DAILY GK 23-24 APRIL

 DAILY GK 23-24 APRIL

1.       5TH PHASE OF REGIONAL CONNECTIVITY SCHEME UDAN 5.0

·         The Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) has launched the fifth phase of the Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS) – UdeDeshKaAamNagrik (UDAN) or UDAN 5.0, to improve the connectivity of the country’s regional territories, after four successful rounds of bidding.

·         The earlier stage length constraint of 600 km has been eliminated and there are no restrictions on the distance between the origin and destination of the trip in UDAN 5.0, which concentrates on Category-2 (20-80 seats) and Category-3 (>80 seats).

·         Airlines are required to commence operations within 4 months of the award of the route. Earlier, this deadline was 6 months.

·         UDAN schemewas launched on 27 April 2017 by the Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi-led government with the goal of making air travel accessible to the common people of the country.

·         PM Narendra Modi launched the first aircraft from Shimla (Himachal Pradesh) to Delhi under the UDAN scheme in April 2017.

 

2.       PM MODI TO RELEASE RS 100 COIN TO COMMEMORATE 100 EPISODES OF MANN KI BAAT

·         On 21st April 2023, the Ministry of Finance announced that the Government will release a new commemorative coin of Rs 100 denomination on 30th April 2023, for the 100th episode of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s radio show Mann Ki Baat.

·         The coin’s obverse side will have the Lion Capital of Ashoka Pillar at the centre with “Satyamev Jayate” inscribed below it. “Bharat” in Devanagari script and “INDIA” in English will be inscribed on the left and right peripherals, respectively. The coin will also feature the Rupee symbol “₹” and “100” denomination.

·         On October 3, 2014, PM Modi made his radio debut with “Maan Ki Baat“(Words from the Heart) which is a monthly radio program aired on All India Radio, at 11 am on the last Sunday of each month.

 

3.       IGGL COMPLETES ASIA’S LARGEST UNDERWATER HYDROCARBON PIPELINE

·         This pipeline, with a diameter of 24 inches, has been laid below the Brahmaputra river, connecting Jorhat and Majuli in Assam by using the Horizontal Directional Drilling (HDD) method.

·         The total length of this single HDD crossing is 4,080 metres across the main water channel of the Brahmaputra river, making it the longest river crossing by any hydrocarbon pipeline of size 24-inch diameter and above in Asia and the second longest in the world.

 

4.       INDIA’S TALLEST AMBEDKAR STATUE OF 125-FT IN HYDERABAD

·         On the occasion of the 132nd birth anniversary of DrBhimrao Ramji (BR) Ambedkar(14th April 2023), Telangana Chief Minister (CM) K Chandrashekhar Rao unveiled the 125-ft tall bronze statue of BabasahebBhimrao Ramji (BR) Ambedkar, the architect of the Indian Constitution, in Hyderabad, Telangana.

·         This is the tallest statue of BR Ambedkar in India.

 

5.       WORLD BANK’S LPI 2023 REPORT: INDIA RANKED 38

·         According to the World Bank’s (WB) report titled Connecting to Compete 2023: Trade Logistics in an Uncertain Global Economy – the Logistics Performance Index (LPI) and its indicators”, India’s rank increased by 6 places to 38 in the index, from 44 in 2018.

·         Singapore topped the ranking followed by Finland at second, and Denmark at third.

·         India shares the 38th rank with Lithuania, Portugal, Saudi Arabia, Türkiye.

·         GoI (Government of India) had announced a National Master Plan, PM Gati Shakti for multi-modal connectivity,in October 2021 to reduce logistics cost and boost the economy by 2024-25.

·         World Bank Group President – David Malpass

·         Headquarters – Washington, DC, USA

·         Establishment – 1944

 

6.       PM’S AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION 2022 FOR INNOVATION

·         The National COVID-19 Vaccination Programme of the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoH&FW) received the Prime Minister’s (PM) Award for Excellence in Public Administration 2022 under the innovation (centre) category.

·         RajeshBhushan, Secretary, MoH&FW received the award for National COVID-19 Vaccination Programme from PM Narendra Modi at a function organized on the occasion of 16th Civil Services Day at VigyanBhawan, New Delhi, Delhi.

 

7.       NEW DEPUTY PM OF UK

·         The British government named Oliver Dowden Deputy Prime Minister(PM), replacing Dominic Raab, who resigned following an inquiry into bullying allegations.

·         Prior to this appointment, Oliver Dowden had been serving in Rishi Sunak’s (PM of the United Kingdom) government as the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Cabinet Office secretary.

