DAILY GK : 29 MAY 2021

 DAILY GK : 29 MAY 2021

1. SAKHI-ONE STOP CENTRES TO SUPPORT INDIAN OVERSEAS WOMEN

•        Sakhi-One Stop Centres (OSC)’ is a scheme of the Ministry of Women and Child Development (WCD) to support women affected by violence in public and private space.

•        The WCD Ministry in partnership with the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has decided to set up 10 OSCs to support Indian Overseas Women in  9 countries – Australia, Canada, Singapore, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, UAE, and Saudi Arabia.

•        The Sakhi-One Stop Centre (OSC) scheme was set up in 2015 by the Ministry of WCD. It is a 100% centrally sponsored scheme funded through Nirbhaya Fund.

 

2. ENVIRONMENTAL SURVEILLANCE PLATFORM FOR COVID-19

•        Karnataka Government has launched  India’s 1st City-wide Environmental Surveillance Platform named ‘Precision Health Platform’ in Bengaluru.

•        It is a city-wide sewage surveillance system which will help officials track COVID-19 at an early stage and make preparations to face it.

•        The platform is also the 1st of its kind in Asia.

•        Partners – United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Skoll Foundation-supported  COVID Action Collaborative (CAC – COVID Action Collab) will partner with the Karnataka Government for the initiative.

 

3. RBI ANNUAL REPORT 2020-21

•        Reserve Bank of India (RBI) released its Annual Report for 2020-21, a statutory report of its Central Board of Directors, which covers the working and functions of the RBI for the transition period of 9 months (July 2020 – March 2021).

•        Note – The accounting year of RBI was changed from July – June to April – March.

•        Growth – Due to the onset of the second wave of COVID-19, RBI has stated a raft of revisions to growth projections of FY22 towards the RBI’s earlier projection of 10.5 percent (26.2 percent in Q1, 8.3 percent in Q2, 5.4 percent in Q3 and 6.2 per cent in Q4)

ABOUT THE RBI’S ANNUAL REPORT 2020-21 IN BRIEF:

-BALANCE SHEET OF RBI:

•        The balance sheet of RBI increased by 6.99 percent /Rs 3,72,876.43 crore, from Rs 53,34,792.70 crore (June 30, 2020) to Rs 57,07, 669.13 crore (March 31, 2021).

•        RBI’s gains from foreign exchange transactions rose by 69 percent from Rs 29,993 crore to Rs 50,629 crore in 2020-21.

•        RBI’s Annual Account:

                                                                                                FY20                                                                      July 2020-March 2021

Income (Decreased by 10.96 percent)                            Rs 149,672 crore                                                 Rs 133,272 crore

Total Expenditure (Decreased by 63.10 percent)          Rs 92,540.93 crore                                              Rs 34,146.75 crore

Surplus transferred to government                                   Rs 57,127.53 crore                                              Rs 99,122.00 crore

-BANK FRAUD IN 2019-20 FELL BY 25%:

•        In 2019-20, Bank Fraud in terms of value (Rs 1 lakh and more) decreased by 25 percent to Rs 1.38 trillion and fraud in terms of numbers decreased by 15 percent.

•        Public sector banks (PSBs) share of fraud in 2019-20 was decreased from FY20, it contributed about 59 percent (₹81,901 crores) of total fraud (FY20 – PSBs share is 80%), whereas the Private Sector Banks share increased from FY20.

 

4. ENERGY FRONTIER AWARD 2020

•        BharatRatna Professor ChintamaniNages Ramachandra Rao (C.N.R. Rao) has received the Energy Frontier Award 2020 for research into renewable energy sources and energy storage.

•        The International Eni Awards 2020 will be presented on 14th October 2021 at the official ceremony which will be held at the Quirinal Palace in Rome, Italy.

•        The award is considered the Nobel Prize in Energy Research.

 

5. FORBES 30 UNDER 30 ASIA LIST

•        Gurugram based startup MoooFarm’s Co-founders Jitesh Arora, Abhijeet Mittal, and Aashna Singh have been placed in the most esteemed, recently announced 2021 Forbes 30 under 30 Asia list.

•        They have been placed in the Industry,Manufacturing and Energy category.

