DAILY GK 21-22 APRIL

DAILY GK 21-22 APRIL

 1.       WISDEN CRICKETERS OF THE YEAR 2023

·         160th edition of the Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack 2023, the cricket reference book published annually in the United Kingdom(UK), has announced the Five Wisden Cricketers of the Year 2023.

·         Tom Blundell (New Zealand), Ben Foakes (England), Harmanpreet Kaur(India), Daryl Mitchell (New Zealand) and Matthew Potts (England) were named the Five Wisden Cricketers of the Year 2023.

·         Indian Women’s cricket team Captain Harmanpreet  Kaur becomes the 1st India Women’s cricketer to be named a “Wisden Cricketer of the Year”.

·         England’s Ben Stokes and Australia’s Beth Mooney have been named the Leading Cricketers in the World.

·         India’s Suryakumar Yadav picked up the Leading Twenty20 (T20) Cricketer in the World title.

 

2.       CUBAN PRESIDENT MIGUEL DIAZ-CANEL RE-ELECTED

·         The National Congress of Cuba re-elected Miguel Diaz-Canel as president for a second 5 year term as the country faces one of the biggest social and economic crisis since Fidel Castro’s 1959 revolution.

·         Miguel Díaz-Canel,91, leader of the Communist Party, the country’s only recognized political movement, won a landslide vote of 97.66% of the Cuba-aligned National Assembly, all of whose 470 members are aligned with the party.

·         The assembly also re-elected Salvador Valdes as Cuba’s vice-president Esteban Lazo as the president of the National Assembly of People’s Power (ANPP) and Manuel Marrero as prime minister.

·         Cuba Capital – Havana

·         Currency – Cuban Peso (CUP)  

 

3.       SATHI: SEED TRACEABILITY PORTAL AND MOBILE APP

·         The Union Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare (MoA&FW) launched the first phase of SATHI (Seed Traceability, Authentication and Holistic Inventory) portal and mobile application.

·         It is a centralized online system to address seed production challenges, seed quality identification, and certification.

·         It has been developed on the theme of Uttam Beej – Samriddh Kisan.

·         It was developed by the National Informatics Centre (NIC) in collaboration with the Union Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare

 

4.       AIM, NITI AAYOG & UNCDF JOINLY LAUNCHED WHITEPAPER

·         A whitepaper has been jointly launched by Atal Innovation Mission (AIM), NITI (National Institution for Transforming India) Aayog and the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) which is aimed at making India a global leader in Agri-Tech innovation and expanding these innovations to the least developed countries in Asia and Africa.

·         The whitepaper provides practical solutions to support the growth of Agri-Tech start-ups at both national and international levels, by addressing the challenges they face.

·         UN Capital Development Fund (UNCDF):Headquarters– New York

 

5.       1ST-EVER WATERBODY CENSUS

·         According to the “Water Bodies – 1st Census Report” released by the Ministry of Jal Shakti, West Bengal(WB) has topped the list of states with the most number of ponds and reservoirs, Tamil Nadu has the highest number of lakes while Andhra Pradesh (AP) has the highest number of tanks and Maharashtra is the leading state with water conservation schemes.

·         India has 24.24 lakh water bodies such as ponds, tanks and lakes with West Bengal accounting for the most (7.47 lakh) and Sikkim the least (134).

·         The top 5 states (in number of water bodies) are, West Bengal ,Uttar Pradesh ,Andhra Pradesh, and Assam

·         South 24 Parganas of West Bengal is ranked as the top district with the highest number of water bodies across India.

 

6.       IIT MADRAS TO SET UP ITS FIRST INTERNATIONAL CAMPUS IN TANZANIA

·         Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras is set to establish its first International campus in  Zanzibar, Tanzania and plans to start the classes in October 2023.

·         This will be the first IIT established in Africa.

 

7.       AIIB TO OPEN FIRST OVERSEAS OFFICE IN ABU DHABI, UAE

·         The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) signed a host member agreement with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to establish its first overseas office, an Interim Operational Hub, at Abu Dhabi Global Market, Abu Dhabi, UAE.

·         The United Arab Emirates is one of the founding members of AIIB.

·         AIIB began operations in 2016 with 57 founding Members (37 regional and 20 non regional).

·         Headquarters– Beijing, China

 

8.       EASE REFORMS INDEX FOR Q3 FY23

·         As per the report on Enhanced Access & Service Excellence (EASE) Reforms Index for Q3 FY23 published by Indian Banks’ Association (IBA), the Union Bank of India, for the first time, secures 1st rank among all PSB (Public Sector Banks) for adopting various reforms prescribed for PSBs.

·         EASE is an initiative by the Department of Financial Services (DFS), Ministry of Finance

 

9.       1ST WOMAN OFFICER OF IAF TO RECEIVE GALLANTRY AWARD

·         Wing Commander (WgCdr) Deepika Misra became the first woman officer in the Indian Air Force (IAF) to be presented with Vayu Sena Medal(VM) for Gallantry.

·         The award was presented by Chief of the Air Staff (CAS) Air Chief Marshal Vivek Ram Chaudhari

·         Wg Cdr Deepika Misra is a trained helicopter pilot, qualified flying instructor and an instrument-rated instructor and examiner.

·         CAS presented Presidential Awards to a total of 58 persons, 57 from the IAF and one from the Army received the awards.

·         CAS presented Two Yudh Seva Medals, 13 Vayu Sena Medals (Gallantry), 13 Vayu Sena Medals (devotion to Duty) and 30 Vishisht Seva Medals.

·         Vayu Sena Medal (VM) was Instituted on January 26, 1960, it recognises exceptional devotion to duty or acts of courage by Air Force personnel. In 1994, the award was spilt into VM (Devotion to duty) and VM (Gallantry).

 

10.    KARNATAKA BAGS NATIONAL AWARD FOR PRADHAN MANTRI FASAL BIMA YOJANA

·         Karnataka has bagged the national award for the best implementation of Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY), a crop subsidy insurance scheme, for the year 2022-23.

·         PMFBY scheme is a crop insurance scheme launched by the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Government of India in 2016 to provide comprehensive coverage to farmers for any loss/damage to crops due to natural calamities, pests or diseases.

·         Kharif  Crops that mainly grow during summer are called kharif crops. They are sown at the beginning of the rainy season around June and are harvested around October. Rice, maize and groundnuts are examples of kharif crops.

 

11.    16TH NATIONAL CIVIL SERVICES DAY – 21ST APRIL 2023

·         The National Civil Services Day is annually observed across India on 21st April to recognize and celebrate civil service officers who are engaged in various public service departments across India.

·         21st April 2023 marks the observance of the 16th National Civil Services Day.

·         The theme of the National Civil Services Day 2023 is “Viksit Bharat: Empowering Citizens and Reaching the Last Mile”.