 

8.       8TH CJ OF TRIPURA HC

·         Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh, Judge, High Court (HC) of Jharkhand has sworn in as the 8th Chief Justice(CJ) of the Tripura High Court.

·         SatyadeoNarain Arya, Governor of Tripura, administered the oath of office in a function at Raj Bhavan.

 

9.       ISRO LAUNCHED 2 SINGAPOREAN SATELLITES

·         The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has launched PSLV-C55 with two Singaporean satellites – TeLEOS-2 as the primary satellite and Lumelite-4 as a co-passenger satellite, as a part of the PSLV-C55/TeLEOS-2 mission, from Satish Dhawan Space Center(SDSC)-Sriharikota Range(SHAR), Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh.

·         This marks the 57th flight of the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle(PSLV) and the 16th mission using the PSLV Core Alone configuration (PSLV-CA).

·         ISROChairman– S Somanath

·         Headquarters– Bengaluru, Karnataka

 

10.    INTERNATIONAL MOTHER EARTH DAY 2023 – APRIL 22

·         The United Nations(UN)’s International Mother Earth Day, also known as “Earth Day” is annually observed across the globe on 22nd April to create awareness about humanity’s relationship with the natural world. 

·         Since 1970, 22nd April has been observed as Earth Day by the EARTHDAY.ORG in more than 190 countries.

·         According to the State of the Global Climate 2022, the annual report from the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), released ahead of Earth Day 2023(April 22), the 8 years, 2015-2022 were the warmest in the instrumental record back to 1850, despite the cooling impact of three consecutive years of a cooling La Niña. 2022 was the 5th or 6th warmest year.

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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”. 

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DAILY GK 19-20 APRIL

DAILY GK 19-20 APRIL 

1.       INDIA ACQUIRES WEAPONS WORTH USD 300 MILLION FROM US

·         India is set to clear the proposal to acquire armaments worth over USD 300 million from the United States of America(USA) to arm the Indian Navy’s MH 60 “Romeo” chopper, the multi-role helicopters which will enhance its capabilities to counter enemy warships and submarines.

·         Under this, the fleet of 24 choppers will get additional Hellfire missiles and Mk 54 lightweight torpedoes.

·         The Hellfire missiles are a potent anti-shipping weapon and can be used to take down the targets like tanks, and command posts.

·         Mk 54 lightweight torpedoes are a very effective anti-submarine weapon. They are also equipped onboard the P8I maritime aircraft.

 

2.       INDIAN NAVY CONDUCTS OFFSHORE SECURITY EXERCISE ‘PRASTHAN‘

·         Indian Navy conducted the offshore security exercise Prasthan, a bi-annual co-ordinated exercise along with other defence, state and civilian agencies on the GreatdrillChaaya platform about 30 nautical miles(nm) South West of Mumbai harbour, Maharashtra.

·         The exercise is held every six months, to verify the policies and methods for handling potential emergencies on oil production platforms.

 

3.       ‘SANGATHAN SE SAMRIDDHI’ CAMPAIGN TO BRING MARGINALISED RURAL WOMEN INTO SHGS

·         “Sangathan Se Samriddhi” campaign will empower marginalised rural households by bringing all eligible rural women into Self Help Groups (SHGs).

·         The government is targeting to bring 10 crore women under the purview of SHGs from the existing 9 crores. The number of members has now crossed 9 crores from just over 2.3 crores in 2014.

 

4.       1ST EDITION OF DOGRI VERSION OF CONSTITUTION OF INDIA RELEASED

·         Union Minister KirenRijiju, Ministry of Law and Justice (MoL&J), released the 1st edition of the Dogri version of the Constitution of India at the University of Jammu, Jammu and Kashmir (J&K).

·         Dogri is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in the Jammu region of J&K and is one of the 22 official languages recognized by the Indian Constitution.

 

5.       EXERCISE ORION: MULTILATERAL MILITARY EXERCISE

·         Exercise Orion, a Multilateral Military Exercise, was initiated at Mont-de-Marsan, an Air Force base of the French Air and Space Force (FASF) in France.

·         Indian Air Force (IAF) contingent will take part in the exercise

·         Along with IAF and FASF, Air Forces from Germany, Greece, Italy, Netherlands, United Kingdom, Spain and the United States of America (USA) also participates in the exercise.

 

6.       INDIA DIGITAL PAYMENTS ANNUAL REPORT 2022

·         According to the report by Worldline India titled ‘India Digital Payments Annual Report 2022‘ Unified Payments Interface (UPI) continued to be the most preferred medium for digital payments in 2022 in India with a 70% increase in the number of transactions to over 74.05 billion and a 54% increase in the value of transactions to Rs 126 trillion.