•        oooFarm  is a cattle trading platform that allows farmers to sell or purchase cattle without any hassle.

 

6. 4TH TERM AS THE PRESIDENT OF SYRIA

•        Bashar al-Assad(55-year-old) was re-elected for a 4th seven-year term as the President of Syria.

•        He received around 95.1% of the votes cast and won the election against former state minister Abdallah Salloum Abdallah and Mahmud Merhi.

 

7. CYCLONE YAAS MAKES LANDFALL

•        Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) stated that the ‘very severe cyclonic storm’ – Yaas made landfall south of the Balasore region of Odisha.

•        The cyclone originated from the Bay of Bengal.

•        As the cyclone names are given by countries on a rotational basis, the name ‘Yaas’ for the cyclone has been given by Oman.

•        Yaas is a Persian language and it means Jasmin.

•        The naming of Cyclones:World Meteorological Weather Organization(WMO) and United Nations Economic and Social Commission for the Asia Pacific (UN ESCAP) started preparing names for impending cyclonic storms with suggestions from its member countries in 2000.

•        India along with 12 other nations like Bangladesh, Maldives, Oman, Pakistan. Sri Lanka, Suadi Arabia, UAE are part of the panel.

 

8. MENSTRUAL HYGIENE DAY 2021 – MAY 28

•        Menstrual Hygiene Day is annually observed across the globe on 28th May to educate the importance of Menstrual hygiene.

•        The day aims to promote menstrual health and hygiene for all women and girls.

•        The theme of 2021 Menstrual Hygiene Day is “Action and Investment in Menstrual Hygiene and Health.”

 

9. WORLD HUNGER DAY 2021 – MAY 28

•        World Hunger Day is annually observed across the globe on 28th May to create awareness about the 815 million people across the globe who are living in chronic hunger.

•        The day also aims to celebrate the sustainable solution to hunger and poverty.

•        The theme of World Hunger Day 2021 is “Access Ends Hunger”.

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DAILY GK: 28 MAY 2021

 DAILY GK: 28 MAY 2021

1. GLOBAL AVERAGE TEMPERATURE COULD PASS 1.5° C

•        According to the Annual Climate Update provided by the United Kingdom (UK) Met Office and World Meteorological Organization (WMO), there is a 40% possibility of the annual average global temperature temporarily reaching 1.5° C (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre industrial levels in one of the next 5 years (2021-25).

•        Average temperatures are likely to be at least 1° C (estimated to be between 0.9° C  and 1.8° C)  warmer in each of the coming five years (2021-25).

•        The temperature rise is significant, because as per the Paris Agreement signed in 2015 global leaders had committed to limit global warming to 1.5° C and well below 2° C  by the end of the century.

 

2. ‘ONE HEALTH’ PANEL TO ADVISE ON ANIMAL DISEASE RISKS

•        United Nation (UN) bodies viz, the World Health Organization(WHO), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE), and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) formed a team of experts under ‘One Health High-Level Expert Panel’ to help develop a global plan of action to prevent the spread of diseases from animals to humans.

•        ‘The One Health High-Level Expert Panel’ initiative was launched by Germany and France in 2020 in the backdrop of the outbreak of COVID-19.

•        The first meeting of the panel was held in May 2021.

•        The panel will publish its first recommendations later in 2021.

 

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DAILY GK: 27 MAY 2021

 DAILY GK: 27 MAY 2021

1. INDIA’S 1ST RESEARCH REACTOR ON PPP MODEL

•        The Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) stated that India’s 1st Radioisotope Production (reactor) and processing facility complex will be built on Public Private Partnership (PPP) Model.

•        It will be the 1st of its kind PPP in the world.

•        The reactor will be designed by Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) and constructed by Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL), a subsidiary of DAE.

•        The capital expenditure for construction will be provided by DAE.

•        The main objective behind the construction of the Radioisotope reactor is to make treatment for cancer and other diseases affordable, provide help in the farm sector (for food preservation), and make India self-reliant in production of key radioisotopes.

 

2.INDIA’S FOODGRAIN PRODUCTION TO RISE BY 2.66%

•        The Department of Agriculture, Cooperation and Farmers Welfare (DAC & FW) has released the 3rd Advance Estimates of production of major agricultural crops for 2020-21.

