DAILY GK: 31 JAN 2021

DAILY GK: 31 JAN 2021

1. AGREEMENT FOR FINANCIAL SUPPORT TO STARS

•      On the lines of the Cabinet approval to the Strengthening Teaching-Learning and Results for States (STARS) project in Oct 2020, a financial support agreement was signed between Ministry of Education (MoE), Department of Economic Affairs (DEA), and World Bank (WB) for the implementation of Rs 5718 crore STARS project on January 29, 2021, .

•      Under the agreement, WB will provide US$ 500 million (approximately Rs. 3700 crore) and the rest will be shared by participating states for a period of 5 years.

•      There are 6 participating states viz. Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Kerala and Odisha.

 

2. CCEA APPROVES CLOSURE OF SCOOTERS INDIA LIMITED

•      Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved the closure of state-owned Scooters India Limited (SIL).

•      The company is being closed as it has been only accumulating losses.

•      SIL was founded in 1972 and is known for its scooters like Lambretta, Lamby, Vijay, Vikram & Lambro.

•      It has manufactured both Two-wheelers and three-wheelers, however since 1997 it discontinued its 2-wheeler manufacturing process.

•      It is based out of Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh (UP).

 

3. ASIA-PACIFIC PERSONALISED HEALTH INDEX 2020

•      Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) report ‘Asia-Pacific Personalised Health Index 2020’ developed by the Copenhagen Institute for Future Studies in partnership with Roche, India with a score of 36 was ranked at 10 out of 11 Asia Pacific Countries in terms of adopting Personalised healthcare & steps taken to provide right care to the needed person at the right time.

•      Singapore topped the Index followed by Taiwan & Japan at 2nd & 3rd positions respectively.

 

4. IN FAC T-81 DECOMMISSIONED

•      Indian Naval Fast Attack Craft (IN FAC) T-81 of the Super Dvora MK II class was decommissioned at  Naval Dockyard, Mumbai, Maharashtra.

•      The 25 meters long vessel with 60 tonnes displacement has served India for more than 20 years.

•      Rear Admiral V Srinivas, Flag Officer Commanding Maharashtra Naval Area was the  Chief Guest on the occasion.

 

5. MARTYRS’ DAY – 30TH JANUARY 2021

•      The Martyrs’ Day which is also known as “Shaheed Diwas” is annually observed across India on 30th January to pay respect to the martyrs who lost their lives during India’s freedom struggle.

•      The day also to mark the death anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.

•      The 30th January 2021 marks the 73rd Martyrs Day or Shaheed Diwas.

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DAILY GK: 30 JAN 2021

DAILY GK: 30 JAN 2021

1. IJR REPORT 2020

•      According to the 2nd Edition of India Justice Report (IJR) 2020, Maharashtra (5.77 points) regained the Top spot for Better Justice Delivery among 18 Large and mid-sized states (Population over one crore each), it was followed by Tamil Nadu (5.73) & Telangana (5.64).

•      In the Category of 7 small states (Population less than one crore each), Tripura topped the list followed by Sikkim & Goa.

•      The report was released by Tata Trusts.

 

2. LIST OF SCIENTIFIC PUBLICATIONS

•      The Department of Science and Technology (DST), Ministry of Science and Technology has announced that India is currently in 3rd position globally in scientific publication after China and the United States, with 1,35,788 scientific articles in the year 2018.

•      The data is provided by the US agency, the National Science Foundation (NSF).

 

3. UN RELEASES FINDINGS OF ‘PEOPLE’S CLIMATE REPORT’

•      The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) released the results of ‘People’s Climate Report’ – World’s Largest Survey of Public Opinion on Climate Change.

•      Around 1.2 Million People participated in the survey, out of which two-thirds of people (64%) believe that Climate Change is a Global Emergency.

•      The Peoples’ Climate Vote is part of the Mission 1.5 campaign launched by UNDP in 2020 for educating people about climate change solutions & asking people about actions needed to be taken for tackling the climate change problem.

•      In India 44% of respondents have voted Conserving Forests & Land as the most effective policy to mitigate Climate Change.

