DAILY GK 16-18 APRIL

DAILY GK 16-18 APRIL 

1.       APPI & WORLD BANK FUNDED AHSSOH

·         The Union Minister ParshottamRupala, Ministry for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying (MoFAHD), launched projects, ‘Animal Pandemic Preparedness Initiative’ (APPI) and World Bank (WB)-funded ‘Animal Health System Support for One Health’ (AHSSOH), under the aegis of National One Health Mission to improve India’s preparedness and response to potential animal pandemics.

·         AHSSOH is India’s first animal pandemic response plan in collaboration with the World Bank.

·         The collaborative project will be implemented in 5 states over a five-year period as Central sector scheme with a financial provision of Rs 1228.70 Crore.

·         The project aims to cover 151 districts in five participating states, wherein it will target upgradation of 75 district/regional laboratories, upgradation/strengthening 300 veterinary hospitals/dispensaries.

 

2.       INDIA SIGNS MOU WITH UN WFP FOR SENDING WHEAT TO AFGHANISTAN

·         Government of India (GoI) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the United Nations (UN) World Food Programme(WFP), clearing the way for the delivery of 10,000 metric tonnes (the fifth tranche) of wheat for the people of Afghanistan.

·         The fifth tranche [to be supplied through Iran’s Chahbahar port] builds on aid already provided by the WFP for people in need in Afghanistan.

 

3.       GHANA BECOMES 1ST COUNTRY TO APPROVE OXFORD MALARIA VACCINE

·         The Republic of Ghana has become the 1st country to approve a highly effective malaria vaccine “R21/Matrix-M” developed at Oxford University in the United Kingdom (UK).

·         The vaccine was approved by Ghana’s Food and Drug Authority (FDA).

·         The R21/Matrix-M vaccine has been licenced for use in children aged 5-36 months, who are most at risk of dying from malaria.

·         WHO estimates that 619,000 people died from malaria in 2021, the majority of whom were children in Sub-Saharan Africa.

 

4.       SBI REINTRODUCED RETAIL TERM DEPOSIT SCHEME ‘AMRIT KALASH’

·         The State Bank of India (SBI) decided to reintroduce the retail term deposit scheme ‘AMRIT KALASH’.

·         It is a special scheme of 400 days tenor with an interest rate of 7.6% for senior citizens and 7.1% for others.

·         In February 2023, the SBI launched ‘AMRIT KALASH’, the retail term deposit scheme with a specific duration with validity from February 15, 2023, to March 31, 2023.

·         Now the Scheme was reintroduced with validity from April 12, 2023, to June 30, 2023.

·         Domestic retail term deposits, including non-resident Indian (NRI) rupee term deposits (less than Rs.2 crore), new and renewals, term deposits, and special term deposits are eligible for this specific tenure deposit scheme.

 

5.       INDIAN OIL & US-BASED LANZAJET TO SET UP INDIA’S 1ST GREEN AVIATION FUEL FIRM

·         Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) is to set up a joint venture(JV) with United States of America (USA)-based clean energy technology company LanzaJetInc, and multiple domestic airlines for the manufacturing ofSustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF).

·         The proposed venture will build a plant to manufacture SAF using alcohol-to-jet technology at the Panipat refinery in Haryana at a cost of Rs 3,000 crore.

·         IOCL will hold a 50% stake while LanzaJetInc will hold 25%. The remaining 25% stake would be offered to a bunch of airline companies.

 

6.       BUSINESS LEADER OF THE DECADE AWARD OF AIMA

·         Kumar Mangalam Birla, Chairman of Aditya Birla Group, received the Business Leader of the Decade Award at All India Management Association’s (AIMA) 13th Managing India Awards ceremony in New Delhi

·         T V Narendran, Chairman of Tata Steel Limited, was facilitated with the “AIMA-JRD Tata Corporate Leadership” award.

·         ABB India, the leading engineering services company, bagged the “MNC in India of the Year” award.

·         The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) received the ‘Outstanding PSU of the Year’ award.

