DAILY GK: 10, 11 JAN 2021

 DAILY GK: 10, 11 JAN 2021

1.  ‘EDUCON-2020’

•      Virtual International Akhand Conference ‘EDUCON 2020’ held which was inaugurated by Union Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’, Ministry of Education (MoE).

•      The Chief Guest of Valedictory Ceremony was Prof Dhirendra Pal Singh, Chairman, University Grants Commission (UGC), New Delhi.

•      Its theme was Envisioning Education for Transforming Youth to Restore Global Peace.

 

2. MILESTONES ACHIEVED BY MOES IN 2020

•      One major milestone achieved by MoES in 2020 was the release of Flash Flood Guidance Services (FFGS), which is the 1st of its kind for South Asian countries namely India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal and Sri Lanka.

•      MoES has listed out its significant milestones accomplished in 2020 under 5 major schemes –

•      ACROSS – Atmospheric and Climate Research-Modelling Observing Systems and Services

•      O-SMART – Ocean Services, Modelling Application, Resources and Technology

•      PACER – Polar and Cryosphere Research

•      SAGE – Seismology and Geoscience Research

•      REACHOUT

 

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DAILY GK: 9 JAN 2021

 DAILY GK: 9 JAN 2021

1. CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE IN LOGISTICS SKILL

•      Flipkart has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Logistics Skill Sector Council (LSC).

•      It is LSC’s first-of-its-kind industry partnership with Flipkart to set up the industry-first Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Bengaluru, Karnataka.

•      LSC is an organisation set up by the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) through National Skill Development Corporation of India (NSDC) and Karnataka Skill Development Centre (KSDC).

•      Government of India promulgated a Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Amendment) Ordinance 2021 by amending the J&K Reorganisation Act, 2019 to merge the Jammu & Kashmir (J&K) cadre of All India Services Officers like IAS, IPS & Indian Forest Service (IFoS) with the Arunachal Pradesh, Goa, Mizoram Union Territory (AGMUT) cadre.

•      With this, officers from the Union Territories & above mentioned States can now be placed in J&K and vice versa.

•      The ordinance was signed by President Ram Nath Kovind amended section 13 & 88 of the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act 2019, it was issued by the Ministry of Law & Justice.

 

2. INDIA SET TO HEAD 3 IMPORTANT COMMITTEES OF UNSC

•      Permanent Representative of India to United Nations (UN) TS Tirumurti announced that India will head 3 Important Committees of United Nations Security Council (UNSC) – Counter-Terrorism Committee (for 2022), Taliban Sanctions Committee (also called the 1988 Sanctions Committee) & Libya Sanctions Committee.

•      India began its 8th Term as a non-permanent member of the UNSC for 2 years(2021-2022).

•      Mexico, Kenya, Norway & Ireland also joined India as non-permanent members.

 

3. OVERVIEW OF ISRO’S PLAN FOR THE DECADE 2021-30

•      K. Sivan, Chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) have chalked out the plan for the Decade 2021-30.

•      It has listed both Short-term vision & Long-term visions.

•      First Developmental Flight of the Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV) planned to be launched in March, 2021.

•      Operational Geo-Imaging capability expected to be launched in 2021.

•      Chandrayaan-3 – Third Lunar Mission of ISRO expected to be launched by late 2021 or early 2022.

•      Aditya-L1 – First Solar Mission of ISRO expected to be launched in 2022.

•      Launching of the First Indian Data Relay Satellite, expected to be launched in early 2021.

•      The Gaganyaan Programme India’s First unmanned flight is set to be launched in 2022.

 

 

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DAILY GK: 8 JAN 2021

 DAILY GK: 8 JAN 2021

1. LASI WAVE-1 REPORT 2020

•      Union Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan released the Longitudinal Ageing Study in India (LASI) Wave-1 Report 2020 based on full–scale national.

•      It is India’s first and the world’s largest survey providing base for designing national and state level programmes and policies for ageing population in India.

•      The information obtained from LASI has covered four domains viz. Health, Health care and Health care financing, Economic, and Social.

•      Initiative towards Better Health Care for Elderly People.

•      Andhra Pradesh (AP) topped the Measured prevalence (%) of low vision (near and/or distance) among elderly age 60 and above with 66.4%.