•        According to the estimates, the total foodgrain production in India is estimated to rise by 2.66% to a record 305.44 Million Tonnes (MT)  in 2020-21 (compared to 2019).

•        As per 3rd Advance Estimates, the estimated production of major crops during 2020-21 are as under

CROP                                                                                    ESTIMATED PRODUCTION

Rice                                                                                        121.46 MT (record)

Wheat                                                                                    108.75 MT (record)

Oilseeds                                                                                 36.57      T (record)

 

3.MOHALI INTERNATIONAL HOCKEY STADIUM WAS RENAMED

•        The Government of Punjab has officially renamed the Mohali International Hockey Stadium Sector 63 phase 9, Mohali, Punjab, after the 3 time Olympics champion, Padma Shri Balbir Singh Senior.

•        The stadium will be officially known as Olympian Balbir Singh Senior International Hockey Stadium.

•        The announcement regarding the renaming was made at the tribute ceremony held on 25th May, the first death anniversary of Balbir Singh Sr.

•        He passed away at the age of 96 on 25th May 2020.

 

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DAILY GK: 26 MAY 2021

 DAILY GK: 26 MAY 2021

1. CHEETAH TO BE RE-INTRODUCED INTO INDIA

•        Cheetah, declared extinct in India in 1952 is set to be re-introduced into India in November, 2021 at the Kuno National Park, Madhya Pradesh (MP).

•        It is the 1st time in the world that a large carnivore will be relocated from one continent to another.

•        As per the plan, 10 African Cheetahs will be brought from South Africa & Namibia and reintroduced in India.

•        The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) has approved a budget of INR 1,400 Lakh for     the 2021 Fiscal under ‘Project Cheetah’.

 

2. RBI ISSUED GUIDELINES FOR DISTRICT CENTRAL CO-OP BANKS

•        Reserve Bank of India(RBI) notified the guidelines for the Amalgamation of one or more District Central Co-operative Banks (DCCBs) in a State with State Co-operative Bank (StCB) or amalgamation of one DCCB with another.

•        RBI issued the guidelines as some of the State governments approached RBI for amalgamation of DCCBs with the       StCB as a two-tier Short-term Co-operative Credit Structure (STCCS).

 

3. INDIA RECORDS HIGHEST EVER FDI INFLOW

•        As per the data released by the Ministry of Commerce & Industry, India has attracted the highest ever total Foreign      Direct Investment (FDI) inflow of US$81.72 billion during FY21, which is 10 percent more than FY20 of US$74.39 billion.

•        FDI equity inflow grew by 19 percent in FY21 (US$ 59.64 billion) compared to FY20 (US$ 49.98 billion).

•        Singapore is the top investing country with 29 percent of total investment, followed by the U.S.A with 23 percent and Mauritius with 9 percent.

•        TOP INVESTMENT SECTORS IN FY21:

Sector                                                                                    Share of FDI Equity inflow

Computer Software & Hardware                                                                     44 percent

Construction (Infrastructure) Activities                                                          13 percent

Services Sector                                                                                                     8 percent

•        TOP RECIPIENT STATES IN FY21:

•        Gujarat is the top recipient state with a 37 percent share of the total FDI equity inflows followed by Maharashtra 27      percent and Karnataka 13 percent.

 

4.1ST FEMALE PM OF SAMOA

•        Fiame Naomi Mataʻafa, the leader of Fast party was sworn in as the first female Prime Minister(PM) of Samoa at a     ceremony conducted in a makeshift tent outside the parliament.

 

5. HIMANTA BISWA SARMA ELECTED AS BWF COUNCIL MEMBER

•        The Badminton Association of India (BAI) president Himanta Biswa Sarma was elected to the Badminton World         Federation(BWF) council for the period of four years i.e 2021-25.

•        HimantaBiswaSarma is an Indian politician and the current Chief Minister of Assam.

•        He is also the vice president of Badminton Asia.

 

6.FIRST INDIAN PARA SHUTTLERS TO QUALIFY FOR TOKYO PARALYMPICS

        Indian women’s pair of PalakKohli and ParulParmar have qualified for the Tokyo Paralympics 2021.

