DAILY GK 13 APRIL

 

DAILY GK 13 APRIL

1.       NITI AAYOG’S 1ST SECI ROUND -I APRIL 2022

     NITI (National Institution for Transforming India) Aayog has launched the 1st State Energy & Climate Index (SECI)-Round I April 2022 at an event chaired by Dr. Rajiv Kumar, Vice Chairman, NITI Aayog. It is based on 2019-20 data.

     SECI is the first index that aims to track the efforts made by States and Union Territories (UTs) in the climate and energy sector.

     The states of Gujarat, Kerala, and Punjab are the top 3 among larger states while Goa, Tripura, and Manipur are top 3 among smaller states.

     Among UTs, Chandigarh, Delhi, and Daman & Diu and Dadra & Nagar Haveli ranked 1st, 2nd, and 3rd respectively.

     NITI Aayog Establishment– 2015,CEO-Amitabh Kant,Headquarters– New Delhi, Delhi

 

2.       ABOUT 99% WORLD’S POPULATION IS NOW BREATHING POLLUTED AIR: WHO

     According to the latest update from the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations (UN) health agency, about 99% of the world’s population breathes air that does not meet WHO’s air quality standards.

     For the first time, the WHO Air Quality Database introduced ground measurements of annual mean concentrations of nitrogen dioxide (NO2), a common urban pollutant and precursor of particulate matter and ozone.

     It also includes measurements of Particulate Matter (PM) with diameters of equal or smaller than 10 μm (PM10) or 2.5 μm (PM2.5). 

     Air quality is the worst in the WHO’s Eastern Mediterranean and Southeast Asia regions

     According to the database, the developing world was worst affected, and PM10 levels were high in India, whereas PM2.5 levels were high in China.

     Nitrogen dioxide (NO2): It is mostly produced by human-generated fuel combustion, often through automobile traffic, and is particularly prevalent in urban areas.

     Particulate Matter (PM): It comes from a variety of places, including transportation, power plants, agriculture, garbage burning, industry, and natural sources like desert dust.

 

3.       O. HENRY AWARD 2022

     Bengali writer Amar Mitra received the O.Henry Prize for Short Fiction 2022,the oldest major prize for short fiction in America.

     He received the prize for the English fiction  of his 45 years old novel “Gaonburo” in Bengali, which has been translated into English as The Old Man of Kusumpur in 1990.

     The english one was translated by Anish Gupta.

     The O. Henry Award is the only yearly award given to short stories of exceptional merit.

 

4.       VINAY MOHAN KWATRA APPOINTED AS NEW FOREIGN SECRETARY

     Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) has approved the appointment of Vinay Mohan Kwatra, 1988 batch Indian Foreign Service(IFS) officer, as the new Foreign Secretary of India

     At present, Kwatra is serving as India’s Ambassador to Nepal in Kathmandu, since March 2020.

 

5.       ANTI-TANK GUIDED MISSILE HELINA SUCCESSFULLY TESTED

     An Anti-Tank Guided Missile (ATGM) ‘Helina (Helicopter based NAG)’ was successfully flight tested from an indigenously-developed Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) at high-altitude ranges in Pokhran, Rajasthan.

     The test was jointly conducted by the scientists of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), Indian Army and Indian Air Force (IAF).

     The Helina (the Army version) is the helicopter-launched versions of third-generation anti-tank guided missiles (the Nag missile system).A Helina missile weighs around 45 kg, is 6 feet in length and 7.9 inches in diameter.

     The Air Force variant of Helina is named Dhruvastra.