DAILY GK: 20, 21 DEC 2020

 DAILY GK: 20, 21 DEC 2020

1. DOMINIC RAAB’S  VISIT TO INDIA

      Dominic Raab, Secretary of State for Foreign, paid 4-day visit to India.

      The meeting assumes significance as the UK is keen to promote its ties with India in Post-Brexit era.

      UK & India will jointly invest 5 Million Pounds into the NEEV fund to support green recovery.

      New Virtual UK-India vaccines hub announced by both countries to help in the shared fight against Coronavirus.

 

2. SKILL DEVELOPMENT IN POWER SECTOR

      RK Singh virtually launched India’s 1st Centre of Excellence (CoE) for Skill Development in Power Sector at the campus of National Institute of Solar Energy (NISE), Gurugram, Haryana.

      The CoE will serve as a platform to create a robust cadre of certified trainers and assessors across the country.

 

3. HUMAN FREEDOM INDEX 2020

      According to the ‘Human Freedom Index 2020: A Global Measurement of Personal, Civil, and Economic Freedom’ – 6th Annual Report released by Cato Institute of United States & Fraser Institute in Canada, India (overall score of 6.43) ranked 111 in the list of 162 countries.

      New Zealand (score – 8.87) topped the index followed by Switzerland (score – 8.82) & Hong Kong (score – 8.74).

1      New Zealand                                        8.87

2      Switzerland                                           8.82

3      Hong Kong SAR, China                     8.74

 

4. NPCI INTRODUCED RUPAY CONTACTLESS (OFFLINE) FEATURE

      National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has introduced RuPay Contactless (Offline) feature, that also  provides reloadable wallets within RuPay Card, for daily transit payments.

      NPCI has also introduced RuPay Contactless (Offline) feature for retail payments on pilot basis.

      All these additional features will expand the total transaction experience for Rupay cardholders and also transform the overall card payment ecosystem.

 

5. DRDO DEVELOPED SYSTEMS

      Rajnath Singh  handed over 3 New  Indigenous Systems – Border Surveillance System (BOSS), Indian Maritime Situational Awareness System (IMSAS) & ASTRA MK-I Missile all developed by DRDO to the Chiefs of 3 Armed Forces –  Indian Navy, Indian Air Force (IAF) & Indian Army at a function held in DRDO Bhawan, New Delhi.

      BOSS – An all-weather electronic surveillance system designed for automatic detection of intrusion at harsh high-altitude sub-zero temperature areas.

      IMSAS – A high performance software system to provide Global Maritime Situational Picture, Marine Planning Tools & Analytical capabilities to Indian Navy.

      ASTRA Mk-I is an Beyond Visual Range (BVR) Missile (Air-to-Air Missile) capable of being launched from Sukhoi-30, Light Combat Aircraft (LCA), Mig-29 & Mig-29K.

 

6. RUSSIA LAUNCHES 36 UK TELECOM SATELLITES

      Russian space agency Roscosmos Space Agency launched a Soyuz rocket carrying 36 UK telecommunications and internet satellites into space from Vostochny launch site.

      The satellites were made by British company OneWeb.

      This was the first launch of OneWeb satellites from the Vostochny spaceport.

      The launch was delayed when OneWeb went bankrupt in April, 2020.

      The UK government and Indian telecom giant Bharti took over the company with USD 500 million investment.

 

 7. “OH, MIZORAM”, BOOK OF ENGLISH POEMS

      M Venkaiah Naidu, Vice President of India virtually released the book titled “Oh, Mizoram”, a collection of poems written by P S Sreedharan Pillai, the Governor of Mizoram.

      The book is published by Indus Scrolls Press.

 

8. JUSTICE S MURALIDHAR WAS ELEVATED AS CJ OF ORISSA HC

      Justice S Muralidhar, Judge of Punjab & Haryana High Court has been elevated as the Chief Justice(CJ) of Orissa High Court(HC).

      Prior to his transfer to Punjab & Haryana HC he served as the judge in his parent high court in Delhi.

      The elevation was recommended by the Supreme Court Collegium chaired by Chief Justice of India (CJI) SA Bobde Mohammad Rafiq, the current CJ of Orissa has been transferred to Madhya Pradesh HC.