DAILY GK 8,9 FEB

 DAILY GK 8,9 FEB

1.                   INDIA ENERGY WEEK -BENGALURU

·                     The India Energy Week (IEW) 2023, the first significant occasion under India’s G20 (Group of Twenty) Presidency, was inaugurated by Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi on February 6, 2023, in Bengaluru, Karnataka.

·                     The IEW 2023 is held under the patronage of the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas (MoP&NG) of the Government of India (GoI) and is officially supported by the Federation of Indian Petroleum Industry (FIPI).

·                     PM Narendra Modi inaugurated the Helicopter Factory of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), India’s largest helicopter manufacturing facility, and unveiled the Light Utility Helicopter (LUH) in Tumakuru district, Karnataka.

·                     The first Hydrogen Internal Combustion Engine (H2ICE) technology solution for heavy-duty trucks was introduced by Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) and launched by PM Narendra Modi at IEW 2023 in Bengaluru, Karnataka.

 

2.                   SWITZERLAND TO FORMALLY ACCEPT NEW AGREEMENT ON FISHERIES SUBSIDIES 

·                     Switzerland became the first World Trade Organization (WTO) member to formally submit its acceptance of the WTO’s new “Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies”.

·                     The WTO Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies was adopted on June 17, 2022, at the 12th Ministerial Conference (MC12) held in Geneva, Switzerland.

·                     It is a significant step forward for ocean sustainability by prohibiting harmful fisheries subsidies, which are a major contributor to the widespread degradation of the world’s fish stocks.

·                     It is the second agreement reached at the WTO since its inception, the first broad, legally binding multilateral agreement on ocean sustainability, and the first WTO agreement with an environmental focus.

 

3.                   INDIA’S FIRST FINTECH PLATFORM TO SUPPORT CROSS-BORDER UPI PAYMENTS

·                     PhonePe has launched support for “UPI international” payments, making it India’s first fintech platform to enable cross-border Unified Payments Interface (UPI) payments.

·                     Indian users of PhonePe can utilize this feature to instantly pay foreign merchants using UPI when they are travelling abroad.

·                     UPI International supports all international merchant outlets with a local QR (quick response) code in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Singapore, Mauritius, Nepal, and Bhutan.

·                     This feature will allow PhonePe users to make foreign currency payments directly from their Indian bank account using UPI, just like they do with international debit cards.

·                     Previously, Indian customers had to pay at international merchant outlets in foreign currency or using their credit or Foreign exchange cards.

·                     UPI was developed byThe National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI)

 

4.                   HURUN INDIA AWARD

·                     VP Nandakumar, Managing Director and Chief executive officer (CEO) of Manappuram Finance Limited, received The Hurun Industry Achievement Award 2022 for his remarkable achievements in the world of business

·                     The award recognises the contributions of Manappuram Finance in the non-banking finance space.

 

5.                   LCA & MIG29 K FIGHTER AIRCRAFT LANDED& TAKE-OFF ON INS VIKRANT

·                     Indian Navy’s Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) and the MIG29 K Fighter Aircraft successfully performed their maiden landing and take-off attempts on the Indian Naval Ship (INS) Vikrant, India’s first Indigenous Aircraft Carrier.

·                     The indigenously developed LCA landings were carried out by the pilots of the Indian Navy.

·                     INS Vikrant was commissioned by Prime Minister(PM) Narendra Modi on 2nd September 2022.

·                     The 45,000 metric tons vessel is 262 meters (~860 feet) long and around 60 meters (~197 feet) wide.

·                     This is the biggest ship ever built in India. With INS Vikrant, India joined the list of countries with the capability to design and build aircraft carrier ships, including the list are the United States of America(USA), the United Kingdom(UK), France, China and Russia.

 

6.                   SAFER INTERNET DAY 2023 – FEBRUARY 7

·                     Safer Internet Day (SID) is annually observed across the globe on the 2nd Day (Tuesday) of the 2nd week of February to raise awareness of emerging online issues and current concerns and to promote the safe and positive use of digital technology for children and young people.

·                     The theme of SID 2023 is “Together for a better internet“. This has been the campaign slogan of SID since 2019.

 

7.                   HILLARY CLINTON ANNOUNCES USD 50 MILLION CLIMATE FUND FOR WOMEN

·                     Hillary Clinton, former United States (US) secretary of state has announced a first-of-its-kind “Global Climate Resilience Fund” of USD 50 million from the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) to support women in the fight against climate change in collaboration with the Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA).

·                     Hillary Clinton was on a two-day visit to Gujarat, commemorating the 50th anniversary of SEWA as a trade union.

·                     Elaben Bhatt who passed away in November 2022, founded SEWA in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, in 1972.

·                     SEWA operates in 18 states and has a membership of 25 lakh women in the informal sector.

·                     Clinton Global Initiative (CGI)-Former US President Bill Clinton (born William Jefferson Blythe III) founded CGI in 2005 to bring established and emerging global leaders together to create and execute solutions to the world ’s most challenging problems.