 

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DAILY GK: 29 JAN 2021

 DAILY GK: 29 JAN 2021

1.       MINIMUM SUPPORT PRICE OF COPRA FOR 2021 SEASON

•      Based on the recommendations of the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP), Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has given its approval for the Minimum Support Price (MSP) of copra for 2021 season.

•      In this regard, Minimum Support Price (MSP) for Fair Average Quality (FAQ) of milling copra is increased by Rs.375 to Rs. 10335/- per quintal for 2021 season from Rs. 9960/- per quintal in 2020.

•      The MSP for ball copra has been increased by Rs.300/-, to Rs. 10,600/- per quintal for 2021 season from Rs. 10300/- per quintal in 2020.

 

2.     UNWFP AND CRB LAUNCHED NUTRITION PROGRAMME IN JAIPUR

•      Cargill in collaboration with the United Nations World Food Programme(UNWFP) and Centre for Responsible Business (CRB) launched a programme to improve nutrition status in Jaipur, Rajasthan.

•      The program is supported by the Department of Women & Child Development, Government of Rajasthan.

•      It is aligned with the Government of India’s National Nutrition Strategy and the Poshan Abhiyan.

 

3.     INDIA TO PROCURE 21 MIG-29 & 12 SUKHOI-30 MKI

•      Indian Government is set to procure 21 MiG(Mikoyan-Gurevich)-29 fighter jets and 12  Sukhoi(Su)-30 MKI aircrafts from Russia.

•      In addition to this, existing 59 MiG-29 aircrafts will also be upgraded.

•      The Request for Proposal (RFP) for the 21 MiG-29 will shortly be issued to Russian state-run defence export arm Rosoboronexport

 

4.     FDI IN INDIA ROSE BY 13% IN 2020

•      In accordance with the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)’s 38th Global Investment Trends Monitor, after 1990s, the year 2020 saw a fall down in Global foreign direct investment (FDI) which decreased 42% to $859 billion from $1.5 trillion in 2019.

•      Contrarily, India saw a 13% increase in FDI to $57 billion which is driven by investments in the digital sector.

•      China pocketed a maximum FDI of $163 billion with 4% increase i.e. it became the world’s largest FDI recipient even being a place of COVID-19 evolution.

 

5.     INDIA PLEDGED USD 150,000 TO UN PEACEBUILDING

•      India has pledged USD 150,000 to activities of the United Nations (UN) Peacebuilding Fund (PFB) for 2021.

•      It was announced by India’s Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador TS Tirumurti during a virtual address to the High-Level Replenishment Conference for the United Nations Peacebuilding Fund.

 

6.     GLOBAL CLIMATE RISK INDEX 2021

•      India has improved its ranking to 7th in the 16th edition of “Global Climate Risk Index (CRI) 2021- Who suffers Most from Extreme Weather Events? Weather-related Loss Events in 2019 and 2000 to 2019” from 5th in CRI 2020, which has been released by Germany-based think tank Germanwatch.

•      The list has been topped by Mozambique followed by Zimbabwe, and Bahamas.

•      The index provides a list of worst-hit countries due to extreme weather events in 2019 and 2000-2019.

•      Puerto Rico, Myanmar and Haiti were the top three most affected countries during the 20-year period.

•      In this long term CRI, India featured at number 20.

 

7.     NEW MDS OF SBI

•      The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) has approved the appointment of Swaminathan Janakiraman and Ashwini Kumar Tewari as new Managing Directors(MDs) of State Bank of India (SBI) for a period of 3 years.

•      Swaminthan Janakiraman was serving as the deputy MD(finance) of SBI.

•      Ashwini Kumar Tewari was serving as MD and Chief Executive Officer(CEO)of SBI Card, a subsidiary of SBI.

•      The Banks Board Bureau (BBB) in October 2020 recommended their names for post of MD at SBI.

 

8.     INDIA TO HOST 2022 AFC WOMEN’S WORLD CUP

•      India has got the hosting rights from Asian Football Confederation (AFC) to host 2022’s Women’s Asia Cup.

•      The event is planned to start from 20th January, 2022 to 6th February, 2022.

•      For the first time the event will feature 12 teams from across Asia.

•      Note- Till 2018’s Women’s Asia Cup, which was hosted by Jordan, only 8 teams participated.

