DAILY GK: 1 APRIL 2021

 DAILY GK: 1 APRIL 2021

1.‘INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITIES IN INDIA’S HEALTHCARE SECTOR’

•      NITI Aayog Member Dr VK Paul, CEO Amitabh Kant, and Additional Secretary Dr Rakesh Sarwal released a report titled ‘Investment Opportunities in India’s Healthcare Sector’.

•      The report highlights the range of investment opportunities in different segments of India’s Healthcare sector.

•      As per the report,Investments in the Healthcare sector are expected to reach USD 372 Billion in 2022.

•      It has the potential to generate 2.7 Million additional jobs in India between 2017-22 (over 500, 000 new jobs per year).

 

2.‘VAJRA PRAHAR 2021’

•      The 11th Edition of the India-US Special Forces Exercise ‘Vajra Prahar 2021’ was conducted at Special Forces Training School at Bakloh, Himachal Pradesh in March, 2021.

•      The navies of India & United States conducted a 2-day Passage Exercise ‘PASSEX’ in Bay of Bengal (Eastern Indian Ocean Region) from March 28-29, 2021.

 

3.INAS 310 CELEBRATES DIAMOND JUBILEE

•      Indian Naval Air Squadron (INAS) 310, popularly known as the ‘Cobras’ celebrated its Diamond Jubilee on 21st March 2021.

•      The air squadron was commissioned in 1961 in France.

•      It has been continuously serving Indian Navy from INS Hansa for the last 60 years.

•      INAS 310, equipped with Surveillance & Electronic Warfare equipment continuously monitors Indian Coastline.

 

4.ANNUAL MEETING OF NEW DEVELOPMENT BANK 2021

•      Union Minister of Finance, Nirmala Sitharaman attended the 6th Annual meeting of the Board of Governors of New Development Bank (NDB, formerly known as BRICS Development Bank), 2021 through video-conference in New Delhi. 

•      Due to pandemic, the Annual meeting took place in a virtual format.

•      Theme of Annual Meeting – ‘New Development Paradigms: The Evolution of Infrastructure’.

•      NDB approved a loan of up to USD 1 Billion to support healthcare workers treating patients for COVID-19 in Russia.

 

5.UNDERGROUND CABLES TO CONNECT USA WITH SOUTHEAST ASIA

•      Facebook has partnered with Google & other regional telecom companies to connect the United States of America with Southeast Asian countries through undersea cables.

•      These underground cables will improve internet connectivity in Singapore, Indonesia.

•      At the initial stage, 2 undersea cables: Echo and Bifrost, will be connecting the US with Indonesia through a diverse sea route in the Trans-pacific region.

•      Note- Facebook deploys 3000 Kms of fibre in Indonesia to develop public Wi-Fi hot spots.

•      “Echo” – Constructed by Facebook in partnership with Google & XL Axiata, an Indonesian telecom company.

•      It is expected to get completed by 2023.

•      “Bifrost”- Constructed by Facebook in partnership with Indonesia’s Telin & Singapore’s Keppel.

•      It is expected to get completed by 2024.

 

6.30% MARKET CAP ON UPI TRANSACTIONS FOR TPAPS

•      National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has defined its guidelines and exemptions on the 30% market cap on Unified Payments Interface (UPI) transactions for third-party app providers (TPAPs) to limit the volume and value of transactions per customer.

•      The limit of 30% will be calculated based on the total volume of transactions processed on UPI by the payment apps during the preceding three months.

 

7.SBI SIGNED A $1 BILLION LOAN AGREEMENT WITH JBIC

•      State Bank of India (SBI) has signed a loan agreement of $1 billion (INR 10 Crores) with the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) to provide loans for the whole range of business operations of the Japanese automobile manufacturers in India.

 

8.SARASWATI SAMMAN 2020

•      KK Birla Foundation has selected well known Marathi writer Dr. Sharankumar Limbale, as the recipient of Saraswati Samman 2020 for his 2018 Marathi novel titled “Sanatan”.

•      The Saraswati Samman 2020 marks the 30th Saraswati Samman.

•      The book – Sanatan, features the story of socio-cultural struggles of the untouchables.

•      The Saraswati Samman is an annual award instituted by KK Birla Foundation in 1991.

•      The award includes a citation, a plaque and a cash award of Rs.15 lakh.

•      The winner of the award is selected from the outstanding works from 22 Indian languages.

 

9.ISSF WORLD CUP 2021

•      The 2021 ISSF World Cup took place at Dr. Karni Singh Shooting Ranges, New Delhi from March 18-29, 2021.

•      India topped the Medals Tally with 30 Medals (15 Gold, 9 Silver, 6 Bronze), while USA Grabbed the 2nd place with 8 Medals & Italy took the 3rd place with 4 Medals.

•      The World Cup featured events across 3 disciplines (Rifle, Pistol & Shotgun).

•      It is India’s most successful outing in a single edition of the World Cup stage.

•      It is India’s 6 consecutive No.1 Finish at the ISSF championships in the rifle/pistol events.

Country        Gold       Silver     Bronze  Total

India              15           9              6              30

USA                4              3              1              8

Italy               2              –              2              4

 

10.SECOND COUNTRY TO PASS MISCARRIAGES BEREAVEMENT LEAVE LAW

•      The New Zealand Parliamenthas recently passed legislation to provide leave for miscarriage and for stillbirth The Bill allows mothers and their partners the right to paid leave following a miscarriage or still birth, without having to tap into sick leave.

•      Employees will get three days leave when a pregnancy ends with a stillbirth.

•      With this, New Zealand has become only the second country in the world to do so.

•      India is the only other country in the world with similar legislation that provides leave for miscarriage and stillbirth.