DAILY GK: 11 FEB 2021

 DAILY GK: 11 FEB 2021

1. CONSTRUCTION OF LALANDAR [SHATOOT] DAM BY INDIA

      Central Government has laid the foundation of 2nd dam i.e. Lalandar [Shatoot] Dam, to be built by India in Afghanistan, by signing the virtual MoU between both nations.

      It will be constructed on the Kabul river basin which is one of the five river basins of Afghanistan.

 

2. IEPF AUTHORITY SIGNS MOU WITH IGNOU FOR TELECAST OF IAP

      Investor Education and Protection Fund Authority (IEPF Authority), Ministry of Corporate Affairs signed a MoU with Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) for collaboration in using the Tele-Lecturing Facility of Gyan Darshan Channel (EMPC – Electronic Media Production Centre) for telecast of Investor Awareness Programmes (IAPs) through distance learning mode.

      In September, 2016 the Investor Education and Protection Fund Authority was established for the administration of Investor Education and Protection Fund Government of India under the provisions of section 125 of the Companies Act, 2013.

 

3. GOI ALLOCATES RS. 16000CR FOR PMFBY FOR FY22

      Central Government has allocated Rs 16000 crores for Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) for FY22, an increase of around Rs 305 crore as compared to FY21.

      The reason behind an increase in the amount is to boost the safety of farmers’ crops and ensure maximum benefit of crop insurance.

      Notably, the scheme covers the entire cropping cycle from pre-sowing to post-harvest which include loss coverage due to prevented sowing and mid-season adversities.

 

4. IEA’S INDIA ENERGY OUTLOOK 2021

      In accordance with the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) “India Energy Outlook 2021”, India will surpass European Union as the world’s third-biggest energy consumer by 2030.

      In this regard, India energy demand growth share will be maximum at 25% in the next two decades.

      As per India’s current national policy scenario, its gross domestic product (GDP) expands to an estimated $8.6 trillion by 2040 thereby the energy consumption is expected to be nearly doubled.

 

5. DECLARATION FOR SUSTAINABLE FISHERIES AND AQUACULTURE

      During the 34th Session of UN’s FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization) Committee on Fisheries (COFI 34) which took place virtually, members of the session supported the first-ever Declaration for Sustainable Fisheries & Aquaculture.

      The declaration calls for Strong action to combat Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing and emphasized on the importance of recovering from impacts of COVID-19 pandemic.

      The Committee on Fisheries (COFI) is a subsidiary body of the FAO Council established by FAO Conference in 1965.

 

6. ‘NPCI PAYAUTH CHALLENGE’ ON APIX

      National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) launched a Global level Hackathon ‘NPCI PayAuth Challenge’, to find out the alternatives for the authentication of UPI (Unified Payments Interface) transaction for eg: Biometric.

      This Challenge is supported by APIX, world’s first cross-border, open architecture API marketplace and sandbox platform.

      The Challenge is an open for global Fintechs, solution providers and developers and can submit unique solutions that simplify authorization.

 

7. WORLD’S LARGEST RADIO TELESCOPE

      Square Kilometre Array Observatory (SKAO) Council held its Maiden Meeting during the meeting they approved the establishment of World’s Largest Radio Telescope namely ‘Square Kilometre Array’.

      The telescope will consist of a vast number of radio receivers which will be positioned in South Africa and Australia.

      SKAO is a 10-member intergovernmental organisation dedicated to radio astronomy.

      The members of SKAO are Australia, Canada, China, India, Italy, New Zealand, South Africa, Sweden, Netherlands and UK.

      The headquarters of SKAO is situated at the University of Manchester’s Jodrell Bank Observatory in Cheshire, United Kingdom.

      Radio Telescopes are capable of detecting gas and can reveal areas of space which are hidden by cosmic dust.

 

8. ICC ANNOUNCED BYJU’S AS GLOBAL PARTNER

      The International Cricket Council (ICC) announced BYJU’s as its global partner from 2021 to 2023.

      Under the 3-year agreement BYJU’s will partner all the events of ICC from 2021 to 2023, including the Men’s T20 World Cup in India, and the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup in New Zealand.

      Under this partnership BYJU’s will have extensive in-venue, broadcast, and digital rights to all ICC events.

      BYJU’s became the official jersey partner of Indian Cricket team in August 2019.

 

9. BOOK-‘THE TERRIBLE, HORRIBLE, VERY BAD GOOD NEWS’

      Meghna Pant has authored a new book titled ‘The Terrible, Horrible, Very Bad Good News’.

      The book will be published by Penguin Random House India.

      It will be released  in April 2021, and will shortly become a major motion picture under the title Badnam Ladoo.

 

10. WORLD PULSES DAY 2021

      United Nations(UN)’s World Pulses Day is annually observed across the globe on 10th February to celebrate the contribution of the pulses to the sustainable food system, healthy growth and environmental benefits.

      The World pulses day was proposed by Burkina Faso

 

11.16 DIGIT UNICODE TO IDENTIFY THE LANDHOLDINGS

      The government of Uttar Pradesh(UP) has introduced a new system to issue a unique 16-digit unicode to identify the landholding in UP. 

      The unicode will be used to check on cases of land dispute and protect people from fraudsters.

      The first 6 digits is based on the population of the land, next 4 digit determines the identity of the land, next 4 digit based on the number of divisions of the land and last 2 digit based on the category of the land (agricultural, residential and commercial land).