DAILY GK: 08, 09 OCT 2021

 DAILY GK: 08, 09 OCT 2021

1. EXERCISE JIMEX 2021

      The 5th edition of India-Japan Maritime Bilateral Exercise, ‘JIMEX 2021’ between Indian Navy (IN) and the Japan Maritime Self-Defence Force (JMSDF) is being held in Arabian Sea.

 

2. WATER SHORTAGE CAN HIT FIVE BILLION PEOPLE BY 2050

      The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) warns that the number of people affected by water scarcity is expected to rise as climate change increases the global risk of water-related hazards like floods and droughts.

      According to the report ‘The State of Climate Services 2021: Water’, 3.6 billion people had inadequate access to water at least one month per year in 2018.

 

3.INDIA’S 1ST COF TOKENIZATION SERVICE FOR MERCHANTS

      Global payments technology firm, Visa in partnership with Juspay launched India’s 1st Card-on-File tokenization (CoFT) services for e-commerce players such as Grofers, BigBasket, and MakeMyTrip.

      Tokenization refers to the process of replacing the card’s actual sensitive information like card number, expiration date, security code with a unique alternate code called the ‘token’ to improve the safety and security of the payment system.

 

4.WORLD BANK RETAINED INDIA’S GDP GROWTH FORECAST

      World Bank released its report on South Asia Economic Focus titled ‘Shifting Gears: Digitization and Services-Led Development’ and has unchanged India’s GDP growth forecast for FY22 to 8.3 percent from its earlier estimate in June 2021.

 

5.2021 FIH HOCKEY STAR AWARDS

      For the first time ever, India swept the eight 2021 International Hockey Federation’s (FIH) annual Hockey Star Awards with drag-flickers Harmanpreet Singh and Gurjit Kaur claiming the Player of the Year honours in men and women.

      THE AWARDS

AWARD                                                                                MEN                                                      WOMEN

Player of the Year Award                                                  Harmanpreet Singh                                             Gurjit Kaur

Goalkeeper of the Year Award                                         PR Sreejesh                                                           Savita Punia

Rising Star of the Year Award                                          Vivek Sagar Prasad                                             Sharmila Devi

The Best Coach Award                                                      Graham Reid                                                        Sjoerd Marijne

 

6.2021 GLOBAL LEADERSHIP HUMANITARIAN AWARDS

      The United States(US)-India Business Council (USIBC) has presented the 2021 Global Leadership Humanitarian Awards to Julie Sweet, CEO and Chair of Accenture; Arvind Krishna, Chairman and CEO of IBM; and Brad Smith, President and Vice-Chair of Microsoft.

 

7.NOBEL PRIZE IN LITERATURE 2021

      The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences awarded the 2021 Nobel Prize in Literature to Abdulrazak Gurnah, a Tanzanian novelist based in the United Kingdom for his works on the effects of colonialism and fate of the refugee in the gulf between cultures and continents.

 

8.FIRST UN WORLD COTTON DAY – 7TH OCTOBER 2021

      7th October 2021 marks the observance of the first ever official United Nations(UN) World Cotton Day.

      According to the International Cotton Advisory Committee (ICAC), the event theme for 2021 World Cotton Day is ‘Cotton for Good’.

 

9.4TH TIGER RESERVE OF CHHATTISGARH

      The 11th Technical Committee of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) has approved the proposal of the government of Chhattisgarh to declare the combined areas of the Tamor Pingla Wildlife Sanctuary and the Guru Ghasidas National Park as the 4th Tiger reserve of Chhattisgarh.

      The other tiger reserves of Chhattisgarh are Udanti-Sitanadi Tiger Reserve, Indravati Tiger Reserves, and Amarkantak – Achanakmar Wildlife Sanctuary

 

10.EXERCISE AJEYA WARRIOR-2021

      The 6th Edition of India – UK (United Kingdom) Joint Company Level Military Training exercise Ajeya Warrior-2021 was commenced in Chaubatia, Uttarakhand.

