DAILY GK : 25 AUG 2021

 DAILY GK : 25 AUG 2021

1.NATIONAL MONETISATION PIPELINE

•      Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs, Nirmala Sitharaman launched the asset monetisation pipeline of Central ministries and public sector entities named National Monetisation pipeline (NMP).

•      The NMP report was developed by NITI Aayog (National Institution for Transforming India) in consultation with infrastructure line ministries.

•      Objective: To list out the government’s (govt) infrastructure assets that are to be sold in the next 4 years.

•      The aggregate monetisation potential under NMP through core assets of the central govt over the 4-year period (i.e. from FY22 to FY25) is estimated at Rs 6 lakh crores.

•      Monetisation: It is the process of earning revenue from an asset business by converting the assets into cash or a form that is easily convertible into cash.

 

2.LOCKHEED MARTIN GETS USD 328 MN INDIAN CONTRACT

•      Lockheed Martin, US based Company has received USD 328 Million worth Contract from the Indian Government to provide comprehensive support for the Indian Air Force (IAF) fleet of 12C-130J-30 Super Hercules Aircraft for a period of 5 years.

 

3.‘FORUM FOR DECARBONIZING TRANSPORT’

•      As a part of the Nationally Determined Contributions-Transport Initiative for Asia(NDC-TIA) project, NITI Aayog and World Resources Institute(WRI), India has jointly launched the ‘Forum for Decarbonizing Transport’ in India.

•      The forum will act as a channel to bring in the diverse needs to adopt an integrated approach for greening the transport sector in India.

•      Amitabh Kant, CEO of NITI Aayog inaugurated the forum over the virtual event.

 

4.‘OPERATION DEVI SHAKTI’

•      The Government of India (GoI) has launched a rescue mission named ‘Operation Devi Shakti’ to evacuate stranded Indians from the Taliban-Captured Afghanistan.

•      The operation is carried out by the Indian Air Force (IAF), Air India & the officials at the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) in collaboration with the US and several other countries.

•      Amrullah Saleh, Afghanistan’s 1st Vice President declared himself as the caretaker president of Afghanistan, after former President Ashraf Ghani fled the country.

 

5.‘OPERATION BLUE FREEDOM – LAND WORLD RECORD AT SIACHEN GLACIER’

•      People with disabilities from across the country will undertake an expedition till Siachen Glacier to create a new World Record for the largest team of people with disabilities to reach the world’s highest battlefield.

•      The Government of India has permitted a team of people with disabilities to scale Siachen Glacier.

•      The team of people with disabilities trained by ‘Team CLAW’ a team of Armed Forces veterans.

•      The successful execution of this pioneering expedition will be named as ‘Operation Blue Freedom’ and empowering Divyangjan to set a benchmark for other nations to emulate.

 

6.NCCR REPORT

•      In accordance with the recent technical report by the National Centre for Coastal Research (NCCR) under the Ministry of Earth Sciences, 32% of India’s coastline underwent sea erosion and 27% of it expanded in a time span of 28 years i.e. between 1990 and 2018.

•      This information was provided by Parshottam Khodabhai Rupala, Union Minister of Fisheries, Animal, Husbandry and Dairying in response to a question in the Lok Sabha.

 

7.CUSHMAN GLOBAL MANUFACTURING RISK INDEX 2021

•      In accordance with the Cushman & Wakefield’s 2021 ‘Global Manufacturing Risk Index-Assessing Costs, Risks and Conditions Impacting Manufacturing‘, India became the world’s second most desired manufacturing destination globally surpassing the United States (US) which stood at 3rd place.  

•      The top position is retained by China.

 

8.RBI TO LAUNCH GAAR REGULATIONS FOR ROUND-TRIPPING

•      Reserve Bank of India (RBI) released the recommendation report of the Expert Committee on Primary (Urban) Co-operative Banks (UCBs) under the chairmanship of N. S. Vishwanathan, which was constituted by RBI to review the issues of UCBs and to provide a road map for strengthening the sector.

