NATIONAL UPDATES:
1.
Ministry of AYUSH launches campaign “Ayush for Immunity”: A campaign on
“Ayush for Immunity” has been launched by the Ministry of AYUSH. The campaign
was rolled out during a webinar which featured the participation of More than
50 thousand people. The webinar was streamed by the Ministry of AYUSH on its
new digital communication platform Ayush Virtual Convention Centre (AVCC).
Through the campaign “Ayush for Immunity”, Ministry of AYUSH aims to aware
people about the valuable information about strengths of various Ayush-based
solutions for enhancing immunity and preventing diseases.
Note: Minister of State (I/C) for Ayurveda,
Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy: Shripad Yesso Naik.
2.
All villages to be connected with optical fibre in next 1,000 days: PM Modi: PM Modi in his
speech of Independence Day 2020, made the announcement that the project to
connect all the villages of India with optical fibre network will be completed
in the next 1,000 days. Under this project, more than six lakh villages will be
connected with optical fibre network in the coming 1,000 days in India. Apart
from this, a high-speed internet connectivity via submarine optical fibre cable
will be extended to Lakshadweep in the next 1,000 days to provide high-speed
internet services in the region.
3.
Centre plans to make Odisha the epicenter of India’s overall steel industry: The Union Minister
of Petroleum & Natural Gas and Steel Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has
informed that Odisha will become the epicenter of India’s overall steel
industry, to accelerate the development of the domestic steel sector of the
country. Government has proposed to set up an integrated steel hub in Odisha,
to make the state, the nerve Centre of Mission Purvodaya, which aims at
accelerated development of eastern India through the establishment of integrated
steel hub. The Centre has allocated capital investment of Rs 5 lakh crore for
this project.
4.
Kaushik Khona becomes new CEO of GoAir: Kaushik Khona has been appointed as the
Chief Executive Officer of GoAir Airline. He will replace Vinay Dube. GoAir is
an Indian low-cost airline based in Mumbai, Maharashtra. It is owned by the
Indian business conglomerate Wadia Group. Khona brings with himself more than
32 years of corporate experience and all at the CXO level. He was with the
Wadia Group for almost 4 years from 2008 to 2011. He was the CEO of GoAir for
two years, from April 2009. Khona was also Vice President, corporate finance
and strategist for the Wadia Group. Before joining GoAir for his latest
assignment, he worked as a partner to MTalati & Talati LLP, a leading the
consulting, business reengineering and finance consulting practise at the firm.
Note: GoAir Headquarters: Mumbai,
Maharashtra; GoAir Founder: Jehangir Wadia; GoAir Established: 2005.
5.
Harbhajan Singh becomes new Brand Ambassador of eBikeGO: Amritsar based
e-mobility start-up, eBikeGO has appointed Indian cricketer Harbhajan Singh as
its brand ambassador. He will help the company to upgrade itself and will also
have an active presence on the company’s website and campaigns across media.
The company with this association and with the recently announced government’s
new Electric Vehicle (EV) policy aims to build mass appeal, positive voice and
widespread adoption for electric mobility thereby looking to capture 10% of
electric two-wheeler market share by 2022. eBikeGO provides electric bikes on
rental to individual commuters for rent of Rs 4,000 per month. The startup
offers its fleet to new age e-commerce companies like Big Basket, Zomato,
Myntra, Burger King, Nandos, Grab.in, Delhivery, Fasoos.
6.
NTPC develops infrastructure at UP’s Rihand Project to increase use of fly ash:
National
Thermal Power Corporation Ltd. (NTPC) has developed an infrastructure at Rihand
Super Thermal Power station in Uttar Pradesh to transport fly ash from a remote
location to a consumption centre at a cheaper cost. This will help in efficient
and safer transportation of fly ash from the power plants to cement production
units located at far distance, in larger quantity. As per the data, almost
44.33 million tonnes of fly ash was utilized for various productive purposes in
2019-20 which was 73.31% of the total ash generated.
