DAILY GK 14-15 FEB

 DAILY GK 14-15 FEB 

1.         SWATI PORTAL FOR WOMEN IN STEMM

·           GoIlaunched ‘Science for Women: A Technology and Innovation (SWATI) Portal (https://swati.nipgr.ac.in/), India’s 1st-of-its-kind interactive online portal on Indian women in STEMM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics& Medicine).

·           SWATI portal was developed, hosted and maintained by the National Institute of Plant Genome Research (NIPGR).

·           SWATI portal is an initiative by the Inter Academy Panel of India (IAP) on Women in STEMM.

 

2.         INDIA EXTENDS UPI SERVICE IN SRI LANKA AND MAURITIUS

·           Narendra Modi, Prime Minister (PM) of India, along with Mauritius PM Pravind Kumar Jugnauth and Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe, virtually launched India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI) in Mauritius and Sri Lanka.

·           The UPI and RuPay card projects were developed and executed by NPCI International Payments Limited (NIPL) along with partner banks / non-banks from Mauritius and Sri Lanka, under the guidance and support of the Reserve Bank of India.

·           The list of countries that accept UPI payments are Bhutan, France, Mauritius, Singapore, Sri Lanka, and the United Arab Emirates(UAE).

·           NPCI Headquarters– Mumbai, Maharashtra

·           Incorporated in 2008

 

3.         RBI RAISES WAGE CEILING FOR NEDS OF BANKS TO RS 30 LAKH

·           Reserve Bank of India (RBI), has increased the remuneration ceiling of Non Executive Directors (NEDs) of banks from Rs 20 lakh per annum to Rs 30 lakh with immediate effect.

·           RBI cancelled the licence of Jai Prakash Narayan Nagari Sahakari Bank Ltd., Basmathnagar, Maharashtra. Reserve Bank of India (RBI):

·           Governor – Shaktikanta Das

·           Establishment – 1st April 1935

·           Headquarters – Mumbai, Maharashtra

 

4.         AUSTRALIA WINS U19 MEN’S CRICKET WORLD CUP 

·           The Australian Under-19 (U19) cricket team won the International Cricket Council (ICC) U19 Men’s Cricket World Cup (CWC) 2024 title defeating India in the finals held in Willowmoore Park stadium in Benoni, South Africa.

·           The Indian U-19 team was captained by Uday Saharan, and the Australian team was captained by Hugh Weibgen.

·           This also marks India’s fifth consecutive final appearance in the U19 Men’s CWC, including in 2016, 2018, 2020, 2022, and 2024.

·           Player of the Tournament – Kwena Maphaka (South Africa).

·           TheICC U19 World Cup tournament has been conducted once every two years since its second edition in 1998.

 

5.         INTERNATIONAL DAY OF WOMEN AND GIRLS IN SCIENCE 2024- FEBRUARY 11

·           The United Nations (UN)’s International Day of Women and Girls in Science (IDWGIS) is annually observed across the globe on 11 February to promote full and equal access to and participation of women and girls in the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM).

·           The theme of IDWGIS 2024 is “Women and Girls in Science Leadership: A New Era for Sustainability”

·           The subtheme of IDWGIS 2024 is “Think Science … Think Peace”.

·           UNESCO Director-General– Audrey Azoulay

·           Headquarters– Paris, France

·           Establishment– 1945 (came into force in 1946)

 

6.         INDIA & RUSSIA AGREEMENT TO STRENGTHEN BILATERAL NUCLEAR COOPERATION

·           India and Russia signed a protocol to amend the 2008 intergovernmental agreement focusing on cooperation in constructing additional nuclear reactors at the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project (KKNPP) site and new Russia-designed nuclear power plants at new sites in India.

·           The KKNPP in Tirunelveli, Tamil Nadu(TN) is a joint initiative of India and Russia.

·           Kudankulam Plant Development: India’s only nuclear power plant established with another country (Russian technical support) is the KKNPP in Tamil Nadu.

 

7.         IOB CELEBRATES 88TH FOUNDATION DAY

·           Indian Overseas Bank (IOB), a public sector bank, celebrated its 88th Foundation day on 10th February 2024 in Chennai, Tamil Nadu.

·           IOB also launched Freedom Current Account and Saving Account (CASA) variant.

·           IOB was founded on 10th February 1937 by  M.Ct.M. Chidambaram Chettyar. IOB stated operation in Karaikudi, Chennai and Rangoon, Burma (presently Myanmar) and Penang, Malaysia.