•      Uttar Pradesh (UP) topped the Prevalence (%) of blindness among elderly age 60 and above.

•      Chhattisgarh topped in the prevalence of undernutrition (underweight) among older adults aged 45 and above.

•      Chandigarh has maximum prevalence of overnutrition (overweight/obesity) among older adults aged 45 and above.

 

2. REWARI-MADAR FREIGHT CORRIDOR SECTION OF WDFC

•      PM Narendra Modi virtually inaugurated the 306-Km long New Rewari in Haryana-New Madar in Rajasthan section of Western Dedicated Freight Corridor (WDFC) & flagged off the World’s 1st Double Stack Long Haul 1.5 Km Container Train hauled by electric traction from Atela in Haryana – Kishangarh in Rajasthan.

•      It will ensure interruption free connectivity with the western ports of Kandla, Pipavav, Mundhra, and Dahej in Gujarat.

•      Japan International Cooperation Agency is funding WDFC.

 

3. WORLD’S LARGEST FLOATING SOLAR ENERGY PROJECT

•      World’s Largest Floating 600 Megawatt (MW) Solar Energy Project which is under construction at Omkareshwar dam on Narmada river in Khandwa district of Madhya Pradesh is set to begin power generation by the year 2022-23.

•      The production of electricity will be in about 2000- hectare water areas and the Floating panels will be installed in the backwaters of Omkareshwar dam.

 

4. CDSCO GIVES APPROVAL TO VACCINES OF M/S SII & M/S BHARAT BIOTECH

•      The Committee of Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) gave approval to M/s Serum Institute of India(SII), Pune, Maharashtra for  Covishield,  a Recombinant Chimpanzee Adenovirus vector vaccine, it encoded the SARS-CoV-2 Spike (S) glycoprotein with technology transfer from AstraZeneca/Oxford University and to M/s Bharat Biotech for COVAXIN, Whole Virion Inactivated Coronavirus Vaccine for restricted use in India in emergency situations.

 

5. INDIA’S 1ST UCB TO CONVERT INTO SFB

•      The Reserve Bank of India(RBI) has issued a scheduled commercial banking license to Shivalik Mercantile Co-operative Bank (SMCB) Ltd to carry on business as a Small Finance Bank(SFB) under its ‘Scheme on voluntary transition of Urban Co-operative Bank(UCB) into a Small Finance Bank’.

•      It is the 1st UCB in India to transit to SFB under the scheme.

•      SMCB is renamed as Shivalik Small Finance Bank (SSFB).

•      The bank expects to commence business as a SFB by April 2021.

 

6. IRDAI’S 3 STANDARD INSURANCE PRODUCTS TO COVER RISK OF FIRED

•      Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) has mandated General Insurance Companies to offer 3 standard Insurance Products  namely – Bharat Griha Raksha, Bharat Sookshma Udyam Suraksha & Bharat Laghu Udyam Suraksha to cover risk of fire & allied perils from April 1, 2021.

•      The 3 policies will replace the Standard Fire and Special Perils (SFSP) Policy.

•      Bharat Griha Raksha (meant for Home Building and Home Contents)

•      Bharat Sookshma Udyam Suraksha (meant for enterprises where the total value at risk is upto Rs. 5 Crore)

•      Bharat Laghu Udyam Suraksha (meant for enterprises where the total value at risk is more than Rs. 5 Crore and upto Rs. 50 crore).

 

7. COMMITTEE TO PROTECT LANGUAGE, CULTURE OF LADAKH

•      Central Government has decided to form a committee to protect the language, culture and land of the Union Territory (UT) of Ladakh.

•      The committee will be headed by the Minister of State (MoS) Gangapuram Kishan Reddy and will include elected representatives from Ladakh, members of the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC) and ex-officio members representing the Government of India and the Ladakh administration.

 

8. BOOK “RIGHT UNDER YOUR NOSE”

•      The book titled ‘Right Under Your Nose’ is authored by Reserve Bank of India(RBI) Manager R Giridharan.

•      This is his debut Book. The book is published by Rupa Publications India Pvt Ltd.