        They are the first Indian para shuttlers to qualify for the Tokyo Paralympics. PalakKohli is ranked no.11 in the world and she is becoming the youngest para-badminton player in the world to qualify for Tokyo 2021 Paralympics

 

7.WORLD THYROID DAY 2021 – MAY 25

•        World Thyroid Day is annually observed across the globe on 25th May to create awareness about the importance of        Thyroid and educate about the prevention and treatment of Thyroid diseases.

•        The International Thyroid Awareness Week is annually observed across the globe on the 4th Week of May as declared    by the 11th European Congress of Endocrinology in April 2009.

 

8. INTERNATIONAL MISSING CHILDREN’S DAY 2021 – MAY 25

•        International Missing Children’s Day(IMCD) is annually observed across the globe on 25th May to create awareness      about the issues of child abduction and educate the parents about the measures to protect and safeguard their children.

•        ‘Forget me not flower’ is the official emblem of the International Missing Children’s Day.

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DAILY GK: 25 MAY 2021

 DAILY GK: 25 MAY 2021

1.  BLOOMBERG BILLIONAIRE INDEX

•        Based on the data compiled by Bloomberg Billionaire Index, Adani Group’s founder and chairman Gautam Adani became Asia’s 2nd richest man.

Ranking of Asia’s Richest Person:

Ranking                                Country                Richest person                                                                     Net worth

1st                                           India                      Reliance Industries’ MukeshAmbani                                              $76.5 billion

2nd                                         India                      Adani Group’s Gautam Adani                                                          $66.5 billion

3rd                                          China                     Zhong Shanshan                                                                                 $63.6 billion

 

2. NEW CEO OF RESERVE BANK INNOVATION HUB

•        The Board of Reserve Bank Innovation Hub (RBIH) has appointed Rajesh Bansal as the chief executive officer (CEO) of the RBIH with effect from May, 2021.

•        Reserve Bank Innovation Hub (RBIH) is headed by Infosys co-founder S (Kris) Gopalakrishnan.

•        With aim to leveraging technology to drive innovation across the financial sector.

 

3. NEW PRIME MINISTER OF CONGO

•        Anatole Makosso, was appointed as the New Prime Minister of the Republic of the Congo.

•        He was appointed by Denis SassouNguesso, the President of Congo.

 

4. NARINDERBATRA RE-ELECTED AS FIH PRESIDENT

•        NarinderBatra, Indian Olympic Association president was re-elected as president of the International Hockey Federation(FHI) for a 2nd term at the virtual 47th Congress of the FHI held on May22,2021.

•        NarinderBatra is also the member of International Olympic Committee (IOC)

•        FIH is the international governing body of field and indoor field hockey.

 

5. DRDO DEVELOPS ‘DIPCOVAN’

•        The Defence Institute of Physiology and Allied Sciences (DIPAS), a unit under the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has developed DIPCOVAN  (DIPAS-VDx COVID-19 lgG Antibody Microwell ELISA), an Indigenous COVID-19 Antibody detection-based kit.

•        The kit can detect the spike as well as nucleocapsid (S&N) proteins of the SARS-CoV-2 virus with a high sensitivity of 97% & specificity of 99%.

 

6. MICROSOFT ANNOUNCED THE RETIREMENT OF INTERNET EXPLORER IN 2022

•        Microsoft has announced that its Internet Explorer 11 desktop application will retire and go out of support on 15th June 2022 for certain versions of Windows 10.

•        At present, Internet Explorer, which was launched in 1995, holds only a 3.8% share of the desktop browser space which is dominated by Google’s Chrome with 70% share.

 

7. F1 MONACO GP

•        Red Bull Racing Honda’s Max Verstappen (Netherlands) won the 2021 F1 Monaco Grand Prix held at Circuit de Monaco, Monte Carlo.

•        The F1 Championships are organised by Federation Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA).

 

8. WORLD TURTLE DAY 2021

•        World Turtle Day is annually observed across the globe on 23rd May to support the people to celebrate and protect the tortoise and turtles and their habitats across the globe.

•        The theme of World Turtle Day 2021 is “Turtle Rocks!”.

 

9. UTTARAKHAND CM ANNOUNCED VATSALYAYOJANA

•        Uttarakhand Chief Minister Tirath Singh Rawat announced a scheme named Chief Minister VatsalyaYojana for orphaned children who have lost their parents due to Covid-19.

