DAILY GK: 25, 26 FEB 2021

 DAILY GK: 25, 26 FEB 2021

1. ASIA’S CATTLE PARK IN SALEM

•      Tamil Nadu Chief Minister(CM) Edappadi K Palaniswami inaugurated Asia’s biggest cattle park, Advanced Institute for Integrated Research on Livestock and Animal Sciences (AIIRLAS) in Thalaivasal, Salem district.

•      It was constructed at a cost of Rs 1,023 crore.

 

2. 2ND ANNIVERSARY OF PM KISAN

•      24th February, 2021 is the 2nd Anniversary of the starting of the Central Sector Scheme ‘Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM KISAN)’.

•      It was launched by 24th February, 2019 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh.

•      It is 100% Funded by the Central Government

 

3. BIOASIA 2021

•      BioAsia 2021 was conducted virtually from Hyderabad during the dates of February 22-23, 2021.

•      Organized by the Telangana Government, BioAsia is Asia’s Largest Life Sciences & healthcare forum. 

•      It is also a flagship event of the Telangana Government.

•      Theme – Move the Needle

•      The Genome Valley Excellence Award for the year 2021 was awarded to ‘Bharat Biotech’ for its commitment to development of India’s 1st Indigenous vaccine for COVID-19 called ‘COVAXIN’.

•      Also Special Award of the Federation of Asian Biotech Associations (FABA) was presented to Balram Bhargava, Director-General of ICMR.

 

4. WORLDS LARGEST CRICKET STADIUM NAMED AFTER NARENDRA MODI

•      President of India, Ram Nath Kovind inaugurated the World’s Largest Cricket Stadium, the refurbished Sardar Patel Stadium, Motera, Ahmedabad, Gujarat, which was renamed as  Narendra Modi Cricket Stadium .

•      The stadium has been built at an estimated cost of Rs 800 crore and has an accommodation capacity of 1.32 lakh spectators.

•      It has taken the top spot from Melbourne Cricket Ground in Australia which can accommodate 90,000 to become the largest cricket stadium in the world.

 

5. STELLAPPS SIGNS MOU WITH IPPB TO DIGITISE MILK PROCUREMENT

•      Stellapps, an IIT(Indian Institute of Technology) Madras incubated dairy-tech startup signed a Memorandum of Understanding(MoU) with India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) to digitize the dairy milk procurement value chain and improve         banking facilities at milk collection centres.

•      Purpose: To expand access to a range of financial services for millions of unbanked and underbanked dairy farmers.

 

6. NEW PRIME MINISTER OF GEORGIA

•      Parliament of Georgia confirmed the appointment of Defence Minister Irakli Garibashvili (38 years old) of Georgian Dream party, as the new Prime Minister(PM) of Georgia.

•      He took office immediately after the vote.

 

7. PRESIDENT ACCEPTED THE RESIGNATION OF PUDUCHERRY CM

•      The notification of the Union Home ministry stated that President Ram Nath Kovind has accepted the resignation of V Narayanasamy, chief Minister of Puducherry and his council of Ministers with effect from 22nd February 2021.

•      According to Article 356, President’s Rule can be imposed on any state of India on the grounds of the failure of the constitutional machinery.

 

8. SWATI MOHAN LEADS NASA’S MARS MISSION

•      National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) Perseverance rover of Mars 2020 mission successfully landed on the surface of Mars.

•      Notably, its Guidance, Navigation, and Controls Operations (GN&C) were handled by Indian-American Swati Mohan.

•      She is responsible for the training of the GN&C team, scheduling the mission control staffing for GN&C, as well as the policies/procedures the GN&C uses in the mission control room.

 

9.1ST SKILL UNIVERSITY OF EASTERN INDIA IN DARRANG DISTRICT

•      Assam Chief Minister(CM) Sarbananda Sonowal laid the foundation of the first skill university of eastern India in Darrang district, Assam.

•      This is the 3rd skill university in India.

