DAILY GK 13-15 OCT

 DAILY GK 13-15 OCT

1.          ‘BETI BACHAO BETI PADHAO’ SCHEME REVISED

·                The flagship scheme of the government ‘Beti Bachao Beti Padhao’ has been revised and included many initiatives like skilling girls in Non-Traditional Livelihood (NTL) options, increasing their enrolment in secondary education, raising awareness about menstrual hygiene, and promoting the elimination of child marriages.

·                The Ministry of Women and Child Development launched an operational manual to implement the scheme in districts.

·                On 22nd January 2015, prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Beti Bachao Beti Padhao (BBBP) Scheme at Panipat, Haryana.

·                It is a joint initiative of the Ministry of Women and Child Development (MoWCD), the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) and the Ministry of Human Resource Development(MHRD).

 

2.         RUSSIAN PRESIDENT PUTIN RECOGNIZES INDEPENDENCE FOR 2 MORE UKRAINE REGIONS

·                Two Ukrainian regionsKherson and Zaporizhzhia located in southern Ukraine have been recognized as independent by an order from Russian President Vladimir Putin, paving the way for Russia to annex them.

·                Similar actions were taken for Crimea earlier and for Luhansk & Donetsk in Ukraine in February 2022.

 

3.   CRI INDEX 2022: RANKS 123 GLOBALLY 

·                According to the Commitment to Reducing Inequality Index 2022 (CRI Index) (4th Edition), India has climbed six places to rank 123 out of 161 countries for reducing inequality but continues to perform low in health spending.

·                The CRI Index is a collaboration between Development Finance International (DFI) and Oxfam International.

·                The CRI Index 2022 is topped by Norway, followed by Germany and Australia.

·                India has moved 12 places (+12) to 129th in terms of reducing inequality through public spending. 

·                The progressive taxation ranking for India has increased by 3 places (+3) to 16.

 

4.         RBI RAISES MINIMUM CAPITAL REQUIREMENT FOR SETTING UP ARCS TO RS 300 CR

·                the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) raised the minimum capital requirement for setting up an asset reconstruction company (ARC) to Rs 300 crore from the existing Rs 100 crore.

·                The existing ARCs are need to meet minimum net owned fund (NOF) requirement of Rs 200 crore by March 31, 2024, and Rs 300 crore by March 31, 2026.

 

5.   NIPL COLLABORATES WITH WORLDLINE TO FACILITATE UPI PAYMENTS ACROSS EUROPE

·                Worldline, a leader in global payments services in Europe, has partnered with NPCI International Payments Ltd. (NIPL), the international arm of the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), India.

·                Digital payments in India are facilitated by NPCI.

·                With this partnership, Worldline will be the first European Union (EU) acquirer to provide European merchants with Unified Payments Interface (UPI) and RuPay.

·                With the help of Worldline QR, the first target markets for NIPL are likely to be Switzerland, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg (BENELUX).

·                UPI transactions reached 38.74 billion in 2021, with a total value of USD 954.58 billion.

·                NPCI has issued 714 million indigenously-developed RuPay cards till date.

·                NIPL Chief Operating Officer (CEO) – Ritesh Shukla,Headquarters – Mumbai, Maharashtra

 

6.   IMF LOWERS INDIA’S GDP FORECAST FOR FY23 TO 6.8%

·                The International Monetary Fund (IMF) in its October 2022 edition of ‘World Economic Outlook: Countering the Cost-of-Living Crisis’, lowered India’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth projection in financial year 2022-23 (FY23) by 60 basis points (bps) to 6.8% from the earlier 7.4% projected in July 2022.

·                In FY24, India’s growth is anticipated to further decelerate to 6.1%.

·                It is forecasted that global growth will drop to 3.2% in 2022 and to 2.7% in 2023.

·                The World Bank recently reduced India’s growth forecast for 2022–2023 to 6.5% from 7.5%

 

7.         GOOGLE INTRODUCES WORLD’S FIRST LAPTOPS BUILT FOR CLOUD GAMING

·                Google in partnership with Acer, ASUS and Lenovo introduced the world’s first Chromebooks that were built for cloud gaming.