•      Committee’s Recommendation:To ease the regulatory process, the committee has recommended a 4-tier structure for the UCBs, based on their capital availability and other factors.

•      Tier 1 – All unit UCBs and salary earner’s UCBs (irrespective of deposit size), and all other UCBs having deposits up to Rs 100 crore

•      Tier 2 – UCBs with deposits between Rs 100 crore – Rs 1000 crore

•      Tier 3 – UCBs with deposits between Rs 1000 crore – Rs 10,000 crore

•      Tier 4 – UCBs with deposits more than Rs 10,000 crore

 

9.GEOSPATIAL PLANNING PORTAL ‘YUKTDHARA’

•      Government of India had launched a new geo-spatial planning portal ‘’Yuktdhara’’ under Bhuvan.

•      It would enable MGNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) assets planning by using remote sensing and Geographic Information System (GIS) data.

•      The portal Yuktdhara was launched by Giriraj Singh, Minister of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj.

•      Objective– Yuktdhara platform will serve as a repository of assets and facilitate the Gram Panchayat level planning of MGNREGA activities across India.

 

10.WTT CONTENDER 2021

•      The Indian duo of table tennis players  Manika Batra and G Sathiyan defeated Hungary’s Dora Madarasz and Nandor Ecseki with 3-1 in the final match of World Table Tennis (WTT) Contender 2021 which held at Budapest,capital of Hungary.

•      With this achievement, they became the first table tennis players from India to win a WTT Contender title.

 

11.‘THE KAPIL SHARMA STORY’

•      The renowned writer Ajitabha Bose wrote a book ‘The Kapil Sharma Story’, a biography of the famous Indian Stand-up comedian and self-made superstar,  Kapil Sharma.

•      The book narrates about the journey and struggling life of Kapil Sharma.

 

12.NATIONAL RENEWABLE ENERGY DAY – AUGUST 20

•      Akshay Urja Diwas also known as National Renewable Energy Day, is annually observed across India on 20th August to create awareness about the benefits of natural energies such as Biogas, Solar Energy, Wind Energy and Hydroelectric Power.

•      The day also marks the birth anniversary of Late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.

 

13.WORLD WATER WEEK 2021 – 23 TO 27 AUGUST

•      World Water Week(WWWeek) is annually celebrated across the globe in the month of August to address the major water issues across the globe.

•      The WWWeek 2021 is being held as an online event from 23rd to 27th August.

•      WWWeek has been an annual event organised by Stockholm International Water Institute(SIWI) since 1991.

•      The theme of 2021 World water Week is “Building Resilience Faster”.

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DAILY GK: 24 AUG 2021

 DAILY GK: 24 AUG 2021

1.ARIOUS PROJECTS IN SOMNATH, GUJARAT

•      Prime Minister Narendra Modi has Inaugurated & laid foundation Stone for various projects in Somnath, Gujarat Virtually.

•      PM Modi inaugurated the following projects

•      The Somnath Promenade,

•      The Somnath Exhibition Centre

•      Reconstructed Temple precinct of Old (Juna) Somnath.

•      PM laid the foundation Stone of Parvatimata Temple in Somnath Temple premises.

•      Under Pilgrimage Rejuvenation and Spiritual, Heritage Augmentation Drive (PRASHAD) Scheme, announced in 2014, is developing 40 major places of pilgrimage out of which, 15 are already completed.

•      In Gujarat, work is on for three projects worth around Rs.180 crore.

 

2.INR 250 CRORE UBHARTE SITAARE FUND

•      Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has launched Ubharte Sitaare Fund (USF) of Corpus INR 250 crore with a green shoe option of INR 250 crore for Export oriented Small & mid sized companies across the country.

•      USF is jointly funded by Export and Import (EXIM) Bank of India & Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI)

 

3.INDIA’S FIRST SMOG TOWER INAUGURATED

•      India’s first smog tower launched in Delhi as a pilot project by the Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal at Baba Kharak Marg, Connaught Place.

