DAILY GK: 11,12 MAY 2021

 DAILY GK: 11,12 MAY 2021

1.‘PASSEX’ EXCERCISE IN THE ARABIAN SEA

•        The Indian and Indonesian Navies conducted Passage Exercise (PASSEX) in the Southern Arabian sea.

•        The main aim of the exercise was to improve interoperability and understanding between the Navy units of two countries.

•        ‘Garuda Shakti’ is a bilateral exercise between the Special forces of armies of India & Indonesia.

 

2.3RD ARCTIC SCIENCE MINISTERIAL 2021

•        Union Minister for Earth Science Dr Harsh Vardhan virtually represented India in the 3rd Arctic Science Ministerial (ASM3) 2021 held in Tokyo, Japan, it was jointly organized by Iceland & Japan. 

•        The ASM3 2021 is the 1st meeting to be held in Asia.

•        The theme for 2021 is ‘Knowledge for a Sustainable Arctic’.

•        India’s vision & long-term plans for the Arctic region

•        India is set to launch ‘NISAR’ (NASA ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar) in collaboration with the US for conducting global measurements of the cause and consequences of land surface changes using advanced radar imaging.

•        India’s research activities in the Arctic region are coordinated & conducted by National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research (NCPOR), Goa, under the Ministry of Earth Sciences.

•        It has a permanent research station in the Arctic called ‘Himadri’ in Spitsbergen, Svalbard, Norway.

 

3.WORLD’S LONGEST PEDESTRIAN SUSPENSION BRIDGE

•        Portugal opened the world’s longest pedestrian suspension bridge named ‘516 Arouca’ in Northern Portugal.

•        The 516-meter long bridge is built in the AroucaGeopark, which is suspended at 175 metres above the Paiva River.

 

4.WORLD’S FASTEST-GROWING RETAILER

•        In the “2021 Ranking of Global retail powerhouses” by Deloitte, millionaire MukeshAmbani’s Reliance Retail Ltd has been ranked the 2nd fastest-growing retailer in the world, which is 1 rank down from its 2020 rank (In 2020 it was ranked 1st).

•        Note – South Korea’s Coupang is the World’s 1st Fastest-Growing Retailers.

•        In the report of the list of Global Powers, Retailing Reliance Retail Ltd was ranked 53rd (ranked 56th in 2020’s list) and it was the only Indian entry in the global list of 250 retailers.

 

5.HIMANTABISWASARMA BECOMES CHIEF MINISTER OF ASSAM

•        HimantaBiswaSarma was sworn in as the 15th  Chief Minister of Assam.

•        He has replaced SarbanandaSonowal.

•        Both the candidates are from BJP(Bharatiya Janata Party).

•        He was administered the oath by Governor JagdishMukhi.

•        It has to be noted that he was appointed based on Article 164 by which the Governor appoints the Chief Minister.

•        The Governor then appoints the ministers based on the recommendation of the Chief Minister.

 

6.SPANISH GRAND PRIX 2021

•        Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton (Britain) won the Spanish Grand Prix 2021 for the 6th time (5th consecutive victory).

•        The Spanish GP was held at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in Montmela, Spain.

•        The victory is also his 98th F1 Race Win (highest-ever in F1).

 

7.MK KAUSHIK PASSES AWAY

•        Former India hockey player and coach Maharaj Krishan Kaushik(M K Kaushik) passed away at the age of 66 after battling COVID-19 in New Delhi.

•        He was born on 2nd May 1955.He was the member of the Indian Hockey team that won the Gold medal in 1980 Olympics held in Moscow,Russia

 

8.1ST INDIAN STATE TO ADOPT AN ONLINE FLOOD REPORTING SYSTEM

•        Assam launched a real-time Digital – Flood Reporting and Information Management System (FRIMS).

•        With this launch, Assam became the 1st state in India to adopt an online flood reporting system.

•        FRIMS was developed jointly by Assam State Disaster Management Agency(ASDMA) and United Nations Children’s Fund(UNICEF).

•        Objective: To capture critical impact indicators during floods as the state is facing a deluge (severe flood) every year.

 

9.ANTI-COVID ORAL DRUG DEVELOPED BY DRDO

•        A drug developed by the Defence Research and Development Organization, DRDO got the approval for emergency use by the Drugs Controller General of India, DCGI.

•        The oral drug has been developed by the Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Allied Sciences, a lab of DRDO, in collaboration with Dr Reddy’s Laboratories, Hyderabad.

•        Phase III clinical trial results have shown that this molecule helps in faster recovery of hospitalized patients and reduces supplemental oxygen dependence.

