DAILY GK: 13,14 APRIL 2021
1. INDIA RECORDS 7.2 % ETHANOL-BLENDING IN PETROL
·
Ethanol-blending in Petrol in India has reached more
than 7.2 percent for the First Time.
·
It has reached 7.2 per cent in the first four months
of the ethanol supply year 2020-21 (December 2020 – November 2021).
·
India has set a target of 10 %(10% of
ethanol mixed with 90% of petrol) blending by 2022 & 20
% blending by 2025.
2.MEETING OF WORLD BANK-IMF 2021
·
Nirmala Sitharaman virtually participated in the 103rd
Development Committee Meeting of World Bank-International Monetary Fund (IMF)
2021.
·
She represented India, Bangladesh, Bhutan & Sri
Lanka in the meeting.
·
Indian Government stated that it has announced Atma
Nirbhar Packages of INR 27.1 Lakh Crore, amounting to more
than 13% of the GDP.
3.RUSSIAN PRESIDENT SIGNS LAW PAVING WAY TO RULE UNTIL
2036
·
Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a
legislation which will enable him to run for two or more consecutive six-year
terms, effectively permitting him to remain in office till 2036.
·
The legislation formalizes changes to the Russian
Constitution which were endorsed by people through a referendum held in 2020.
·
Putin completes his ongoing Fourth Term as
President of Russia in 2024.
4.INDIA’S DEBT-TO-GDP RATIO INCREASED
·
International Monetary Fund(IMF) reported an increase
in India’s debt to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) ratio from 74 percent (at the
end of 2019) to 90 percent (at the end of 2020) during the
COVID-19 period.
·
Based on the IMF’s baseline forecast, it expects a
further drop in India’s ‘Debt to GDP ratio’ to 80 percent due
to the recent Indian economy recovery.
5.WAZIRX LAUNCHED AN NFT MARKETPLACE
·
WazirX, the Binance-owned cryptocurrency exchange has
launched one of India’s first marketplaces for Non-Fungible Tokens (NFT), which
will enable Indian artists and creators to auction their digital assets over
the Blockchain-based platform and earn royalty.
·
Also at the end of 2020 ‘Unicas’, the world’s
first crypto bank was launched in India as a Joint Venture(JV) by Cashaa of the
UK and United Multistate Credit co-operative society Ltd of India.
6.L&T TO SET UP 1.5 GW SOLAR PLANT IN SAUDI
·
The Renewables arm of Larsen & Toubro’s Power
Transmission & Distribution Business has bagged a Turnkey EPC (Engineering,
Procurement & Construction) contract to set up Sudair
Solar Photovoltaic (PV) Project of 1.5 GigaWatt (GW) in
Riyadh Province of Saudi Arabia.
·
It will be the largest solar plant in Saudi
Arabia with a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) signed & will also be
one of the largest such plants in the World.
7.2021 EE BRITISH ACADEMY FILM AWARDS
·
The winners of the 74th edition of
the British Academy of Film and Television Arts(BAFTA)’s annual film
awards – 2021 EE British Academy Film Awards were announced
and presented.
·
The film “Nomadland” directed by Chloé Zhao won
the 2021 EE British Academy Film Awards under 4 categories – Best Film, Best
Director, Best Leading Actress and Best Cinematography.
·
Bukky Bakray won the EE Rising Star Award which was
voted by the public.
8.SOYUZ ROCKET LAUNCHES 3-MEMBER CREW TO ISS
·
Russia’s Soyuz MS-18 Yu. A. Gagarin Rocket (named
after Yuri Gagarin the 1st human being to travel to space) successfully
launched a 3-member crew (2 Russian Cosmonauts & 1 American Astronaut) to
the International Space Station (ISS).
·
The rocket was launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome,
Kazakhstan.
·
The rocket has been named after Societ Cosmonaut Yuri
Gagarin to commemorate the 60th Anniversary of his travel to
space aboard Vostok 1 (On April 12, 1961).
9.SPACEX ANNOUNCED 4 MEMBER CREW FOR “INSPIRATION4”
·
SpaceX announced the 4 member crew for the World’s 1st
all-civilian Earth Orbiter Mission, “Inspiration4”. Christopher
Sembroski, Dr. Sian Proctor, Jared Isaacman and Hayley Arceneaux were the 1st
batch of civilians aboard the Crew Dragon Resilence spacecraft to be launched
into orbit by SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket by September 15, 2021.
10.‘LOST GOLDEN CITY’ IN LUXOR
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A 3, 000-year old town has been excavated in the city
of Luxor, Egypt. The city formally named the ‘Rise of Aten’ (commonly
called the ‘Lost Golden City’) dates back to the reign of
18th-dynasty King Amenhotep III, who ruled between 1391 and
1353 BCE.
·
It is believed to be the largest ancient city ever
uncovered in Egypt.
11.INTERNATIONAL DAY OF HUMAN SPACE FLIGHT 2021
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The United Nations(UN)’s Day of Human Space Flight is
annually observed across the globe on 12th April to to remember the first human
space flight on 12th April 1961.
12. PUNJAB’S ANTI-COVID-19
VACCINATION DRIVE
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Capt Amarinder Singh, CM of Punjab announced the appointment
of actor and philanthropist Sonu Sood as the brand ambassador of the
anti-coronavirus vaccination programme of the government of Punjab.
13.COMMEMORATIVE POSTAGE STAMP ON RAJYOGINI DADI JANKI
·
VP Venkaiah Naidu
released a commemorative postage stamp on the memory of Rajyogini Dadi Janki,
the former Chief of Brahma Kumaris commemorating her Spiritual works &
fight social evils like gender discrimination, casteism and communalism at New
Delhi.
·
Brahma Kumaris is one
of India’s newest religions, formed as a result of the spiritual movement
started in Hyderabad in the 1930’s.