•      It was developed by  IIT-Delhi and IIT- Bombay.

•      This smog tower has the capacity to purify 1000 cubic metres of air per second and it is estimated that it will reduce PM2.5 concentration by around 70%.

 

4.INDIA TO HOST 2ND UNWGIC IN 2022 AT HYDERABAD, TELANGANA

•      India is all set to host the 2nd United Nations World Geospatial Information Congress (UNWGIC) in October 2022 in Hyderabad, Telangana on the theme ‘Towards Geo-enabling the Global Village’.

•      It will be organized as a part of ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav (Celebration of 75 Years of Indian Independence)’.

 

5.RBI INTRODUCED AUTOMATION SYSTEM ‘PRISM’

•      The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has introduced a web-based and end-to-end workflow automation system named ‘Platform for Regulated Entities for Integrated Supervision and Monitoring’ (PRISM) to strengthen the compliance of the entities that are supervised by RBI.

•      Objective: To make continuous supervision of entities for – earlier identification of risks; conduct of supervisory actions; and strengthen their internal resilience.

 

6.CITIBANK GOT APPROVAL FROM IFSCA

•      US-based Citibank NA received the approval from International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA) to open a banking unit at India’s GIFT IFSC (Gujarat International Finance Tec-City – International Financial Services Centre) at Gandhinagar, Gujarat to carry out offshore transactions.

•      In 2020, Citibank received in-principle approval from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to start a banking unit after which it has waited for the final nod from IFSCA to start operations.

 

7.17TH GOVERNOR OF MANIPUR

•      President Ramnath Kovind has appointed senior BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) leader from Tamil Nadu, La.

•      Ganesan as 17th Governor of Manipur.

•      He Succeeded Najma Heptulla, who retired earlier this month.

 

8.ONEWEB LAUNCHES 34 SATELLITES INTO LEO

•      OneWeb, Satellite Communications Operator Co-owned by Bharti Airtel & United Kingdom (UK) Government has launched another batch of 34 Satellites into Low Earth Orbit (LEO) on August 22, 2021.

•      It was the 5th launch of OneWeb satellites in 2021, thereby  making a total of 288 Satellites in the Orbit.

 

9.INDIA’S 1ST INDIGENOUS MOTORISED WHEELCHAIR VEHICLE, NEOBOLT

•      IIT (Indian Institute of Technology) Madras has developed India’s 1st indigenous motorised wheelchair vehicle, NeoBolt, which could be used even on uneven terrains (land).

•      NeoBolt was developed by a team led by Sujatha Srinivasan, Department of Mechanical Engineering, IIT Madras.

•      A start-up called ‘NeoMotion’ has commercialised the NeoBolt.

 

10.FORMER UTTAR PRADESH CM KALYAN SINGH PASSES AWAY

•      The former Chief Minister(CM) of Uttar Pradesh(UP), BJP leader Kalyan Singh passed away at the age of 89 in Lucknow due to age related diseases.

•      He was born in Atrauli, Uttar Pradesh.

•      Kalyan Singh served as Governor of Himachal Pradesh, Governor of Rajasthan(2014-19).

•      He served as the Chief Minister of UP for 2 terms, i.e.,1991-92 & 1997-99.

 

11.WORLD SANSKRIT DAY 2021 – AUGUST 22

•      World Sanskrit Day, also known as Vishva-Samskrita-dinam and Sanskrit Diwas, is annually observed on ‘Sawan Poornima’ to create awareness, promote and revive Sanskrit, one of the ancient Indian languages.

•      World Sanskrit day 2021 falls on 22nd August 2021.

 

12.WORLD ENTREPRENEURS’ DAY 2021 – AUGUST 21

•      World Entrepreneurs’ Day(WED) is annually observed across the globe on 21st August to create awareness about entrepreneurship, innovation and leadership among the stakeholders.