·           Rupay Credit Card Variants: RuPay Platinum offers reward points and benefits, and includes personal accident coverage of up to Rs 10 lakhs

 

8.         PV NARASIMHA RAO, CHAUDHARY CHARAN SINGH & MS SWAMINATHAN CONFERRED BHARAT RATNA

·           Government of India (GoI) announced that two former Prime Ministers(PMs), Chaudhary Charan Singh and PV Narasimha Rao, and father of India’s ‘green revolution’ Dr MS Swaminathan will be awarded Bharat Ratna in 2024.

·           The total number of Bharat Ratna recipients in 2024 becomes five.

·           This is the highest number of Bharat Ratnas awarded in a year since its inception in 1954.

·           In January 2024, GoI announced Bharat Ratna for Former Deputy Prime Minister Lal Krishna (LK) Advani and Former Bihar Chief Minister Karpoori Thakur (posthumously).

 

9.         SPORTSTAR ACES AWARD 2024

·           Indian Olympian Neeraj Chopra was awarded the Sportstar of the Year (Male) award at the 2024 Sportstar Aces Awards held at the TajMahal Hotel in Mumbai, Maharashtra.

·           The 2024 Arjuna Awardee Sheetal Devi (para-archer) won the Sportstar Aces Award for the Sportstar of the Year(female).

·           She also won the Moment of the year award.

·           The 2024 Australian Open men’s doubles champion and 2024 Padma Shri awardee Rohan Bopanna was awarded the ‘Ace of Aces award’.

 

10.      GOOGLE LAUNCHES ‘LUMIERE’ AI TO GENERATE 5-SECOND VIDEOS

·           Google has introduced a new video-generation Artificial Intelligence (AI) model ‘Lumiere’, a Space-Time Diffusion Model to generate 5-second videos that portray realistic, diverse and coherent motion.

·           It deploys a text-to-video diffusion model for generating videos from text descriptions.

 

11.      NATIONAL PRODUCTIVITY DAY 2024 – FEBRUARY 12

·           National Productivity Day or National Productivity Council Foundation Day is annually observed across India on 12th February to mark the foundation day of the National Productivity Council of India (NPC) and raise awareness of productivity, efficiency, and innovation.

·           The theme for National Productivity Week 2024 is ‘Artificial Intelligence (AI)- Productivity Engine for Economic

·           National Productivity Council of India (NPC) President – Piyush Goyal (Union Minister of Commerce and Industry)

·           Headquarters- New Delhi, Delhi

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DAILY GK 11-13 FEB

 DAILY GK 11-13 FEB 

1.         HEADQUARTERS OF CONFEDERATION OF INTERNATIONAL TEA SMALLHOLDERS TO SHIFT TO INDIA

·           The headquarters of the Confederation of International Tea Smallholders (CITS) will shift from China to India.

·           The decision was taken during the 25th session of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Intergovernmental Group on Tea (IGG/Tea) held at Guwahati, Assam

·           India took over as the Chair of the FAO IGG/Tea from the United Kingdom (UK) for the next 2 years (2024-2026) and the session was presided over by SauravPahari, Deputy Chairman of Tea Board India.

·           Sri Lanka will host the next IGG session after 2 years in 2026.

·           CITS was formed at the 22nd session of the FAO IGG in Naivasha, Kenya, in 2016.

·           Kenya is the world’s largest tea exporting country.

·           FAODirector-General– QU Dongyu

·           Established in– 1945

·           Headquarters– Rome, Italy

·           Members– 194 Member Nations, and 1 member organization, the European Union.

 

2.         SARTHI PORTAL FOR INSURANCE PRODUCTS

·           Union Minister ArjunMunda, Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare (MoA&FW) launched Sandbox for Agricultural and Rural Security, Technology and Insurance (SARTHI) Portal to offer a range of insurance products including PradhanMantriFasalBimaYojana(PMFBY).

·           He also launched the KrishiRakshak portal and helpline number (14447) to enable farmers in India to file their grievances.

·           PMFBYthe flagship scheme of MoA&FW was launched on 18th February 2016 by Prime Minister (PM) NarendraModi at Sehore, Madhya Pradesh.

·           The scheme aims to support sustainable production in the agriculture sector by providing financial support to farmers and stabilizing the income of farmers to ensure their continuance in farming.

 

3.         SJFI’S LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

·           President of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) and Indian sprinter Pilavullakandy Thekkeyparambil Usha (P.T. Usha) was conferred with the Lifetime Achievement Award with Gold Medal by Sports Journalists’ Federation of India (SJFI) 

·           The award consists of a Gold Medal, a citation and a memento. SJFI award is the highest honour of SJFI.