·         Sanjiv Bajaj, MD of Bajaj Finserv received the Transformational Business Leader Award

·         Venu Srinivasan, Chairman Emeritus, TVS Motor Company was given the Outstanding Institution Builder Award.

 

7.       RUSSIA CONDUCTS TEST LAUNCH OF ‘ADVANCED’ INTERCONTINENTAL BALLISTIC MISSILE

·         The Russian Defense Ministry executed a successful test launch of an “advanced” Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) of a mobile ground-based missile system from the Kapustin Yar test site in Russia’s southern Astrakhan region.

·         The purpose of the launch was to test the advanced combat equipment of intercontinental ballistic missiles.

 

8.       ASIAN WRESTLING CHAMPIONSHIPS 2023

·         AmanSehrawat, a freestyle wrestler, won India’s 1st gold medal, under the men’s 57kg freestyle category, at the Asian Wrestling Championships 2023.

·         36th edition of Asian Wrestling Championships was held in Astana, Kazakhstan

·         AmanSehrawat won the gold medal by defeating Kyrgyzstan’s AlmazSmanbekov

·         India has won 14 medals(one gold, three silvers and 10 bronze) and is ranked 7th in overall medal tally.

·         Kazakhstan was topped in medal tally followed by Japan and Iran.

 

9.       NATIONAL FIRE SERVICE DAY 2023 – APRIL 14

·         14th April is annually observed as National Fire Service (NFS) Day across India to pay homage to the firefighters who sacrificed their lives in the line of duty and emphasize the importance of fire service.

·         The day is also commemorated as a Martyr’s Day to pay homage to the Fire Service personnel who lost their lives on 14th April 1944 during the massive Bombay explosion at the Victoria Dock in the Mumbai Port.

·         April 14 to 20 is observed as “Fire Service Week”.

·         The theme of National Fire Service Day/week 2023 is “Awareness in Fire Safety for Growth of National Infrastructure” (AGNI)”.

 

10.    THE STATUS OF WOMEN IN AGRIFOOD SYSTEMS REPORT BY FAO

·         As per the ‘The Status Of Women In Agrifood Systems‘ released by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), tackling gender inequality in agri-food systems can reduce hunger, boost the economy and reinforce resilience to shocks like climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic.

·         There would be increase in the global gross domestic product (GDP) by 1% or nearly $1 trillion if there is no gender gap in farm productivity and the wage gap in agri-food-system employment.

·         Currently, Women earn 82 cents for every dollar earned by men.

·         Globally, 36% of working women are employed in agrifood systems, along with 38% of working men.

·         Prioritizing women in development interventions for small-scale producers could benefit 58 million people with increased income and 235 million people with greater resilience.

·         This could also reduce global food insecurity by 2%, impacting 45 million individuals.

·         Nearly 4 billion individuals depend on agri-food systems as their main source of livelihoods

 

11.    SRI LANKAN DEBT RESTRUCTURING PROGRAMME

·         India, Japan, and France announced a common platform for talks among creditors to address the debt restructuring programme of Sri Lanka

·         It was announced on April 13, 2023, while the representatives of the three creditor countries, i.e. the Finance Minister (FM) Nirmala Sitharaman (India), FM Shunichi Suzuki (Japan), French Director General of the Treasury Emmanuel Moulin, held a press briefing on the margins of the annual spring meetings of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Washington DC , United States.

·         In March 20, 2023, IMF cleared a US$ 3 billion Extended Fund Facility (EFF) (with a 48-month extended arrangement) for Sri Lanka, potentially unlocking more loans for the debt-ridden nation.

·         India, Japan (as a member of the Paris Club group of creditors), and China were Sri Lanka’s top three bilateral creditors.

 

12.    CGTMSE INCREASED GUARANTEE COVERAGE FOR MSES FROM RS 2 CRORE TO RS 5 CRORE

·         The Credit Guarantee Fund Trust for Micro and Small Enterprises (CGTMSE) increased the guarantee coverage ceiling under its Credit Guarantee Fund Scheme for MSEs from Rs 2 crore to Rs 5 crore per borrower for credit facilities extended by lending institutions to Micro and Small Enterprises (MSEs).

