DAILY GK: 11,12 MAR 2021

 DAILY GK: 11,12 MAR 2021

1. ‘MOBILISING ELECTRIC VEHICLE FINANCING IN INDIA’ REPORT

•      NITI Aayog along with Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) India released the ‘Mobilising Finance for EVs in India: A Toolkit of Solutions to Mitigate Risks and Address Market Barriers’ report.

•      The report analyses the risk & market barriers involved in transforming India’s Electric Vehicle (EV) Sector and provides Target Instruments to overcome the hurdles.

•      Indian EV market size to be of USD 50 billion (Rs 3.7 lakh crore) by 2030, which is equivalent to 80% of the current market size of India’s retail vehicle finance industry at USD 60 billion (Rs 4.5 lakh crore).

 

2. ‘SURYADIPTA PROJECTS’ FOR CONSTRUCTING 11 ACTCM BARGES

•      Indian Navy signed a contract for the construction of 11 Ammunition-Cum-Torpedo-Cum-Missile (ACTCM) barges, with Thane based MSME Suryadipta Projects Private Limited.

•      The MSME will start delivering the barges from 22nd May, 2021.

•      Assigning of this project to a Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) marks another milestone to Indian Government’s Atma Nirbhar Bharat and Make in India initiative.

 

3.1ST MILITARY EXERCISE IN SPACE

•      France started its 5-day long Military Exercise in Space to analyse its ability against attacks on its Satellites & other defence equipment.

•      The exercise was codenamed as “AsterX”, on the memory of its 1st satellite launched in 1965.

•      Alongside the French Space Forces Command, the new US Space Force and German space agencies also participated in the space exercise.

 

4.OECD RAISES GDP FORECAST OF INDIA

•      Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) raises the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of India to 12.6% for FY 22, the highest among G20 countries.

•      With his projection by OCED, India becomes the fastest-growing economy in the world.

•      i.e., OECD has raised the GDP Projection by 4.7% from its December, 2020 projection of 7.9% for FY22.

 

5.TIRATH SINGH RAWAT SWORN IN AS THE NEW CM OF UTTARAKHAND

•      Tirath Singh Rawat, Members of Parliament (Lok Sabha), was sworn in as the 9th Chief Minister(CM) of Uttarakhand following the resignation of Trivendra Singh Rawat  following the unease over his governance. Tirath Singh Rawat’s term as the CM will end before the assembly polls in March or April 2022.

 

6.CISF RAISING DAY 2021

•      Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) Raising Day is annually observed across India on 10th March to commemorate the service and commitment of the personnels of CISF towards protecting the major installations and integrity of the nation.

•      The day also marks the establishment of the CISF on 10th March 1969.

•      CISF was established under the Act of Parliament, “Central Industrial Security Force Act, 1968 (50 of 1968).

 

7.UP GETS 8TH AIRPORT AT BAREILLY

•      Bareilly Airport became the 8th Airport of Uttar Pradesh(UP). The Trishul Military Airbase has been upgraded as the Bareilly Airport for commercial flight operations under the Regional Connectivity Scheme – Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik (RCS-UDAN) of the Government of India.

•      UP became the first state of India to have the highest number of Airports.

•      Currently UP has 8 functional airports namely Lucknow, Agra, Varanasi, Gorakhpur, Prayagraj, Kanpur, Hindon and Bareilly.

 

8.MILITARY EXERCISE ‘DUSTLIK II’

•      The 2nd Edition of Annual Bilateral Joint Military Exercise ‘DUSTLIK-II’ between the Indian Army & Uzbekistan Army is being held at Ranikhet, Uttarakhand.

•      The exercise focused on Counter Insurgency (CI) & Counter-Terrorism (CT) skills of both sides.

 

9.INDIA’S LARGEST FLOATING SOLAR POWER PLANT TO BE COMMISSIONED BY 2021

•      India’s Largest Floating Solar Power Plant of 100 MegaWatt (MW) capacity being constructed at Ramagundam in Peddapalli district of Telangana is set to be commissioned by May-June, 2021.

•      It will be India’s largest floating solar plant in a single location as of now.

•      It is being developed by NTPC South (formerly known as National Thermal Power Corporation Limited) at a cost of INR 423 Crore over the water surface of Sri Ram Sagar Project Reservoir.

 

10.G.C. MURMU RE-APPOINTED AS CHAIRMAN OF UN’S PANEL OF EXTERNAL AUDITORS

•      14th Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG), Girish Chandra Murmu was re-appointed as the Chairman of the Panel of External Auditors of the United Nations(UN) for the year 2021.