 

9.     BOOK, “THE LAW OF EMERGENCY POWERS: COMPARATIVE COMMON LAW PERSPECTIVES”

•      One of the Senior Judges of the Supreme Court of India, Justice N. V. Ramanna, along with 3 other supreme court judges, Surya Kant, Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice D. Y. Chandrachud launched a book titled, “The Law of Emergency Powers: Comparative Common Law Perspectives”.

•      The book was jointly authored by Dr. Abhishek Singhvi and Prof. Khagesh Gautam.

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DAILY GK : 28 JAN 2021

 DAILY GK : 28 JAN 2021

1.     INDIA’S LONGEST STEEL ARCH BRIDGE

•      Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma inaugurated India’s Longest Steel Arch Bridge ‘Wahrew Bridge’ at Tharia Village in Meghalaya.

•      The 169 metre long Bridge connects Bholaganj & Sohbar to Nongjri in East Khasi Hills and runs over the river Wahrew.

•      The Bridge was dedicated to Dr Donkupar Roy, Former Chief Minister of Meghalaya.

 

2.     BHARAT PARV-2021 VIRTUAL NATIONAL FESTIVAL

•      LS Speaker Om Birla inaugurated the 5-day Bharat Parv-2021, a virtual National Festival at New Delhi.

•      The Festival will take place on a  virtual platform – http://www.bharatparv2021.com/ due to the Pandemic.

•      Bharat Parv is an annual event being organized by the Ministry of Tourism since 2016.

•      Objective – To showcase the Cuisine & Culture of different States of India.

•      The overall theme of Bharat Parv will also be focused towards Aatmanirbhar Bharat and Ek Bharat Shrestha Bharat.

 

3.     LAUNCHING OF PUPIL SATELLITE BY INDIA

•      In order to celebrate the 50 years of India-Bangladesh friendship & the 100th Birth Anniversary of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, India & Bangladesh have signed an Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to design & launch the Pupil  Satellite TV for PC  to be completely developed by Students from both countries.

•      The MoU was signed between SpaceKidz India (SKI) & Global Law Thinkers Society, an Global Youth Organization of Bangladesh.

 

4.     “AYU SAMVAD” ORGANISED BY AIIA

•      The “Ayu Samvad” (My Health My Responsibility), one of the largest public awareness campaigns on Ayurveda and COVID-19 pandemic (in the form of lecture series) is organised by All India Institute of Ayurveda (AIIA), New Delhi, an apex Ayurveda institute under the Ministry of AYUSH.

 

5.     INDIA-UK JWC MEETING ON COUNTER-TERRORISM 2021

•      14th meeting of the India-United Kingdom Joint Working Group (JWC) on Counter-Terrorism 2021 was held virtually where both nations emphasised for strengthening international cooperation to combat the global menace of terrorism.

•      Indian side was represented by Mahaveer Singhvi, Joint Secretary for Counter Terrorism in the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).

 

6.     PM RASHTRIYA BAL PURASKAR 2021 TO 32 CHILDREN

•      Government of India conferred Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar (PMRBP) 2021 to 32 children under 6 categories, namely innovation, Scholastic, Sports, Arts & Culture, Social Service and Bravery.

•      This award was instituted by the Ministry of Women and Child Development (MoWCD), Government of India in 1996.

•      Chirag Bhansali (16 year old) received this Award for launching his website and mobile application called ‘Swadeshi Tech’, which acts as an alternative to Chinese apps.

•      Veer Kashyap (10-year-old) received this Award for building a Board game ‘Corona Yuga’.

 

7.     PADMA AWARDS 2021

•      Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India announced the Padma Awards 2021.

•      The Padma Awards, one of the highest Civilian Awards of the Country are conferred under 3 categories namely, Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri.

•      This year (2021) total 119 Padma awards including 1 duo case (in a duo case, the Award is counted as one) were Awarded.

•      Key Persons who Received the Award:

•      Padma Vibhushan – Former Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, S P Balasubramaniam(Posthumously) and Eminent sculptor Sudarshan Sahoo, Optics Narinder Singh Kapany (posthumously).

