DAILY GK 7 APRIL 2019

DAILY GK 7 APRIL 2019

1. NITI Aayog & Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) ensures success of the FAME II Scheme

Under the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles II (FAME II) scheme, the NITI Aayog and Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) have released a report titled ‘India’s Electric Mobility Transformation: Progress to Date and Future Opportunities’. The report is based on opportunities for the automobile sector and government

. The Indian and global non-profit organisation, Rocky Mountain Institute  is focused on making effective use of the resources by making a total expenditure of Rs. 10,000 crore from three years i.e. 2019 to 2022.

ii. In February 2019, the FAME II scheme  was notified by the Union Cabinet. The objective of the scheme is to enhance the government’s commitment to a clean mobility future with a major focus on electric automobiles.

iii. The FAME II is a vital part of the National Electric Mobility Mission Plan.

iv.The report under the scheme defines:

the direct oil and carbon savings that the FAME II vehicles will bring.

the FAME II incentivized vehicles and the other steps could encourage the Electric Vehicle (EV) market.

In case the FAME II scheme is successful, EV sales penetration of 30% of private cars, 70% of commercial cars, 40% of buses and 80% of two and three-wheelers by 2030, has been approximated in India.

v. The lifetime cumulative oil and carbon savings deployed through the FAME II scheme will be much smaller than the ones deployed through electric automobiles which could amount to a total savings of 846 million tonnes of carbon dioxide. The electric buses covered under FAME II scheme would be able to travel for  3.8 billion vehicle kilometres (e-vkt) over their entire lifetime.

2. First Global Conference on Synergies between the 2030 Agenda and Paris Agreement in Copenhagen, Denmark

The first global multi-stakeholder conference on synergies is summoned by (UN DESA) the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs and the (UN FCCC) United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change between the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris Agreement on climate change, in Copenhagen, Denmark. It is hosted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Energy, Utilities and Climate.

i. Before the UN High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) provides a detailed analysis and review of SDG (Sustainable Development Goal) 13 on climate change in 2019, the conference will serve as an Expert Group Meeting (EGM) on SDG 13 (climate action).

ii. The objective of the Climate and SDGs Synergy Conference is to encourage action around the Sustainable Development Goals and provide strategies for boosting up the connection between the SDGs and climate action. It also focuses on maximising co-benefits by encouraging action from global, regional and country-level stakeholders.

 iii. On 2nd April, 2019, (UNSCN) the United Nations System Standing Committee on Nutrition had hosted an event titled ‘Sustainable diets for healthy people and healthy planet’ . The event proffered a platform for sharing experiences and challenges in upgrading to healthy and sustainable diets. This in turn extends to the alignment of climate and 2030 agendas, namely, SDG 2 and SDG 13.

3. An Overview of ESPN India Awards 2018

The Indian subsidiary of ESPN (Entertainment and Sports Programming Network), ESPN India (espn.in) declared the ESPN India awards for 2018 in which PV Sindhu was conferred with the sportsperson of year award in female category and Neeraj Chopra was conferred with the sportsperson of the year award in Male category.

Award   Winner

Sportsperson of the Year (Male) Neeraj Chopra (Javelin throw)

Sportsperson of the Year (Female)         PV Sindhu (Badminton)

Emerging Sportsperson of the Year        Saurabh Chaudhary (Pistol Shooting)

Coach of the Year         Jaspal Rana (Pistol Shooting)

Comeback of the Year   Saina Nehwal (Badminton)

Match of the Year          Amit Panghal (Boxing)

Team of the Year          Women Table Tennis team

Differently-abled Athlete of the year        Ekta Bhyan (Para-athletics)

Lifetime Achievement award      Pradip Kumar ‘PK’ Banerjee (Football)

Moment of the Year       Women’s 4*400m relay team

4. David Malpass has been elected as World bank President

On 5th April, 2019,Davis Malpass senior Treasury official and staunch supporter of President Donald Trump, was unanimously chosen as the next president of the World bank. He will succeed Jim Yong-Kim.

i. He was born on 8th march 1956 in Michigan

ii. Kristalina Georgieva,chief executive officer of the bank, has been acting as the interim President. Malpass is nominated by Donald Trump.

iii. He is currently serves as Under Secretary of the Treasury for International Affairs and Previously held a senior role in the US State Department for Latin American Affairs.

5. Vikram Kirloskar was designated as president of Confederation of Indian Industry(CII)

On 5th April 2019,Chairman and Managing Director of Kirloskar Systems Ltd, and Vice Chairman of Toyota Kirloskar Motor, Vikram Kirloskar was appointed as the president of Confederation of Indian Industry(CII) for the period 2019-20.

i. He succeeded Rakesh Bharti Mittal who is Vice Chairman of Bharti Enterprises.

ii. He was associated with CII for three decades and has been chairman of Global Innovation and Technology Alliance Board since its inception in 2012-13.

Other Appointments:

i. Uday Kotak, the founder, MD & CEO of Kotak Mahindra Bank was appointed as the President-Designate at the same time CEO & MD of Tata Steel, TV Narendran was designated as the Vice President for 2019-20.

6. Keshav Murugesh takes over as Nasscom Chairman

On 5th April, 2019, NASSCOM (National Association of Software and services companies), an IT industry body has appointed Keshav Murugesh, CEO of WNS Global Services Group as its Chairman for 2019-20. This appointment of the Nasscom Chairman and Vice Chairman is done by the Executive Council.

i. Currently, he was on the positioned as Vice Chairman of Nasscom, and has succeeded Rishad Premji.

ii. Nasscom also designated Pravin Rao, Infosys COO UB as its Vice Chairman for 2019-20.

7. AIFF President, Praful Patel elected as member of FIFA Executive Council

Praful Patel, President of All India Football Federation (AIFF) has been designated to be FIFA Executive Council member. He has become the first Indian to enter the elite panel of the game’s global governing body.

i. A total of five candidates, including Patel, was elected in addition to the AFC president, and one female member.

ii. Patel was one of the 8 candidates vying for the spot in the election, which was held during the 29th AFC (Asian Football Confederation) Congress.

8. Sheikh Salman designated to be president of Asian Football Confederation

On 6th April, 2019, Gianni Infantino, President of FIFA (Federation Internationale de Football Association) hailed the re-election of Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa, Asian football chief to help the region move forward in stability.

i. Sheikh Salman will extend his term as president until at least 2023.

ii. He Sheikh Salman has returned unopposed in the election after Mohammed Khalfan Al Romaithi and Saoud Al Mohannadi.

9. Earth’s CO2 levels reached 410 ppm, highest in 3 million years

Germany scientists have warned that there is more Carbon dioxide (CO2) in our atmosphere than in the past three million years. The amount of CO2 in the atmosphere has gone “unnatural”.

Key points

i. Research was made by using a new computer simulation at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research in Germany.

ii. CO2 levels should not be higher than 280 ppm without human activity, but currently it’s 410 ppm and rising.