DAILY GK: 19,20 SEP 2021

 DAILY GK: 19,20 SEP 2021

1.RAIL KAUSHAL VIKAS YOJANA (RKVY) UNDER PMKVY

•      Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, Ministry of Railways launched Rail Kaushal Vikas Yojana (RKVY) under the aegis of Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) from Rail Bhavan, New Delhi.

•      The program envisages empowering youth viz. 50000 candidates with industry relevant skills over a period of three years under the Apprentice Act 1961 through 75 Railway training institutes. It will be free of cost.

 

2.SIRARAKHONG CHILLI & TAMENGLONG ORANGE GET GI TAG

•      Manipur’s Sirarakhong Chilli (Hathei Chilly) and Tamenglong Orange have received the Geographical Index (GI) tag.

•      The Chief Minister of Manipur,N. Biren Singh, announced it during the inaugural ceremony of the Van Dhan Vikas Kendra (VDVK) Mela, 2021.

 

3.BYJU’S ACQUIRES K-12 CODING COMPANY TYNKER

•      NITI Aayog Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Amitabh Kant launched an initiative in collaboration with edutech company BYJU’S to provide free access to the company’s “Premium Learning’’ resources to  students of class 6-12 in government schools across 112 ‘Aspirational Districts’.

•      BYJU’S has acquired 100 percent share in US based K-12 coding company Tynker.

•      The objective is to provide every child a  strong foundation in computer science, programming and critical thinking skills.

 

4.HIGH ASH COAL TO METHANOL CONVERSION PLANT

•      Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) has developed India’s 1st High ash Indian Coal to Methanol conversion plant in Hyderabad, Telangana under plot basis.

•      The plant is developed using indigenous technology, to promote the adoption of clean technology.

•      Methanol produced through the plant will be blended with crude oil to reduce emission through transportation fuel.

 

5.INDIA TO HAVE WORLD’S LONGEST EXPRESSWAY BY MARCH 2023

•      Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways announced that India is set to have the world’s longest expressway – Delhi-Mumbai Express Highway by March 2023.

•      The 1,380 km long Expressway, developed at a cost of Rs.98000 Crore will reduce the travel time between Delhi and Mumbai to 12 to 13 hours.

•      The first phase from Delhi-Jaipur (Dausa)-Lalsot and Vadodara-Ankleshwar is expected to be open to traffic by March 2022.

•      The expressway is expected to be completed by March 2023.

•      This will be India’s first expressway to have helipads and fully equipped trauma centres at every 100 km.

 

6.‘DUSHANBE DECLARATION’ ADOPTED

•      PM Narendra Modi virtually participated in the 21st Meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) that was held for the first time through hybrid format from Dushanbe, Tajikistan.

•      During the meeting, SCO member countries adopted the ‘Dushanbe Declaration’ to promote counter terrorism & stability in Afghanistan.

 

7.PIYUSH GOYAL ADDRESSES THE G-33 VIRTUAL MEETING

•      The G-33 Virtual Informal Ministerial Meeting organized by Indonesia.

•      The informal Ministerial Meeting was chaired by Muhammad Lutfi, Minister of Trade, Republic of Indonesia.

•      Objective -To discuss the ‘Agricultural Priority Issues of G-33’ and the Way Forward for the 12th Ministerial Conference (MC-12) scheduled to be held.

 

8.YOSHIHIDE SUGA TO STEP DOWN AS JAPAN’S PM

•      Japan’s prime minister, Yoshihide Suga, is set to step down as the Prime Minister(PM) of Japan.

•      He took over as the Prime Minister of Japan succeeding Shinzo Abe who resigned in September 2020.

•      Yoshihide Suga is the leader of Japan’s Liberal Democratic Party (LDP)

 

9.APPOINTMENT OF 17 SDG ADVOCATES BY UN

•      United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has appointed 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Advocates, ahead of the 76th General Assembly.

•      Nobel Peace Laureate Kailash Satyarthi, STEM activist Valentina Munoz Rabanal, Microsoft President Brad Smith and K-pop superstars Blackpink were named in the list.

 

10.WORLD’S 1ST 5-COUNTRY BIOSPHERE RESERVE

•      UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) declared Europe’s Mura-Drava-Danube (MDD), the largest riverine protected area on the continent known as ‘Amazon of Europe’ as the world’s first five-country biosphere reserve.

•      Key Features of Amazon of Europe:

•      Countries covered– Austria, Slovenia, Croatia, Hungary and Serbia.

•      Rivers covered– Mura, Drava and Danube

•      Total area of the reserve– Million Hectares

 

11.WORLD BAMBOO DAY 2021 – SEPTEMBER 18

•      World Bamboo Day (WBD) is annually observed across the globe on September 18th to create awareness about Bamboo, a non-wood forest product, which is considered Green Gold and to promote the new cultivation of bamboo for new industries across the globe.

•      The Message of WBD 2021 is “#PlantBamboo: It is Time to Plant Bamboo”.