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.