·           PT Usha is the fifth recipient of the SJFI Gold Medal.

 

4.         PRESIDENT OF THE INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE

·           Justice Nawaf Salam from Lebanon was elected as the President of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the principal judicial organ of the United Nations(UN), for 3 years 

·           Nawaf Salam succeeds Judge Joan E Donoghue from the United States of America(USA) who served as president of ICJ from 2021 to 2024.

·           The seat of the ICJ is at the Peace Palace in The Hague, The Netherlands.

·           ICJ was established in June 1945 and began activities in 1946.

·           ICJ Judge: ICJ comprises 15 judges (including the President and Vice President of ICJ) elected for a term of 9 years.

·           Judge DalveerBhandari from India is one of the 15 Judges of ICJ.

 

5.         4TH KHELO INDIA UNIVERSITY GAMES

·           Assam Chief Minister(CM) Himanta Biswa Sarma launched the Logo, Anthem, Mascot, Jersey, and Torch of the 4th edition of the Khelo India University Games(KIUG 2023)

·           The Mascot of the KIUG 2023 is ‘Ashtalakshmi’, a butterfly.

·           Khelo India University Games (KIUG) is a national-level multi-sport event held in India for athletes from universities across India. The event is organised as a part of the Khelo India movement. 

 

6.         SAFF U19 WOMEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP

·           The Indian women’s team along with Bangladesh has been declared the joint winners of the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Under19 (U-19) Women’s Championship 2024 title.

·           The 5th edition of the SAFF U19 Women’s Championship was hosted by Bangladesh and held at the Bir Shreshtha Shaheed Shipahi Mostafa Kamal (BSSSMK) Stadium, Dhaka, Bangladesh.

 

7.         MINISTRY OF EDUCATION LAUNCHES APAAR IN REMOTE VILLAGES ACROSS INDIA

·           Ministry of Education (MoE) launched APAAR (Automated Permanent Academic Account Registry) through the Common Service Centres (CSCs) in remote villages of India.

·           APAAR, conceptualized under the National Education Policy (NEP 2020), aims for ‘One Nation, One Student ID’.

·           APAAR mandates all college/university students to register on the Academic Bank of Credits (ABC) platform.

·           Under the new policy, students must have an ABC ID to be admitted to any college or university.

·           The suggestion to bring the ABC into education was given in the NEP 2020.

·           Digital Integration for School Education:All school children should be given provisional APAAR IDs, immediately authenticated with Aadhaar, and linked to Digi Locker.

 

8.         WORLD DEFENSE SHOW 2024 HELD IN RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA

·           The 2nd edition of the World Defence Show (WDS 2024) was held in in Riyadh International Convention & Exhibition Center, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

·           WDS 2024 was organised by the General Authority for Military Industries (GAMI), the regulator, enabler, licensor for the military industry in Saudi Arabia.

·           The Theme of WDS 2024 is “Equipped for Tomorrow”.

·           Saudi Arabia:Capital- Riyadh

·           Prime Minister- HRH Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud

·           Currency- Saudi Riyal

 

9.         PRESIDENT OF FINLAND 

·           Finland’s former Prime Minister (PM) Alexander Stubb of the National Coalition Party (NCP) won the run-off presidential election, securing 51.6% of the vote, and became the 13th President of Finland.

·           He defeated Pekka Haavisto, an independent candidate of the Green Party and former Foreign Minister, who secured 48.4% of votes.

·           Finland:Prime Minister– Petteri Orpo

·           Capital– Helsinki

·           Currency– The Euro

 

10.      WORLD PULSES DAY 2024- FEBRUARY 10

·           The United Nations (UN) World Pulses Day (WPD) is annually observed across the globe on 10 February to recognise the significance of pulse crops like chickpeas, dry beans, and lentils as a global food.

·           The 2024 theme of WPD 2024 is: “Pulses: Nourishing Soils and People.”

·           The day was established following the successful implementation of International Year of Pulses (IYP) in 2016 by FAO.

 

11.      NATIONAL DEWORMING DAY 2024 – FEBRUARY 10

·           The National Deworming Day (NDD) is organised biannually in all states and Union Territories (UTs) across India to eradicate intestinal worms also referred to as Soil-Transmitted Helminths (STH), among children of age 1-19 years. 

·           The 1st round is conducted in February and the 2nd round is conducted in August.

·           NDD is a flagship program of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, which was launched in 2015.

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