•        The State Government proposed to make arrangements for their maintenance, education and training for employment for those orphaned children up to the age of 21 years.

•        The state’s orphaned children will be provided with a maintenance allowance of Rs 3000 per month.

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DAILY GK: 22 MAY 2021

 DAILY GK: 22 MAY 2021

1.ELDERLINE – HELPLINE FOR SENIOR CITIZENS

•        The Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment has started state-wise call centres under the Elderline project to address the difficulties faced by the elders due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

•        The elderly can reach the call centres through the toll-free number – 14567.

•        The project Elderline was started with the support of TATA trust and the NSE foundation.

 

2.CSE REPORT 2021

•        According to ‘State of Working India 2021: One Year of COVID-19’ released by Azim Premji University’s Centre for Sustainable Employment (CSE) in Bengaluru, Karnataka, the monthly earnings of workers fell on an average by 17% due to COVID-19, self-employed and informal salaried workers faced the highest loss of earnings.

•        Around 100 million jobs were lost nationwide during the April-May 2020 Lockdown.

•        Around 230 million fell below the national minimum wage threshold of INR 375 per day during the pandemic.

•        Poverty increased by 15% in rural & 20% in urban areas during the pandemic.

•        Due to employment and income losses, the labour share of GDP fell by 5% from 32.5% in Q2 2019-20 to 27% in Q2 2020-21.

 

3.WORLD’S FIRST COUNTRY TO BAN SYNTHETIC CANNABINOIDS

•        China issued a total ban on synthetic cannabinoids,thus becoming the world’s first country to ban all synthetic cannabinoid substances.

•        The ban is likely to come into effect on July 1,2021.

•        Cannabinoids are compounds found in cannabis.

•        The most notable cannabinoid is the phytocannabinoid tetrahydrocannabinol, the primary psychoactive compound in cannabis.

•        Synthetic Cannabinoids are human made chemicals.

•        They are designer drugs.

•        A designer drug is a functional and structural analog of a controlled substance that is designed to mimic the pharmacological effects of the original drug.

 

4.THE TEMPLETON PRIZE 2021

•        The prestigious Templeton Prize for the year 2021 was given to conservationist Jane Goodall.

•        She was renowned for her expertise on chimpanzees and her globe-spanning advocacy of environmental causes.

•        Jane Goodall is an English primatologist,anthropologist and the world’s foremost expert on chimpanzees.

 

5.FORBES’ WORLD’S 10 HIGHEST-PAID ATHLETES 2021

•        Forbes’ annual ranking of the World highest-paid athletes for 2021 was released. Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) Fighter Conor McGregor from Ireland topped the list with a total earning of 180 million USD(around 1313 crores).

Top 3 Highest paid athletes:

Rank                                      Name                                     Sport                                      Total earning (USD)

1                                              Conor McGregor                  MMA                                     180 million

2                                              Lionel Messi                         Football                                 130 million

3                                              Cristiano Ronaldo               Football                                 120 million

 

6. CYCLONE TAUKTAE MAKES LANDFALL IN GUJARAT

•        Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) stated that the ‘extremely severe cyclonic storm’ – ‘Tauktae’ made landfall in the Saurashtra region of Gujarat.

•        The cyclone originated from the Arabian Sea.

•        The name ‘Tauktae’ for the cyclone has been given by Myanmar, It means ‘gecko’, a highly vocal lizard in Burmese dialect.

 

7.FIFA U-17 WOMEN’S WORLD CUP

•        On the 71st Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) Congress, the FIFA Council approved key dates for the international match calendars.

•        In which it also announced the dates of the 2022 U-17 Women’s world Cup in India to be held from October 11 to 30 in 2022.

•        This will be the 2nd FIFA tournament hosted by India, after the FIFA U-17 World Cup 2017(which broke the record for being the most attended youth World Cup in FIFA’s history).

 

8. INTERNATIONAL TEA DAY 2021 – MAY 21

•        The United Nations (UN)’s International Tea Day is annually observed across the globe on 21st May to celebrate the cultural heritage, health benefits and economic importance of tea.

•        The observance of the international tea day is led by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO)of the UN.

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