DAILY GK: 03 JUNE 2021

 DAILY GK: 03 JUNE 2021

1. INTEGRATION OF E-GOPALA APP WITH UMANG PLATFORM

•        Giriraj Singh announced the integration of e-GOPALA app (Generation of wealth through Productive Livestock) with UMANG (Unified Mobile Application for New-age Governance) platform during the virtual program organised as a part of the World Milk Day (June 1 2021).

•        The Union Minister has also launched the Gopal Ratna Awards, the National Awards for the Cattle and Dairy Sector.

 

2.1ST INSTITUTION TO BE DECLARED SDO BY BIS

•        Research Designs & Standards Organization (RDSO) became the 1st Indian Institution to be recognised as a Standard Developing Organization (SDO), under Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) SDO Recognition Scheme.

•        SDO recognition is a key part of India’s “One Nation One Standard” mission.

•        UP which is now responsible for developing World Class Standards for products manufacturing in the Railways sector.

 

3.WHO NAMED COVID-19 VARIANTS IN INDIA

•        The World Health Organisation(WHO) has named the B.1.617.1 and B.1.617.2 variants of COVID-19 that were first identified in India as ‘Kappa’ and ‘Delta’ respectively.

•        This is aimed to help the people discussion of Variants of Concern (VOCs) and Variants of Interest (VOIs).

 

4.COUNTRY’S FIRST NFT MARKETPLACE

•        India’s largest crypto exchange, WazirX has announced its own Non-Fungible Token (NFT) marketplace, a first of its kind for India and South Asia.

•        It will have no listing price and “minimal gas fees” of $1 for transactions.

•        TheWazirX marketplace will run on the Binance Smart Chain and will use the company’s own WRX token.

 

5.2020-21 LA LIGA TITLE

•        Atletico Madrid has won the 2020-21 La Liga Title and were crowned as champions of Spain by defeating Real Valladolid in the last match that was held at the Jose Zorilla stadium in Valladolid,Spain.

•        Atletico Madrid finished top of the standings on 86 points.

•        Real Madrid came second with 84 points.

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DAILY GK QUIZ : 26 MAY - 31 MAY 2021

 DAILY GK QUIZ : 26 MAY - 31 MAY 2021

[Q] Which country signed an Agriculture Action Plan with India for cooperation in the agricultural sector for a duration of 3-years.

(a) Japan

(b) UAE

(c) France

(d) Portugal

(e) Israel

[ANS] e

 

[Q] Who recently got elected to the Badminton World Federation (BWF) council for a 4-years term.

(a) Narinder Batra

(b) Rajeev Shukla

(c) Himanta Biswa Sarma

(d) Jay Shah

(e) Pullela Gopichand

[ANS] c

 

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DAILY GK: 02 JUNE 2021

 DAILY GK: 02 JUNE 2021

1.DEFENCE MINISTRY RELEASED ‘2ND POSITIVE INDIGENISATION LIST’

•        Defence Minister, Rajnath Singh approved the ‘Second Positive Indigenisation List’ comprising 108 items.

•        2nd Positive Indigenisation List is proposed by Department of Military Affairs, Ministry of Defence (MoD).

•        This is taken as a part of “Aatmanirbhar-Bharat” to improve self-reliance in defence procurement, enhance India’s defence exports.

•        India is the 2nd largest Arms importer during the period 2016-20, only behind Saudi Arabia.

 

2.‘PM- CARES FOR CHILDREN’ SCHEME LAUNCHED

•        Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a new scheme under PM-CARES for children who affected in COVID-19.

•        Children who have lost both parents or surviving parent or legal guardian/adoptive parents due to Covid 19 will be supported under ‘PM-CARES for Children’ scheme.

•        Each child will receive a monthly financial support once they attain 18 years of age for next five years and they will get a fund of Rs.10 lakh when they turn 23.

•        Children under 10 years and Children between 11 to 18 years will be given admission to Central Government schools or in private schools.

•        Expenditure of School fees, uniform, and textbooks will be provided under PM-CARES fund.

•        The children can get loan for their higher education, and PM CARES will pay interest of loan.