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DAILY GK: 7 DEC 2021

 DAILY GK: 7 DEC 2021

1. IMPLEMENTATION of Advanced Biodigester Mk-II Technology

•      DRDO & Maharashtra Metro Rail Corporation (MAHA-METRO) signed an Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) through which DRDO will provide technical support for the implementation of advanced biodigester Mk-II technology for treatment of human waste (night soil) in the metro rail network.

•      The biodigester units (a non-sewered sanitation technology) will help in conserving water & protecting the environment.

 

2. HARSH VARDHAN INAUGURATES CEPI CENTRALIZED NETWORK LAB

•      Dr. Harsh Vardhan virtually inaugurated the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) Laboratory at the Translational Health Science & Technology Institute (THSTI), Faridabad.

•      This is the 1st of its Kind in India & one of the Seven labs of the Global network.

•      The lab is part of the Global network developed by CEPI Foundation, the immediation mission of the CEPI Lab at THSTI will be to assess the quality of vaccines being developed  against COVID-19.

 

3. UJALA PROGRAMMES MARKS THEIR 6TH ANNIVERSARY

•      UnnatJyoti by Affordable LEDs for All (UJALA) and Street Lighting National Programme (SLNP) of Government of India marks their 6th anniversary.

•      Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL) implements these programmes since their inception on January 5, 2015.

•      EESL, under UJALA has distributed more than  36.69 crore Light-Emitting Diode(LED) bulbs across India.EESL, with SLNP installed about  1.14 crore LED streetlights across India.

 

4. RBI TO INTRODUCE LEI IN RTGS/NEFT

•      Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced the introduction of Legal Entity Identifier (LEI) for all payment transactions of Rs 50 crore and above undertaken by entities through Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) and National Electronic Funds Transfer (NEFT).

•      The directions for the same have been issued by RBI under Section 10 (2) read with Section 18 of Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007 (Act 51 of 2007).

•      The LEI system will be effective from April 1, 2021.

•      It is a unique 20-digit global reference number to identify legal entities participating in financial transactions.

•      It makes the identification of an entity easy in the global database.

 

5. RBI ANNOUNCES OPERATIONALIZATION OF PIDF SCHEME

•      RBI announced Operationalization of the Payments Infrastructure Development Fund (PIDF) Scheme with an initial corpus of INR 345 Crores for three years starting from January 1, 2021 & may be extended for two more years depending upon the progress.

•      An Advisory Council (AC) under the chairmanship of RBI Deputy Governor BP Kanungo will be responsible for managing the functioning of PIDF.

•      Objective:To increase the number of Payment Acceptance Devices in the country.To increase payments acceptance infrastructure by adding 30 Lakh touch points – 10 Lakh Physical & 20 Lakh Digital Payment acceptance devices each year.

 

6. INDIA EXPECTED TO GROW AT 5.4 % IN FISCAL YEAR 2021-22

•      According to the Global Economic Prospects (GEP-January 2021) report released by the World Bank (WB), India is expected to grow at 5.4% in the Financial Year (FY) 2021-22 & 5.2% in FY 2022-23 after an expected contraction of 9.6% in FY 2020/21.

•      The report also highlighted that the Global Economy is expected to expand by 4% in 2021.

•      The major causes of India’s contraction are sharp declines in household spending & private investment.

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DAILY GK: 6 JAN 2021

 DAILY GK: 6 JAN 2021

1. INDIAN SCIENTIFIC EXPEDITION TO ANTARCTICA

•      India flagged off the 40th Indian Scientific Expedition to Antarctica (40-ISEA) from the Mormugao Port, Goa.

•      The Expedition will  have 43 members and the chartered ice-class vessel MV Vasiliy Golovnin will take the team to Antarctica.

•      On return, the vessel will bring back the members of the 39th Expedition.

•      The Ministry of Earth Science launched the expedition.

•      National Centre for Polar & Ocean Research (NCPOR), Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) is the implementation agency of the Indian Antarctic Programme.

•      They are responsible for carrying out expedition programs to Antarctica.

 

2. FSSAI REDUCES PERMISSIBLE LEVEL OF TRANS-FATTY ACIDS

•      Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) released guidelines to reduce the permissible level of Trans-Fatty Acids (TFA) in oils and fats to 3% for 2021 & 2% by 2022 from the current permissible limit of 5%.

