DAILY GK: 17, 18 FEB 2021

 DAILY GK: 17, 18 FEB 2021

1. IEEFA REPORT

•      According to the report ‘Capital Flows Underpinning India’s Energy Transformation’ released by Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA), India needs an Investment of USD 500 Billion to reach its target of 450 Gigawatts (GW) of Renewable Energy (RE) by 2030.

•      At 900 GW India has the largest untapped Renewable potential in the World.

 

2. MANDU FESTIVAL CELEBRATED

•      A three-day Mandu Festival was held at Mandu in Dhar district of Madhya Pradesh on the theme “Khojne mein Kho Jao (feel lost in discovering)”.

•      It was inaugurated by state culture and tourism minister Usha Thakur.

•      She also inaugurated Dino Adventure Park & Fossils Museum in Mandu and construction of Astro Park building at a cost of Rs 59 lakh.Notably, Dinosaur Park is India’s first modern fossil park which has 24 eggs and other fossils of dinosaurs.

•      The park provides information related to the life of dinosaurs.

 

3. MOHUA LAUNCHES ‘PEY JAL SURVEKSHAN’ ON PILOT BASIS

•      Durga Shanker Mishra, Secretary of Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs (MoHUA) launched ‘Pey Jal Survekshan’ under Jal Jeevan Mission-Urban (JJM-U) on a pilot basis in 10 cities.

•      The 10 cities are Agra (UP), Badlapur (Maharashtra), Bhubaneswar (Odisha), Churu (Rajasthan), Kochi (Kerala), Madurai (TN), Patiala (Punjab), Rohtak (Haryana), Surat (Gujarat) & Tumkur (Karnataka).

•      Based on responses received in the 10 cities, the survekshan will be extended to all AMRUT (Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation) cities

 

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DAILY GK: 14, 15, 16 FEB 2021

 DAILY GK: 14, 15, 16 FEB 2021

1. INDIA’S 1ST DIESEL-CONVERTED CNG TRACTOR

•      Union Minister Nitin Jairam Gadkari, Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) launched India’s first-ever diesel tractor converted to Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) which was co-developed by Thane, Maharashtra based Rawmatt Techno Solutions and Tomasetto Achille India as a pilot project.

 

2. WORLD SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT SUMMIT 2021

•      20th World Sustainable Development Summit (WSDS) 2021 was held on the theme “Redefining our common future: Safe and secure environment for all”.

•      This three days long event was virtually inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

•      The event was also attended by Union Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).

•      It should be noted that WSDS is an annual flagship event of The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) instituted in 2001.

•      Country partner was the United Kingdom (UK).

 

3. INDIGENOUS MAPPING PORTAL & GEOSPATIAL SERVICES

•      Department of Space (DoS) & CE Info Systems Pvt Ltd (owned by Mapmy India) entered into a MoU According to the agreement, ISRO & Mapmy India will partner to build an Indigenous, mapping portal and geospatial services which could become an alternative to Google Maps & Google Earth services.

•      The entities will also build a holistic geospatial solution using ISRO’s earth observation datasets like ‘NavIC’, ‘VEDAS’ & ‘MOSDAC’ Geoportals.

 

4. NATIONAL HORTICULTURE FAIR

•      A five-days long National Horticulture Fair was held on February 8-12, 2021 at Hesaraghatta, Bengaluru on the theme “Horticulture:For start-up and stand-up India”.

•      It was organized by Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR)-Indian Institute of Horticultural Research (IIHR) in collaboration with, ICAR-ATARI, Bengaluru, Society for Promotion of Horticulture, Bengaluru, BESST-HORT Technology Business Incubator, ICAR-IIHR, Bengaluru, Sri Sri Institute of Agricultural Sciences & Technology Trust, Bengaluru and National Horticulture Board, Gurugram.

 

5. INDIA TO FUND 3 CULTURAL HERITAGE PROJECTS IN NEPAL

•      India committed to Nepal that it will fund Nepali Rupees(NR) 142 million to restore 3 cultural heritage projects in Nepal.

3 Cultural Heritage Projects:

•      Conservation and furnishing of Seto Machindranath Temple(Total cost- NRs 626 million)

•      Construction of Dharamshala at Budhanilkantha (Total cost-NRs. 334 million )

•      Conservation and development of Kumari Chhen and Kumari Niwas in Lalitpur district (Total cost- NRs 456 million)

 

6. VOLUNTARY GUIDELINES ON FOOD SYSTEMS AND NUTRITION

•      During the 47th Session of UN’s Committee on World Food Security (CFS) which took place virtually, members of the CFS endorsed the 1st Ever Voluntary Guidelines on Food Systems and Nutrition (VGFSyN).