•      He was initially elected as Chairman of the Panel for 2020

 

11.THOMAS BACH RE-ELECTED AS PRESIDENT OF IOC

•      Executive Board of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) re-elected Thomas Bach for an additional term of 4 years as the President of ICO until 2025.

•      His current term as the President of IOC will finish on the closing day of the Tokyo Olympic Games on 8th August 2021 and his second term as the President will start on 9th August 2021 and will conclude in 2025.

 

12.INTERNATIONAL LUNAR SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH STATION

•      Russian space agency “Roscosmos” signed a MoU with China National Space Administration (CNSA) for jointly creating an International Lunar Scientific Research (ILSR) Station, which will be open for all countries.

•      Both countries are also planning to develop research facilities on the surface of the Moon.

•      Upcoming Lunar probes- Russia’s Luna 27, planned for 2025 and China’s Chang’e-7 planned for 2024, both will be surveying the lunar south pole.

•      Note- International Space Station (ISS) launched in 1998 was developed by 5 space agencies: NASA, Roscosmos, JAXA (Japan), ESA (EU), and CSA(Canada).

 

13.NADA IMPOSED SANCTIONS ON MADHAVAN R & RUCHIKA

•      Disciplinary Panel of the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) imposed sanctions on Madhavan R, Weightlifter, and Ruchika, Boxer for the violation of NADA’s code on the usage of prohibited substances.

 

14.MATTEO PELLICONE RANKING SERIES 2021

•      The 14-member Indian Wrestling Contingent bagged 8 medals (2 Gold, 1 Silver, 5 Bronze) at the Matteo Pellicone Ranking Series 2021 held at Rome, Italy. 

•      The series was conducted for the categories of Freestyle, Greco-Roman & Women Wrestling.

•      Around 26 Countries participated in the Tournament which was organized by the United World Wrestling (UWW).

Winner                                                                   Category                                               Medal

Bajrang Punia                                      Men’s 65 Kg (Freestyle)                                     Gold

Vinesh Phogat                                      Women’s 53 Kg                                                   Gold

Sarita Mor                                             Women’s 57 Kg                                                   Silver

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DAILY GK: 9,10 MAR 2021

 DAILY GK: 9,10 MAR 2021

1.WCD MINISTRY BROUGHT ALL PROGRAMMES UNDER 3 UMBRELLA SCHEMES 

·      The Ministry of Women & Child Development (WCD) stated that it has classified all its major programmes under 3 umbrella schemes namely – Mission Poshan 2.0 (Prime Minister’s Overarching Scheme for Holistic Nutrition), Mission Vatsalya & Mission Shakti for the sake of better Implementation of the schemes & programmes.

Umbrella Scheme	Schemes Included	Allocations in Union Budget 2021-22
Saksham Anganwadi & POSHAN 2.0	·         Umbrella ICDS (Integrated Child Development Services) ·         Anganwadi Services ·         Poshan Abhiyan ·         Scheme for Adolescent girls ·         National Creme Scheme	INR 20, 105 Crores
Mission Vatsalya	Child Protection Services and Child Welfare Services	INR 900 Crores
Mission Shakti	SAMBAL  ·         One Stop Centre ·         Mahila Police Volunteer Women’sHelpline/Swadhar/Ujjawala/Widow Homes SAMARTHYA  ·         Beti Bachao Beti Padhao ·         Creche ·         Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana ·         Gender Budgeting & Research	INR 3, 109 Crores

 

2. INDIA’S FIRST FOREST HEALING CENTRE

•      India’s first Forest Healing centre was inaugurated by noted environmentalist Joginder Bisht in the pine dominated forest located at Ranikhet in Kalika Uttarakhand.

•      It was developed by the Research Wing of Uttarakhand Forest Department.

•      The forest is inspired from the Japanese technique of forest bathing (shinrin-yoku) and ancient Indian traditions.

•      It is themed on ‘be silent, go slow, think less and feel more’.

 

3. TECHNOLOGY AND INNOVATION REPORT 2021’

•      In accordance with the new country-readiness index released by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) in its ‘Technology and Innovation Report 2021’, India is the biggest over performer in frontier technologies than it’s per capita gross domestic products (GDP) among 158 countries.

•      The index ranked India at 43 while the estimated one based on per capita income was 108.

•      This meant that India over performed other countries by 65 ranking positions.

 

4. UNICEF REPORT ON  CHILD MARRIAGES

•      According to  the ‘COVID-19: A threat to progress against Child Marriage’ report compiled by UNICEF (United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund) COVID-19 impact could result in additional 10 Million Child Marriages in the next decade (2020-30).

•      The study stated that in the past decade (2010-20), the proportion of young women married as children had declined by 15% globally (from one in four to one in five).