•      The change has been brought through an amendment to the Food Safety and Standards (Prohibition and Restriction on Sales) Regulations.

•      The regulation applies to edible refined oils, vanaspati (partially hydrogenated oils), margarine, bakery shortenings & other mediums of cooking like vegetable fat spreads & mixed fat spreads.

 

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DAILY GK: 3, 4, 5 JAN 2021

 DAILY GK: 3, 4, 5 JAN 2021

1. COVAXIN, COVISHIELD APPROVED FOR EMERGENCY USE

•      The Drugs Controller General of India recently approved two vaccines, COVAXIN and COVISHIELD for “Restricted Emergency Use” in India.

What is COVAXIN?

•      The COVAXIN is the COVID-19 vaccine developed by Bharat Biotech and ICMR (Indian council of Medical Research).

•      It was the first indigenous COVID-19 vaccine to be developed in the country.

What is COVISHIELD?

•      The COVISHIELD vaccine was developed by Oxford University and Astra Zeneca, the pharmaceutical company.

 

2.FSSAI NEW TRANS FAT LEVELS

•      The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India recently announced that all edible refined oils, vegetable fat spreads, Vanaspati, margarines, Bakery shortening and mixed fat spreads can contain only 3% or less trans fats.

•      This is to be implemented by January 2021.  

•      By January 2022, this is to be further reduced to 2%.

•      This is being introduced because the World Health Organisation has called for global elimination of trans fat by 2023.

 

3.WORLD BRAILLE DAY: JANUARY 4

•      The World Braille Day is celebrated on January 4 by United Nations and several other international organizations

•      It is celebrated on January 4 because the day marks the birthday of Louis Braille, the creator of this writing system.

•      He was born in France in 1809.

 

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DAILY GK: 1, 2 JAN 2021

 DAILY GK: 1, 2 JAN 2021

1. LYNX U2 GFCS

•      It is a Naval Gun Fire Control System. It has been designed to track and engage targets amidst sea clutter.

•      It can accurately track air and surface targets.

•      Also, it can generate required target data to predict weapon aiming points.

•      The target engagement is done using Russian A190, AK176 and AK630.

•      The ten LYNX U2 GFCS being acquired from BEL is to be installed on Naval Offshore Patrolling Vessel Talwar and Teg class of ships.

•      The LYNX U2 GFCS is to be acquired from BEL.

•      This is developed in true spirit of Atma Nirbhar Bharat (self-reliant India).

•      India has been trying to increase its domestic defence production lately.

•      The agreement will help India in increasing its domestic production.

•      All the ten Lynx U2 Gun Fire control System are to be purchased from Bharat Electronics Limited at a cost of Rs 1,355 crores.

•      It is to be purchased under Buy (Indian) Category.

 

2. LIGHT HOUSE PROJECT

•      The Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently laid the foundation of the Light House Project in six states.

•      The Light House Projects are to be implemented in Agartala (Tripura), Ranchi (Jharkhand), Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh), Indore (Madhya Pradesh), Rajkot (Gujarat) and Chennai (Tamil Nadu) under the Global Housing Technology Challenge-India.

•      The Light House Project is to be implemented by Union Urban Ministry.

 

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DAILY GK: 31 DEC 2020

DAILY GK: 31 DEC 2020

1. GST RULES AMENDED

•      Ministry of Finance made amendments in the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Rules on the recommendations of the GST Council’s Law Committee in order to curb evasion by fake invoicing.

•      The changes have been notified by the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC).

•      The amendment has introduced Rule 86B in GST Rules w.e.f. January 1, 2021, which restricts use of input tax credit (ITC) for discharging GST liability to 99% for businesses with monthly turnover of over Rs 50 lakh.

•      Means these businesses will have to mandatorily pay at least 1% of their GST liability in cash.

 

2. INDIA’S 1ST POLLINATOR PARK

•      India’s 1st Pollinator Park was inaugurated at Haldwani in Nainital district, Uttarakhand by Peter Smetacek, a butterfly expert.

•      The park has been developed by the Research Wing of Uttarakhand’s Forest Department.

