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.