Daily GK Updates - 12th Aug, 2020

 

NATIONAL UPDATES:

 

1. Union Minister Narendra Singh Tomar launches Krishi Megh: The Union Minister of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare, Shri Narendra Singh Tomar virtually launched a data recovery centre ‘Krishi Megh’ (National Agricultural Research & Education System -Cloud Infrastructure and Services) of the government’s premier research body Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR). Krishi Megha aims at protecting the precious data of ICAR and meet the services and infrastructure needs of Digital Agriculture of National Agricultural Research and Education System (NARES) using cloud computing infrastructure. The centre has been set up at National Academy of Agricultural Research Management (NAARM) in Hyderabad, under the National Agricultural Higher Education Project (NAHEP), which is funded by both the Government of India and World Bank. Currently, the main data centre of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) is located at the Indian Agricultural Statistics Research Institute (IASRI) in New Delhi. Krishi Megha will integrate the data centre of ICAR-IASRI, New Delhi with the Disaster Recovery Centre at the ICAR-NAARM, Hyderabad. The minister also launched KVC ALUNET (Krishi Vishwavidyalaya Chhatr Alumni Network) and Online Accreditation System for Higher Agricultural Educational Institutions (HEI).

 

2. Gujarat CM announces ‘Mukhya Mantri Kisan Sahay Yojana’ for current Kharif season: The Gujarat government under Chief Minister Vijay Rupani has announced a new scheme called Mukhya Mantri Kisan Sahay Yojana, which will replace the Central governments’s Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) for this fiscal year (2020-21) only. Under this new scheme, farmers facing crop losses due to drought, excess rain or unseasonal rain will get compensation. Also, the best thing about this scheme is that no premium will be collected from the farmers, as was needed in PMFBY. It will cover all the 56 lakh farmers of the state, unlike the PMFBY, where on an average, 15-17 lakh farmers who applied for crop insurance, used to be covered. However, the new insurance scheme will be restricted to crop losses happening during the ongoing Kharif season only and the insurance coverage will be up to a maximum of four hectares of land.

Note: The decision to launch the new scheme was taken as the insurance companies have quoted very high premium rates for this year under the PMFBY, which will entail a burden of Rs 5,700 crore on both the state and the Centre. Earlier the state and central government used to pay premiums between Rs 1,700 and 1,800 crore. Due to this, the state has decided to scrap the PMFBY for this year.

Chief Minister of Gujarat: Vijaybhai R. Rupani; Governor: Acharya Dev Vrat.

 

3. National Infrastructure Pipeline Online Dashboard launched: The National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP) Online Dashboard has been inaugurated by the Union Minister for Finance & Corporate Affairs, Nirmala Sitharaman. The newly launched platform “NIP” will act as one stop solution for all stakeholders seeking for information on infrastructure projects in New India. The platform is being considered a step towards the vision of an Aatma Nirbhar Bharat. It will attract investors for PPP projects and also ensure easy accessibility to updated project information. The National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP) Online Dashboard will improve project preparation, attract investments (both domestic & foreign) into infrastructure and would be hosted on the India Investment Grid (IIG). IIG is an online platform that provides information about the updated & real-time investment opportunities in the country to the global investor community. NIP will cover both economic as well as social infrastructure projects.

 

4. Mumbai becomes first Indian city to get female symbol on traffic signals: Mumbai has become the first city in India to have women symbols on traffic signals and signage, as a symbolic gesture towards gender equality in public spaces. The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has installed female traffic signals that display female icons sporting triangular frock, a shift from the default representation of men. The symbols have been changed in 240 signals on 120 posts situated in 12 different road crossings near Mumbai’s Dadar area.

Note: Chief Minister of Maharashtra: Uddhav Thackeray; Governor: Bhagat Singh Koshyari.

 

5. Skyroot Aerospace tests upper stage rocket engine “Raman”: Skyroot Aerospace, a Spacetech startup has successfully test fired an upper stage rocket engine “Raman”. With this, Skyroot Aerospace has become the first Indian private firm to exhibit the potential to build a homegrown rocket engine. “Raman” is a 3-D printed rocket engine which has been named after Nobel laureate CV Raman. Skyroot Aerospace expects to launch its first rocket, which can hurl satellites of 250-700 kgs, into a lower earth orbit by December 2021. This development from the private players has become possible after the union cabinet’s approval of private player participation in space in June 2020.

 

6. Third series of book titled ‘Connecting, Communicating, Changing’ comprising collection of speeches by Vice President Venkaiah Naidu released: The Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting, Shri Prakash Javadekar unveiled an e-version of the book titled ‘Connecting, Communicating, Changing’. Apart from this, the print coffee table version of the book was also released by Union Minister of Defense Shri Rajnath Singh. The book chronicles Shri M Venkaiah Naidu’s three years in office as the Vice President of India. Vice President Venkaiah Naidu has completed three years in office on 11 August 2020. The over 250 pages book is the third series of the book and has been published by Publications Division. It provides a glimpse of his efforts and outcomes as the Vice President and Chairman of the Rajya Sabha.

 

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

 

1. Lebanon′s Govt resigns over deadly Beirut port blast: The Prime Minister of Lebanon, Hassan Diab and his entire government has resigned, in the wake of the major blast in Beirut that has triggered public outrage, and anger at the Lebanese government for their failure to prevent the disaster. President Michel Aoun has ordered Diab government to stay on caretaker capacity until a new cabinet is formed. The 61-year-old Diab served as the PM from 21 January 2020 to 10 August 2020. A massive explosion took place in Beirut, the capital of Lebanon, on August 04, damaging buildings across the capital and sending a giant mushroom cloud into the sky.

Note: Capital of Lebanon: Beirut; Currency of Lebanon: Lebanese pound.