      To strengthen bilateral defence cooperation between the two countries and develop inter-operability among them.

 

11.  TEXTILE MINISTRY SIGNS MOU WITH GERMANY

      India’s Ministry of Textiles (MoT) supported by Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare (MoAFW) signed a MoU with Germany’s Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) to implement projects on ‘Sustainability and Value Added in the Cotton Economy’.

      The agreement was signed on Implementation Agreement of Indo German Technical Cooperation Project.

      Target – The partnership targets to increase cotton production on 90,000 hectares of land in 4 States (Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu) to increase the yield of Cotton by 10%, thereby supporting 1.5 lakh farmers.

 

12.TELANGANA CELEBRATED BATHUKAMMA FESTIVAL

      Bathukamma, a part of Dasara festivities, is a traditional Hindu festival celebrated predominantly in the state of Telangana and in some parts of Andhra Pradesh(AP).

      The Bathukamma festival celebrates the relationship between earth, water and the humans.

      Bathukamma means ‘Goddess of Life’.

 

13.UNESCO SOER REPORT 2021

      In accordance with the UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) report titled ‘The report – 2021 State of the Education Report (SOER) for India: No Teachers, No Class’, Indian teachers are facing basic amenities like toilets in northeast and aspirational districts. There are disparities for the same between urban and rural schools.

 

14.SBI EXTENDS PARTNERSHIP WITH TCS

      State Bank of India (SBI) extended its partnership with Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) for another five years. Under this partnership, SBI uses TCS BaNCS for which TCS maintain and enhance SBI’s application for core banking, trade finance, financial reporting, and financial inclusion.

 

15.PNB LAUNCHED ‘6S CAMPAIGN’

      Punjab National Bank (PNB) launched the “6S Campaign” under customer outreach programme to offer financial services at a concessional rate during festival season.

      The campaign encapsulates various schemes such as Swabhiman, Samruddhi, Sampark and Shikhar, Sankalp and Swagat.

 

16.TATA SONS WON BIDS TO ACQUIRE AIR INDIA

      Tata Sons Private Ltd subsidiary Talace Pvt Ltd has won the final bid for acquiring national carrier Air India by submitting Rs. 18,000 crore bid. The ministerial panel led by Union Home Minister Amit Shah approved the bid.

      The airline Air India was established by industrialist and philanthropist JRD Tata (India’s 1st licensed pilot) in 1932 as the Tata Airlines and it was sold to the government in 1953.

      Tata Power company Ltd has signed a 3-year commercial agreement with BluWave-ai, the world’s 1st renewable energy AI (Artificial Intelligence) company.

 

17.NOBEL PEACE PRIZE 2021

      The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided to award the Nobel Peace Prize 2021 to Maria Ressa, journalist from Philippines and Dmitry Andreyevich Muratov, journalist from Russia for their efforts to protect the freedom of expression, the precondition of democracy and lasting peace.

      Maria Ressa is the 18th woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize.

 

18.HAL DELIVERS ‘SC120-LOX’ TO ISRO

      Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) delivered the ‘heaviest’ Semi-Cryogenic Propellant tank named ‘SC120-LOX’ to Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).

      It is a Semi Cryo-liquid Oxygen (LOX) tank, which will be a part of SC120 stage of ISRO’s GSLV Mark III launch vehicles, replacing the existing L110 stage.

 

19.89TH INDIAN AIR FORCE DAY

      Indian Air Force Day is annually observed across India on 8th October to increase awareness about the Indian Air Force, an organisation that works towards strengthening national security.

      The day marks the establishment of the Indian Air Force on 8th October 1932.

      The 2021 Indian Air Force Day is celebrated as “Swarnim Vijay Varsh”, commemorating the victory of the 1971 war.

 

20.INDIA’S FIRST SMARTPHONE-BASED EVOTING SOLUTION

      Telangana has developed the country’s first smartphone-based e-voting solution.

      It will be tested in a dummy election also, and a dry run will be held  in the  Khammam district of Telangana.