DAILY GK: 13,14 APRIL 2021

 DAILY GK: 13,14 APRIL 2021

1. INDIA RECORDS 7.2 % ETHANOL-BLENDING IN PETROL

·         Ethanol-blending in Petrol in India has reached more than 7.2 percent for the First Time.

·         It has reached 7.2 per cent in the first four months of the ethanol supply year 2020-21 (December 2020 – November 2021).

·         India has set a target of 10 %(10% of ethanol mixed with 90% of petrol) blending by 2022 & 20 % blending by 2025.

 

2.MEETING OF WORLD BANK-IMF 2021

·         Nirmala Sitharaman virtually participated in the 103rd Development Committee Meeting of World Bank-International Monetary Fund (IMF) 2021.

·         She represented India, Bangladesh, Bhutan & Sri Lanka in the meeting.

·         Indian Government stated that it has announced Atma Nirbhar Packages of INR 27.1 Lakh Crore, amounting to more than 13% of the GDP.

 

3.RUSSIAN PRESIDENT SIGNS LAW PAVING WAY TO RULE UNTIL 2036

·         Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a legislation which will enable him to run for two or more consecutive six-year terms, effectively permitting him to remain in office till 2036.

·         The legislation formalizes changes to the Russian Constitution which were endorsed by people through a referendum held in 2020.

·         Putin completes his ongoing Fourth Term as President of Russia in 2024.

 

4.INDIA’S DEBT-TO-GDP RATIO INCREASED

·         International Monetary Fund(IMF) reported an increase in India’s debt to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) ratio from 74 percent (at the end of 2019) to 90 percent (at the end of 2020) during the COVID-19 period.

·         Based on the IMF’s baseline forecast, it expects a further drop in India’s ‘Debt to GDP ratio’ to 80 percent due to the recent Indian economy recovery.

 

5.WAZIRX LAUNCHED AN NFT MARKETPLACE

·         WazirX, the Binance-owned cryptocurrency exchange has launched one of India’s first marketplaces for Non-Fungible Tokens (NFT), which will enable Indian artists and creators to auction their digital assets over the Blockchain-based platform and earn royalty.

·         Also at the end of 2020 ‘Unicas’, the world’s first crypto bank was launched in India as a Joint Venture(JV) by Cashaa of the UK and United Multistate Credit co-operative society Ltd of India.

 

6.L&T TO SET UP 1.5 GW SOLAR PLANT IN SAUDI

·         The Renewables arm of Larsen & Toubro’s Power Transmission & Distribution Business has bagged a Turnkey EPC (Engineering, Procurement & Construction) contract to set up Sudair Solar Photovoltaic (PV) Project of 1.5 GigaWatt (GW) in Riyadh Province of Saudi Arabia.

·         It will be the largest solar plant in Saudi Arabia with a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) signed & will also be one of the largest such plants in the World.

 

7.2021 EE BRITISH ACADEMY FILM AWARDS

·         The winners of the 74th edition of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts(BAFTA)’s annual film awards – 2021 EE British Academy Film Awards were announced and presented.

·         The film “Nomadland” directed by Chloé Zhao won the 2021 EE British Academy Film Awards under 4 categories – Best Film, Best Director, Best Leading Actress and Best Cinematography.

·         Bukky Bakray won the EE Rising Star Award which was voted by the public.

 

8.SOYUZ ROCKET LAUNCHES 3-MEMBER CREW TO ISS

·         Russia’s Soyuz MS-18 Yu. A. Gagarin Rocket (named after Yuri Gagarin the 1st human being to travel to space) successfully launched a 3-member crew (2 Russian Cosmonauts & 1 American Astronaut) to the International Space Station (ISS).

·         The rocket was launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan.

·         The rocket has been named after Societ Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin to commemorate the 60th Anniversary of his travel to space aboard Vostok 1 (On April 12, 1961).

 

9.SPACEX ANNOUNCED 4 MEMBER CREW FOR “INSPIRATION4”

·         SpaceX announced the 4 member crew for the World’s 1st all-civilian Earth Orbiter Mission, “Inspiration4”. Christopher Sembroski, Dr. Sian Proctor, Jared Isaacman and Hayley Arceneaux were the 1st batch of civilians aboard the Crew Dragon Resilence spacecraft to be launched into orbit by SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket by September 15, 2021.

10.‘LOST GOLDEN CITY’ IN LUXOR

·         A 3, 000-year old town has been excavated in the city of Luxor, Egypt. The city formally named the ‘Rise of Aten’ (commonly called the ‘Lost Golden City’) dates back to the reign of 18th-dynasty King Amenhotep III, who ruled between 1391 and 1353 BCE.

·         It is believed to be the largest ancient city ever uncovered in Egypt.

 

11.INTERNATIONAL DAY OF HUMAN SPACE FLIGHT 2021

·         The United Nations(UN)’s Day of Human Space Flight is annually observed across the globe on 12th April to to remember the first human space flight on 12th April 1961.

 

12. PUNJAB’S ANTI-COVID-19 VACCINATION DRIVE

·         Capt Amarinder Singh, CM of Punjab announced the appointment of actor and philanthropist Sonu Sood as the brand ambassador of the anti-coronavirus vaccination programme of the government of Punjab.

13.COMMEMORATIVE POSTAGE STAMP ON RAJYOGINI DADI JANKI

·         VP  Venkaiah Naidu released a commemorative postage stamp on the memory of Rajyogini Dadi Janki, the former Chief of Brahma Kumaris commemorating her Spiritual works & fight social evils like gender discrimination, casteism and communalism at New Delhi.

·         Brahma Kumaris is one of India’s newest religions, formed as a result of the spiritual movement started in Hyderabad in the 1930’s.