•      Padma Bhushan– Ram Vilas Paswan(Posthumous), who was the Union Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution (elected from the Hajipur constituency of Bihar) and Tarun Gogoi, former Assam CM who was the longest serving CM of the State

 

8.     HIGHLIGHTS OF  72ND REPUBLIC DAY 

•      India celebrated its 72nd Republic Day.

•      On this date, in 1950 the Constitution of India came into effect by replacing the Government of India Act (1935).

•      The Constitution was adopted by the Indian Constituent Assembly on 26 November, 1949 and came into effect on 26th January, 1950 making India a fully democratic Republic.

•      For the 1st time, a 122-member Bangladeshi Triservice force Contingent participated in the Republic Day Parade.

•      On the eve of 72nd Republic Day Celebration i.e 25th January, 2021, President Ram Nath  Kovind approved 455 Gallantry Awards & other Defence decorations to Armed Forces personnel.

•      UT of Ladakh presented its First-ever Tableau at the Republic Day Parade, since its formation in 2019.

•      The last time a Republic Day Celebration was held without a Chief Guest was in 1966.

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DAILY GK : 26 , 27 JAN 2021

 DAILY GK : 26 , 27 JAN 2021

1. BILATERAL AIR EXERCISE ‘DESERT KNIGHT-21’

•      Indian Air Force (IAF) and French Air and Space Force (FASF) participated in the 1st Edition of Bilateral Air Exercise ‘Exercise Desert Knight-21 (Ex DK-21)’ held at Air Force Station, Jodhpur for 5 days from January 20-24, 2021.

•      The Bilateral exercise involved the participation of Rafale fighter jets from both sides.

•      India & France are also jointly set to conduct wargames codenamed Exercise SKYROS in January at Jodhpur.

 

2. TRI-SERVICE MILITARY EXERCISE ‘AMPHEX-21’

•      Indian Navy conducted an Joint Tri-Service Amphibious Military Exercise  ‘AMPHEX-21’ in Andaman & Nicobar group of Islands .

•      Defence Exercise ‘KAVACH’ for defence of Andaman & Nicobar Islands was also a part of AMPHEX-21 exercise.

•      The forces demonstrated joint capabilities of Intelligence gathering from space, air, land & sea based assets, analyzing & sharing them on a real-time basis to enable quick decision making during battle times.

 

3. AMIT SHAH LAUNCHED ‘AYUSHMAN CAPF’ SCHEME

•      Union Minister Amit Shah launched the ‘Ayushman CAPF’ scheme for personnel and dependents of the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF), which will be fully implemented by May 1, 2021.

•      It will cover around 28 lakh personnel of CAPF, Assam Rifles and National Security Guard (NSG) and their families under ‘Ayushman Bharat: Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana’ (AB PM-JAY).

 

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DAILY GK : 24, 25 JAN 2021

 DAILY GK : 24, 25 JAN 2021

1. PLI SCHEME

•      Central Government gave its consent for first set of five pharma projects with the total committed Investment of Rs 3,761.17 crore.

•      It was approved under the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme for promoting domestic manufacture of bulk drugs and active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs).

•      The projects are related to the four fermentation-based key starting materials which are all entirely imported now.

 

2. INDIA LARGEST MULTI-MODEL LOGISTIC PARK

•      A MoU was signed between the Gujarat Government and Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd (APSEZ) in the presence of Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani in Gandhinagar to set up India’s largest multi-model logistic park at Virochan Nagar near Sanand in Ahmedabad district of Gujarat.

•      The park to be developed in 1450 acre with an estimated investment of Rs 50,000 crore will be completed in 3 years i.e. by 2023.

 

3. INDIA DIGITAL SUMMIT 2021

•      15th Edition of India Digital Summit 2021 (IDS 2021) organized by Internet & Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) took place.

•      It was inaugurated by Ravi Shankar Prasad.

•      Theme – ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat – Start of New Decade’.

•      During the event, the 11th India Digital Awards 2021 were also announced.

•      Digital Person of the year – Sanjeev Bikhchandani

•      Digital Startup of the year – Khatabook

•      Digital Agency of the Year: Gold – Wunderman Thompson, Silver – Kinnect, Bronze – WATConsult

•      Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation Limited (AMUL) bagged 4 awards in the event.