•      Sanjiv Chaturvedi, Chief Conservator of Forest (Research), head of Research Wing, Uttarakhand India was also present during the inauguration.

•      The main objective of the park is to conserve various pollinator species, create awareness among people and promote further research on various aspects

 

3. INDIA’S 1ST ETHANOL PLANT UNDER PPP MODEL

•      Bhoramdeo Sahakari Sakhar Utpadak Karkhana Maryadit (BSSUKM), a sugar mill signed Memorandum of Understanding(MoU) with NKJ Biofuel Ltd, a subsidiary of  Chhattisgarh Distillery Limited(CDL) to set up India’s 1st ethanol plant under Public-Private Partnership(PPP) model at BSSUKM in Kabirdham(Kawardha), Chhattisgarh.

 

4. MYANMAR INDUCTS ‘INS SINDHUVIR’ INTO ITS NAVY

•      Myanmar officially inducted the Kilo Class ‘INS Sindhuvir’ into its Navy under the name ‘UMS Minye Theinkhathu’.

•      The submarine was handed over by India to Myanmar in October, 2020. 

•      It is the 1st & only submarine of the Myanmar Navy.

•      It is also the 1st time that India has given a Submarine to any other country.

•      It was given to Myanmar under India’s vision of SAGAR (Security and Growth for All in the Region).

•      It is a Soviet-era kilo class submarine and has served Indian Navy since 1988.

 

5. TOP THREE BANKS OF 2020

•      In accordance with the Banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI) Movers and Shakers 2020 Report by Wizikey, Housing Development Finance Corporation Limited (HDFC), Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation of India (ICICI), and State Bank of India (SBI) are the top three banks of 2020.

•      Among wallets, Google Pay has emerged as the number one followed by Phone Pe.

•      In Neo Banks category, SBI’s YONO emerged as the number one followed by Niyo and Kotak 811 at ranks two and three, respectively.

•      A neobank operates exclusively online without traditional physical branch networks

 

6. HARSH VARDHAN NOMINATED TO THE BOARD OF GAVI

•      GAVI(formerly theGlobal Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation),the vaccine alliance nominated Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare as a member on the GAVI Board.

•      He will represent  the South East Area Regional Office(SEARO)/ Western Pacific Regional Office (WPRO) constituency on the GAVI Board.

•      He will succeed MyintHtwe, Union Minister of Health and Sports, Govt of Republic of the Union of Myanmar.

 

7. TATA SONS ACQUIRED FURTHER 32.67% STAKE IN AIRASIA INDIA

•      Tata Sons acquired an additional 32.67% stake in AirAsia India Limited from AirAsia Investment Ltd (AAIL), subsidiary of AirAsia Group Berhad for USD 37.66 million(about Rs 275 crore).

•      Earlier Tata Sons was holding 51% in AirAsia India, with this acquisition Tata Sons will hold 83.67% stake.

 

8. HARSH VARDHAN LAUNCHES ‘DIGITAL OCEAN’

•      Union Minister for Earth Science, Dr Harsh Vardhan virtually launched ‘Digital Ocean’ (www.do.incois.gov.in) a 1st of its kind Digital platform for Ocean Data Management.

•      The platform has been developed by INCOIS (Indian National Center for Ocean Information Services).

•      The platform will serve as a one stop-solution for all data related needs of a wide range of users such as research institutions, operational agencies, strategic users, academic community, maritime industry & public.

 

9. INDIA’S FIRST INDIGENOUS RUTHENIUM 106 PLAQUE

•      An eye cancer therapy namely “Ruthenium plaque therapy” developed by Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) has been successfully used for the first time for the treatment of patients with ocular tumours in All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS)-Delhi.

•      The therapy used Ruthenium 106 plaque for treatment of a patient with choroidal hemangioma (benign tumour in blood vessels).

•      It involves placing a radioactive source like Ruthenium-106 (a radioisotope) in contact with the surface of the eyeball for cancer therapy.

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DAILY GK: 29, 30 DEC 2020

 DAILY GK: 29, 30 DEC 2020

1. AYUSHMAN BHARAT PM-JAY SEHAT

•      PM Narendra Modi launched the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri-Jan Arogya Yojana Social Endeavour for Health & Telemedicine (PM-JAY SEHAT) Health Insurance scheme for covering all the residents of Jammu & Kashmir (J&K).