•        The Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Allied Sciences (Inmas) in collaboration with Dr Reddy’s Laboratories, Hyderabad, developed an anti-Covid-19 therapeutic application of the drug 2-deoxy-D-glucose (2-DG).

 

10.NITI AAYOG&MASTERCARD RELEASE REPORT ON DIGITALLY INCLUSIVE BHARAT

•        NITI Aayog (National Institution for Transforming India) &Mastercard released a report titled ‘Connected Commerce: Creating a Roadmap for a Digitally Inclusive Bharat’.

•        FTI Consulting was the Research and Curation Partner of the report.

•        It identifies the challenges in accelerating digital financial inclusion in India and provides recommendations for making digital services accessible to 1.3 Billion citizens of India.

•        Enabling Agricultural NBFCs to deploy a ‘phygital’ model (physical+digital) to achieve better long-term digital outcomes.

•        Digitizing land records also was recommended.

 

11.THANE CREEK FLAMINGO SANCTUARY AS ECO-SENSITIVE ZONE (ESZ)

•        The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) has notified 48.32 Square Kilometres area around the Thane Creek Flamingo Sanctuary (TCFS), Thane, Maharashtra as an Eco-Sensitive Zone (ESZ).

•        It is the 2nd marine sanctuary of Maharashtra after Malvan Sanctuary, Sindhudurg, Maharashtra.

 

12.BOOST OXYGEN SUPPLY IN INDIA’S NE REGION

•        The Government of Japan & United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), India have partnered to provide oxygen generation plants to the North Eastern (NE) Region in India.

•        The entities will procure and install 8 Pressure Swing Absorption (PSA) oxygen generation plants in the states of Meghalaya, Nagaland and Tripura.

 

13.SHEIKH ZAYED BOOK AWARD IN 2021

•        Mumbai born TaheraQutbuddin, Professor of Arabic Literature, Department of NELC, University of Chicago, won the Sheikh Zayed Book Award in 2021 for her book titled “Arabic Oration: Art and Function”.

•        She became the first person from India to win the award.

•        She won the award under the Arab Culture in Other Languages category.

 

14.ARLINE PACHT GLOBAL VISION AWARD FOR 2021 BY IAWJ

•        Justice Gita Mittal, Former Chief Justice of Jammu and Kashmir(J&K) received the Arline Pacht Global Vision Award for 2021 by the International Association of Women Judges (IAWJ).

•        She became the first India Judge to receive the honour.

•        She was declared as one of the recipients of the award.

•        She shared the award with Justice Margarita Luna Ramos of Mexico.

•        Gita Mittal is currently serving as the Chairperson of the Broadcasting Content Complaints Council (BCCC), a self-regulatory body for general entertainment channels established by the Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF).

•        She is the first woman to hold this post.

 

15.INDIAN PEACEKEEPING OFFICER HONORED BY UN

•        UN Secretary General Antonio Guterreshonored Indian UN Peacekeeping officer Yuvraj Singh, who died in line of duty in 2020, during the UN annual Memorial Service 2021.

•        Permanent Representative of India to UN, T S Tirumurti saluted Yuvraj Singh’s valour and contribution, and conveyed condolences to the family.

•        Corporal Yuvraj Singh was among the 336 UN personnel who lost their lives in the line of duty due to the COVID-19 and related circumstances between January 1 and December 31, 2020.

 

16.SpaceX to launch DOGE-1 Satellite

•        SpaceX is set to launch the ‘DOGE-1’ Satellite to the Moon in 2022.

•        It will accept the cryptocurrency ‘Dogecoin’ as full payment for the mission.

•        It will be the 1st ever commercial lunar payload in history to be paid entirely with a Cryptocurrency.

•        The Satellite is being developed by Geometric Energy Corporation (GEC), and will be launched aboard a SpaceX Falcon9 rocket.

 

17.World’s First AI Ship to Navigate across The Atlantic

•        World’s First Unmanned Vessel named “Mayflower 400” is set to Navigate Across Atlantic.

•        It has been built by the marine research organization ProMare in collaboration with IBM.

•        It will begin its transatlantic voyage to track aquatic mammals, analyze plastic in the water, and study marine pollution.

 

18.National Technology Day – 11th May 2021

•        The National Technology Day is annually observed across India on 11th May to celebrate India’s major advancement in the field of Science and Technology.

•        The day marks the anniversary of the 1998 Pokhran Nuclear tests, a series of 5 nuclear tests conducted by India.

•        The theme of National Technology Day 2021 is “Science and Technology for a Sustainable Future”.