 

2. International Youth Day: 12th August: The International Youth Day (IYD) is observed on August 12 annually to draw attention of governments and others towards youth issues worldwide. It aims to promote the ways to engage the youth and make them more actively involved in their communities through positive contributions. UN General Assembly session adopted a resolution 'Policies and programmes involving youth' on 17 December 1999 to commemorate August 12 as International Youth Day. It was first observed on 12 August 2000. The theme of International Youth Day 2020: ‘Youth Engagement for Global Action’.

 

3. World Elephant Day: 12th August: World Elephant Day is observed every year on August 12 worldwide for the preservation and protection of the global elephants. The main objective of World Elephant Day is to create awareness on elephant conservation, and to share knowledge and positive solutions for the better protection and management of wild and captive elephants. It was adopted by Elephant Reintroduction Foundation and filmmakers Patricia Sims and Michael Clark in 2011. First World Elephant Day 2020 was first observed in August 12, 2012.

 

OTHER UPDATES:

 

SPORTS

 

1. India’s KN Ananthapadmanabhan promoted to ICC’s panel of umpires: Indian Umpire, KN Ananthapadmanabhan has been included in ICC’s international panel of umpires following compatriot Nitin Menon’s promotion to the elite panel. Ananthapadmanabhan played 105 First-Class and 54 List A games for Kerala, taking 344 and 87 wickets respectively. He also scored three First-Class hundreds and eights half-centuries. Ananthapadmanabhan has officiated in all major domestic events including the IPL. He also was the official in the Ranji Trophy final between Bengal and Saurashtra last year and even stood at both ends for a while after Shamshuddin got injured. The former Kerala spinner joins fellow Indians C Shamshuddin, Anil Chaudhary and Virender Sharma in the international panel and is now eligible to officiate in the ODI and T20 internationals apart from umpiring in the junior World Cup.

Note: CEO of ICC: Manu Sawhney; Headquarters of ICC: Dubai, United Arab Emirates; Chairman of ICC: Imran Khwaja (Interim).

 

BANKING AND FINANCE

 

1. Paytm launched India’s 1st pocket android POS device:  Paytm has launched India’s 1st Pocket Android POS (Point of Sale) Device named ‘Paytm All-in-One Portable Android Smart POS’ for contactless ordering and payments in India. ‘Paytm All-in-One Portable Android Smart POS’ is the first such Android-based device to be introduced in India and is much more powerful than the portable Linux based POS devices presently available in the country. It is an effort to digitise and empower a large number of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). The company aims to issue over 2 lakh devices within the next few months which will generate over 20 million transactions per month. It has a ‘powerful’ processor, all-day battery and inbuilt camera to scan QR. It can also be used for billing, payments, etc. It can even work with 4G sim, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.

Note: Paytm founder: Vijay Shekhar Sharma; Paytm Headquarters: Noida, Uttar Pradesh; Paytm founded: 2010.

 

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY

 

1. BSE partners with Akola-based bullion associations: A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been signed by the Bombay Stock Exchange with Akola, Maharashtra-based bullion trade and industry associations namely Akola Sarafa Association and Akola Sarafa Va Suvarnakar Yuva Sangh. The partnership will seek to enhance cooperation between the BSE and physical markets represented by the two trade bodies in various areas like knowledge sharing, education and training, events as well as explore areas of mutual interests. The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) will conduct various activities such as seminars and awareness programmes on price-risk management for bullion traders and jewellers. These programmes will help them in shifting to more organised forms of trading. BSE will also aware them about effective hedging tools like derivatives contracts, especially ‘options in goods’ and hence enable them to face a volatile market.

 

AWARDS AND HONOURS

 

1. ACJ Journalism Awards 2019 announced:  Journalists Nitin Sethi and Shiv Sahay Singh were declared winners of the Asian College of Journalism’s (ACJ) Award 2019 for Investigative Journalism and the K. P. Narayana Kumar Memorial Award for Social Impact Journalism, respectively. The awards were presented in a virtual ceremony by Soumya Swaminathan, chief scientist of the World Health Organisation (WHO), at the inauguration of the Class of 2021.

Nitin Sethi is a journalist in the Huffington Post. He won this award for his six-part series titled “Paisa Politics” published by The Huffington Post India.

Shiv Sahay Singh is a journalist in The Hindu. He received the award for his story titled “Death by digital exclusion: On faculty public distribution system in Jharkhand” published in The Hindu.

Note: ACJ Headquarters: Chennai, TamilNadu; ACJ Chairman: Sashi Kumar.

 

OBITUARIES

 

1. Renowned Urdu Poet Rahat Indori passes away: Legendary Urdu poet Rahat Indori (70 years) passed away due to a heart attack after being treated for COVID-19. He was the Mushaira (poetry symposiums) star of India. Last year his poem ‘Bulati hai magar jane ka nahi’ went viral on social media. He is known for lyrics of songs like ‘M Bole to’ from Munnabhai MBBS, ‘Neend Churai Mei’ from Ishq. His power line of a poem ‘Sabhi ka khoon hai shamil yahan ki mitti mein; Kisi ke baap ka Hindustan thodi hai’ is the most remembered line.

 

2. Renowned Tamil film lyricist P K Muthusami passes away: Famous Tamil film lyricist P K Muthusami (99 years) has passed away at his residence in R Pudupatti village, Namakkal, Tamil Nadu. He was about to complete his 100th birthday in 2020. He peened down memorable Tamil film lyrics like ‘Mannukku Maram Baaramaa?’, which means ‘are the trees a burden on the earth?’ which is still relevant. His other lyrics composed by Muthusami include ‘Mapilai vandar’, ‘Chinna chinna nadai nadandu’ among others.