•      The scheme will operate on insurance mode in convergence with PM-JAY.

•      Financial cover of upto INR 5 Lakhs per family per year on a floater basis to all residents.

•      A family floater policy is a health insurance plan which covers the entire family on the payment of a single annual premium.

 

2. PASSEX NAVAL EXERCISE 2020

•      Indian Navy & Vietnam People’s Navy undertook a Passage Exercise (PASSEX) 2020 in the South China Sea  to boost maritime cooperation between the two countries.

•      Also  Indian Navy Ship (INS) Kiltan carrying 15 tonnes of  Humanitarian Assistance & Disaster Relief (HADR) reached NhaRong Port, Ho Chi Minh City as part of Mission Sagar-III.

•      The relief materials are for the flood-affected people of Central Vietnam.

 

3. INDIA’S 1ST EVER DRIVERLESS TRAIN

•      PM Narendra Modi virtually inaugurated India’s 1st ever Driverless Train Operations on Delhi Metro’s 38 Kilometres long Magenta Line  which connects Janakpuri West & Botanical Garden in Noida.

•      PM also inaugurated the fully operational National Common Mobility Card (NCMC) services on the Airport Express Line of Delhi Metro.

•      With the inauguration, Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) entered the elite league of 7% of the World’s Metro networks which are capable of operating without drivers.

 

4. CEBR’S WELT 2021 REPORT

•      According to the 12th edition of World Economic League Table 2021 (WELT) an Annual Report released by Centre for Economics & Business Research Ltd (CEBR), India slumped 1 spot to 6th Largest Economy (out of 193 countries) in the world in 2020 from 5th in 2019 due to the impact of COVID19.

•      The United States (US) topped the 2020 rankings  followed by China & Japan.

•      The report stated that India will become 5th Largest Economy by 2025 & 3rd Largest by 2030.

•      China will replace the US as the World’s Largest Economy by 2028.

 

5. ICC MALE CRICKETER OF THE DECADE

•      The winners of the International Cricket Council(ICC) Awards of the Decade(2010-2020) were announced.

•      In this, Indian Cricketer Virat Kohli wins the Sir Garfield Sobers Award for ICC Male Cricketer of the Decade.

•      He also won ICC Men’s ODI Cricketer of the Decade award.

•      MS Dhoni(India) won the ICC Spirit of Cricket Award of the Decade for calling back former England batter Ian Bell after a disputable runout at Trent Bridge Cricket ground, Nottinghamshire, England in 2011.

•      Ellyse Perry(Australia) wins the Rachael Heyhoe-Flint Award for ICC Female Cricketer of the Decade.

•      She also won ICC Women’s ODI Cricketer of the Decade award and ICC Women’s T20I Cricketer of the Decade award.

 

6.  ‘SCIENTIST OF THE YEAR AWARD-2018’ BY DRDO

•      Dr Hemant Kumar Pandey has been conferred ‘Scientist of the Year Award-2018’ by Defence Research & Development Organization (DRDO) for his contributions towards developing herbal medicines which includes ‘Lukoskin’ a drug for treatment of leucoderma.

•      Pandey has been undertaking research at DRDO’s Defence Institute of Bio-Energy Research (DIBER) at Pithoragarh in Uttarakhand for 25 years. 

 

7. GREEN PROPULSION FOR ‘GAGANYAAN’

•      Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) released the initial data from Chandrayaan-2, India’s second Moon Mission to the general public through PRADAN portal hosted by ISSDC (Indian Space Science Data Centre).

•      At present, ISRO Science Data Archive (ISDA) has datasets acquired by Chandrayaan-2 payloads from 7 instruments. Data sets from Imaging Infra-Red Spectrometer (IIRS) payload will be added in the future.

 

8. INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON GENDER EQUALITY

•      The Gender Park (an initiative of Kerala Government) in partnership with United Nations (UN) Women will organize the 2nd edition of International conference on Gender Equality (ICGE-II) at Gender Parks Kozhikode campus in February, 2021.

