01-10-21 Daily-Gujarat-GPSC Current Affairs

As small businesses failed to recover post pandemic, their loan repayment capacities weakened, pushing bad loan burden underPradhan MantriMundra Yojana (PMMY) up.

While fresh disbursal of loans under Pradhan MantriMudra Yojana(PMMY) increased merely by 10% from Rs 1,920.29 crore in the April to June quarter of 2020-21 to Rs 2,089.22 crore in the corresponding quarter this year, NPAs swelled from Rs 555.54 crore to Rs 856.52 crore up 54.17%, during the same period.

According to experts, micro enterprises which typically avail Mudra Yojana were the worst affected due to the pandemic-inducedlockdown.

Spacecraft will be launched from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida on October 16, 2021.

This spacecraft would obtain new insights into the formation of Solar System 4.5 billion years ago.

The spacecraft has been named as Lucy. It was named after an ancient fossil which provided insights into the evolution of human species.

Mission Lucy will be launched with the objective of investigating the group of rocky bodies that are circling the Sun in two swarms- one preceding Jupiter and the other trailing behind it.

Mission Lucy will go for a 12-year journey after receiving boosts from Earths gravity. 12-year journey will be completed across eight different asteroids including one in Main Belt between Mars & Jupiter and seven Trojans. Spacecraft will fly by its target objects within 400 kilometres of their surfaces. It will use onboard instruments and large antenna to investigate the geology of target objects. It will be the first solar-powered spacecraft at a distance of 400 kms. Total cost of the mission is $981 million.

This programme will provide an opportunity to content creators, on its platform and Instagram, to learn, earn and grow their communities.

While addressing the 2021 edition of Creator Day India, Instagram Head Adam Mosseri noted that India is one of the fastest growing markets for photo sharing and short video platform.

India has become the best place for creators to grow and make a living. So, Facebook has planned to do this by developing a range of creative tools in order to democratise expression. For instance, Reels is a great example of democratised creativity. On an Average, more than 6 millionReelsare produced in India per day.

Social Media platform is also introducing monetisation tools in order to help creators earn through content.

Poetry Festival will be organised at Jain College auditorium to mark Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav and Mahatma Gandhi Jayanti.

Event will also feature a book exhibition.

It is National Academy of Letters in India. This organisation is dedicated towards promotion of literature in different languages. It was founded on March 12, 1954. Its headquarter is located in Rabindra Bhavan, Mandi House in Delhi. The organisation held national & regional workshops & seminars and provides research & travel grants to the authors. It also publishes books & journals as well as the Encyclopaedia of Indian Literature.

Reserve Bank Of India (RBI) has moved out the public sector lenderIndian Overseas Bank(IOB) from Prompt Corrective Action(PCA) framework after its financial and credit profile improved.

This decision provides lender more freedom to lend, especially to corporations and grow the Network.

IOB was placed under PCA in October 2015 because of high Net-Performing Assets (NPAs) and negative Return on Assets (RoA).

It was stopped from increasing risk-weighted assets.

Under the PCA framework, RBIimposes several business restrictions onbankswith weak financial metrics. The nature and degree of curbs are decided on the basis of threshold and depends on the financial profile of individual bank.

Union Cabinet has approved the continuation of PM POSHAN scheme in Schools, which is a Centrally Sponsored National Scheme.

PM POSHAN scheme would run for five more years. It will run from 2021-2022 to 2025-26.

Scheme has been approved with a financial outlay of 54,062 crore rupees from the Central Government.

State Government and Union Territories administrations have sanctioned an outlay of 31,733 crore rupees.

In this phase, scheme will cover around 11.80 crore children studying across 11.20 lakh schools.

Central Government will further bear an additional cost of 45,000 crore rupees to provide food grains to these children.

Total budget of the scheme is 1,30,795 crore rupees.

PM POSHAN is a revamped version of Mid-Day Meal Scheme, which stands for PM Poshan Shakti Nirman. With the new nomenclature, Centre has initiated a major political push towards child Nutrition. This scheme will cover around 24 lakh students, who are receiving pre-primary Education at government schools and government-aided schools, from the year 2022.

Right Livelihood Award 2021 was conferred to Delhi-based environmental organisation Legal Initiative for Forest and Environment (LIFE). This award is also known as Swedens alternative Nobel Prize.

LIFE has received the award for its grassroots approach to empower vulnerable communities in protecting their livelihoods and claiming their right for a clean environment.

Other awardees include:

Cameroonian Women rights activist Marthe Wandou,

Environmental activist from Russia, Vladimir Slivyak and

Indigenous rights defender from Canada, Freda Huson.

Right Livelihood Award was established by Ole von Uexkull who happens to be the executive director of Right Livelihood. The award honours and supports people in solving global problems. It comprises of a cash prize of 1 million Swedish crowns and a long-term support that highlights and expands Laureates work.