·                Under the partnership, three new Chromebooks including Acer Chromebook 516 GE, ASUS Chromebook Vibe CX55 Flip and Ideapad Gaming Chromebook from Lenovo.

 

8.   LAVER CUP 2022 TENNIS: TEAM WORLD WINS THE TITLE

·                Team World has won the 2022 Laver Cup title for the first time in the event held on an indoor hard court at the O2 Arena in London, England

·                The 2022 Laver Cup was the 5th edition of the Laver Cup, a men’s tennis tournament played between teams from Europe named ‘Team Europe’ and the rest of the world, named ‘Team World’.

·                Team Europe was headed by Captain Björn Borg

·                Team World  was headed by Captain, John Mcenroe

·                This was the final match played by Roger Federer as a professional tennis player with a loss in doubles match with Rafael Nadal for Team Europe in the Laver Cup 2022 against Frances Tiafoe and Jack Sock of Team World.

 

9.   WORLD ARTHRITIS DAY 2022- OCTOBER 12

·                World Arthritis Day (WAD) is annually observed across the globe on October 12 to raise awareness about the existence and impact of rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases, often referred to as Rheumatic and Musculoskeletal Diseases (RMDs).

·                The theme of World Arthritis Day 2022 is ‘It’s in your hands, Take Action‘.

·                World Arthritis Day was initially established by Arthritis and Rheumatism International (ARI) in 1996. 

·                Headquarters- Zürich, Switzerland

 

10.       TAMIL NADU NOTIFIES INDIA’S FIRST SANCTUARY FOR ENDANGERED SLENDER LORISES

·                The Tamil Nadu (TN) government notified the Kadavur Slender Loris Sanctuary, the first of its kind in India for the endangered Slender Loris in Karur and Dindigul districts of TN

·                According to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), Slender Loris is listed as an endangered species 

·                The Slender Loris is a small nocturnal mammal that is arboreal in nature, which spends most of its life on trees and are native to India and Sri Lanka.

·                Their lifespan is approximately 15 years and generally feed on insects, reptiles, plant shoots, and fruit. They are protected under Schedule I of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972.    

 

11.  GOLDEN JUBILEE OF PIN CODE

·                 The Minister of State (MoS) for Communications, Devusinh Chauhan released Commemorative Postage Stamp on the occasion of the Golden Jubilee of the Postal Index Number (PIN) Code, in Gandhinagar, Gujarat.

·                PIN code or a Postal Index Number in India is a 6-digit numeric code in the Indian Postal system. It was introduced on 15 August 1972 by the then Additional Secretary in the Ministry of Communications, Shriram Bhikaji.

 

12.       GOVT ACCORDS INFRASTRUCTURE STATUS TO DATA CENTRES WITH OVER 5 MW CAPACITY

·                The Central Government has accorded infrastructure status to data centres that are situated in a dedicated or centralised building for storage and processing of digital data applications with more than 5 megawatt (MW) capacity of IT load, for easier access to institutional credit at lower rates and attract foreign investments.

·                The capacity of data centres is measured in terms of power they consume which will be reflected on the scale of the server on which they are hosting in their facilities.

·                As per a Report by ICRA Limited (formerly Investment Information and Credit Rating Agency of India Limited), in India, the data centres capacity has been expanding by both foreign and local firms and the expansion is projected at Rs. 1.05 lakh to 1.2 lakh crore investments in next 5 years.

 

13.       CYBER SECURITY EXERCISE “POWEREX-2022”

·                The Computer Emergency Response Team- India (CERT-In) in collaboration with Power-CSIRTs (Computer Security Incident Response Teams in Power sector) designed & conducted the Cyber Security Exercise “PowerEX” for 193 invited Power Sector Utilities.