•      The guidelines aim to achieve the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development & its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and are intended to support the implementation of the UN Decade of Action on Nutrition (2016-2025).

 

7. WORLD’S 1ST CARBON-NEUTRAL OIL

•      Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) has received 2 million barrels cargo of ‘carbon-neutral oil’ from Oxy Low Carbon Ventures (OLCV), a division of US oil major Occidental on January 28, 2021 at Jamnagar, Gujarat.

•      It is the world’s 1st consignment of carbon-neutral oil and is also the energy industry’s 1st major petroleum shipment.

•      Purpose: RIL to become a net zero-carbon company by 2035.

•      Oxy Low Carbon Ventures and Macquarie will offset the carbon dioxide equal to that associated with the production, delivery and refining of the crude oil.

 

8. NEW PRIME MINISTER OF ITALY

•      Mario Draghi, former President of the European Central Bank, has been named the new Prime Minister of Italy.

•      He accepted the request of Sergio Mattarella, President of Italy, to form a new government.

•      Mario Draghi will lead the unity government replacing the centre left coalition government of Former prime minister Giuseppe Conte.

 

9. NEW TATA MOTORS CEO

•      Tata Motors Ltd appointed Marc Llistosella as the Chief Executive Officer(CEO) and Managing Director(MD)of the company.

•      He succeeds Guenter Butschek who served the position since February 15, 2016

•      He served as the  President and CEO of Fuso Truck and Bus Corporation between 2015-2018 and  Head of Daimler Trucks in Asia.

 

10 .UNMANNED PSEUDO SATELLITE “CATS”

•      In a first of its kind in the world, the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) is developing a futuristic high altitude pseudo satellite namely Combined Air Teaming System (CATS) with a start-up company.

•      Once developed the pseudo-satellite will be capable of taking information flying unmanned around 70,000 ft for 2-3 months.

•      It can hit the target at a distance of 700 kilometres or can go to 350 kilometres and come back.

•      It can also carry ammunition, missiles if needed.

 

11. CHINA’S TIANWEN-1 ENTERS MARS ORBIT

•      Chinese Spacecraft ‘Tianwen-1’ entered the Mars Orbit.

•      It became the World’s second one in two days after United Arab Emirates’ ‘Hope’ Space Probe entered the Mars Orbit on February 9, 2021.

•      The Chinese Spacecraft will probe for signs of ancient life on Mars. 

•      USA’s National Aeronautics and Space Administration rover called ‘Perseverance’ is aiming for a landing on Mars on February 18, 2021.

 

12. WORLD RADIO DAY 2021 – FEBRUARY 13

•      The United Nations World Radio Day (WRD) is annually observed across the globe on 13th February to celebrate radio as a part of the history of humanity.

•      2021 marks the 10th edition of World Radio Day (WRD) and more than 110 year of radio.

•      The theme of the world radio day 2021 is “New World, New Radio.”

 

13. NATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY 2021 – FEBRUARY 13

•      National Women’s Day is annually celebrated across India on 13th February to honour Sarojini Naidu, the “nightingale of India”, on her birth anniversary.

 

14. BIHAR DEVLOP LOW-CARBON DEVELOPMENT PATHWAY

•      Bihar State Pollution Control Board (BSPCB) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) to develop a framework for achieving climate resilience & low-carbon development in the state by 2040.

•      Bihar became the 1st Indian State to sign such an agreement.

 

15. ASIA’S LARGEST 12 KM WILDLIFE PROTECTION CORRIDOR

•      The upcoming 210 kilometres long Delhi-Dehradun Expressway (Delhi-Saharanpur-Dehradun Economic corridor) is all set to become India’s first highway with 12 km long elevated corridor for the protection of wildlife as it will pass through pristine forest areas.

•      It will also be Asia’s largest wildlife corridor.

•      The project will be executed under the Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) mode by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH).

 

16. MAHATMA GANDHI NATIONAL FELLOWSHIP 2021-23

•      Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) launched a Two-year Mahatma Gandhi National Fellowship (MGNF) 2021-23 programme during the event ‘Transforming Skilling through Strategic partnerships under SANKALP’.

•      MGNF will be a certificate program in Public Policy and Management offered by IIMs.

