DAILY GK: 21 , 22 DEC

 DAILY GK: 21 , 22 DEC

1.              ‘DURGA PUJA IN KOLKATA’ INSCRIBED ON UNESCO’S REPRESENTATIVE LIST OF ICH OF HUMANITY

·               The Intergovernmental Committee (IGC) of UNESCO’s (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) 2003 Convention on Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) has inscribed ‘Durga Puja in Kolkata’ on the Representative List of ICH of Humanity 

·               With the inscription of Durga Puja in Kolkata, India now have 14 ICH elements on the prestigious UNESCO Representative List of ICH of Humanity.

·               Before Durga Puja, the two latest inscriptions in the ICH list from India are Kumbh Mela (inscribed 2017) and Yoga (inscribed 2016).

·               UNESCO’s List of Intangible Cultural Heritage was established by UNESCO to ensure better protection of important intangible cultural heritages worldwide and the awareness of their significance. This list is published by the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage.

 

2.             INDIA 4TH MOST SPAMMED COUNTRY IN WORLD; BRAZIL TOPS

·               According to the  Truecallers’ annual report  which lists the Top 20 Countries Affected by Spam Calls in 2021, India has moved up in rankings from 9th in 2020 to 4th in 2021 due to a significant increase in sales and telemarketing calls.

·               Brazil has retained its title as the most spammed country in the world for the 4th year, followed by Peru and Ukraine.

·               Cameroon tops the countries affected by spam SMS in 2021 followed by Somalia and Tanzania.

 

3.             GOLDEN PEACOCK ENVIRONMENT MANAGEMENT AWARD 2021

·               The Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL), awarded with the prestigious Golden Peacock Environment Management Award (GPEMA) 2021 in the Steel Sector by the Institute of Directors (IOD).

·               This award encourages corporate companies to enhance their environmental performances.

 

4.             NEW PRESIDENT OF CHILE

·               Gabriel Boric won Chile presidential elections, to become the youngest-ever President elect of Chile.

·               He belongs to the Social Convergence party

·               Chile is a South American country occupying a narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west.

·               Chuquicamata is the World’s largest copper mine located in Chile.

·               Capital- Santiago.

·               Currency- Peso

 

5.             INDIAN NAVY’S 2ND INDIGENOUS STEALTH DESTROYER

·               Indian Navy’s indigenous stealth guided-missile destroyer ‘Mormugao’ went for her maiden sea trials.

·               Mormugao is being built at Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Ltd (MDSL) as part of the Project 15B destroyers and incorporates several indigenous technologies

·               In November 2021, INS Visakhapatnam and the fourth P75 submarine INS Vela were commissioned into the Indian Navy.

 

6.             BWF WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS 2021

·               Kidambi Srikanth (India) made history by becoming the 1st Indian shuttler to win a silver medal in the men’s singles at the Badminton World Federation (BWF) world championships.

·               He achieved this feat by winning silver medal after losing to Singapore’s Loh Kean Yew in the finals of Men’s Singles in the BWF World Championships 2021 held in Huelva, Spain.

·               This is also the first time that a Men’s(Loh Kean Yew) player from Singapore has won gold Medal at the BWF World Championships.

·               India’s Lakshya Sen & Denmark’s Anders Antonsen won the Bronze Medal in the Men’s Singles in BWF World Championships 2021.

 

7.             INTERNATIONAL HUMAN SOLIDARITY DAY 2021 – DECEMBER 20

·               The first ever International Human Solidarity Day was observed on 20th December 2006. 

·               The theme is centered around promoting cultural equality, social justice that is directed towards human and social development (specifically in developing countries). The theme remains the same every year.

 

8.             MULTINATIONAL EXERCISE PANEX-21

·               3^rd edition of multi-national – multi-agency exercise, PANEX-21, was organized at Pune (Maharashtra) to develop capabilities in Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) operations among BIMSTEC nations.

·               BIMSTEC is an acronym for Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation.

·               It is an international organisation of seven South Asian and Southeast Asian nations comprising Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Thailand.

·               BIMSTEC :Established in 1997, initially it was known as BIST-EC (Bangladesh-India-Sri Lanka-Thailand Economic Cooperation). With the admission of Myanmar and Bhutan it became BIMSTEC.Secretariat– Dhaka, Bangladesh

 

9.             GIS BASED ‘AUTOMATIC WATER SUPPLY SYSTEM’, LAUNCHED

·               On the occasion of Defence Estates Day 2021 ,December 16, 2021, India’s first of its kind Geographic Information System (GIS) Based ‘Automatic Water Supply System’ was launched for citizens of Cantonment Boards under eChhawani project.

·               It provides a facility to citizens to identify the location of the water supply connection, automatically determines the nearest water pipeline, defines the capacity of all water supply lines, calculates distance based on the location and amount payable by the Applicant including connection charges can be paid online.

·               e-Chhawani Project: is a citizen-centric project of the Directorate General of Defence Estates, Ministry of Defence. Under this initiative, Cantonment Boards provide online citizen services to more than 20 lakh residents across 62 Cantonments in the country through the unified e-Chhawani Portal.

 

10.          MASTERCARD PARTNERS WITH GOOGLE PAY ON TOKENISATION FOR CARD-BASED PAYMENTS

·               Mastercard and Google announced a tokenization method that enables Google Pay users to safely transact using their Mastercard credit cards and debit cards.

·               Android users of Google Pay can scan and pay across all Bharat QR-enabled merchants, tap-and-pay, and make in-app transactions through their Mastercard debit and credit card.

 

11.          UN WOMEN’S AWARD FOR LEADERSHIP COMMITMENT

·               Divya Hegde, an Indian Climate Action Entrepreneur from Udupi, coastal Karnataka, has won the United Nation (UN) Women’s Award for Leadership Commitment at the 2021 Regional Asia-Pacific Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEP) Awards ceremony.

·               She has been recognised for her sustained efforts in advancing gender equality through climate action efforts.

·               Baeru Environmental Services, Divya’ s organisation works towards waste management, creation of livelihoods for rural women, and developing a circular economy in the region.

·               This award is a joint initiative of UN Women and the UN Global Compact aimed at empowering women to participate fully in economic life across all sectors.

 

12.          BANK OF BARODA ACHIEVES TOP POSITION IN DIGITAL PAYMENTS FOR 2020-21

·               Bank of Baroda (BoB) grabbed the top spot in overall digital transactions among large banks for FY20-21.

·               BoB has been conferred with five DigiDhan awards for FY 2019-20 & 2020-21 in various categories.

·               Bank of Baroda (BoB) Amalgamated banks– Vijaya Bank and Dena Bank     

 

13.          ATUL DINKAR RANE APPOINTED DG BRAHMOS AEROSPACE LIMITED 

·               DRDO Scientist Atul Dinkar Rane has been appointed as the Director-General(DG) of the BrahMos Aerospace Private Limited, Which manufactures the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile.

·               BrahMos Aerospace is a joint venture between DRDO of India and Joint Stock company Military Industrial Consortium NPO Mashinostroyenia(formerly known as Federal State Unitary Enterprise NPOM of Russia).

·               The name BrahMos represents the fury of the Brahmaputra and the grace of the Moskva rivers.