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DAILY GK: 22 , 23 AUG 2021

 DAILY GK: 22 , 23 AUG 2021

1.SC ALLOWS WOMEN TO APPEAR IN NDA EXAM

•      The Supreme Court (SC) in its interim order has allowed Women candidates to appear in the upcoming National Defense Academy (NDA) examination.

•      Women will be appearing for the 1st time in the 65 years history of the NDA examination.

•      Women candidates will be permitted to sit for the NDA exam which is Rescheduled on November 14th, 2021 and their admission into the NDA will be subject to final orders of SC.

 

2.PRESIDENT APPROVED CONSTITUTION (127TH AMENDMENT) BILL, 2021

•      The President of India, Ram Nath Kovind approved the Constitution (127th Amendment) Bill, 2021.

•      After his assent, the bill has changed into the Constitution (105th Amendment) Act, 2021 which will restore the power of states and Union Territories (UTs) to identify and specify Socially and Educationally backward Classes (SEBCs).

•      The Constitution 127th Amendment Bill was passed  by the Parliament on 11th August, 2021 in the Monsoon Session.

•      It has amended articles 338B , 342-A and 366(26C) of the Indian Constitution

•      Article 338B – It deals with the structure, duties and powers of the National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC).

•      Article 342-A – It empowers the President to notify a particular caste as SEBC and also enables the parliament to change the list.

•      Article 366(26C) – gives the definition for SEBCs

 

3.INDIA’S 1ST EV-FRIENDLY HIGHWAY

•      Dr Mahendra Nath Pandey, Union Minister of Heavy Industries inaugurated the state of the art electric vehicle (EV) charging station in (Karnal Lake Resort)Karnal, Haryana, installed by Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL).

•      The EV charging station is located at the midpoint of Delhi-Chandigarh Highway, makes the Delhi Chandigarh Highway as India’s first EV-friendly Highway.

 

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DAILY GK: 21 AUG 2021

DAILY GK: 21 AUG 2021

1. R-AL-BAHR’ MARITIME EXERCISE 2021

•      2nd edition of Bilateral Maritime Exercise Zair-Al-Bahr (Roar of the Sea) 2021 between the Indian Navy and Qatar Emiri Naval Force (QENF) was conducted in the Persian Gulf.

•      Indian Navy Guided Missile Stealth Frigate INS (Indian Naval Ship) Trikand arrived at Qatar’s capital city, Doha for participation in the sea phase.

•      It was commanded by Captain Harish Bahuguna.

 

2. AK-103 RIFLES DEAL UNDER EMERGENCY PROCUREMENT

•      India finalized a deal with Russia for the procurement of a sizeable number of AK-103 series of assault rifles for the Indian Army under the provisions of emergency financial powers granted to the three services to make urgent purchases.

•      Also in September 2020, Ministry of Defence and Russian representatives inked a major deal for manufacturing ~ 6 lakh AK-47 203 rifles in India under ‘Make-in-India’ programme.

•      These will be manufactured by the Indo-Russia Rifles Pvt. Ltd, a joint venture between the Ordnance Factory Board (OFB), the Kalashnikov Concern (manufacturer of the AK rifles) and Rosoboronexport, the Russian state agency for military exports.

 

3. ASSAM CELEBRATED WANCHUWA FESTIVAL 2021

•      Tiwa tribal community living in the hills celebrated the Wanchuwa festival 2021 in Morten Village in Karbi Anglong District of Assam.

•      This festival is related to agriculture as it marks a good harvest and also involves prayers for protection from pests and natural calamities.

•      Also known as Lalung tribe, Tiwa tribe’s people are a part of Bodo Kachari group.

•      They mainly live in Assam and Meghalaya and also found in some parts of Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur.

 

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DAILY GK: 19 , 20 AUG 2021

 DAILY GK: 19 , 20 AUG 2021

1.2ND PHASE OF SAMVAD IN BENGALURU

•      The 2nd phase of SAMVAD was launched by the Union Minister of Women and Child Development (WCD)  Smriti Zubin Irani in Bengaluru on the successful completion of one year of SAMVAD programme.