 

4. TREATY FOR PROHIBITION OF  NUCLEAR WEAPONS  COMES INTO FORCE

•      ‘Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) adopted by the United Nations  (UN) General Assembly came into force it is the First ever International agreement which prohibits Nuclear Weapons.

•      The Treaty was Adopted in 2017 by the United Nations General Assembly

•      Development, Testing, Production, Stocking, Transferring, using & threat of using Nuclear weapons.

•      If any Nuclear armed states are joining the treaty, a time-bound framework which leads to verified and irreversible elimination of its nuclear weapons programme is provided.

•      Until now 86 Nations have signed TPNW & 52 have ratified it.

 

5. WORLD’S LARGEST DERIVATIVES EXCHANGE TITLE

•      In accordance with the Futures Industry Association (FIA), National Stock Exchange of India Ltd (NSE) remained the world’s largest derivatives exchange for the second consecutive year in 2020 in terms of number of contracts traded.

•      On the other hand, World Federation of Exchanges (WFE) has ranked it 4th in terms of cash equities by number of trades for calendar year 2020.

 

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DAILY GK : 23 JAN 2021

 DAILY GK : 23 JAN 2021

1. KHELO INDIA ZANSKAR WINTER SPORTS 

•      Kiren Rijiju, Minister of State (Independent Charge) of Youth Affairs and Sports inaugurated the 1st ever Khelo India Zanskar Winter Sports & Youth Festival 2021 at Padum in Zanskar of Kargil, Ladakh UT.

•      The Festival is the 1st of its kind to be organized in Zanskar Valley,  Ladakh.To promote Zanskar as a winter Tourists destination.

 

2. NSDC PARTNERS WITH CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY

•      National Skill Development Corporation(NSDC) partnered with California State University, Long Beach (CSULB) to fulfill the increasing demand for a digitally skilled workforce in India.

•      The initiative is led by eSkillIndia, the digital skilling unit of NSDC.

•      Under this partnership ,the platform of CSULB – SkillsCommons and Multimedia Education Resource for Learning and Online Teaching (MERLOT) will be integrated with NSDC’s eSkillindia.org, to encourage e-learning among the youths of India.

 

3. IAF S-400 MISSILE SYSTEM TRAINING IN MOSCOW

•      India is set to send the first group of Military specialists to Russia to train on operating the S-400 air Defence system in Moscow.

•      India will receive the first batch of the S-400 by the end of 2021.

•      In October 2018, India signed a 5.43 billion USD deal with Russia to procure five S-400, long-range air Defence systems.

•      S-400 was developed by Almaz Central Design Bureau of Russia.

•      It is an upgrade of the S-300 family of surface-to-air missile systems.

•      The all five s-400 delivery is expected to be completed by 2025.

 

4. GOI INCREASED AUTHORIZED SHARE CAPITAL OF PUNJAB & SIND BANK

•      Government of India has increased the authorised share capital of Punjab & Sind bank to Rs 10,000 crore from Rs 3,000 crore.

•      The government in 2020 had approved to infuse Rs 5,500 crore capital into the bank by preferential allotment of shares.

•      The fund was approved from Rs 20,000 crore cleared by the Parliament in September 2020 to infuse capital in Public Sector Banks (PSBs)  as part of  the 1st batch of Supplementary Demands for Grants for 2020-21.

 

5. MONGOLIAN PM RESIGNS OVER PROTESTS

•      Ukhnaa Khurelsukh, Prime Minister of Mongolia resigned following the public protest against the COVID-19 control measures of the Government.

•      The mongolian parliament dominated by Ukhnaa Khurelsukh’s Mongolian People’s Party voted to accept the resignation.

 

6. HAL SUCCESSFULLY TEST FIRES SAAW

•      Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) successfully Test Fired the Indigenous  Smart Anti Airfield Weapon (SAAW) from the Hawk-i aircraft close to the coast of Odisha.

•      It is the 1st Smart Weapon to be fired from an Indian Hawk-Mk132.

•      It has been developed by  Research Centre Imarat (RCI), Hyderabad of Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO) under HAL’s Hawk-i Program.

•      SAAW is a precision strike weapon of 125 kg category and has a range of 100 kms

 

 

  

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