DAILY GK: 3 MAR 2021

 DAILY GK: 3 MAR 2021

1. MTRC SYSTEM COMMISSIONED IN INDIAN RAILWAYS

•      Western Railway inaugurated the newly commissioned Mobile Train Radio Communication (MTRC) system (also known as Global System for Mobile Communications – Railway (GSM-R)) at Divisional Railway Manager’s office in Mumbai, Maharashtra.

•      It is the 1st time that MTRC has been commissioned in Indian Railways (IR).

•      MTRC System is a TETRA (Terrestrial Trunked Radio) based Digital technology.

 

2. SARAS AAJEEVIKA MELA 2021

•      Narendra Singh Tomar, Union Minister of Rural Development, inaugurated the Saras Aajeevika Mela 2021 at Noida Haat to bring rural women Self-Help Groups(SHGs) under one platform.

•      More than 300 SHGs and craftsmen from 27 states are participating in the mela organised by the Ministry of Rural Development.

 

3. WHO’S 1ST REPORT ON HEARING

•      World Health Organization’s (WHO) released its first World Report on Hearing stating that nearly 2.5 billion people worldwide or 1 in 4 people will suffer from hearing problems by 2050.

•      In order to overcome this scenario, the report proposed measures, which would cost $1.33 per person per year.

 

4. GLOBAL ENERGY-RELATED CO2 EMISSIONS REDUCED

•      According to data released by the International Energy Agency (IEA), Global energy-related CO2 emissions declined by 5.8% or 2 Billion Tonnes in 2020 due to the Pandemic.

•      It is the largest annual percentage decline since World War II.

•      More than 50% of the total global drop in CO2 emissions in 2020 was due to the decline in  CO2 emissions from oil use in the Transport & aviation sectors.

•      In India (World’s 3rd Largest CO2 emitter after China, USA), annual emissions declined by 7% (or 160 Metric tons of Carbon Dioxide (Mt CO2)) in 2020.

 

5. SEBI EASES LISTING RULES FOR IPOS

•      The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) during its board meeting eased the listing norms for large companies by enabling them to divest minimum 5% in the IPO (Initial public offering), instead of 10%.

•      Also, for raising the public float to 25%, the term has increased to 5 years instead of 3 years.

•      This move will encourage large firms to opt for listing.

 

6. WORLD BANK’S SOLAR ROOFTOP PROJECT

•      In order to boost India’s rooftop solar programme, the World Bank (WB) is planning to launch a $100-million ($1 billion) credit guarantee scheme along with the State Bank of India (SBI) and the MSME ministry.

•      World Bank has supported India’s green economy finance and in 2016 had launched a $625 million lending programme with SBI for rooftop solar units for the commercial, industrial, and institutional sectors.

 

7. 1ST RRBS IN INDIA TO LAUNCH VIDEO-KYC FACILITY

•      Two Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) – Telangana Grameena Bank (TGB) & Andhra Pradesh Grameena Vikas Bank (APGVB) became India’s 1st RRBs to launch Digital Savings Account opening facility through Video-Know Your Customer (KYC) facility.

•      Both RRBs are sponsored by the State Bank of India (SBI).

 

8. CASHFREE TO ENABLE INTERNATIONAL PAYMENTS FOR MERCHANTS

•      Cashfree, a Bengaluru-based payments & banking technology company has partnered with PayPal to enable International payments for its merchants. 

•      It will enable businesses using Cashfree’s payment gateway to show prices of all products in 28 + currencies.

 

9. HURUN GLOBAL RICH LIST 2021

•      According to Hurun Global Rich List 2021, Mukesh Ambani with a wealth of USD 83 Billion (~ INR 6 Lakh Crore) became the 8th Richest Person in the World.

•      The List was topped by Elon Musk (CEO of Tesla), Jeff Bezos & Bernard Arnault (CEO of LVMH-Louis Vuitton).

•      Apoorva Mehta of Instacard & Nikhil Kamath of Zerodha (both 34 years) became the youngest Indian Billionaires with a net worth of USD 1.7 Billion.

•      Zhong Shanshan (Founder of Chinese Bottle Water Maker – Nongfu Spring) with USD 85 Billion became Asia’s Richest person, followed by Mukesh Ambani.

 

10. TIME MAGAZINE’S ANNUAL LIST OF 100

•      5 Indian-origin personalities & 1 Indian Activist have been featured in the 2021 TIME100 Next (TIME Magazine’s 100 emerging leaders list). 

•      The 5 Indian origin personalities are Vijaya Gadde (Chief Legal Officer of Twitter), Rishi Sunak (Britain’s Finance Minister), Apoorva Mehta (Founder & CEO of Instacart), Shikha Gupta (Executive Director of Nonprofit ‘Get Us PPE’) & Rohan Pavuluri (Founder of Nonprofit ‘Upsolve’).

•      Bhim Army Chief Chandra Shekhar Azad is the sole Indian activist who has been named in the list.

 

11. JAIDEEP BHATNAGAR APPOINTED AS THE PRINCIPAL DG OF PIB

•      The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting appointed Jaideep Bhatnagar, 1986-batch Indian Information Service (IIS) officer as the Principal Director General(DG) of Press Information Bureau(PIB).

 

12. RECOGNITION OF GFI AFTER 10 YEARS

•      Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports restored the recognition of the Gymnastics Federation of India(GFI) as National Sports Federation after a decade.

•      The recognition granted by the Ministry with immediate effect is for the period till 31st December 2021.

•      The 2019 November Election of Sudhir Mittal as President  for the period of 2019 to 2023 has been recorded by the Ministry.

 

13. BOOK “THE MYSTERY OF THE PARSEE LAWYER”

•      “The Mystery of the Parsee Lawyer: Arthur Conan Doyle, George Edalji and the Case of the Foreigner in the English Village” the new book authored by Shrabani Basu is set to be released on 3rd March 2021. 

•      The book is published by Bloomsbury Publishing.