DAILY GK: 16,17 MAY 2021

 DAILY GK: 16,17 MAY 2021

1. 8TH INSTALLMENT UNDER PM-KISAN SCHEME

•        PM Narendra Modi has released the 8th instalment of funds to beneficiaries under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) scheme.

•        Around ~INR 20, 667 Crore was distributed to around 9.5 Crore farmer beneficiaries in the 8 instalment.

•        For the 1st time, farmers in West Bengal joined the PM-KISAN Scheme, and around 7 Lakh Bengal farmers received their 1st instalment.

•        PM-KISAN Scheme was launched by 24th February, 2019 by PM Narendra Modi at Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh.

•        It is 100% funded by the Central Government.

 

2. US TO HELP INDIA TO ACHIEVE ITS RE TARGET

•        The United States (US) is set to partner with India on climate change, it will assist India to achieve its target of deploying 450 GigaWatts (GW) of Renewable Energy (RE) by 2030.

•        It was stated by US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry.

•        John Kerry is the 1st American climate change envoy with cabinet rank.

•        India is the 3rd CO2 emitter after China, USA.

 

3. WORLD’S 100 MOST ENVIRONMENTALLY RISKIEST CITIES

•        According to the ‘Environmental Risk Outlook 2021’ released by Verisk Maplecroft, India has 43 of the World’s 100 most environmentally riskiest cities.

•        Jakarta in Indonesia was ranked as the most riskiest city in the world, followed by Delhi & Chennai (Tamil Nadu).

•        99 of the World’s 100 riskiest cities are in Asia (43 in India and 37 in China).Lima, Peru is the only non-Asian city to be listed in the World’s 100 Riskiest cities.

•        Glasgow, Scotland was ranked as the safety city in the report.

World’s 3 most environmentally riskiest cities

1    Jakarta, Indonesia

2    Delhi, India

3    Chennai, Tamil Nadu

 

4. ADB COMMITTED USD 3.92 BILLION LOAN TO INDIA IN 2020

•        Asian Development Bank (ADB) has committed $3.92 billion in sovereign loans for 13 projects to India in 2020, including $1.8 billion in projects to support the Government of India’s coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic response.

•        Since the start of its lending operations in 1986, this 2020 lending was ADB’s highest-ever annual lending commitment to India.

 

5. NEXT GENERATION DIGITAL FINANCIAL INFRASTRUCTURE

•        The Institute for Development and Research in Banking Technology (IDRBT), an arm of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), is building a next-generation Digital Financial Infrastructure named National Digital Financial Infrastructure (NADI).

•        Its modern Became the only Indian to win network infrastructure includes 5G/Edge Cloud with SDNs (software-defined networking) for connecting to the critical data centre infrastructure at the back-end.

 

6. WHITLEY AWARD 2021

•        YNukluPhom, a church worker from Nagaland, won the Whitley Award 2021 for his efforts toward creating “Biodiversity Peace Corridor”, a network of community-owned forests in Nagaland and protecting the Amur Falcon.

•        He is the only Indian to win the prestigious award.

•        The Whitley Award is also known as the ‘Green Oscar’.

 

7. FORTUNE’S LIST OF WORLD’S 50 GREATEST LEADERS

•        Fortune Magazine released its ‘World’s 50 Greatest Leaders’ list for 2021 which is topped by New Zealand(NZ) Prime Minister(PM) JacindaArdern.

•        Serum Institute of India’s CEO Adar Poonawalla is on the 10th spot and he is the only Indian among the top 10 names on the list.

 

8. NEW CEO OF BATA INDIA LTD

•        India’s largest footwear retailer Bata India Ltd., appointed Gunjan Shah as its New Chief Executive officer (CEO).

•        He will succeed Sandeep Kataria who was elevated as the global CEO of Bata Brand.

 

9. 1ST SPACE TOURISM FLIGHT IN JULY 2021

•        Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’s rocket company, Blue Origin, announced the first flight that aboard its New Shepard rocket, and crew capsule which is designed to carry up to 6 tourists per flight, beyond an invisible line, known as the Karman line, which separates Earth from space.

•        The first flight is scheduled to take place in July 20,2021 and one seat was auctioned off to the highest bidder.

•        Note – The space tourism rocket was named after Alan Shepard – the second man and the first American to travel into space.

 

10. EXTREME DEPTHS OF WORLD’S 5 OCEANS

•        The Five Deeps Expedition has measured the extreme depths of the World’s 5 Oceans – Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, Arctic & Southern ocean (also known as Antarctic ocean).

•        The Challenger Deep (10, 924 m) in Mariana Trench in Pacific Ocean remains the Deepest Trench in the world.

•        The 2nd Deepest Trench in the world is the Horizon Deep (10, 816 m) in the Tonga Trench, Pacific Ocean.

•        Ocean & Deepest Points

•        Atlantic Ocean – Brownson Deep (8, 378 m) in Puerto Rico Trench

•        Southern Ocean (Antarctic Ocean) – Factorian Deep (7, 432 m) in South Sandwich Trench

•        Indian Ocean – Unnamed Deep (7, 187 m) in Java Trench

•        Pacific Ocean – Challenger Deep (10, 924 m) in Mariana Trench (deepest trench in the world).

•        Arctic Ocean – Molloy Hole (5, 551 m)

 

11. MALERKOTLA BECOMES 23RD DISTRICT OF PUNJAB

•        Amarinder Singh Chief Minister of Punjab announced Malerkotla as the 23rd district of Punjab.

•        The district was created by carving the only Muslim majority town from Sangrur district.