DAILY GK: 18 SEP 2021
1.
‘REFORMS IN URBAN PLANNING CAPACITY IN INDIA’
• A
report titled ‘Reforms in Urban Planning Capacity in India’ was released by
NITI Aayog’s Vice Chairman Dr Rajiv
Kumar.
• NITI
Aayog and France’s software maker Dassault Systèmes have signed a Statement of
Intent (SoI) during a virtual event to support various current and future
initiatives of AIM (Atal Innovation Mission) programs and AIM beneficiaries in
India.
2.
WORLD BANK DISCONTINUES “EASE OF DOING BUSINESS” REPORT
• World
Bank group announced to discontinue its “Doing Business” reports after finding
data irregularities in countries rankings in 2018 and 2020 reports.
• The
law investigation agency, WilmerHale, has unveiled inconsistent with the Doing
Business methodology in the 2018 report, which favoured China’s position.
• Note
– The 1st edition of the ‘Doing Business’ report was published by the World
Bank in 2003.
3.INDIA’S
FIRST-EVER EURO GREEN BOND
• Power
Finance Corporation Ltd (PFC), the leading Non-Banking Financial Company (NBFC)
in the power sector, launched its first €300 million 7-year Euro Bond issuance
on September 13 pricing 1.841%.
• It
is the first ever Euro denominated Green bond issuance from India.
• It
is the first ever Euro issuance by an Indian NBFC and the first Euro bond
issuance from India since 2017.
4.WOMEN’S
PRIZE FOR FICTION 2021
• British
author Susanna Clarke won the Women’s Prize for Fiction 2021 for her 2nd book,
a fantasy novel titled “Piranesi”, a mystery about a man living alone in a
labyrinthine house.
• The
book was published by Bloomsbury Publishing.
She published her debut novel “Jonathan
Strange and Mr Norrell” in 2004.
5.NEW
CHAIRPERSON OF ‘IN-SPACE’
• Pawan
Kumar Goenka, the former MD of Mahindra & Mahindra, was appointed as the
Chairperson of Indian National Space Promotion Authorization Centre (IN-SPACe)
by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet.
• In
2020, the Central government established IN-SPACe under the Department of
Space, as the nodal agency for regulating private companies in the Space
sector.
6.YAHOO
APPOINTS JIM LANZONE AS ITS NEW CEO
• Yahoo
has appointed Jim Lanzone, the CEO of Tinder as its new Chief Executive
Officer(CEO) with effect from 27th September 2021.
• Jim
Lanzone will succeed Guru Gowrappan who was named Senior Advisor to Apollo’s
private equity business.
• This
follows the acquisition of Yahoo by Apollo Management Group for 5 billion USD.
7.1ST
NATION TO SUCCESSFULLY TEST LAUNCH SLBM
• After
North Korea, now South Korea successfully test-fired a submarine-launched
ballistic missile (SLBM) becoming the 7th country in the world to do so.
• It
also became the first country without nuclear weapons to develop such a system.
• The
SLBM was fired underwater from its newly commissioned 3,000 ton class Dosan Ahn
Chang-ho submarine.
8.SPACEX
LAUNCHES EARTH-CIRCLING PRIVATE TRIP
• For
the first, A SpaceX launched Falcon 9 rocket, with all amateur and tourist
crew, from Kennedy Space Centre at Cape Canaveral in Central Florida.
• The
crew included 38-year-old billionaire Jared Isaacman, who sponsored the trip,
Hayley Arceneux, 29, Sian Procotor, 51, and Chris Sembroski, a 42-year-old who
claimed his seat through an online raffle.
• Note:
Arceneaux is the first youngest American in space and the first person with
prosthesis, a titanium rod in her left leg
9.IOC
BANS N KOREA TILL THE END OF 2022
• The
International Olympic Committee (IOC) has suspended North Korea until the end
of 2022 as it failed to send a team to the Tokyo Games.
