more qualified workers over the next ten years.

Project NIPUN:

• The basic motive of the project is to train over 1 lakh construction workers, through fresh skilling and upskilling programmes.
• The project NIPUN is an initiative of the Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs (MoHUA).
• This project is running under the flagship programme of the Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana-National Urban Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NULM)
• The transformational impact of the National Urban Livelihoods Mission (NULM) has reduced the vulnerability of urban poor households by providing upskilling and employment opportunities to urban dwellers, especially the youth.
• Implementing Agency:
  • National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC).
  • NSDC is the nodal agency and workers under the Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship (MSDE).
  • NSDC will be responsible for the overall execution of training, monitoring and candidate tracking.

Assam : 36th State To Implement One Nation One Ration Card

With this, the ONORC programme has been successfully implemented in all states and Union Territories, making food security portable throughout the country.

• The government has also rolled out the ‘MERA RATION’ mobile application to take maximum advantage of the ONORC plan.
• The mobile app is providing a host of useful real-time information to the beneficiaries and is available in 13 languages.
• During the last two years of Covid-19 pandemic, ONORC plan has significantly contributed in ensuring subsidized foodgrains to National Food Security Act (NFSA) beneficiaries, especially migrant beneficiaries.
• The ONORC scheme is being implemented under National Food Security Act (NFSA).
• This system allows all NFSA beneficiaries, particularly migrant beneficiaries, to claim either full or part foodgrains from any Fair Price Shop (FPS) in the country through existing ration card with biometric/Aadhaar authentication in a seamless manner.
• The system also allows their family members back home, if any, to claim the balance foodgrains on same the ration card.
• The implementation of ONORC was initiated in August 2019.
• Objectives:
  • To empower all NFSA beneficiaries to become AtmaNirbhar for their food security anywhere in the country, through portability of their existing ration cards enabling them.
  • To seamlessly lift their entitled subsidized foodgrains (in part or full) from any Fair Price Shop of their choice.
  • To enable family members to lift balance/required amount of foodgrains on the same ration card at their native/ any place from the FPS of their choice.

8th International Day Of Yoga:

Eighth International Day of Yoga (21st June 2022) is being celebrated across the world.

• Theme 2022: ‘Yoga for Humanity’.
• The idea of International Day of Yoga (IDY) was proposed by India during the opening of the 69th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), held in 2014.
• The UN proclaimed 21st June as IDY by passing a resolution in December, 2014.
• The first Yoga Day celebrations in 2015 at Rajpath in New Delhi created two Guinness World Records.
• It was the world’s largest yoga session with 35,985 people.
• 84 nationalities participated in it.

Yoga and its Significance:

• Yoga is an ancient physical, mental and spiritual practice that originated in India.
• The word ‘yoga’ is derived from Sanskrit and means to join or to unite, symbolizing the union of body and consciousness.
• Today it is practiced in various forms around the world and continues to grow in popularity.
• Yoga plays an important role in the psycho-social care and rehabilitation of Covid-19 patients in quarantine and isolation.
• The World Health Organisation (WHO) has also asked its member states to practice Yoga and has included it in its Global Action Plan for physical activity 2018-30.

World’s Largest Green Hydrogen Ecosystem : Gujarat’s Kutch Region

The Adani group said it had tied up with French energy major TotalEnergies SE to jointly create the ‘world’s largest green hydrogen ecosystem’ in Gujarat’s Kutch region.

• As part of the tie-up, TotalEnergies would acquire a 25% stake in Adani New Industries Ltd. (ANIL), a unit of Adani Enterprises Ltd. (AEL).
• The joint venture aims to invest $50 billion over the next 10 years to set up the green hydrogen ecosystem.
• In the primary phase, ANIL will develop green hydrogen production capacity of 1 million tons per annum at Mundra before 2030.
• Green hydrogen gas is produced by splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen using an electrolyzer that may be powered by electricity generated from renewable energy sources.

2nd-Biggest Oil Supplier To India : Russia

Russia has overtaken Saudi Arabia to become India’s second-biggest supplier of oil behind Iraq as refiners snap up Russian crude available at a deep discount following the war in Ukraine, industry data showed.

• Indian refiners bought about 25 million barrels of Russian oil in May 2022, or more than 16% of all their oil imports.
• Russian-origin crude hit 5% of India’s total seaborne imports in April for the first time, rising from under 1% throughout 2021 and Q1 2022.
• Iraq remained the top supplier to India in May and Saudi Arabia is now the third-biggest supplier.