 

5. BOXAM INTERNATIONAL TOURNAMENT 2021

•      India’s 14-member Boxing Contingent bagged 10 Medals (1 Gold, 8 Silver, 1 Bronze) at the 35th Edition of the 2021 ‘Boxam’ Elite International Tournament held at Castellon de la Plana, Spain.

•      Manish Kaushik clinched the Gold Medal in the men’s 63 Kg category.

 

6. YONEX SWISS OPEN 2021

•      Indian Shuttler PV Sindhu clinched the Silver Medal in the 2021 Swiss Open Super 300 (Officially known as Yonex Swiss Open 2021) after she was defeated in the final by Spain’s Carolina Marin.

•      The tournament took place at St. Jakobshalle in Basel, Switzerland.

 

7. INDIA RETAINS ANTHONY DE MELLO TROPHY

•      The Indian Cricket Team defeated England in the 4th Test Match held at Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad, Gujarat to win the Match & consequently the 2020-21 Test series by 3-1.

•      With the win, India has yet again retained the Anthony de Mello Trophy.

•      Player of the Series –  Ravichandran Ashwin

 

8. KHAN ABDUL GHAFFAR KHAN’S AUTOBIOGRAPHY TO BE PUBLISHED IN ENGLISH

•      The autobiography of Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, popularly known as the “Frontier Gandhi”, titled “The Frontier Gandhi: My Life and Struggle” is set to be published in English by the publishing house Roli Books.

•      This will be his first autobiography in English. The book was translated into English by Imitiaz Ahmad Sahibzada, former Pakistani civil servant and author.

•      The foreword of the book is written by historian Rajmohan Gandhi, Grandson of Gandhi and the book was originally written in Pashto and published in 1983.

 

9. JANAUSHADHI DIWAS

•      The Janaushadhi Diwas also known as Generic Medicine Day, is annually observed across India on 7th March, the last day of the Janaushadhi Diwas Week (1st March to 7th March).

•      The day aims to disseminate the endeavors of Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana(PMBJP), an initiative by Department of Pharmaceuticals, Government of India, to  provide quality medicine at affordable price.

•      The 3rd Janaushadhi Diwas was observed on 7th March 2021 under the theme “Seva bhi – Rozgar bhi”.

 

10. INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY 2021

•      United Nations(UN)’s International Women’s Day (IWD) is annually observed across the globe on 8th March to recognise the achievements of the women regardless of their nation, ethnic, language, culture, economic or political.

•      The theme of International Women’s Day 2021 is “Women in leadership: Achieving an equal future in a COVID-19 world”.

•      The Grant Thornton, a global accounting firm has published the “Women in Business 2021 Report”.

•      Globally, India ranks 3rd with the percentage of women in senior management in India at around 39%.

•      Two days ahead of the International women’s day The Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus in Mumbai, Maharashtra was lit up in pink to celebrate womanhood.

 

11. INDIA’S FIRST ‘WORLD SKILL CENTER’ IN BHUBANESWAR

•      Odisha Chief Minister, Naveen Patnaik inaugurated the India’s first World Skill Center(WSC), an advanced skill training institute at Mancheswar, Bhubaneswar at the budget of Rs 1342.2crore, under Odisha Skill Development Project with the assistance of Asian Development Bank and ITE Education Services (ITEES), Singapore, the knowledge partner.

 

12. INDIAN ARMY LEASES 4 HERON UAVS

•      Indian Army has leased 4 Heron TP medium-altitude, long-endurance (MALE) Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) from Israel for 3 years.

•      The leases were done under the emergency procurement programme of the Indian army.

•      The drones made by Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) will be delivered between August & September 2021.

•      Under ‘Emergency Powers’, the Indian Armed Forces (all 3 services) can buy any weapon system under INR 500 Crore per procurement project for ‘urgent’ requirements.

 

13. 2021 ECONOMIC FREEDOM INDEX

•      India with a score of 56.5 was ranked 121 (category – ‘Mostly Unfree’) in the ‘2021 Index of Economic Freedom’ (27th Annual Edition) released by The Heritage Foundation.

•      Singapore topped the list for the 2nd time in a row followed by New Zealand & Australia.

•      For the 1st time, The Heritage Foundation has excluded Hong Kong from its rankings. Hong Kong had topped the Index for 25 out of 27 years (1995-2019).

 

14. 1ST COUNTRY TO RECEIVE COVAX VACCINES THROUGH UN INITIATIVE

•      6,00,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine made by the Serum Institute of India, were offered to Ghana under the vaccine deployment initiative of the United Nations (UN), making it the 1st country in the world to receive COVAX vaccines.