•        Free health insurance cover of Rs. 5 lakhs will be given to the children under Ayushman Bharat Scheme (PM-JAY) and premium amount till the age of 18 years will be paid by PM CARES.

 

3.43RD GST COUNCIL MEET

•        The 43rd Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council met virtually under the Chairmanship of Union Finance & Corporate Affairs Minister Nirmala Sitharaman recommended the ‘Amnesty Scheme’ to reduce the late fees payable for pending returns by small taxpayers & medium-sized taxpayers (aggregate turnover upto Rs 5 crore).

•        i. Relaxation Period for Trade Facilitation.

•        ii.COVID-19 related Supplies exempted from IGST.

 

4.74TH WORLD HEALTH ASSEMBLY OF WHO HELD VIRTUALLY

•        74th session of the World Health Assembly (WHA) of World Health Organization (WHO) held virtually from Geneva, Switzerland amid COVID-19, from 24th May to 31st May 2021.

•        The theme of the 74th WHA is “Ending this pandemic, preventing the next: building together a healthier, safer and fairer world”.

•        Mrs. Dechen Wangmo, Health Minister of Bhutan has been elected as the President of the 74th WHA.

•        Target – To achieve vaccination of at least 10% of the population of all countries by September,2021 and at least 30% by the end of 2021.

 

5.RBI CANCELLED LICENCE OF SHIVAJIRAOBHOSALESAHAKARI BANK

•        The RBI has cancelled the licence of Pune-based Shivajirao Bhosale Sahakari Bank as the bank does not have adequate capital and earning prospects.

•        And also the bank does not comply with the certain provisions of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949.

•        According to the data provided by the bank, Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation (DICGC) will provide a full deposit amount to more than 98 percent of the depositors.

 

6.INDIA’S GDP CONTRACTS BY 7.3% IN FY21- NSO

•        The National Statistical Office (NSO), Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, estimated India’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth for Q4 FY21 at 1.6 percent with a contraction of 7.3(-7.3) percent for FY21(Earlier projection 8(-8) percent) against 4 percent expansion in FY20.

•        This is the 1st full-year contraction in the Indian economy in the last 4 decades since 1979-80 when GDP had shrunk by 5.2 percent.

 

7.SPECIAL AWARD FOR EFFORTS IN TOBACCO CONTROL

•        On account of the World No Tobacco Day, World Health Organisation (WHO) has awarded Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan with ‘WHO Director-General Special Recognition Award’ for banning E-cigarettes & heated tobacco products.

•        Along with Harsh Vardhan, Tobacco Control Research Group, University of Bath, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland also won ‘WHO Director-General Special Recognition Award’.

•        WHO has given World No Tobacco Day Award in South East region category  to Madhya Pradesh Voluntary Health Association(MPVHA) and Uttar Pradesh Tobacco Control Cell

 

8.INDIA’S 1ST WOMAN FLIGHT TEST ENGINEER

•        Aashritha V Olety, an officer of the IAF became the first and the only woman in the history of IAF to ever qualify as a flight test engineer.

•        She will be responsible for evaluating aircraft and airborne systems before their induction into the armed forces.

 

9.T V NARENDRAN ELECTED AS NEW PRESIDENT OF CII

•        The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has elected Tata Steel Ltd Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Managing Director(MD) T.V. Narendran , as its President for the year 2021-22.

•        He will succeed Uday Kotak,MD& CEO of Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd, who has completed his term.

 

10.GLOBAL DAY OF PARENTS 2021 – JUNE 1

•        The United Nations(UN)’s Global Day of Parents is annually observed across the globe on 1st June to honour and appreciate parenthood throughout the world.

•        The day also highlights the parents commitment to children and their sacrifice towards nurturing the relationship between parents and children.

•        The United Nations General Assembly(UNGA) adopted the resolution A/RES/66/292 in 2012 and proclaimed June 1 of every year as the Global Day of Parents.

 

11.WORLD MILK DAY 2021 – JUNE 1

•        World Milk Day is annually observed across the globe on June 1 to create awareness about milk and to highlight the importance of milk and dairy products as a global food.