•      The fellowship has been rolled out under the World Bank loan assisted programme SANKALP (Skills Acquisition and Knowledge Awareness for Livelihood Promotion) and will be hosted by the 9 IIMs (Indian Institutes of Management).

•      MSDE will implement the fellowship in collaboration with State Skill Development Missions (SSDMs).

 

17. INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON GENDER EQUALITY

•      The 2nd edition of International Conference on Gender Equality (ICGE II) was held at the Gender Park Campus in Kozhikode, Kerala on February 11-13, 2021, which was inaugurated by the Kerala Chief Minister (CM) Pinarayi Vijayan.

•      He also announced the functional launch of Gender Park Campus on February 14, 2021.

•      The conference was hosted by the Gender Park in association with United Nations (UN) Women on the theme “Gender in Sustainable Entrepreneurship and Social Business: The Mediating Role of Empowerment”.

 

18. KANCHOTH FESTIVAL

•      The 3 day Kanchoth festival, a symbol of ancient Nag culture is observed annually across Chenab valley region of Jammu and Kashmir during the ‘Shukla Paksha of Magh month’ in January or February.

•      It is mainly celebrated by Nag followers.

•      Reason for the Celebration: It is believed that on Gouri Tritiya( February 14 ), Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati got married.

 

19. UPPER CEILING FOR FAMILY PENSIONS RAISED

•      Dr Jitendra Singh, Minister of State for Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions stated that the upper Ceiling for 2 Family Pensions has been increased to INR 1, 25, 000 per month from INR 45, 000 per month.

•      According to the sub-rule (11) of rule 54 of the Central Civil Services (Pension) Rules 1972, in case both wife & husband are Government servants and are governed by the provisions of that rule, on their death, the surviving child is eligible for 2 family pensions in respect of the deceased parents.

 

20. GLOBAL PULSES OUTPUT

•      Narendra Singh Tomar, Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare virtually addressed the International conference “Global virtual Ceremony” in Rome on World Pulses Day.

•      He stated that India has contributed to around 24% of the global pulses production.

•      The pulses production of India has increased to 240 lakh tonne which was around 140 lakh tonne in the past 6 years.

 

21. GLOBAL DEATHS IN ROAD ACCIDENTS: WORLD BANK REPORT

•      According to the report ‘Traffic Crash Injuries and Disabilities:The Burden on Indian Society’ released by the World Bank with 1% of World’s vehicles, India accounts for 11% of Global Road Accident deaths & 6% of total road crashes.

•      In India, annually around 4.5 Lakh road crashes take place out of which 1.5 Lakh people die.

The World Bank report was prepared in association with Save LIFE Foundation (SLF).

 

22. ICC PLAYER OF THE MONTH FOR JANUARY 2021

•      Indian cricketer Rishabh Pant won the The International Cricket Council (ICC) Men’s Player of the Month award for January 2021 and South African cricketer Shabnim Ismail won the ICC Women’s Player of the Month award for January 2021.

•      This is the first edition of the ICC Player of the Month Awards.

•      ICC introduced the awards in January 2021, where The ICC Voting Academy that comprises former players, broadcasters, and journalism from across the world and fans will vote to select the winner of the award.

 

 

 

 

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DAILY GK: 12 , 13 FEB 2021

 DAILY GK: 12 , 13 FEB 2021

1.  ‘TROPEX 21’ UNDERWAY AT THE INDIAN OCEAN REGION

•      Indian Navy’s Largest War Game – the Biennial ‘Theatre Level Operational Readiness Exercise (TROPEX 21)’ is currently taking place at the Indian Ocean Region (IOR).

•      Operational assets of the Indian Navy as well as Indian Army, Indian Air Force and Coast Guard were participating in the Exercise.

 

2. ‘SWAVALAMBAN SASHAKT’ TO PROMOTE STAND-UP INDIA SCHEME

•      SIDBI and Confederation of Women Entrepreneurs of India (COWE) have launched “Swavalamban Sashakt- Mega campaign” to encourage and to create awareness about the Stand Up India (SUI) scheme of Central Government.

•      Launched in 2016, The scheme is a flagship programme launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to facilitate bank loans between Rs 10 lakh and Rs  100 Lakh (1 crore) to scheduled caste (SC) or scheduled tribe (ST) borrower and woman borrower.

