CURRENT AFFAIRS 21 September, 2024
- RHEA SINGHA FROM GUJARAT WINS MISS UNIVERSE INDIA 2024 TITLE –
- Rhea Singha, a 19-year-old model from Gujarat, was crowned Miss Universe India 2024 in Jaipur. She will represent India at the global Miss Universe competition in Mexico.
- The 19-year-old Gujarati beauty Rhea Singha was recently crowned Miss Universe India 2024.
- She won the title after defeating 51 candidates, and she has represented India in the next Miss Universe 2024 competition.
- The judging panel for Miss Universe India 2024, alongside Urvashi Rautela, featured Nikhil Anand, Vietnamese celebrity Nguyen Quynh, fashion photographer Rian Fernandes, and entrepreneur Rajeev Shrivastava.
- INDIA TO GET FIRST NATIONAL SECURITY SEMICONDUCTOR FABRICATION PLANT AS PART OF COLLABORATION WITH US –
- Under a transformative collaboration with the United States, India is set to launch its inaugural national security semiconductor fabrication plant, designed to produce chips for military applications and critical telecommunications.
- To harness India’s growing design and manufacturing capabilities in the semiconductor sector.
- The ambitious India-US joint project was announced following talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Joe Biden in Wilmington in the recently concluded PM visit to the USA.
- This initiative will be supported by the India Semiconductor Mission and involves a strategic technology partnership between Bharat Semi, 3rdiTech, and the US Space Force.
- INDIA’S TRIUMPH IN RECLAIMING 297 ANTIQUITIES FROM THE US –
- During Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent visit to the United States, a landmark event took place that marked a significant victory in India’s ongoing efforts to reclaim its cultural treasures.
- In a ceremony of great cultural and diplomatic importance, 297 antiquities were officially handed over to India by U.S. authorities. For a long time, many countries, including India, have faced a big problem: people stealing and selling their old and valuable art and historical objects.
- This is called illicit trafficking of cultural property. It’s been especially hard on India, with many old and precious items taken out of the country illegally.
- CELEBRATING SIX YEARS OF AYUSHMAN BHARAT –
- The Ayushman Bharat PM-Jay Jan Arogya Yojana (ABPMJ) scheme introduced by Prime Minister Narendra marked his 6th year anniversary.
- PM-JAY is the world’s largest health insurance scheme fully financed by the government.
- Launched in 2018, it offers a sum insured of Rs.5 lakh per family for secondary care and tertiary care.
- Health Benefit Packages covers surgery, medical and day care treatments, cost of medicines and diagnostics.
- It is an entitlement-based scheme that targets the beneficiaries as identified by latest Socio-Economic Caste Census (SECC) data.
- The National Health Authority (NHA) has provided flexibility to States/UTs to use non- Socio-Economic Caste Census (SECC) beneficiary family databases with similar socio-economic profiles for tagging against the leftover (unauthenticated) SECC families.
- RUSSIAN COSMONAUTS BREAK RECORD FOR LONGEST ISS FLIGHT –
- Russian cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub have set a new record for the longest single mission aboard the International Space Station (ISS), surpassing the previous record held by cosmonauts Sergei Prokopyev, Dmitry Petelin, and NASA astronaut Francisco Rubio, who spent 370 days onboard from September 2022 to September 2023.
- Kononenko and Chub arrived at the ISS on September 15, 2023, via the Soyuz MS-24 spacecraft and are scheduled to return to Earth on the Soyuz MS-25 on September 23, 2024, totaling 374 days in space.
- The previous record of 370 days, 21 hours, 22 minutes, and 16 seconds was set by Prokopyev, Petelin, and Rubio.
- On February 4, 2024, Kononenko surpassed the total space time record set by Gennady Padalka (878 days, 11 hours, 29 minutes, 48 seconds).
- By June 5, 2024, Kononenko became the first person to spend 1,000 days off Earth.
- After this mission, Kononenko will have accumulated 1,110 days in space across five missions.