·         A total of 8,792 crore digital payments were undertaken in 2022 worth Rs 149.5 lakh crore.

·         Bengaluru (Karnataka) recorded 29 million transactions valued at Rs 6,500 crore, the highest number of digital transactions across 12 cities in India in 2022.

 

7.       INDIA GIVES USD 500,000 TO UN WOMEN FOR WOMEN EMPOWERMENT

·         India has made a contribution of USD 500,000 (Rs 4.09 crore) to the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, also known as UN Women, for women empowerment.

·         The cheque for the same was handed over by Ruchira Kamboj, the Permanent Representative of India to the UN, supporting UN Women’s core voluntary budget.

·         UN WomenHeadquarters– New York, United States

 

8.       NATIONAL PANCHAYAT AWARDS 2023

·         The President of India, DroupadiMurmu conferred the National Panchayat Awards 2023 and inaugurated the ‘National Conference on Incentivisation of Panchayats’ in New Delhi, Delhi.

·         The National Panchayat Awards under different categories are conferred annually by the MoPR since 2011 to acknowledge and incentivize the best-performing Panchayats (local self-government bodies) across the country.

·         All the Panchayats will be ranked based on their performance under 9 Localization of Sustainable Development Goals (LSDGs) themes aggregating 17 SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals).

·         GS NIRNAY App: Union Minister Giriraj Singh launched a mobile application GS NIRNAY (National Initiative for Rural India to Navigate, InnovAte and Resolve PanchaYat decisions), for empowering rural communities during the National Conference.

 

9.       PRAVASI BHARATIYA SAMMAN

·         An Indian-American Rajesh Subramaniam, President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of FedEx Corporation, the world’s largest express transportation company, has been awarded the PravasiBharatiyaSamman Award 2023, by Taranjit Singh Sandhu, India’s Ambassador to the US, for his contribution to Business.

·         The award was conferred by DroupadiMurmu, President of India, on 10 January 2023, as a part of the celebration of PravasiBharatiya Divas (PBD) 2023 at Indore, Madhya Pradesh.

·         27 Indians living abroad received the PravasiBharatiyaSamman Award in 2023.

·         The PravasiBharatiyaSamman Award is the highest honour conferred on a Non-Resident Indian (NRI) to recognise their achievements and honour their contributions to various fields, both in India and abroad.

 

10.    ‘YUVA PORTAL’ LAUNCHED TO IDENTIFY POTENTIAL YOUNG START-UPS

·         “YUVA Portal” and One Week- One Programmelaunched at National Physical Laboratory (NPL) in New Delhi, Delhi, to help in connecting and identifying potential young Start-Ups.

·         YUVA- Young, Upcoming and Versatile Authors.

·         DrJitendra Singh highlighted the 37 Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR) Labs spread across India as examples of India’s excellence in technology, innovation, and start-ups.

·         The One Week – One Lab programme will offer the opportunity for the CSIR labs to showcase the work being done by them so that others can avail of it.

 

11.    WORLD’S WEALTHIEST CITIES REPORT 2023

·         The investment migration firm Henley & Partners released its annual ‘World’s Wealthiest Cities Report 2023‘ which is again topped by New York, United States of America (USA) with 340,000 millionaires, 724 centi-millionaires, and 58 billionaires in 2022.

·         New York followed by Tokyo (Japan), California’s Bay Area (USA), London (United Kingdom) and Singapore.

·         The list also featured Mumbai (Maharashtra) at 21st rank with 59,400 millionaires, 238 Centi-millionaires, and 29 Billionaires.

 

12.    UNFPA’S SOWP 2023: INDIA’S POPULATION PEGGED AT 142.8 CRORE

·         According to the State of World Population (SOWP) 2023 titled “8 Billion Lives, Infinite Possibilities: the case for Rights and Choices” published by theUnited Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), India overtakes China to become the most populous nation in the world

·         The population of India has grown by 1.56% in the past year and it is estimated to be 142.86 crore.

·         The population of China is estimated to be 142.57 crore.

·         UNFPAHeadquarters– New York

 

13.    HURUN’S GLOBAL UNICORN INDEX 2023

·         According to the Global Unicorn Index 2023 published by Hurun Research Institute, India is ranked 3rd on the index with 68 unicorns (up 14 compared to 2022).

·         Online educator BYJU’S worth USD 22 billion topped the list of Indian Unicorns, followed by on-demand delivery start-up Swiggy and fantasy sports platform travel-stay finder Dream11 (USD 8 billion each).

·         The United States of America(USA) topped the index with 666 unicorns, up 179 compared to 2022, followed by China in 2nd spot with 316 unicorns (up 15).

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