 

3. SC STAYS DISMANTLING OF AIRCRAFT CARRIER INS VIRAAT

•      Supreme Court bench headed by CJI S A Bobde stayed dismantling of the decommissioned aircraft carrier INS Viraat(world’s longest-serving warship), was purchased by Shree Ram Group for a sum of Rs. 38.54 crore at an auction conducted by the Metal Scrap Trade Corporation Limited in July 2020 and was proposed to preserve it as a maritime museum.

•      This aircraft carrier was inducted into the Indian Navy in 1987 and decommissioned in 2017.

 

4. IRDAI ANNUAL REPORT 2019-20

•      In accordance with the data by Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India’s (IRDAI) annual report 2019-20, the claim settlement ratio of Life Insurance Corp. of India (LIC) declined in FY20 to 96.6% from 97.7% in FY19.

•      On the other hand, Private Insurers has increased their settlement ratio to 97.18% from 96.6% in this period.

•      LIC was ranked 17th among the 24 life insurers.

•      Among, private sector life insurer Max Life had the highest claim settlement ratio for the industry at 99.2% .

 

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DAILY GK: 11 FEB 2021

 DAILY GK: 11 FEB 2021

1. CONSTRUCTION OF LALANDAR [SHATOOT] DAM BY INDIA

•      Central Government has laid the foundation of 2nd dam i.e. Lalandar [Shatoot] Dam, to be built by India in Afghanistan, by signing the virtual MoU between both nations.

•      It will be constructed on the Kabul river basin which is one of the five river basins of Afghanistan.

 

2. IEPF AUTHORITY SIGNS MOU WITH IGNOU FOR TELECAST OF IAP

•      Investor Education and Protection Fund Authority (IEPF Authority), Ministry of Corporate Affairs signed a MoU with Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) for collaboration in using the Tele-Lecturing Facility of Gyan Darshan Channel (EMPC – Electronic Media Production Centre) for telecast of Investor Awareness Programmes (IAPs) through distance learning mode.

•      In September, 2016 the Investor Education and Protection Fund Authority was established for the administration of Investor Education and Protection Fund Government of India under the provisions of section 125 of the Companies Act, 2013.

 

3. GOI ALLOCATES RS. 16000CR FOR PMFBY FOR FY22

•      Central Government has allocated Rs 16000 crores for Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) for FY22, an increase of around Rs 305 crore as compared to FY21.

•      The reason behind an increase in the amount is to boost the safety of farmers’ crops and ensure maximum benefit of crop insurance.

•      Notably, the scheme covers the entire cropping cycle from pre-sowing to post-harvest which include loss coverage due to prevented sowing and mid-season adversities.

 

4. IEA’S INDIA ENERGY OUTLOOK 2021

•      In accordance with the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) “India Energy Outlook 2021”, India will surpass European Union as the world’s third-biggest energy consumer by 2030.

•      In this regard, India energy demand growth share will be maximum at 25% in the next two decades.

•      As per India’s current national policy scenario, its gross domestic product (GDP) expands to an estimated $8.6 trillion by 2040 thereby the energy consumption is expected to be nearly doubled.

 

5. DECLARATION FOR SUSTAINABLE FISHERIES AND AQUACULTURE

•      During the 34th Session of UN’s FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization) Committee on Fisheries (COFI 34) which took place virtually, members of the session supported the first-ever Declaration for Sustainable Fisheries & Aquaculture.

•      The declaration calls for Strong action to combat Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing and emphasized on the importance of recovering from impacts of COVID-19 pandemic.

•      The Committee on Fisheries (COFI) is a subsidiary body of the FAO Council established by FAO Conference in 1965.

 

6. ‘NPCI PAYAUTH CHALLENGE’ ON APIX

•      National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) launched a Global level Hackathon ‘NPCI PayAuth Challenge’, to find out the alternatives for the authentication of UPI (Unified Payments Interface) transaction for eg: Biometric.

•      This Challenge is supported by APIX, world’s first cross-border, open architecture API marketplace and sandbox platform.

•      The Challenge is an open for global Fintechs, solution providers and developers and can submit unique solutions that simplify authorization.

 

7. WORLD’S LARGEST RADIO TELESCOPE

•      Square Kilometre Array Observatory (SKAO) Council held its Maiden Meeting during the meeting they approved the establishment of World’s Largest Radio Telescope namely ‘Square Kilometre Array’.

•      The telescope will consist of a vast number of radio receivers which will be positioned in South Africa and Australia.

•      SKAO is a 10-member intergovernmental organisation dedicated to radio astronomy.

