Current Affairs 2024 – Daily, Weekly, Monthly And Yearly PDF
Day of the Year
Farmworker Appreciation Day
- Let’s jump into the time machine and rewind to the origins of Farmworker Appreciation Day! Its history is as rich as the soil farmworkers tend daily. The story begins in the 1960s, a time of big changes and louder voices.
- Farmworker Appreciation Day’s origins date back to the complex history of agricultural labor in the United States.
- It particularly highlights the evolution of farm labor demographics and the significant contributions of immigrant workers.
Latest Updates
Hasina quits, flees Bangladesh, lands in India as protests surge
- Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who had been in power for the past 15 years, resigned and fled the country on Monday noon by a helicopter after weeks of deadly unrest in which more than 300 people have been killed.
- The country is now set to have an interim government.
- Later in the day, Ms. Hasina landed at the Hindon Air Force station near Delhi. Ms. Hasina has requested asylum from the U.K. Her sister Rehana, who holds U.K. citizenship, is accompanying her, sources told The Hindu.
- In Dhaka, Army Chief Gen. Waker-Uz-Zaman confirmed her resignation in an address to the nation. He urged protesters to stop the unrest and pledged to meet their demands and bring justice for those who were killed.
States
WCC tag gives rare chance for Kashmir craftsmen to trace their roots, enhance skills
- The people at House of Ali Shah, the 164-year-old old shawl and carpet brand in Srinagar, are delighted that Kashmir’s craft traditions are being recognised formally, at an international level. In June, the World Crafts Council (WCC)named Srinagar a World Craft City, one of now four in India, and among 60 around the globe.
- WCC will hold a knowledge exchange programme for artisans from Kashmir with cities that influenced the craft aesthetic here centuries ago.
- Mehboob Iqbal Shah, a co- founder of the interpretation centre Artisane Art and Cultural Centre, that’s a part of House of Ali Shah, is hopeful about “an aesthetic and design upscaling” of Valley artisans after the WCC’s inclusion.
News Capsule
Powering India’s future
- In her seventh consecutive Budget speech, the Finance Minister announced measures indicating India’s commitment to its clean energy transition. These measures include developing policies on pumped hydro storage, and energy transition pathways to support nuclear energy and energy efficiency. Yet, the memories of this summer’s record-breaking heatwaves, which drove up power demand, are still fresh. They reflect both a growing economy and a warming climate. What will it take to keep India’s economy powered?
- For the NDA government, energy security and the clean energy transition have been the priorities. This is evident from three key milestones India has achieved in the last decade. First, near-universal electrification through the Saubhagya scheme, with independent surveys by the Council on Energy, Environment, and Water (CEEW) suggesting that approximately 97% of households were electrified in 2020.
NPAs on Mudra loans have come down in 2023-24, says Nirmala
- The non-performing assets (NPA) associated with Mudra loans given out by public sector banks have come down in the current financial year, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman informed the Lok Sabha on Monday.
- She said in 2023-24, the NPAs on Mudra loans had declined to 3.4%, a significant improvement from 4.77% in 2020-21, 4.89% in 2019-20, and 3.76% in 2018-19. Replying to a supplementary question by Congress leader S. Senthil during the Question Hour, Ms. Sitharaman said Mudra loan NPAs in private sector commercial banks was at 0.95% in 2023-24 from a peak of 1.77% in 2020-21 and 0.67% in 2018-19.
- In response to a question regarding depositors’ money in the Sahara group, she said the Serious Fraud Investigation Office was carrying out a detailed probe.
On doorstep delivery of alcohol
The States of Delhi, Karnataka, Haryana, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Goa, and Kerala are or were mulling plans to allow the doorstep delivery of alcohol through platforms like Swiggy, BigBasket, and Zomato. India has seen a steady rise in alcohol consumption. The recorded per capita consumption has increased from 1.6 litres in 2003-2005 to 2.2 litres in 2010, then to 5.5 litres in 2016-2018. With $52 billion in revenue, India is the sixth-largest alcohol market worldwide. According to a Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment survey in 2019, there were about 16 crore alcohol users in India in the 10-75 year age group in 2018. Medically, the safe limit for alcohol consumption is zero millilitres. Alcohol use causes three lakh deaths in the country every year.
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