•      SAMVAD stands for Support, Advocacy & Mental Health intervention for children in Vulnerable circumstances and Distress.

 

2.MANUFACTURING OF ASRAAM MISSILES IN INDIA

•      Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL) and MBDA, Europe based Missiles Manufacturer signed an agreement to establish a facility for the Final Assembly, Integration and Test (FAIT) of Advanced Short Range Air to Air Missiles (ASRAAM) in Bhanur, Telangana.

•      Under the agreement, MBDA will transfer the equipment and technology to BDL for establishing the facility.

 

3.GE AVIATION GOING TO SUPPLY ENGINES FOR LCA TEJAS

•      Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) placed an order in GE Aviation, the subsidiary of General Electric (GE), for purchasing 99 F404-GE-IN20 engines worth Rs 5,375 crore (US $716 million) to power the Tejas Light Combat Aircraft (LCA).

•      This order is the largest purchase order placed by HAL for LCA.

•      It was a part of the execution of 83 LCA contracts with the Indian Air Force (IAF).

 

4.AMRIT MAHOTSAV SHRI SHAKTI CHALLENGE 2021

•      As a part of the Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav, the 75th year of Independence of India, MyGov under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology(MeitY) along with the United Nations(UN) Women launched the “Amrit Mahotsav Shri Shakti Innovation Challenge 2021”.

 

5.RBI ALLOWED HDFC BANK TO ISSUE NEW CREDIT CARDS

•      Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had removed the restriction imposed on HDFC Bank after 8 months and allowed it to issue new credit cards.

•      However, the restrictions on the bank’s new offerings under its Digital 2.0 were not removed.

•      Background: On December 2, 2020, the RBI has stopped HDFC which has the largest credit card base in India from issuing new credit cards due to its series of digital banking outages.

 

6.TCS HITS RS 13 LAKH CRORE MARKET-CAP

•      The market capitalisation(market-cap or m-cap) of the Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has reached around Rs 13 Lakh crore on BSE. TCS became the first Information Technology(IT) company to cross the 13 lakh crore mark and the 2nd Indian company after Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) to achieve the feat.

 

7.VIRENDRA KUMAR SOCIAL JUSTICE MINISTER LAUNCHED TAPAS

•      Dr. Virendra Kumar, Union Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment, launched an online portal TAPAS (Training for Augmenting Productivity and Services) to offer access to lectures, study materials and others, supplementing the physical classroom without compromising teaching quality.

•      It was developed by the National Institute of Social Defence(NISD), Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.

 

8.GODFATHER OF SUDOKU PASSES AWAY

•      Maki Kaji , widely known as the Godfather of Sudoku for his role in creating one of the World’s most popular puzzles, passed away due to Bile duct cancer in Tokyo, Japan.

•      Kaji’s interest with a game called Number place was later renamed as ‘Sudoku’ – a Japanese word meaning Single Numbers.

 

9.BOOK - “THE DREAM OF REVOLUTION: A BIOGRAPHY OF JAYAPRAKASH NARAYAN”

•      A book titled “The Dream of Revolution: A Biography of Jayaprakash Narayan” will be launched.

•      The book is written by the  historian Bimal Prasad and author Sujata Prasad.

•      It contains the biography of the great revolutionary leader and independence activist Bharat Ratna, Jayaprakash Narayan, also known as JP or Lok Nayak.

 

10.BOOK “OPERATION TROJAN HORSE: A NOVEL INSPIRED BY TRUE EVENTS”

•      “Operation Trojan Horse: A Novel Inspired by True Events” authored by Abhishek Sharan and Divya Prakash Sinha (D.P. Sinha) is a novel inspired by various true events like the 26/11 Mumbai attacks and India’s fight against terrorism.

 

11.INDIA & VIETNAM BILATERAL MARITIME EXERCISE

•      India and Vietnam had conducted a Bilateral maritime exercise in the South China Sea as a part of maritime cooperation between the two countries.