•      The members of SKAO are Australia, Canada, China, India, Italy, New Zealand, South Africa, Sweden, Netherlands and UK.

•      The headquarters of SKAO is situated at the University of Manchester’s Jodrell Bank Observatory in Cheshire, United Kingdom.

•      Radio Telescopes are capable of detecting gas and can reveal areas of space which are hidden by cosmic dust.

 

8. ICC ANNOUNCED BYJU’S AS GLOBAL PARTNER

•      The International Cricket Council (ICC) announced BYJU’s as its global partner from 2021 to 2023.

•      Under the 3-year agreement BYJU’s will partner all the events of ICC from 2021 to 2023, including the Men’s T20 World Cup in India, and the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup in New Zealand.

•      Under this partnership BYJU’s will have extensive in-venue, broadcast, and digital rights to all ICC events.

•      BYJU’s became the official jersey partner of Indian Cricket team in August 2019.

 

9. BOOK-‘THE TERRIBLE, HORRIBLE, VERY BAD GOOD NEWS’

•      Meghna Pant has authored a new book titled ‘The Terrible, Horrible, Very Bad Good News’.

•      The book will be published by Penguin Random House India.

•      It will be released  in April 2021, and will shortly become a major motion picture under the title Badnam Ladoo.

 

10. WORLD PULSES DAY 2021

•      United Nations(UN)’s World Pulses Day is annually observed across the globe on 10th February to celebrate the contribution of the pulses to the sustainable food system, healthy growth and environmental benefits.

•      The World pulses day was proposed by Burkina Faso

 

11.16 DIGIT UNICODE TO IDENTIFY THE LANDHOLDINGS

•      The government of Uttar Pradesh(UP) has introduced a new system to issue a unique 16-digit unicode to identify the landholding in UP. 

•      The unicode will be used to check on cases of land dispute and protect people from fraudsters.

•      The first 6 digits is based on the population of the land, next 4 digit determines the identity of the land, next 4 digit based on the number of divisions of the land and last 2 digit based on the category of the land (agricultural, residential and commercial land).

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DAILY GK: 10 FEB 2021

 DAILY GK: 10 FEB 2021

1. GOI APPROVES SRIVILLIPUTHUR-MEGHAMALAI TIGER RESERVE

•      GoI has approved the Srivilliputhur-Meghamalai Tiger Reserve (SMTR) in Tamil Nadu (TN), it will be TN’s 5th Tiger Reserve and the Largest ever Tiger Reserve in the state. It is also India’s 51st Tiger Reserve.

•      SMTR is spread over an area of 1 Lakh Hectares and encloses lands which fall under the Meghamalai Wildlife Sanctuary & Srivilliputhur Grizzled Squirrel Wildlife Sanctuary (WLS).

 

2. ‘YUDH ABHYAS 20’ BEGINS IN RAJASTHAN

•      The 16th edition of an annual joint military exercise between India and the United States (US), “Yudh Abhyas 20” was initiated as a part of defence cooperation at the Mahajan Field Firing Range (MFFR), near the India-Pakistan border in Rajasthan.

 

3. METAL 3D PRINTED AIRCRAFT ENGINE COMPONENT

•      Wipro 3D has collaborated with Engine Division of Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) to Manufacture Aero Engine Component, Nozzle Guide Vane (also called the Inner Ring), 3D Printed in a high temperature resilient steel A286 operating in the hot zone using Metal 3D Printing.

•      The Inner Ring has also received Airworthiness Certifications from Centre for Military Airworthiness and Certification (CEMILAC).

 

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DAILY GK : 9 FEB 2021

DAILY GK : 9 FEB 2021

1. INDIA’S 1ST EVER GEOTHERMAL PROJECT

•      UT Administration of Ladakh, Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC)-Leh and Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) Energy Centre have signed a MoU to establish India’s 1st ever Geothermal Field Development Project in Puga Village of Eastern Ladakh (UT Ladakh).

•      ONGC Energy Centre will be the implementing agency of the project.

•      Puga shows geothermal activity in the form of hot springs, mud pools, sulphur and borax deposits.

 

2. POSTAGE STAMPS ON DIAMOND JUBILEE OF GUJARAT HIGH COURT

•      PM Narendra Modi virtually inaugurated the event organised to mark the Diamond Jubilee of the Gujarat High Court and unveiled the commemorative Postage Stamps to mark the completion of 60 years of establishment of the High Court of Gujarat on May 1 2020.

•      The event which was scheduled to take place in 2020 was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

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