 

14.INDIA APPROVES USE OF SPUTNIK V COVID19 VACCINE

·         Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) has approved the use of Russia’s Covid-19 vaccine, “Sputnik V” in India, to tackle the 2nd Wave of the virus spread in India.

·         With this approval, India has 3 Covid-19 vaccines – Covaxin, Covishield and Sputnik-V.

·         Sputnik-V is manufactured in India by Hyderabad based Dr Reddy’s Laboratories.

·         Covishield is manufactured in India by Serum Institute of India, Pune & developed by Oxford-AstraZeneca.

·         India’s indigenous vaccine “Covaxin” is manufactured by Bharat Biotech in collaboration with ICMR – National Institute of Virology.

 

15.ONEWEB SIGNS MOU WITH KAZAKHSTAN

·         OneWeb, a Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite communications operator, co-owned by Bharti Global and the United Kingdom (UK) Government has signed a MoU with subsidiaries of the Ministry of Digital Development, Innovation and Aerospace Industry, Kazakhstan for accelerating connectivity services in the country.

 

16.MILITARY EXERCISE ‘SHANTIR OGROSHENA 2021’

·         The Indian Army participated in the Multinational Military Exercise ‘Shantir Ogroshena 2021’ (Front Runner of Peace) held at Bangabandhu Senanibas (BBS), Bangladesh.

·         It is an UN-mandated Counterterrorism exercise.

·         Theme – ‘Robust Peacekeeping Operations’

·         Other Participants – Royal Bhutan Army, Sri Lankan Army & Bangladesh Army

 

17.WORLD’S 1ST CLIMATE CHANGE LAW FOR FINANCIAL SECTOR

·         New Zealand becomes the 1st country in the world to introduce a Climate Change Law for regulating the Financial Sector. As per the new law, All banks, insurers, investment managers with total asset value greater than NZ$1 billion (USD 703 million) shall report the impacts of climate change on their investments to the government.

·         Previously, New Zealand has set targets to provide carbon-neutral public transport by 2025 & procure only zero-emissions public transport buses.

 

18.PNB DIGITAL INITIATIVE PNB@EASE

·         PNB launched a digital initiative PNB@Ease to commemorate 127 years of their service to the nation. This service is set to be activated across 165 identified locations across India.

·         This new initiation will bring a “Banking-on-the-Go” model.

·         Using this, customers themselves can make every transaction undertaken by a bank branch.

19.ISTD’S NATIONAL AWARD FOR INNOVATIVE TRAINING

·         Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), a central public sector undertaking based in Bengaluru, Karnataka has won the National Award for Innovation Training Practices 2019-2020 at the 30th National Award Ceremony organised by the Indian Society for Training and Development(ISTD) in New Delhi.

 

20.SUSHIL CHANDRA APPOINTED AS 24^TH CEC OF INDIA

·         President Ram Nath Kovind appointed Senior-most Election Commissioner, Sushil Chandra as the 24th Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) of India.

·         He succeeds Sunil Arora whose tenure ended on 12^th April 2021.

·         Sushil Chandra will assume charge on April 13, 2021.His tenure will end on Mid 2022.

·         He was appointed in pursuance of clause (2) of Article 324 of the Constitution of India.

 

21.ARUN KUMAR TENURE AS DG OF DGCA EXTENDED

·         The Appointment Committee of the Cabinet(ACC) headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has approved the extension in the tenure of Arun Kumar, IAS as the Director General(DG)of Directorate General of Civil Aviation(DGCA) for a period of 6 months beyond 20th April 2021 or until further orders.

 

22.CHINA OPENS 5G SIGNAL BASE

·         China opened its 5G Signal base at the World’s Highest Radar Station, “Ganbala radar station” which is located at a height of 5,374 meters, in the remote Himalayas of China’s Tibet autonomous region.

·         Stable high-speed 5G connectivity can be accessed by Soldiers of Chinese army, which will help them to be in-touch with the global information society.

·         People’s Liberation Army of China constructed the 5G signal station at Ganbala, which is located in Tibetian border with India & Bhutan.

 

23.‘E-SANTA’ WEB PORTAL FOR AQUA FARMERS

·         Union Minister of Commerce & Industry Piyush Goyal virtually inaugurated the web portal called ‘e-SANTA’ (Electronic Solution for Augmenting NaCSA farmers’ Trade in Aquaculture).

·         It is an electronic marketplace providing a platform to connect Aqua Farmers and the Buyers (both at National & International levels).

·         e-SANTA is a completely paperless and end-to-end trade platform.

·         It is an initiative of NaCSA (National Centre for Sustainable Aquaculture) which is an extension of the Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA), Ministry of Commerce & Industry.

 

24.IBN ABDUR REHMAN PASSES AWAY

·         Ibn Abdur Rehman(I A Rehman), the human rights icon of Pakistan and former journalist, who was known as the “Titan of Human Rights” passed away at the age of 90 in Lahore, Pakistan.

·         He was born in 1930 in Haryana, India (before Partition).

·         He was a protege of Faiz Ahmed Faiz, a great Urdu Poet.

 

25.102ND ANNIVERSARY OF JALLIANWALA BAGH MASSACRE

·         13th April 2021 marks the 102nd anniversary of the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre, which took place on 13th April 1919 in a public garden (Jallianwala Bagh) in Amritsar, Punjab.

 

26.WORLD PARKINSON’S DAY 2021

·         World Parkinson’s Day is annually observed across the globe on 11th April to create awareness and raise the funds to support the people living with Parkinson’s disease.

·         The day marks the birth anniversary of Dr James Parkinson who was the first to describe Parkinson’s disease as a neurological syndrome in 1817.