DAILY GK: 28 , 29 JULY 2021

 DAILY GK: 28 , 29 JULY 2021

1. ‘CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE’ IN THE NORTHEAST

·         The Ministry of Science and Technology (MoST) will launch a first-of-its-kind Centre of Excellence (CoE) in the Northeast i.e. ‘Centre for Bio-Resources and Sustainable Development’ at Kimin in Papum Pare district of Arunachal Pradesh (AR).

 

2. EXERCISE CUTLASS EXPRESS 2021

·         Indian Naval Ship (INS) Talwar visited Mombasa, Kenya to participate in Exercise Cutlass Express 2021 (CE21). The Annual Maritime Exercise is to be conducted along the East Coast of Africa.

·         The Exercise is sponsored by the U.S. Africa Command and conducted by U.S. Naval Forces Africa (NAVAF).

·         Indian Navy is participating in the exercise in a ‘trainer role’.

·         The main objective of the exercise is to promote national and regional maritime security in East Africa and the Western Indian Ocean.

 

3. INDIA’S LARGEST 3 GWH LI-ION BATTERY FACTORY

·         Lohum Cleantech, a lithium-ion(Li-ion) battery maker and a battery recycling solutions company, plans to set up India’s largest 3 GWh Li-ion manufacturing as well as recycling plant in Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh with an investment of Rs 300 crore within 18 months.

·         It also plans to introduce a new recycling facility in Kandla, Gujarat.

·         The key raw materials required for manufacturing a Li-ion battery are lithium, cobalt, nickel and graphite.

 

4. WORLD’S 1ST COUNTRY TO APPROVE GM ‘GOLDEN RICE’

·         The Philippines became the World’s 1st Country to approve Genetically Modified (GM) ‘Golden Rice’ for Commercial Production.

·         The GM rice will help in increasing the rice productivity in the country.

·         The rice variety approved by the Philippines is enriched with Vitamin A-precursor beta-carotene to make it more nutritional.  In the Philippines, around 17% of children under the age of 5 are deficient in Vitamin A.

 

5. BYJU’S ACQUIRED GREAT LEARNING

·         Byju’s, Indian Educational technology(Edtech) company based in Bengaluru has acquired the Singapore based higher education platform “Great Learning” for 600 million USD and after-school learning app “Toppr” for 150 million USD.

·         Byju’s is set to invest an additional 400 million USD to accelerate the growth of “Great Learning”.

 

6. CENTRAL RESERVE POLICE FORCE RAISING DAY

·         The Central Reserve Police Force(CRPF), India’s largest Central Armed Police Force, under the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) celebrates the 83rd CRPF Raising Day on 27th July 2021.  

·         The Central Reserve Police Force(CRPF) came into existence as ‘Crown Representative’s Police’ on 27th July 1939.

 

7.1ST CITY TO PROVIDE 24×7 DRINKING TAP WATER

·         Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik inaugurated the ‘Sujal -Drink-from-Tap’ project in Puri, the coastal city in Odisha to provide 24×7 piped pure drinking water.

·         Through the launch, Puri has become the 1st city in India to implement such a project.Under the project, water fountains have been developed at 400 locations in Puri for the people of Puri to avail high-quality drinking water directly from the tap on a 24-hour basis without any storage or filter.

·         The drinking water will be sourced from the Mangala river in Puri.

 

8. AGRICULTURAL PRODUCE EXPORTERS IN 2019

·         A recently released World Trade Organization (WTO) report has ranked India 9th (holding 3.1% share in global agri exports) among the Top 10 list of Agricultural produce exporters in 2019.

·         European Union (EU) with a global share of 16.1% has replaced the US as the World’s largest Agriculture produce exporter (13.8%).

TOP GLOBAL AGRICULTURE EXPORT COUNTRIES

Rank                      Country                Share of Global Agriculture Exports in 2019 (%)

1                              European Union                                                  16.1

2                              US                                                                           13.8

3                              Brazil                                                                     7.8

·         The Top rice exporters in 2019 were India (33%) followed by Thailand (20%) & Vietnam (12%).

