DAILY GK 26 AUG 2020

 

DAILY GK 26 AUG 2020

1. LINKING OF SUGARCANE PRICES TO SUGAR RATE

·        The final report of the NITI (National Institution for Transforming India) Aayog Task Force headed by Ramesh Chand, Niti Aayog Member(Agriculture), “Sugarcane and Sugar Industry” recommended linking of Sugarcane prices to sugar rate to maintain the financial state and stability of the  industry and to clear the arrears of the sugarcane farmers.

·        The report recommended to shift sugarcane cultivation areas to less water intensive crops by providing incentives to the farmers.

·        Currently around 3 lakh hectares are under sugarcane cultivation that produce around 20 lakh tonnes of sugarcane. 

 

2. SATELLITE DATA TO ASSESS CREDIT WORTHINESS OF FARMERS

·        ICICI Bank uses satellite data(imagery from Earth observation satellites) to assess credit worthiness of farmers. ICICI Bank has become the 1st bank in India to use such a technique to measure an array of parameters related to the land, irrigation and crop patterns and use it in combination with demographic and financial parameters to make quick lending decisions for farmers.

·        ICICI Bank has partnered with agri–fintech companies( that specialize in the use of space technology and weather information for commercial use) and has worked with them to build reports with over 40 parameters.

 

3. ‘SHAGUN – GIFT AN INSURANCE’ POLICY

·        SBI General Insurance Co Ltd  launched a 1st of its kind offering, ‘Shagun – Gift an Insurance’, a unique gift of Personal Accident policy which provides  complete financial protection to the insured person against uncertainties such as accidental death and partial or total disabilities, and permanent &  temporary disabilities resulting from an accident. 

·        It is not necessary for the  policy buyer to be related to the insured. It can be availed for up to 1 Year

 

4. INDIA’S 1ST TRADEABLE REAL-TIME BULLION INDEX

·        Multi-Commodity Exchange of India Ltd (MCX), India’s first listed, national-level, electronic exchange, launched futures trading on the country’s first tradeable real-time bullion index, MCX iCOMDEX Bullion , or Bulldex.

·        The index will track the real-time performance of the gold (1kg) and silver (30kg) futures contracts, the flagship future products on the Exchange.

·        Currently, it carries around 70.52% weight for gold and 29.48% for silver. The weights will be rebalanced every January.

 

5. ‘WORLD’S FASTEST HUMAN CALCULATOR’ TITLE

·        Twenty-Year old Neelakantha Bhanu Prakash Jonnalagadda of Hyderabad has bagged the first ever Gold Medal for India in Mental Calculations (MC) World Cup (MCWC) held on August 15, 2020 by Mind Sports Olympiad (MSO). 

·        Bhanu Prakash had secured the gold medal with a score of  167, Lebanese contender Mohammed El Mir secured the Silver Medal with a score 102 and Asmita Pal  from the UAE  bagged the Bronze medal with a score of 100 points.

 

6. G SATHEESH REDDY GETS TWO-YEAR EXTENSION

·        Renowned Aerospace Scientist Dr G. Satheesh Reddy was given a two-year extension as Chairman of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) & as Secretary of the Department of Defence Research & Development(DoDRD) by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet.
G Satheesh Reddy was appointed to the post in August 2018 for a tenure of two years. 
Satheesh Reddy is one of the Chief Architects behind India’s Mission Shakti, Anti Satellite Missile Test (ASAT).

7. IAF LAUNCHED “MY IAF”

·        Indian Air Force(IAF) Chief of the Air Staff(CAS) Air Chief Marshal (ACM)Rakesh Kumar Singh Bhadauria, launched the mobile application “My IAF”, to provide career related information and details in IAF to the aspirants. 

·        The application was launched as a part of the ‘Digital India Initiative’.

·        It was developed in association with the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC).

·        The application is available in Google Play Store for mobile with android.