DAILY GK : 7,8 NOV
1.
FINANCE
MINISTRY APPROVES 8.5% RETURN ON PF DEPOSITS FOR FY21
·
The Ministry of Finance
approved an 8.5% interest rate on Provident Fund (PF) deposits for 2020-21
(FY21). Now, the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) will credit this interest in accounts of active 60 million
beneficiaries.
·
The Central Board of
Trustees (CBT) of EPFO is headed by
the Union Minister Bhupender
Yadav, Ministry of Labour and Employment.
2.
UNITED
NATIONS CLIMATE CHANGE CONFERENCE (COP 26)
·
The 26th Conference of
Parties (COP26) of the United Nations Framework Convention on
Climate Change (UNFCCC) is being held in Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom (UK)
·
Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi Visited the UK to attend the COP26
·
The COP 26 is being hosted by the United Kingdom, in partnership with
Italy.
·
At the summit, the PM has
set 5 ambitious targets for India to combat climate change.
These 5 targets are:
1. To increase India’s non-fossil capacity to
500 gigawatts by 2030
2. To fulfil 50 percent of India’s energy
requirements with renewable energy by 2030
3. To reduce 1 billion tonnes of the total
projected carbon emission between now and 2030
4. To reduce the Indian economy’s carbon intensity to less than 45% by 2030
5. To achieve the target of net zero emissions
by 2070
·
At the COP26, PM launched a
programme IRIS (Infrastructure for the Resilient Island States), a key
India-led initiative to boost infrastructure in small island nations.
·
PM Modi and his British
counterpart Boris Johnson jointly launched the world’s 1st ‘green
Grids’ Initiative, the One Sun One World One Grid (GGI-OSOWOG)
on the sidelines of the COP26 summit.
·
A Global methane pledge was
launched to make a 30 percent reduction in global methane emissions from 2020
levels by 2030. The pledge is jointly led by the United States and the European
Union. So far, over 90 countries have signed the pledge.
·
The pledge to stop and
reverse deforestation by 2030 (not a formal agreement) was also made in the
same manner. Over 100 countries including the U.S., China and Brazil have
signed on to it.
3. UNSC ADOPTED RESOLUTION ON ‘PROTECTING EDUCATION FROM CONFLICT’
·
The United Nations Security
Council (UNSC) adopted the first of its kind resolution (resolution
2601) on protecting schools and civilians connected with schools including
children and teachers during armed conflict.
·
The resolution condems the attacks against schools, children and
teachers and urges the conflict parties to safeguard the right to education.
4.
2020’S
TENZING NORGAY NATIONAL ADVENTURE AWARD
·
Mountaineer Priyanka Mohite
was selected by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports for the
prestigious ‘Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Award 2020’ for
outstanding contribution in the field of land adventure.
·
She scaled the world’s
highest peak Mt Everest, Mt Lhotse and Mt.Makalu.
·
She is the 1st
Indian woman to climb Mt Annapurna, the
10th highest mountain peak in the world.
·
In 2018, Shivangi
Pathak, 16-year-old, became the youngest Indian woman to reach the
summit of Mount Everest.
·
Tenzing Norgay is regarded as the 1st person to scale Mount Everest.
·
It is the highest National
award in the field of adventure on land, sea and air, which is equivalent to
the Arjuna Award.
5.
OXFORD
DICTIONARY’S WORD OF THE YEAR 2021 – ‘VAX’
·
‘Vax’ has been chosen as the Word of the Year for 2021 by the Oxford English
Dictionary (OED).
·
In 2021, Vax which inturn
refers to ‘Vaccine’ or ‘Vaccination’ repeatedly
appeared in the news, and other written media more than any other word.
·
‘Lockdown’ was selected as the Collins Word of the Year
for 2020
2020 Oxford Word of the Year:
·
In 2020, instead of choosing
one word, Oxford Dictionary decided to name a series of words as ‘Word of the
Year for 2020’, which includes – Covid-19, Lockdown, Bushfires, Black
Lives Matter, WFH [Working From
Home], Key workers and Furlough.
