DAILY GK: 30 APRIL 2021

 DAILY GK: 30 APRIL 2021

1. INDIA, RUSSIA TO ESTABLISH ‘2+2 MINISTERIAL DIALOGUE’

•      PM Narendra Modi & Russian President Vladimir Putin have agreed to establish a ‘2+2 Ministerial Dialogue’ at the Foreign & Defence Minister level between the two countries.

•      It is expected to boost the Bilateral Strategic partnership between India & Russia.

•      Russia is the 4th Country & 1st Non-Quad (Quadrilateral Security Dialogue) member country with which India has established the ‘2+2 Ministerial Dialogue’ mechanism.

 

2.GOVERNMENT OF NCT OF DELHI (AMENDMENT) ACT

•      Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) notified the ‘Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (GNCTD) (Amendment) Act, 2021’.

•      The Act amends the ‘Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi Act, 1991’.

•      The amended act states that  “In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (2) of section 1 of the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Act 2021 (15 of 2021), the Central Government hereby appoints the 27th April 2021 as the date on which the provisions of the said Act shall come into force,”.

 

3.BRO’S PROJECT DANTAK COMPLETES 60 YEARS

•      Oldest projects of the Border Roads Organisation (BRO), Project DANTAK established on April 24, 1961 by His Majesty the Third King and then Prime Minister Jawahar Lal Nehru has completed 60 years.

•      This project was aimed at constructing motorable roads in the Kingdom.

 

4. NORWAY CONTRIBUTES 20 MILLION NOK TO INDIA

•      The government of Norway has announced a contribution of 20 million Norwegian Kroners(NOK)(around 2.4 million USD) to support the COVID-19 relief in India.

•      The fund of Norway will be channelled through the WHO and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC).

 

5. FIRST COUNTRY TO ADOPT SELF-DRIVING CARS ON MOTORWAYS

•      The United Kingdom (UK) government became the first country in the globe to permit self-driving cars on motorways after the announcement of its plan on April 28, 2021, to regulate the use of self-driving vehicles at slow speeds on motorways.

•      By 2035, the UK forecasts to have 40 per cent of new cars with self-driving capabilities, in turn creating up to 38,000 new skilled jobs.

 

6. GPF INTEREST RATE UNCHANGED AT 7.1% FOR Q1 FY22

•      Ministry of Finance retained the General Provident Fund (GPF) and other non-government PF, Gratuity funds interest rate unchanged at 7.1 per cent for the first quarter Q1 of FY22.

•      GPF is a saving instrument only for government employees, they can contribute a portion of his/her salary regularly till the time he/she is employed.

 

7. WIPRO SETS TO REACH NET-ZERO GHG EMISSIONS

•      Wipro, the IT software major announced its plan to achieve Net-Zero Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions by 2040 and committed an intermediate target to achieve a 55 per cent reduction in GHG emissions by 2030 compared to its base year of 2016-17 (April-March).

 

8. TIME’S FIRST LIST OF 100 MOST INFLUENTIAL FIRMS

•      Reliance Industry Limited’s (RIL) technology wing Jio Platforms and e-learning startup Byju’s have made it to the TIME Magazine’s first-ever list ‘TIME100 Most Influential Companies’, which is an expansion of the TIME100 franchise.

 

9. TV SOMANATHAN APPOINTED AS FINANCE SECRETARY

•      T V Somanathan was recently appointed as the Finance Secretary by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet.

•      He will succeed Ajay Bhushan Pandey

•      In the Finance Ministry the senior most secretary among the four secretaries in the finance ministry is designated as the finance secretary.

 

10. AMITABH CHAUDHRY RE-APPOINTED AS MD & CEO OF AXIS BANK

•      The board of Axis Bank approved the re-appointment of Amitabh Chaudhry as the Managing Director(MD) and Chief Executive Officer(CEO) of Axis Bank for a period of 3 years, with effect from January 1, 2022 up to December 31, 2024.

 

11. MAIDEN TRIAL OF PYTHON-5 AIR-TO-AIR MISSILE

•      DRDO successfully conducted the Maiden trial of 5th Generation Python-5 Short Range Air-to-Air Missile (AAM) in Goa. 

•      The missile would add to the air-to-air combat capability of India’s Indigenous LCA Tejas (Light Combat Aircraft).

•      Python-5 Missile is an infra-red guided missile manufactured by Rafael Advanced Defence Systems, Israel and has a range of 20 km.

 

12. CHINA LAUNCHES CORE MODULE FOR PERMANENT SPACE STATION

•      China National Space Administration (CNSA) launched the Core Module named ‘Tianhe or Heavenly Harmony’ for its new permanent space station called ‘Tiangong Space Station’.

•      Along with the Tianhe Module, ‘NEO-01’, a robot prototype for cleaning space debris in Low Earth Orbit was also launched.

•      The robot is designed by Origin Space, a Chinese Space Mining Company.

 

13. JUSTICE MOHAN M SHANTANAGOUDAR PASSES AWAY

•      Mohan M Shantanagoudar, the sitting judge of the Supreme Court passed away at the age of 63 in Gurugram, Haryana.

•      He has been serving as the Supreme Court Justice since 17th February 2017 and was set to retire on 4th May 2023.