14.INDIA APPROVES USE OF SPUTNIK V COVID19 VACCINE
·
Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) has approved the use
of Russia’s Covid-19 vaccine, “Sputnik V” in India, to tackle the 2nd Wave of
the virus spread in India.
·
With this approval, India has 3 Covid-19 vaccines – Covaxin,
Covishield and Sputnik-V.
·
Sputnik-V is
manufactured in India by Hyderabad based Dr Reddy’s Laboratories.
·
Covishield is
manufactured in India by Serum Institute of India, Pune & developed by
Oxford-AstraZeneca.
·
India’s indigenous
vaccine “Covaxin” is manufactured by Bharat Biotech in collaboration with ICMR
– National Institute of Virology.
15.ONEWEB SIGNS MOU WITH KAZAKHSTAN
·
OneWeb, a Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite communications operator,
co-owned by Bharti Global and the United Kingdom (UK) Government has signed a
MoU with subsidiaries of the Ministry of Digital Development, Innovation and
Aerospace Industry, Kazakhstan for accelerating connectivity services in the
country.
16.MILITARY EXERCISE ‘SHANTIR OGROSHENA 2021’
·
The Indian Army participated in the Multinational Military
Exercise ‘Shantir Ogroshena 2021’ (Front Runner of Peace) held at Bangabandhu
Senanibas (BBS), Bangladesh.
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It is an UN-mandated Counterterrorism exercise.
·
Theme – ‘Robust
Peacekeeping Operations’
·
Other Participants
– Royal Bhutan Army, Sri Lankan Army & Bangladesh Army
17.WORLD’S 1ST CLIMATE CHANGE LAW FOR FINANCIAL SECTOR
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New Zealand becomes the 1st country in the world to introduce
a Climate Change Law for regulating the Financial Sector. As per the new law,
All banks, insurers, investment managers with total asset value greater than
NZ$1 billion (USD 703 million) shall report the impacts of climate change on
their investments to the government.
·
Previously, New Zealand has set targets to provide
carbon-neutral public transport by 2025 & procure only zero-emissions
public transport buses.
18.PNB DIGITAL INITIATIVE PNB@EASE
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PNB launched a digital initiative PNB@Ease to
commemorate 127 years of their service to the nation. This service is set to be
activated across 165 identified locations across India.
·
This new initiation will bring a “Banking-on-the-Go” model.
·
Using this, customers themselves can make every transaction
undertaken by a bank branch.
19.ISTD’S NATIONAL AWARD FOR INNOVATIVE TRAINING
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Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), a
central public sector undertaking based in Bengaluru, Karnataka has won the
National Award for Innovation Training Practices 2019-2020 at the 30th
National Award Ceremony organised by the Indian Society for
Training and Development(ISTD) in New Delhi.
20.SUSHIL CHANDRA APPOINTED AS 24TH CEC OF INDIA
·
President Ram Nath Kovind appointed Senior-most Election
Commissioner, Sushil Chandra as the 24th
Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) of India.
·
He succeeds Sunil Arora whose
tenure ended on 12th April 2021.
·
Sushil Chandra will assume charge on April 13, 2021.His
tenure will end on Mid 2022.
·
He was appointed in pursuance of clause (2) of
Article 324 of the Constitution of India.
21.ARUN KUMAR TENURE AS DG OF DGCA EXTENDED
·
The Appointment Committee of the Cabinet(ACC)
headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has approved the extension in the
tenure of Arun Kumar, IAS as the Director General(DG)of
Directorate General of Civil Aviation(DGCA) for a period
of 6 months beyond 20th April 2021 or until further
orders.
22.CHINA OPENS 5G SIGNAL BASE
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China opened its 5G Signal base at the World’s Highest Radar
Station, “Ganbala radar station” which is located at a height
of 5,374 meters, in the remote Himalayas of China’s Tibet autonomous region.
·
Stable high-speed 5G connectivity can be accessed by Soldiers
of Chinese army, which will help them to be in-touch with the global
information society.
·
People’s Liberation Army of China constructed the 5G signal
station at Ganbala, which is located in Tibetian border with India &
Bhutan.
23.‘E-SANTA’ WEB PORTAL FOR AQUA FARMERS
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Union Minister of Commerce & Industry Piyush Goyal
virtually inaugurated the web portal called ‘e-SANTA’ (Electronic Solution for Augmenting NaCSA farmers’
Trade in Aquaculture).
·
It is an electronic marketplace providing
a platform to connect Aqua Farmers and the Buyers (both at National & International
levels).
·
e-SANTA is a completely
paperless and end-to-end trade platform.
·
It is an initiative
of NaCSA (National Centre for Sustainable Aquaculture) which is
an extension of the Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA),
Ministry of Commerce & Industry.
24.IBN ABDUR REHMAN PASSES AWAY
·
Ibn Abdur Rehman(I A Rehman), the human
rights icon of Pakistan and former journalist, who was known as the “Titan
of Human Rights” passed away at the age of 90 in Lahore,
Pakistan.
·
He was born in 1930 in Haryana, India (before Partition).
·
He was a protege of Faiz Ahmed Faiz, a great Urdu Poet.
25.102ND ANNIVERSARY OF JALLIANWALA BAGH MASSACRE
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13th April 2021 marks the 102nd
anniversary of the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre,
which took place on 13th April 1919 in a public
garden (Jallianwala Bagh) in Amritsar, Punjab.
26.WORLD PARKINSON’S DAY 2021
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World Parkinson’s Day is annually observed across the
globe on 11th April to create awareness and raise
the funds to support the people living with Parkinson’s disease.
·
The day marks the birth anniversary of Dr James
Parkinson who was the first to describe Parkinson’s disease as a
neurological syndrome in 1817.