•      Already 92 countries in the lower & middle income group have signed to the UN backed COVAX programme.

•      COVAX is planning to distribute 2 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines by 2021.

 

15. PRESIDENT PRESENTED A BATON OF HONOUR TO KIRAN BEDI

•      President Ram Nath Kovind presented a baton of honour and a letter of appreciation to former Puducherry lieutenant governor Kiran Bedi at Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Delhi.

•      The Baton which is decorated with the emblem of the Indian Republic was given as a memento for recognizing Kiran Bedi’s service in the Union Territory of Puducherry and to appreciate her constitutional duties discharging method.

 

16. GLOBAL WOMEN OF EXCELLENCE AWARD – 2021

•      Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry, Dr. Tamilisai Soundararajan was conferred with the Top 20 Global Women of Excellence award – 2021 through video conference from USA.

•      The award was presented by the USA on the recommendation of a Multi Ethnic Advisory Task Force, headed by US Congressman Danny K. Davis.

 

17. INDIGENOUS TORPEDO ‘SHYENA’

•      The maiden flight trials of the indigenously developed ‘Advanced Light Torpedo (TAL) Shyena’ was conducted successfully, it was fired from Indian Navy’s Ilyushin Il-38 Patrol Aircraft.

•      TAL Sheyna is an anti-submarine torpedo developed by the Naval Science and Technological Laboratory (NSTL), a lab of the Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO).

 

18. FIRST STATE TO INCORPORATE GENDER BUDGET

•      International women’s day, Andhra Pradesh(AP) CM YS Jagan Mohan Reddy announced that the state would become the first state of India to incorporate the Gender Budget in its annual budget of the fiscal year 2021 to 2022 with an aim to provide better service to women.

•      He launched the SWECHHA(freedom)Programme to create awareness about menstrual hygiene among the adolescent girls.

 

19. ALL HELPLINE NUMBERS OF RAILWAYS MERGED INTO SINGLE NUMBER

•      Indian Railway has integrated all railway help lines into single number 139 which is Rail Madad Helpline for quick grievance redressal and enquiry during the journey.

•      There is no need for a smart phone to call on 139.

 

20. ‘MAITRI SETU’ CONNECTING INDIA AND BANGLADESH

•      Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate Maitri Setu between India and Bangladesh through video conferencing.

•      The bridge Maitri Setu has been built over Feni River which flows between Indian boundary in Tripura State and Bangladesh.

 

21. UNITED STATES OFFERED TEMPORARY LEGAL RESIDENCY TO VENEZUELANS

•      The United States has announced to offer temporary legal residency to several hundred thousand Venezuelans who fled their country due to economic collapse.

•      The White House announced that the US will also review US sanctions intended to isolate the South American nation.

 

22. INDIA’S BIGGEST KIDNEY DIALYSIS HOSPITAL INAUGURATED

•      India’s biggest Kidney Dialysis Hospital was inaugurated at Balasahib Gurudwara in Delhi.

•      The Guru Harikshan Institute of Medical Sciences and Research Kidney Dialysis Hospital has been opened by Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee.

•      The 100 bedded hospital is equipped with most technically advanced medical facilities where services will be provided free of cost to the patients.

•      There will also be no billing counter at the hospital.

 

23. BBC INDIAN SPORTSWOMAN OF THE YEAR AWARD

•      Chess player Koneru Humpy won the BBC India Sportswoman of the Year award for 2020.

•      The award was based on a public vote in which Humpy beat sprinter Dutee Chand, shooter Manu Bhaker, wrestler Vinesh Phogat and hockey captain Rani Rampal.

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DAILY GK: 7, 8 MAR 2021

 DAILY GK: 7, 8 MAR 2021

1. MARITIME INDIA SUMMIT-2021

•      PM Narendra Modi virtually inaugurated the 2nd Edition of Maritime India Summit-2021 (MIS-2021)-“Exploring the potential business opportunities in Indian Maritime sector and making Aatmanirbhar Bharat”.

•      On the sidelines of the MIS-2021, Chabahar day was commemorated on March 4, 2021.

•      PM Modi launched ‘Sagar-Manthan’: Mercantile Maritime Domain Awareness Centre (MM-DAC).

•      Around 574 Projects costing USD 82 Billion (~ INR 6 Lakh Crore) have been identified for implementation between 2015-2035 under the Sagarmala Project.

 

2. BOFA REPORT ON GENDER INEQUALITY

•      According to a report compiled by the economists of Bank of America (BofA), Gender inequality has cost the world USD 70 Trillion since 1990.