•        The theme of World Milk Day 2021 focuses on Sustainability in the dairy sector with messages around the environment, nutrition and socio-economics.

 

12.HK DWIVEDI BECOMES WEST BENGAL’S CHIEF SECRETARY

•        The 1988 IAS batch officer Hari Krishna Dwivedi has been appointed as the new Chief Secretary of West Bengal.

•        Hari Krishna Dwivedi has been appointed by the central government.

•        Meanwhile, Alapan Bandyopadhyay has been appointed as New Chief Advisor to the Chief Minister(CM) of West Bengal.

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DAILY GK: 1 JUNE 2021

 DAILY GK: 1 JUNE 2021

1.‘YUVA’ – PM’S SCHEME FOR MENTORING YOUNG AUTHORS

•        The Ministry of Education, Department of Higher Education, launched an Author Mentorship programme ‘YUVA (Young, Upcoming and Versatile Authors) – Prime Minister’s Scheme for Mentoring Young Authors’ to Train Young and Budding Authors (Below 30 Years of age).

•        Objective: To promote reading, writing, and book culture of Indians; to project Indian writings globally.

•        The National Book Trust, India under the Ministry of Education will be the Implementing Agency of the scheme.

 

2.WORLD’S FIRST ‘NANO UREA’ FOR FARMERS

•        Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative Limited (IFFCO) has introduced the world’s first Nano Urea Liquid for farmers during its 50th annual general body virtual meeting.

•        The production of Nano Urea Liquid will commence by June 2021.

•        Scientists have developed indigenous Nano Urea Liquid at Nano Biotechnology Research Centre, Kalol,Gujarat in line with ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ and ‘Atmanirbhar Krishi’.

 

3.INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARD 2021

•        Notion Press authors Nitin Rakesh and Jerry Wind won the International Business Book of the Year Award 2021 for their recently launched book Transformation in Times of Crisis.

•        Nitin Rakesh is the Chief Executive Director(CEO) and Executive Director of IT major Mphasis.

 

4.NCPCR LAUNCHES “BAL SWARAJ”

•        The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), an organisation under the Ministry of Women and Child Development, launched “Bal Swaraj”, an online tracking portal for real-time tracking & monitoring of Children who lost both or either of their parents in COVID-19.

•        “COVID-Care”, a link under the Bal Swaraj portal, will enable officers in concerned departments to upload data about such children who are in need of care.

 

5.WORLD NO TOBACCO DAY 2021

•        World No Tobacco Day (WNTD) is observed every year around the world on 31st May to spread awareness about the dangers of using tobacco.

•        According World Health Organization(WHO) , tobacco kills more than 8 million people every year.

•        Theme of WNTD 2021 is “Commit to Quit”.

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DAILY GK: 30, 31 MAY 2021

 DAILY GK: 30, 31 MAY 2021

1. MONETARY ASSISTANCE TO STUDENTS UNDER MDM SCHEME

•      As a special welfare measure, Union Minister for Education Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ approved the proposal to provide monetary assistance to 11.8 Crore students  through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) of the cooking cost component of the Mid-Day-Meal Scheme (MDM).

•        INR 1200 Crore has been allocated to State Governments/UT for this purpose.

•        Beneficiaries – Class 1-8 students who are studying in 11.20 Lakh Government and Government aided schools across   India will be benefitted.

•        Each Child will get approximately INR 100 under the One-time welfare measure.

 

2. SEPARATE SECTION ON HATE SPEECH IN IPC

•        The 5-member Committee for Reforms in Criminal Laws headed by Vice Chancellor of National Law University         (NLU), Delhi (Currently – Srikrishna Deva Rao).

•        The Committee is appointed by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to reform Indian Penal Code (IPC) is set to       propose a separate Section in IPC on ‘Offences relating to speech and expression’.

•        Purpose – At present there is no definition of what is ‘Hate Speech’ in IPC, The Committee for Reforms in Criminal    Laws is attempting for the 1st time to define it.

•        Several ‘hate speech’ cases are pending in courts across India, as there is no clear definition of it in the Indian Penal    Code, 1860.