 

8.                   INDIA RANKS 1/110 NATIONS FOR INCLUSIVITY MEASURES TOWARDS RELIGIOUS MINORITIES

·                     As per the Centre for Policy Analysis’ (CPA) inaugural assessment on global minorities in its’ Global Minority Report’, India has been ranked one among 110 nations for its inclusivity measures towards religious minorities. India has the highest level of religious minorities’ acceptance.

·                     India is followed by South Korea, Japan, Panama, and the United States (US) at the 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th positions respectively.

·                     Maldives, Afghanistan, and Somalia are at the bottom of the list.

·                     India’s Constitution has unique provisions for promoting religious minorities in culture and education and there are no similar provisions for linguistic and religious minorities in any other constitution. There is also no restriction on any religious sects in India.

 

9.                   CURTAILING POLLUTION IS ESSENTIAL TO REDUCE SUPERBUGS: UNEP REPORT

·                     According to the recent report released by United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Bracing for Superbugs: strengthening environmental action in the One Health response to antimicrobial resistance, reduction of pollution created by pharmaceuticals, agricultural and healthcare sectors is essential to reduce the emergence, transmission and spread of superbugs, a strain of bacteria which has become resistant to every known antibiotic.

·                     The report was released during the Sixth Meeting of the Global Leaders Group on AMR held in Barbados.

·                     Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR):Antimicrobials are essential in reducing the burden of infectious diseases in humans, animals and plants.

·                     ii.The development and spread of AMR mean that the antimicrobials which are used to prevent and treat infections in humans, animals and plants are becoming ineffective.

·                     According to the WHO, AMR is listed among the top 10 global threats to health.

·                     ii.It is estimated that in 2019 around 1.27 million deaths were attributed to drug-resistant infection and 4.95 million deaths were associated with bacterial AMR.

·                     The One Health Joint Plan of Action was launched by the Quadripartite Alliance including UNEP, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH).

 

10.                CLOUDSEK REPORT: INDIA ACCOUNTS FOR MOST CYBER ATTACKS IN ASIA IN 2022

·                     According to the Global Threat Landscape Report 2021-2022 by CloudSEK, a contextual AI company that predicts Cyber Threats, India is the most targeted country by hackers in Asia in both 2021 and 2022.

·                     Globally, India is the 2nd most targeted country in 2022 while the United States of America(USA) remained the most targeted country.

·                     The number of cyber attacks targeting India has increased by 24.3% in 2022.

·                     Asia-Pacific, Europe and North America are the most targeted regions in both the years 2021 and 2022.

·                     ii.Asia& Pacific remained the most targeted region, receiving 20.4% of all attacks in 2021 and 24.1% of all attacks in 2022. The number of attacks targeting Asia & Pacific increased by 26.43% in 2022.

·                     Europe which accounted for around 18% of all attacks in both 2021 and 2022 is the 2nd most targeted region in 2022. The number of attacks on Eupore has increased by 8.28%.

·                     In 2022, Ransomware attacks increased from 0.3%(least common) in 2021 to 8% in 2022 (the 3rd most common).

·                     Globally, the attacks on the government sector have increased from 4.1% in 2021 to 12.1% in 2022.

 

11.                “SKYE UTM”, INDIA’S FIRST TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT SYSTEM FOR DRONES

·                     Skye Air Mobility Private Limited(Skye Air), a Gurugram (Haryana)-based drone solutions provider, launched India’s first traffic management system for drones, named “Skye UTM”.

·                     Skye UTM, was launched in the presence of Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways.

·                     The system, Skye UTM, will allow drone operators to plan routes, make flight plans and assess risks before running drone-based operations in India.

·                     The Digital Sky platform, run by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA),  was 1st introduced in 2018 and provides users with essential knowledge for conducting drone missions in India.

·                     Skye UTM will allow operators a “better understanding” of where they can fly.  The software has been tested on over 300 successful BVLOS flights.

·                     Beyond visual line-of-sight (BVLOS) refers to drone flights where the pilot cannot see the drone.

 

12.                2023 GRAND PRIX ZAGREB OPEN

·                     Indian wrestlers concluded the Grand Prix Zagreb Open 2023, the first ranking series of 2023, held in Zagreb, Croatia with 2 bronze medals.

·                     Aman Sehrawat, a freestyle wrestler and under-23 world champion, won the bronze medal in the men’s 57 kg category on the opening day.

·                     Ashu, the Greco-Roman wrestler, won the bronze in men’s 67 kg on the penultimate day of the competition.

·                     Note: 15 Indian wrestlers competed at the Zagreb Open 2023.

·                     Husiyuetu of China won the gold medal while Iran’s Reza Mahdi Abbasi won the silver medal in the 67 kg category.

·                     The 2023 Grand Prix Zagreb Open was the first of the ranking series of United World Wrestling (UWW) in 2023.