•      It also states that it would take a minimum of 257 years to bridge the gender gap.

•      If all countries become gender-equal, the global Gross Domestic Product (GDP) will increase by up to USD 28 Trillion by 2025.

•      Also as per LinkedIn’s  “The Opportunity Index 2021”, revealed that 85% of Indian women felt missed out of Salary hike or promotion because of their gender.

 

3. NPCI TIE UP WITH SBI PAYMENTS

•      National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) partnered with SBI Payments to launch the ‘RuPay SoftPoS’ solution.

•      It will convert the merchants and retailers NFC enabled smartphones into Point of Sale terminals.

•      Using this facility merchant were able to do digital payment and acceptance of up to INR 5000 through a simple ‘tap and pay’ mechanism via their smartphones.

 

4. RBI ANNOUNCES OPERATION TWIST CUM OMO

•      Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is all set to conduct the simultaneous purchase and sale of Government securities (GS) under Open Market Operations (OMO) for an aggregate amount of Rs 20,000 crore under purchase and Rs 15,000 crore under sale on March 10, 2021.

•      This makes it a combination of Operation Twist of Rs 15,000 crore and OMO of Rs 5000 crore.

•      The bids for the same will be accepted by RBI in electronic format through its Core Banking Solution (E-Kuber).

 

5. COMMITTEE TO COMMEMORATE 75 YEAR OF INDEPENDENCE DAY

•      The Government of India constituted a National Committee headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to commemorate the 75 years of Independence day which falls on 15th August 2022.

•      The day will be commemorated at national and international level in the form of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav.

•      The committee consists of 259 members.

 

6. G R CHINTALA TOOK OVER AS CHAIRMAN OF APRACA

•      GR Chintala, the Chairman of the National Bank of Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) took over as the Chairman of Asia Pacific Rural and Agricultural Credit Association (APRACA). 

•      He succeeds DPK Gunasekera, General Manager of Bank of Ceylon (BOC).

•      APRACA is an international organisation which performs information exchange, takes capacity building initiatives and creates new institutions.

 

7. 1ST INDIAN CHAIRPERSON OF THE ADVISORY COMMITTEE OF UNHRC

•      Ajai Malhotra has become the first Indian to be elected as the Chairperson of the Advisory Committee of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC). 

•      His 3-year term on the committee will expire on 30th September 2023.

•      The Advisory Committee is a body of 18 independent experts serving as a think-tank to the United Nations Human Rights Council.

 

8. DRDO SUCCESSFULLY TESTS SOLID FUEL DUCTED RAMJET TECHNOLOGY

•      Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) successfully flight demonstrated Solid Fuel Ducted Ramjet (SFDR) technology from Integrated Test Range (ITR) Chandipur in Balasore, Odisha.

•      With this test, DRDO achieved a technological advantage of developing long range air-to-air missiles (AAMs) with SFDR.

•      Meanwhile the Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers Limited (GRSE), Kolkata, carried out keel laying of Yard 3024 (third stealth frigate) for the Navy under Advanced Stealth Frigate Project, P 17A.

 

9. VIVO REGAINS IPL TITLE SPONSORSHIP

•      Chinese smartphone maker, VIVO, regained its Title Sponsorship in 2021’s edition of Indian Premier League (IPL).

•      Previously, in 2018 VIVO acquired the title sponsorship of IPL for 5 years at a cost of Rs. 2,199 crores, ie; 440 crores per year.

•      Due to the backslash of Chinese products in 2020, VIVO took a temporary break from the IPL’s title sponsorship, which was acquired by Dream11 at 50% cost of Rs. 222 crores for 2020 edition.

 

10. M.G. GEORGE MUTHOOT PASSED AWAY AT 71

•      Mathai George George Muthoot (MG George Muthoot), Chairman of the Muthoot Group passed away at the age of 71 in New Delhi. 

•      He was born in November 1949 in Kerala.

 

11. 2 NEW KVS IN PUNJAB AND KARNATAKA

•      Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ announced opening of two new Kendriya Vidyalayas in Karnataka and Punjab.

•      KV Sadalaga, Belagavi, in Karnataka and KV IIT Ropar in Punjab will be two new additions to Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan.

•      With this, the total number of KVs across the country will rise to 1247.

 

12. INDIAN ARMY LAUNCHES COMMUNITY RADIO STATION

•      The first of its kind in North Kashmir, Community Radio Station with the tagline “Radio Chinar 90.4, Har Dil Ki Dhadkan” was inaugurated by the Indian Army for the Awam in Mazbugh, Sopore.

•      The reach of the Community Radio Station will be Sopore, Bandipora and Baramulla Districts.

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