•      This maritime exercise aims to build trustworthiness and enhance cooperation in the region of South China Sea.

 

12.AAROGYA DHARA 2.0

•      Mansukh Mandaviya, Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare virtually inaugurated the Aarogya Dhara- 2.0 to increase the reach of the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Aarogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY) programme to the poorest households of India and to create awareness about the scheme.

•      He chaired the event – Aarogya Dhara- 2.0, to mark the completion of 2 crore treatments under AB-PMJAY.

 

13.2021 GLOBAL CRYPTO ADOPTION INDEX

•      According to the 2nd Edition of Global Crypto Adoption Index 2021 released by Chainalysis, a crypto-analysis firm, India with a score of 0.37 ranked 2nd out of 154 countries.

•      Vietnam topped the index.

•      The index ranks countries based on 3 indicators such as On-chain value received, On-chain retail value received and Peer-to-Peer (P2P) exchange trade volume

        Ranking                        Country                                 Index Score

        1.                                                    Vietnam                                                                1

        2.                                    India                                                       0.37

        3.                                    Pakistan                                                 0.36

 

14.RBI ISSUED REVISED GUIDELINES FOR LOCKER IN BANKS

•      The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has issued revised guidelines for both new and existing Safe Deposit Locker and Safe Custody Article Facility with the banks.

•      The guidelines would come into effect from January 1, 2022.

        RBI’S GUIDELINES:

i. The banks are directed to incorporate a clause in the ‘locker agreement’ for prohibiting the hirer from keeping anything illegal or hazardous in lockers.

ii. Transparency: To ensure transparency in lockers allotment, the RBI mandated banks to maintain a branch-wise list of vacant lockers and a wait-list in Core Banking System (CBS) or any other computerised system compliant with Cyber Security Framework.

iii. Compensation: The banks are instructed to compensate the customers in case of incidents such as fire, theft, burglary, dacoity, robbery, building collapse or fraud committed by the bank’s employees.

•      The compensation has to be an amount equivalent to 100 times the existing annual rent of the safe deposit locker.

 

15.BLOOMBERG BILLIONAIRES INDEX

•      Radhakishan Damani, who owns the retail chain D-Mart under Avenue Supermarts has made it to the top 100 richest people in the world.

•      He is now ranked 97 on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index with a net worth of 19.3 billion USD (around Rs 1.4 lakh crore).Elon Musk topped the list, followed by Jeff Bezos, Bernard Arnault.

•      A total of 6 Indians are featured among the top 100, with Mukesh Ambani(12), Gautam Adani(23), Azim Premji(36), Shiv Nadar(52) and Lakshmi Mittal(71).

 

16.AMRULLAH SALEH DECLARES HIMSELF AS CARETAKER PRESIDENT

•      Afghanistan’s 1st Vice President (VP) Amrullah Saleh declared himself as ‘the caretaker President of Afghanistan’ after President Ashraf Ghani fled the Taliban captured country.

•      Currently, Afghanistan is under the control of Taliban, capturing Kabul after the U.S led forces left the country.

       THE TALIBAN : HISTORY

i.  The word ‘Taliban meaning Students’ in the Pashto language, emerged in 1994 around the city of Kandahar, Afghanistan.

ii. It was one of the factions which were fighting a civil war to rule the country following the withdrawal of the Soviet Union in 1989 and the subsequent collapse of the government in 1992.

 

17.WORLD HUMANITARIAN DAY 2021 – AUGUST 19

•      The United Nations(UN)’s World Humanitarian Day(WHD) is annually observed across the globe on 19th August to honour and recognise the efforts of Humanitarians across the globe on protecting and supporting the people in need.

•      WHD is a campaign by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and humanitarian partners.

 

18.WORLD PHOTOGRAPHY DAY 2021

•      World Photography Day is annually observed across the globe on 19th August to celebrate the art, craft, science and history of photography.

•      The day also inspires photographers across the globe to share one of their photographs to share their world with the world.

•      World Photography Day is also known as World Photo Day.

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