DAILY GK: 14, 15, 16 FEB 2021

 DAILY GK: 14, 15, 16 FEB 2021

1. INDIA’S 1ST DIESEL-CONVERTED CNG TRACTOR

•      Union Minister Nitin Jairam Gadkari, Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) launched India’s first-ever diesel tractor converted to Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) which was co-developed by Thane, Maharashtra based Rawmatt Techno Solutions and Tomasetto Achille India as a pilot project.

 

2. WORLD SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT SUMMIT 2021

•      20th World Sustainable Development Summit (WSDS) 2021 was held on the theme “Redefining our common future: Safe and secure environment for all”.

•      This three days long event was virtually inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

•      The event was also attended by Union Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).

•      It should be noted that WSDS is an annual flagship event of The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) instituted in 2001.

•      Country partner was the United Kingdom (UK).

 

3. INDIGENOUS MAPPING PORTAL & GEOSPATIAL SERVICES

•      Department of Space (DoS) & CE Info Systems Pvt Ltd (owned by Mapmy India) entered into a MoU According to the agreement, ISRO & Mapmy India will partner to build an Indigenous, mapping portal and geospatial services which could become an alternative to Google Maps & Google Earth services.

•      The entities will also build a holistic geospatial solution using ISRO’s earth observation datasets like ‘NavIC’, ‘VEDAS’ & ‘MOSDAC’ Geoportals.

 

4. NATIONAL HORTICULTURE FAIR

•      A five-days long National Horticulture Fair was held on February 8-12, 2021 at Hesaraghatta, Bengaluru on the theme “Horticulture:For start-up and stand-up India”.

•      It was organized by Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR)-Indian Institute of Horticultural Research (IIHR) in collaboration with, ICAR-ATARI, Bengaluru, Society for Promotion of Horticulture, Bengaluru, BESST-HORT Technology Business Incubator, ICAR-IIHR, Bengaluru, Sri Sri Institute of Agricultural Sciences & Technology Trust, Bengaluru and National Horticulture Board, Gurugram.

 

5. INDIA TO FUND 3 CULTURAL HERITAGE PROJECTS IN NEPAL

•      India committed to Nepal that it will fund Nepali Rupees(NR) 142 million to restore 3 cultural heritage projects in Nepal.

3 Cultural Heritage Projects:

•      Conservation and furnishing of Seto Machindranath Temple(Total cost- NRs 626 million)

•      Construction of Dharamshala at Budhanilkantha (Total cost-NRs. 334 million )

•      Conservation and development of Kumari Chhen and Kumari Niwas in Lalitpur district (Total cost- NRs 456 million)

 

6. VOLUNTARY GUIDELINES ON FOOD SYSTEMS AND NUTRITION

•      During the 47th Session of UN’s Committee on World Food Security (CFS) which took place virtually, members of the CFS endorsed the 1st Ever Voluntary Guidelines on Food Systems and Nutrition (VGFSyN).

•      The guidelines aim to achieve the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development & its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and are intended to support the implementation of the UN Decade of Action on Nutrition (2016-2025).

 

7. WORLD’S 1ST CARBON-NEUTRAL OIL

•      Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) has received 2 million barrels cargo of ‘carbon-neutral oil’ from Oxy Low Carbon Ventures (OLCV), a division of US oil major Occidental on January 28, 2021 at Jamnagar, Gujarat.

•      It is the world’s 1st consignment of carbon-neutral oil and is also the energy industry’s 1st major petroleum shipment.

•      Purpose: RIL to become a net zero-carbon company by 2035.

•      Oxy Low Carbon Ventures and Macquarie will offset the carbon dioxide equal to that associated with the production, delivery and refining of the crude oil.

 

8. NEW PRIME MINISTER OF ITALY

•      Mario Draghi, former President of the European Central Bank, has been named the new Prime Minister of Italy.

•      He accepted the request of Sergio Mattarella, President of Italy, to form a new government.

•      Mario Draghi will lead the unity government replacing the centre left coalition government of Former prime minister Giuseppe Conte.

 

9. NEW TATA MOTORS CEO

•      Tata Motors Ltd appointed Marc Llistosella as the Chief Executive Officer(CEO) and Managing Director(MD)of the company.

•      He succeeds Guenter Butschek who served the position since February 15, 2016

•      He served as the  President and CEO of Fuso Truck and Bus Corporation between 2015-2018 and  Head of Daimler Trucks in Asia.

 

10 .UNMANNED PSEUDO SATELLITE “CATS”

•      In a first of its kind in the world, the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) is developing a futuristic high altitude pseudo satellite namely Combined Air Teaming System (CATS) with a start-up company.

•      Once developed the pseudo-satellite will be capable of taking information flying unmanned around 70,000 ft for 2-3 months.

•      It can hit the target at a distance of 700 kilometres or can go to 350 kilometres and come back.

•      It can also carry ammunition, missiles if needed.

 

11. CHINA’S TIANWEN-1 ENTERS MARS ORBIT

•      Chinese Spacecraft ‘Tianwen-1’ entered the Mars Orbit.

•      It became the World’s second one in two days after United Arab Emirates’ ‘Hope’ Space Probe entered the Mars Orbit on February 9, 2021.