·         India was the 3rd largest cotton exporter (7.6%), and the 4th largest cotton importer (10%) in 2019.

 

9. PSBS WRITING-OFF NPAS IN FY21

·         State Bank of India (SBI) topped the list of Public Sector Banks (PSB) writing off loans in FY21 followed by Union Bank of India (UBI).

TOP 3 LIST OF PSBS WROTE OFF BAD LOANS IN FY21:

S.no        Public Sector Bank                                            Written off value

1                              SBI                                                         Rs 34,402 crore

2                              UBI                                                        Rs 16,983 crore

3              Punjab National Bank (PNB)                           Rs 15,877 crore

 

10. SWIFT LAUNCHED ‘SWIFT GO’

·         Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications (SWIFT) has launched a new solution for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) named ‘SWIFT Go’ to enable seamless Low-Value Cross-Border Payments anywhere in the world, directly from their bank accounts.

·         SWIFT’s network connects more than 11,000 institutions and 4 billion accounts across 200 countries worldwide.

 

11. IMF CUT INDIA’S FY22 GDP GROWTH FORECAST

·         In its July 2021 World Economic Outlook (WEO) titled ‘Fault Lines Widen in the Global Recovery’, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has reduced India’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth forecast in FY22 to 9.5 percent from 12.5 percent (April 2021 projection) and raised the growth forecast for FY23 to 8.5 percent from 6.9 percent.

 

12. ‘GOOD FOOD FOR ALL’

·         3 Indian Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) have won the United Nations (UN) Food Systems Summit competition ‘Best Small Business: Good Food for All’, which aims to showcase innovative solutions in improving access to healthy and sustainable food.

·         The 3 Indian SMEs: Edible Routes Private Limited, Oorja Development Solutions India and Taru Naturals were among the 50 SMEs which were announced as the winners of the Best Small Businesses of the Good Food for All competition held in conjunction with the UN Food Systems Summit.

 

13. 23RD CHIEF MINISTER OF KARNATAKA

·         Basavaraj S Bommai, who belongs to Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) took charge as the 23rd Chief Minister of Karnataka.

·         He will succeed BS Yediyurappa who resigned.

·         He was administered the oath of office & Secrecy by Governor Thaawar Chand Gehlot.

 

14. LADAKH RECEIVED RBI APPROVAL TO ACQUIRE 8.23% STAKE IN J&K BANK

·         The government of Union Territory(UT) of Ladakh has got the Reserve Bank of India(RBI)’s approval to acquire 8.23% of the paid-up equity capital of Jammu and Kashmir Bank (J&K bank) as of the date of enforcement of Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act 2019, i.e, 31st October 2019.

 

15. WEB-BASED PORTAL ‘PMCARESFORCHILDREN.IN’

·         The Ministry of Women and Child Development (MWCD) launched the web-based portal ‘pmcaresforchildren.in’ to identify the children who are eligible to receive support under the ‘PM CARES for Children’ scheme.

·         ‘PM CARES for Children’ scheme was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to support the orphan children who have lost both parents/legal guardian/adoptive parents due to COVID-19.

·         The scheme will provide monetary support of Rs 10 lakh for those children, on reaching 23 years

 

16. WORLD NATURE CONSERVATION DAY 2021

·         World Nature Conservation Day is annually observed across the globe on 28th July to highlight the importance of nature and the environment.

 

18. WORLD HEPATITIS DAY 2021

·         The United Nations(UN)’s World Hepatitis Day is annually observed across the globe on 28th July to highlight the need for the global response defined in the World Health Organisation (WHO)’s Global hepatitis report 2017.

·         The theme of World Hepatitis Day 2021 is “Hepatitis can’t wait”.

 

19. MISSION ‘NIRYATAK BANO’

·         The Industries Department of Rajasthan & Rajasthan Industrial Development and Investment Corporation (RIICO), the apex industrial development body of Rajasthan have launched the campaign ‘Niryatak Bano’ to help local traders to expand their businesses to foreign countries.