·                The Objective of the exercise was to “Recognize, Analyse & Respond to Cyber Incidents in IT (Information Technology)& OT (Operational Technology) Systems.

·                The theme of the exercise was “Defending Cyber induced disruption in IT & OT infrastructure”.

 

14.       TIMES HIGHER EDUCATION WORLD UNIVERSITY RANKINGS 2023

·                According to the ‘Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2023, the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru (IISc Bengaluru) in Karnataka has secured the number one spot among Indian universities.

·                IISc Bengaluru is Ranked No. 1 among Indian institutions, falling into the 251-300 band after spending three years in the 301-350 band.

·                It is also the only university in India to make the top 300 list.

·                With 75 institutes included in the Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings 2023, India is the fifth most represented country on the list.

·                For the seventh consecutive year, the University of Oxford is ranked first in the world.

 

15.       INDIA BEARS WORLD’S HIGHEST HEALTH & ECONOMIC BURDEN DUE TO LEAD POISONING

·                NITI Aayog (National Institution for Transforming India) and the Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR), have jointly prepared a report “Assessment of Lead Impact on Human and India’s Response, in July 2022, which found that India bears the world’s highest health and economic burden due to lead poisoning.

·                The Energy and Resource Institute (TERI) and Pure Earth, an International non-profit organisation, co-hosted a seminar on “Understanding Lead Poisoning Prevalence in India” in New Delhi, Delhi to discuss the need for urgent responses at both the national and state levels to tackle global health crisis triggered by lead poisoning, particularly in India.

·                The Report of NITI Aayog and CSIR was prepared by reviewing the data of the report “The Toxic Truth: Children’s Exposure to Lead Pollution Undermines a Generation of Future Potential”  jointly produced by United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and Pure Earth.

·                India accounts for 26% of global deaths due to lead exposure every year and 50 percent of children are with elevated blood lead levels (BLL) globally.

 

16.       LIVING PLANET REPORT 2022

·                According to the ‘Living Planet Report 2022’, a flagship publication of the World Wide Fund For Nature (WWF), monitored wildlife populations such as mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles, and fish have declined by 69% on average since 1970.

·                Report utilizes a number of indicators, including the Living Planet Index (LPI), provided by the Zoological Society of London (ZSL).

·                Latin America and the Caribbean experienced the greatest decline (94%).

·                Populations of freshwater species decreased 83% globally, indicating that the planet is currently going through a “biodiversity and climate crisis.”

·                In order to highlight “threat hotspots” for terrestrial vertebrates, WWF recognized six major threats to biodiversity: agriculture, hunting, logging, pollution, invasive species, and climate change.

·                The data show that mangroves continue to disappear at a rate of 0.13 % annually due to aquaculture, agriculture, and coastal development.

·                Since 1985, the Sundarban mangrove forest in India and Bangladesh has lost around 137 square kilometres to erosion, diminishing the ecosystem services it provides to the people who live there.

 

17.       WORLD SIGHT DAY 2022 – OCTOBER 13

·                World Sight Day is annually observed across the globe on the second Thursday of October to raise awareness among people regarding eye health and to recognize the work done by thousands of ophthalmologists across the world to fix the problem of vision impairment.

·                World Sight Day is also known as ‘World Eye Day’ or ‘World Vision Day’.

·                The theme for World Sight Day 2022 is “Love Your Eyes”.

 

18.       INTERNATIONAL DAY FOR DISASTER RISK REDUCTION 2022 – OCTOBER 13 

·                The United Nations (UN)’s International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction is annually observed across the globe on October 13 to promote a global culture of risk awareness and disaster reduction.

·                The theme of International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction 2022 is “Early Warning, which is a call for investment in expanding early warning and early action for all.

·                The UN General Assembly (UNGA) adopted a resolution A/RES/44/236 in 1989 and declared the 2nd Wednesday of October as the International Day for Natural Disaster Reduction (IDNDR).