•      The conference will be 3-days long and the theme of the event will be ‘Gender in Sustainable Entrepreneurship and Social Business: The Mediating Role of Empowerment’.

 

9. INDIA HOISTS BLUE FLAGS ON ITS 8 BEACHES

•      India hoisted ‘Blue Flags’ on its 8 beaches.

•      Blue Flag certification is an eco-label given by Foundation for Environment Education, Denmark for beaches which meets its stringent environmental, educational, safety-related and access-related criteria.

•      The label signifies India’s efforts to safeguard its coastal region.

•      In October, 2020 India became the First Country to be awarded the Coveted International Blue Flag certification for 8 beaches in one attempt.

 

10. UN ESCAP REPORT

•      According to the report ‘Foreign Direct Investment Trends and Outlook in Asia and the Pacific 2020/21’ released by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UN ESCAP), India has accounted for 77% of total Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflows to South & South-West Asian subregion receiving about USD 51 Billion  in 2019.

•      The majority of the FDI in India were in the fields of Information & Communications Technology (ICT) & Construction sector.

•      Uneven spread of FDI outflows in the region, only 2 countries – India & Turkey accounted for majority of outflows in 2019.

 

11. ICICI BANK TO COLLABORATE WITH GOOGLE PAY

•      ICICI Bank collaborated with Google Pay to issue FASTag through Unified Payments Interface (UPI) on the payments app.

•      This allows Google Pay users to order, track and recharge ICICI Bank FASTag digitally on the payments platform.

•      With this partnership, ICICI Bank FASTag is now available on Google Pay.

 

12. WORLD’S 1ST CRYPTO BANK, ‘UNICAS’

•      ‘Unicas’, world’s first crypto bank was launched as a Joint Venture(JV) between Cashaa and United Multistate co-op society.

•      This bank allows users to transact in cryptocurrency and fiat from one account to another.

•      It will provide banking services for both fiat and crypto assets.

•      This JV allows Cashaa to access regulatory licenses, physical branches, and overall banking Infrastructure of United Multistate Co-Op Society.

 

13. SURYODAY SFB TO FLOAT ITS IPO

•      Suryoday Small Finance Bank(SFB) received approval from Securities and Exchanges Board of India (SEBI) to float its Initial Public Offering (IPO). 

•      The shares of the SFB is expected to be listed on BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty.

 

14. KAMALADEVI CHATTOPADHYAY NIF BOOK PRIZE 2020

•      Jairam Ramesh, Rajya Sabha MP & Former Union Minister for his book  ‘A Chequered Brilliance: The Many Lives of V.K. Krishna Menon’ and Associate Prof Amit Ahuja, for his book ‘Mobilizing the Marginalized: Ethnic Parties without Ethnic Movements’ jointly won Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay New India Foundation(NIF) Book Prize 2020.

•      Prize Money & Trophy:The winners will share the  prize money of 15 lacs and each of them will receive the Book Prize trophy.

 

15. INDIA’S 1ST INDIGENOUS VACCINE AGAINST PNEUMONIA

•      Union Minister for Health & Family Welfare, Dr Harsh Vardhan virtually launched India’s 1st Indigenous Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine (PCV) – ‘Pneumosil’ to treat pneumonia.

•      The vaccine has been developed by Serum Institute of India Private Limited (SIIPL) in collaboration with Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

•      The Vaccine will make SIIPL the world’s 3rd largest supplier of PCV under the pneumococcal Advance Market Commitment (AMC), and the first Developing country vaccine manufacturer to access the global PCV market.

 

16. DHARMA SWATANTRYA (RELIGIOUS FREEDOM) BILL, 2020

•      Madhya Pradesh (MP) cabinet headed by Shivraj Singh Chouhan approved the Dharma Swatantrya (Religious Freedom) Bill, 2020. 

•      The aim of the bill is to outlaw marriages which take place with a sole motive of religious conversions.

•      It will now be placed in the MP state assembly for discussion & passage.

•      Forced religious conversion of minors or women or a person belonging to SC/ST category will invite jail term of 2-10 years & penalty of INR 50, 000.

•      Mass forced conversions invite 5 to 10 years of jail term & fine of up to INR 1 Lakh.

 

 

 

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