·         The changes are made with respect to the reduction in the loan growth to the MSE segment to 13.2% year-on-year (y-o-y) (as on February 24, 2023) from 24% y-o-y (as on February 25, 2022).

·         Threshold for waiver of legal action was enhanced to Rs10 lakhs from the existing Rs 5 lakhs.

 

13.    US BECAME INDIA’S BIGGEST TRADING PARTNER IN FY23

·         According to the data of the Ministry of Commerce, the United States (US) has emerged as India’s biggest trading partner in the financial year 2022-23 (FY23) at USD 128.55 billion followed by China in the second position at USD 113.83 billion.

·         The bilateral trade between India and the US has increased by 7.65% in FY23 due to increasing economic co-operation as against USD 119.5 billion in FY22. It was USD 80.51 billion in FY21.

·         The UAE with US$76.16 billion, was the third largest trading partner of India.

·         Exports to China decreased by about 28 per cent to USD 15.32 billion in 2022-23,whereas the imports increased by 4.16% to $98.51 billion in FY23.

 

14.    MISS INDIA WORLD 2023

·         Nandini Gupta, from (Kota)Rajasthan, won the 59th edition of Femina Miss India World 2023 crown in the grand ceremony held at KhumanLampak Stadium, Imphal, Manipur.

·         Nandini Gupta will now represent India at the 71st edition of Miss World (2023), which is to be held in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

·         Shreya Poonja of Delhi became the 1st runner-up and ThounaojamStrelaLuwang of Manipur was crowned the 2nd runner-up.

 

15.    FENGYUN-3G: CHINA LAUNCHES 1ST SATELLITE DEDICATED TO MONITORING HEAVY RAINFALLS

·         China launched Fengyun-3G(FY-3G), its first satellite allowing scientists to monitor the Earth’s precipitation from space.

·         With a lifespan of 6 years (2023 – 2029), FY 3G is dedicated to monitoring heavy rainfalls during catastrophic weather conditions in global regions of low- and mid-latitude i.e. it will forecast global meteorological disasters through its powerful tool.

·         This satellite is a continuation of the Global Precipitation Measurement mission (GPM) which is led by Japan and the United States of America(USA).

 

16.    TAIFA-1: KENYA LAUNCHES FIRST OPERATIONAL SATELLITE INTO SPACE

·         Kenya successfully launched its inaugural operational 3U Earth Observation Satellite (EOS) ‘Taifa-1’ (Nation-1, in the Swahili language), using a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Base in California, United States of America (USA).

·         KenyaPresident– William Ruto

·         Capital– Nairobi

 

17.    EUROPE SUCCESSFULLY LAUNCHES JUICE MISSION TO STUDY JUPITER’S ICY MOONS

·         The European Space Agency (ESA) successfully launched the Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE), via the Ariane-5 rocket from Europe’s Spaceport from Kourou, French Guiana.

·         Juice, a robotic explorer’s, mission was to make detailed observations of the solar system’s biggest planet, Jupiter and three ice-encrusted moons which scientists believed to have underground oceans where sea life could exist.

 

18.    UNDERWATER NUCLEAR ATTACK DRONE “HAEIL-2” TESTED BY NORTH KOREA

·         North Korea made a claim of conducting a test of an underwater nuclear attack drone, which notably had the ability to unleash a “radioactive tsunami”.

·         The “Unmanned Underwater Nuclear Attack Craft” was the name given to the drone, also known as “Haeil” (meaning tsunami).

·         As a sequel,Haeil-2, which is the second underwater nuclear attack drone of North Korea was tested from April 4 to April 7.

·         North KoreaCapital –  Pyongyang

·         President/Supreme Leader- Kim Jong Un

 

19.    WORLD HEMOPHILIA DAY 2023 – APRIL 17

·         World Hemophilia Day is annually observed across the globe on 17th April to create awareness about Hemophilia, an inherited bleeding disorder in which the blood does not clot properly.

·         17th April 2023 marks the 34th World Hemophilia Day.

·         The themeof  World Hemophilia Day 2023 is “Access for All: Prevention of bleeds as the global standard of care”.