·                UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR):Headquarters- Geneva, Switzerland

 

19.       VISIT OF PM NARENDRA MODI TO IN HIMACHAL PRADESH

·                Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi visited Una and Chamba in Himachal Pradesh (HP) to launch a number of development projects and initiatives, with a specific emphasis on connectivity and education.

·                PM Narendra Modi Laid Foundation Stone for Bulk Drug Park in Una, HP

·                It would be India’s second bulk drug park, while the foundation stone for India’s first bulk drug park was laid in Bharuch, Gujarat

·                PM Narendra Modi laid the groundwork for 2 hydropower projects in Chamba, HP. They are The 48 MW (megawatt) Chanju-III Hydroelectric Project,The 30 MW Deothal Chanju Hydroelectric Project

 

20.       PARAM-KAMRUPA SUPERCOMPUTER FACILITY AT IIT GUWAHATI, ASSAM

·                The President of India Droupadi Murmu inaugurated a supercomputer facility namely ‘Param-Kamrupa’ at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Guwahati in Assam.

·                Param-Kamrupa is a state-of-the-art supercomputer set up under the National Supercomputing Mission (NSM).

 

21.       INS TARKASH TO PARTICIPATE IN IBSAMAR

·                INS Tarkash reached Port Grequhrea (also known as Port Elizabeth) in South Africa to participate in the 7th edition of IBSAMAR (IBSAMAR VII), a joint multinational maritime exercise

·                The exercise IBSAMAR was initiated in 2008 and is conducted between Indian, Brazilian and South African Navies.

 

22.       RBI CANCELS REGISTRATION CERTIFICATES OF 8 NBFCS

·                The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) cancelled Certificates of Registration (CoR) of eight Non-Banking Finance Companies (NBFC) in India.

·                According to the clause (a) of Section 45-I of the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934, these companies shall not transact the business of a non-banking financial institution.

·                The four NBFCs are Ashwini Investment Private Ltd, RM Securities Pvt Ltd, Amity Finance Private Ltd and Matrix Merchandise Ltd.

·                The RBI suo-moto cancelled certificates of another four NBFCs  SRM Properties and Finance Company Pvt Ltd, North East Region Finservices Ltd, Sowjenvee Finance Ltd and Opel Finance Ltd.

 

23.       IRAQ’S NEW PRESIDENT AND PM

·                The lawmakers of Iraq has elected Kurdish politician Abdul Latif Rashid, active member of Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) party as the New President of Iraq.

·                He became the 9th President of Iraq 

·                He defeated Barham Salih in the presidential election.

·                Abdul Latif Rashid has named Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani as Prime Minister-designate and tasked him to form a new government in Iraq.

 

24.       UNICEF & ICC PARTNERS TO PROMOTE GENDER EQUALITY THROUGH CRICKET

·                The International Cricket Council (ICC) partnered with United Nations International Children’s Fund (UNICEF) to empower women and girls and promote gender equality through cricket.

·                The partnership between ICC and UNICEF is to be activated in the upcoming T20 World Cup 2022 in Australia where all 16 Nations will hold ‘Cricket 4 Good Coaching Clinics‘ with up to 40 school children taking part in each.

·                The players will introduce the children to ‘Criiio 4 Good‘, a cricket development curriculum as the participants will also learn more about gender equity.

·                The partnership will continue throughout the ICC events till the men’s One Day International (ODI) World Cup in India in October-November 2023.

·                Criiio 4 Good is a programme developed by the ICC to deliver an 8-weeklesson plan which will introduce the fundamentals of batting, bowling and fielding as well as the basic rules of the game.

 

25.       WORLD STANDARDS DAY 2022 – OCTOBER 14

·                World Standards Day (WSD) also known as International Standards Day is annually observed across the globe on October 14 to educate consumers, policymakers, and businesses about the value of standardisation.

·                The day is organised by the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), International Organization for Standardization (ISO), and International Telecommunication Union (ITU), collaborating under the banner “World Standard Cooperation”.

·                The theme of World Standards Day 2022 is ‘Shared Vision for a Better World’. 2022 follows the same theme as 2021.