 

3. NATO CONDUCTS WAR GAMES ‘STEADFAST DEFENDER 21’

•        North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is conducting War Games ‘Steadfast Defender 21’ from May-June 2021. 

•        Majority of the exercise will take place in Germany, Portugal and Romania.

•        Objective – to improve the ability of the Allied forces to move quickly across the Atlantic and Europe to protect each    other, if need arises.

 

4. INDIA’S FIRST CRYPTO BASED LENDING PLATFORM

•        ZebPay launched India’s 1st lending platform under the cryptocurrency exchange for the investors to invest their coins and earn returns (interest).

•        Currently the exchange will support the bitcoin (BTC), ether (ETH), tether (USDT) and dai (DAI) tokens.

•        Under the ZebPay Lending Platform, the investors could deposit their Bitcoins/other coins and earn returns like the       bank’s fixed deposits(FD).

 

5. UCO BANK ALLOTED PREFERENTIAL SHARES TO GOVT

•        UCO Bank allotted 203,76,17,554 preferential shares (PS) (equity shares of Rs 10 each) to the Government of India at an issue price of Rs 12.76 per share against a capital contribution of Rs 2,600 crore received by the Bank on March 31, 2021.

•        The bank’s board has approved a proposal to raise up to Rs 3,000 crore equity capital in 2021-22.

 

6. 2021 RUDOLF V SCHINDLER AWARD

•        The American Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ASGE) has honoured Dr Duvvur(D) Nageshwar Reddy with the renowned Rudolf V Schindler Award 2021.

•        He is the first Indian medical practitioner to win this award.

•        He won the award for his work in the field of endoscopy.

•        The award was presented at the ASGE’s 2021 Annual Crystal Awards virtual ceremony.

 

7. INDIA’S 1ST PRIVATELY BUILT HALL-EFFECT THRUSTER

•        Bellatrix Aerospace, a Bengaluru based Space Transportation company has successfully tested India’s 1st Hall-effect     Thruster, a highly efficient electric propulsion system for microsatellites.

•        The tests were conducted at the Spacecraft Propulsion Research Laboratory (Asia’s largest privately funded lab) set up by Bellatrix at Society for Innovation and Development-Indian Institute of Science (SID-IISc), Bengaluru, Karnataka.

 

8. 8 FEATURES ON MOON WITH CHINESE NAMES

•        International Astronomical Union (IAU)’s Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature (WGPSN) gave           approval for naming 8 features in the Moon with Chinese names around the location where China’s Chang’e-5 Spacecraft landed in December 2020.

•        Chang’e-5 brought back fresh Lunar samples to Earth, which was previously bought 40-years back by the USA’s 1969 Apollo 11 Mission.

 

9. BOOK-“SAVARKAR: A CONTESTED LEGACY (1924-1966)”

•        Bangalore based Historian VikramSampath has authored a new book titled “Savarkar: A Contested Legacy (1924-      1966)”, the 2nd & concluding volume of the life and works of VinayakDamodarSavarkar(Veera Savarkar).

•        The release of the book was announced on the occasion of the 138th birth anniversary of Veer Savarkar, the Hindutva    ideologue.

 

10. BOOK- ‘STARGAZING: THE PLAYERS IN MY LIFE’

•        Cricket legend, commentator and one of Team India’s most successful coaches, Ravi Shastri has penned a book titled ‘Stargazing: The Players in My Life’.

•        It will be published by  Harper Collins India.

•        The Book is about some 60 extraordinary talents that Ravi Shastri has met from across the world who have inspired       him.

 

11. INTERNATIONAL DAY OF UN PEACEKEEPERS 2021

•        The United Nations (UN)’s International Day of UN Peacekeepers is annually observed across the globe on 29th May.

•        The theme of the International Day of UN Peacekeepers 2021 is “The road to a lasting peace: Leveraging the power of   youth for peace and security.”

 

12. INTERNATIONAL EVEREST DAY 2021

•        International Everest Day is annually observed across the globe on 29th May to mark the first summit of Mount        Everest by Sir Edmund Hillary of New Zealand and Tenzing Norgay Sherpa of Nepal on 29th May 1953.

•        Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay Sherpa became the first people to scale the world’s highest mountain.

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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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