•      The university aims to impart training to over 10,000 students in 12 disciplines.

•      It will be built with a cost of Rs 1,000 crore and is expected to be completed by 2026.

•      Note: The 1st skill university of India is Shri Vishwakarma Skill University (SVSU), Gurugram, Haryana

 

10. M.P’S HOSHANGABAD TO BE RENAMED AS ‘NARMADAPURAM’

•      Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan announced that the Hoshangabad city in the state will be renamed as ‘Narmadapuram’ as a tribute to River Narmada.

•      The river is one of the major rivers of the states and flows through important cities like Jabalpur, Omkareshwar, Jhabua. 

•      The name change proposal has been sent to the Central Government.

 

11. MEETING OF BRICS CENTRAL BANK DEPUTIES

•      India hosted the meeting of BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) finance and central bank deputies.

•      Notably it was the first meeting on the BRICS Financial Cooperation under India Chairship in 2021.

•      It was co-chaired by Economic Affairs Secretary Tarun Bajaj and RBI Deputy Governor Michael Patra along with the participation of BRICS countries’ finance and central bank deputies.

•      Theme for India’s Chairship: BRICS @ 15: Intra-BRICS Cooperation for Continuity, Consolidation and Consensus

 

12. US OFFICIALLY REJOINED PARIS CLIMATE AGREEMENT

•      United States of America(USA) formally rejoined the Paris Climate agreement which was adopted in 2015.

•      The new government of America under Joe Biden aims to strengthen the US’s 2030 emission reduction pledge under the pact by 22nd April 2021, Earth day.

•      The US is the biggest historical polluter and 2nd biggest current emitter after China.

 

13. SWAVALAMBAN DIVYANGJAN ATMA FUND              

•      Social Alpha, a multistage innovation curation and venture development platform has partnered with Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) to set up the  Swavalamban Divyangjan Assistive Tech Market Access (ATMA) fund,  a Social Impact fund.

•      To promote innovation and reduce the expenses for persons with disabilities to procure new technologies.

 

14. NEW CHAIRMAN OF NATIONAL COMMISSION FOR SCHEDULED CASTES

•      Former Union Minister Vijay Sampla assumed charge as chairman of 6th National Commission for Scheduled Castes(NCSC) in New Delhi, Delhi.

 

 

15. DEPUTY CM OF HARYANA RE-ELECTED AS PRESIDENT OF TTFI

•      Dushyant Chautala, the Deputy Chief Minister of Haryana, was re-elected as the President of Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI). He was unanimously elected during the 84th Annual meeting of TTFI at Panchkula, Haryana.

•      He will hold the post for a period of 4 years.

•      He is the youngest president of any National sports federations in India.

 

16. INDIA’S 1ST FOSSIL OF A DICKINSONIA DISCOVERED

•      Two experts from the Geological Survey of India (GSI) found three fossils of a  Dickinsonia, the Earth’s ‘oldest animal’, dating back 570 million years in the roof of Auditorium Cave at Bhimbetka Rock Shelters, Madhya Pradesh.

•      It is India’s 1st fossil of Dickinsonia. The cave  is a UNESCO World Heritage Site for Paleolithic and Mesolithic cave art.

•      The discovery was published in Gondwana Research titled,  ‘Dickinsonia Discovered in India and Late Ediacaran Biogeography’.

 

17. BOOK -‘INDIA: A SCAMSTER BORN EVERY MINUTE’

•      Snigdha Poonam authors a new book titled  ‘India: A Scamster Born Every Minute’.

•      Penguin Random House India acquired the book from the leading international literary agency, The Wylie Agency.

•      It will be released under Penguin’s Viking imprint in 2022.

 

18. WORLD PANGOLIN DAY 2021

•      World Pangolin Day is annually observed across the globe on the 3rd Saturday of February to raise awareness about the Pangolins, a unique mammal and the difficulties they face.

•      20th February 2021 marks the 10th edition of the World Pangolin Day.

•      The first World Pangolin day was observed in February 2012.