•      The Chinese Spacecraft will probe for signs of ancient life on Mars. 

•      USA’s National Aeronautics and Space Administration rover called ‘Perseverance’ is aiming for a landing on Mars on February 18, 2021.

 

12. WORLD RADIO DAY 2021 – FEBRUARY 13

•      The United Nations World Radio Day (WRD) is annually observed across the globe on 13th February to celebrate radio as a part of the history of humanity.

•      2021 marks the 10th edition of World Radio Day (WRD) and more than 110 year of radio.

•      The theme of the world radio day 2021 is “New World, New Radio.”

 

13. NATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY 2021 – FEBRUARY 13

•      National Women’s Day is annually celebrated across India on 13th February to honour Sarojini Naidu, the “nightingale of India”, on her birth anniversary.

 

14. BIHAR DEVLOP LOW-CARBON DEVELOPMENT PATHWAY

•      Bihar State Pollution Control Board (BSPCB) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) to develop a framework for achieving climate resilience & low-carbon development in the state by 2040.

•      Bihar became the 1st Indian State to sign such an agreement.

 

15. ASIA’S LARGEST 12 KM WILDLIFE PROTECTION CORRIDOR

•      The upcoming 210 kilometres long Delhi-Dehradun Expressway (Delhi-Saharanpur-Dehradun Economic corridor) is all set to become India’s first highway with 12 km long elevated corridor for the protection of wildlife as it will pass through pristine forest areas.

•      It will also be Asia’s largest wildlife corridor.

•      The project will be executed under the Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) mode by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH).

 

16. MAHATMA GANDHI NATIONAL FELLOWSHIP 2021-23

•      Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) launched a Two-year Mahatma Gandhi National Fellowship (MGNF) 2021-23 programme during the event ‘Transforming Skilling through Strategic partnerships under SANKALP’.

•      MGNF will be a certificate program in Public Policy and Management offered by IIMs.

•      The fellowship has been rolled out under the World Bank loan assisted programme SANKALP (Skills Acquisition and Knowledge Awareness for Livelihood Promotion) and will be hosted by the 9 IIMs (Indian Institutes of Management).

•      MSDE will implement the fellowship in collaboration with State Skill Development Missions (SSDMs).

 

17. INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON GENDER EQUALITY

•      The 2nd edition of International Conference on Gender Equality (ICGE II) was held at the Gender Park Campus in Kozhikode, Kerala on February 11-13, 2021, which was inaugurated by the Kerala Chief Minister (CM) Pinarayi Vijayan.

•      He also announced the functional launch of Gender Park Campus on February 14, 2021.

•      The conference was hosted by the Gender Park in association with United Nations (UN) Women on the theme “Gender in Sustainable Entrepreneurship and Social Business: The Mediating Role of Empowerment”.

 

18. KANCHOTH FESTIVAL

•      The 3 day Kanchoth festival, a symbol of ancient Nag culture is observed annually across Chenab valley region of Jammu and Kashmir during the ‘Shukla Paksha of Magh month’ in January or February.

•      It is mainly celebrated by Nag followers.

•      Reason for the Celebration: It is believed that on Gouri Tritiya( February 14 ), Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati got married.

 

19. UPPER CEILING FOR FAMILY PENSIONS RAISED

•      Dr Jitendra Singh, Minister of State for Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions stated that the upper Ceiling for 2 Family Pensions has been increased to INR 1, 25, 000 per month from INR 45, 000 per month.

•      According to the sub-rule (11) of rule 54 of the Central Civil Services (Pension) Rules 1972, in case both wife & husband are Government servants and are governed by the provisions of that rule, on their death, the surviving child is eligible for 2 family pensions in respect of the deceased parents.

 

20. GLOBAL PULSES OUTPUT

•      Narendra Singh Tomar, Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare virtually addressed the International conference “Global virtual Ceremony” in Rome on World Pulses Day.

•      He stated that India has contributed to around 24% of the global pulses production.

•      The pulses production of India has increased to 240 lakh tonne which was around 140 lakh tonne in the past 6 years.

 

21. GLOBAL DEATHS IN ROAD ACCIDENTS: WORLD BANK REPORT

•      According to the report ‘Traffic Crash Injuries and Disabilities:The Burden on Indian Society’ released by the World Bank with 1% of World’s vehicles, India accounts for 11% of Global Road Accident deaths & 6% of total road crashes.

•      In India, annually around 4.5 Lakh road crashes take place out of which 1.5 Lakh people die.

The World Bank report was prepared in association with Save LIFE Foundation (SLF).

 

22. ICC PLAYER OF THE MONTH FOR JANUARY 2021

•      Indian cricketer Rishabh Pant won the The International Cricket Council (ICC) Men’s Player of the Month award for January 2021 and South African cricketer Shabnim Ismail won the ICC Women’s Player of the Month award for January 2021.

•      This is the first edition of the ICC Player of the Month Awards.

•      ICC introduced the awards in January 2021, where The ICC Voting Academy that comprises former players, broadcasters, and journalism from across the world and fans will vote to select the winner of the award.