DAILY GK: 18 JUNE 2021

 DAILY GK: 18 JUNE 2021

1. DEVELOPMENT OF NMHC AT LOTHAL, GUJARAT

•      The Ministry of Culture (MoC) signed MoU with the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways (MoPSW) for Cooperation in Development of National Maritime Heritage Complex (NMHC) at Lothal, Gujarat.

•      National Maritime Heritage Complex is India’s first of its kind facility dedicated to the legacy of Maritime Heritage of India.

•      It will be developed at the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) site of Lothal, Gujarat.

 

2. UNION CABINET APPROVES RESTRUCTURING OF OFB

•      The Union Cabinet approved a plan for the restructuring of the 246-year old Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) which has 41 factories, into 7 fully government owned corporate entities on the lines of Defence Public Sector Undertakings (DPSU).

•      In September 2020, an Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) under the chairmanship of Defence Minister Rajnath Singh was set up to decide on matters related to restructuring of OFB.

 

3. INDIA’S H-ENERGY TO SUPPLY LNG TO BANGLADESH

•      India’s H-Energy signed an Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Petrobangla (company of Bangladesh) for supply of R-LNG (Regasified-Liquefied Natural Gas) to Bangladesh.

•      H-Energy will supply LNG to Bangladesh via the 250 km ‘Kanai Chatta (West Bengal) – Shrirampur (Bangladesh) Natural Gas Pipeline’, which is expected to be commissioned in 2023.

 

4. NATO SUMMIT 2021

•      31st North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) summit happened at Brussels in Belgium, the leaders of NATO’s 30 member countries were participated in the summit.

•      NATO 2030 agenda sets a higher level of ambition for NATO. It provides clear guidelines for further adaptation to address existing, new and future threats and challenges, building on the ongoing political and military adaptation of the Alliance.

 

5. WORLD COMPETITIVENESS INDEX 202

•      In the recently released World Competitiveness Index 2021 released by the Institute for Management Development’s (IMD) World Competitiveness Center, India retained its 43rd rank out of 64 nations (for the 3rd consecutive year).

•      Switzerland topped the Index followed by Sweden in the 2nd spot & Denmark in the 3rd spot.

•      Botswana (61st) was added to the ranking this year 2021.

 

6. SDG PIONEER OF THE YEAR BY UNGC

•      During the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC) Leaders Summit 2021, 10-Global leaders were named as the SDG Pioneers 2021.

•      Sumant Sinha, the Chairman and Managing Director of ReNew Power was recognised as one of the Global leaders working towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) through the implementation of the UN Global Compact Ten Principles on human rights, environment, labor, and anti-corruption.

 

7. MICROSOFT APPOINTED CEO SATYA NADELLA AS CHAIRMAN

•      Microsoft Corporation appointed its Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Satya Nadella as its Chairman.

•      He will succeed John Thompson who will now serve as lead independent director.

•      Notably, Satya Nadella backed billion dollar acquisitions like LinkedIn, Nuance Communications and ZeniMax.

 

8. BRAND AMBASSADOR OF CORONA VACCINATION PROGRAM IN MAHARASHTRA

•      The Maharashtra government has appointed Mukund Gosavi as a brand ambassador of the Corona vaccination program for speedy implementation of Corona vaccination in the Jalgaon district, Maharashtra due to his selfless service

•      Mukund Gosavi is a person with 80 percent who assisted disabled people and senior citizens in remote areas by providing medical care facilities, arranging essential items to at least 1000 people and reducing fear among COVID positive patients by counselling them.

 

9. BOOK TITLED “THE NUTMEG’S CURSE: PARABLES FOR A PLANET IN CRISIS”

•      Jnanpith awardee and Renowned author Amitav Ghosh authored a new book ‘The Nutmeg’s Curse: Parables for a Planet in Crisis’.

•      This Book is Published by John Murray and will be released.

 

10. WORLD DAY TO COMBAT DESERTIFICATION AND DROUGHT 2021

•      The United Nations(UN)’s World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought is annually observed across the globe on 17th June to create and raise awareness regarding prevention of desertification of the soil in arid, semi-arid, and dry sub-humid areas caused due to climate change and human activities.

•      The theme of World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought 2021 is “Restoration.Land.Recovery: We build back better with healthy land”.

 

11. EUROPE’S LARGEST DIGITAL AND START-UP EVENT, VIVATECH

•      PM Narendra Modi invited the world to invest in India while addressing the 5th edition of global tech event VivaTech via video conferencing.

•      He stated, “India offers what innovators and investors need.

•      He invites the world to invest in India based on the five pillars of: Talent, Market, Capital, Eco-system, And, culture of openness”.

•      PM talked about how technology and digital have become the emerging areas of cooperation among the wide range of subjects that India and France have been working together for.

•      VivaTech is one of the largest digital and startup events in Europe, held in Paris every year since 2016.

 

12. RAJASTHAN GOVT WILL SET VEDIC EDUCATION AND SANSKAR BOARD

•      The Rajasthan government will soon set up a Vedic Education and Sanskar Board to revive the knowledge of Sanskrit scriptures and Vedas.

•      A committee, formed to define aims, objectives and functioning of the board, has submitted its report to the state government, Minister of State (MoS) for Sanskrit Education Subhash Garg mentioned, adding modules will be presented before the board based on the report.

 

13. FACEBOOK INITIATES ‘REPORT IT, DON’T SHARE IT!’ CAMPAIGN

•      Facebook has kicked off a new initiative to keep children safe on the internet.

•      The ‘Report it, don’t share it’ campaign is being helmed by the social media giant in collaboration with Aarambh India Initiative, Cyber Peace Foundation, and Arpan.

•      The main idea behind the initiative, as the name suggests, is to encourage people to report abusive or harmful content, and not share it.