7.
ISRO and IISc Researchers develops sustainable process for making ‘Space
Bricks’ on Moon: A
team of researchers from the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) and the Indian
Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has unveiled a sustainable process to make
brick-like structures on the moon. These brick like structures, named as Space
Bricks could eventually be used to assemble structures for habitation on the
moon surface in future. Space Brick is made up of lunar soil, bacteria and guar
beans, which enables to make load bearing bricks. It uses urea sourced from
human urine, which could be mixed with lunar soil to build structures on the
moon decreasing overall expenditure considerably.
8.
Indian Railways constructing world’s tallest pier bridge across river Ijai in
Manipur: Indian
Railways is constructing the world’s tallest pier bridge in Manipur. The bridge
which is being constructed across river Ijai near Noney is an engineering
marvel because the tallest pier height will be 141 meter. It will surpass the
existing record of 139 meter of Mala - Rijeka viaduct, Montenegro in Europe.
The total estimated cost of the bridge is 280 crore rupees, and it will be
completed by March 2022. The bridge is a part of Jiribam-Tupul-Imphal new BG
line project. The total length of the bridge will be 703 meter. The piers of
the bridge are constructed using hydraulic augers, the tall piers needed
specially designed “slip-form technique" to ensure efficient and continual
construction. The steel girders used in the construction of the bridge are
pre-fabricated in a workshop, transported in segments and erected at the site
by Cantilever launching scheme. A North East Frontier Railway official said,
there are a total of 45 tunnels in the project. The longest is Tunnel No. 12
with a length of 10.280 km. This will be the longest railway tunnel in the
North East.
INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:
1.
4th Meeting of the BRICS Anti-Drug Working Group: Russia chaired the
4th Meeting of the BRICS Anti-Drug Working Group. The session which was held
over video conference, featured the participation of delegates from Brazil,
Russia, China, South Africa and India. Rakesh Asthana, Director General,
Narcotics Control Bureau led the Indian delegation that participated in the
meeting. Highlights of the meeting are as follows:
(1) The countries adopted reaffirming the
commitment of the five-member states to the International Anti-drug
conventions.
(2) India recommended for nodal points to
enable real-time information sharing among BRICS nations.
(3) The countries exchanged opinions
concerning the drug situation in their countries, the international and
regional trends of illegal trafficking in narcotic drugs.
(4) The officials also discussed the
psychotropic substances and their precursors, and the impact of various
internal and external factors on the situation.
(5) The virtual meeting also focused on the
misuse of darknet and other advanced technologies for drug trafficking.
OTHER UPDATES:
SPORTS
1.
Kiren Rijiju launches initiative of Fit India Youth Clubs to promote fitness
among every citizen: Union
Minister of Youth and Sports Shri. Kiren Rijiju has launched a nation-wide
initiative, the Fit India Youth Club. It is a part of the Fit India Movement
and endeavours to harness the power of youth to create mass awareness about the
importance of fitness, across the country. The launch was done on Independence
Day of India 2020. Under this, 75 lakh volunteers of Nehru Yuva Kendra
Sangathan and National Service Scheme, along with Scouts and Guides, NCC and
other youth organisations will come together to register as Fit India Youth
Clubs in every block in the country. These clubs will organise and encourage
schools and local bodies to organise one community fitness programme every
quarter. Each member of the Fit India Youth Club will encourage people to
perform fitness activities of 30 to 60 minutes in his or her daily routine. Fit
India Freedom Run will be promoted by the Fit India Youth Clubs as one of its
first initiatives.
2.
Indian Olympic Association launches 'Ek India Team India' digital campaign: Indian Olympic
Association launched its 'Ek India Team India' digital campaign on the occasion
of the country's 74th Independence Day. The campaign is a part of IOA's recent
adoption of its new identity, marking 100 years of Indian athletes'
participation at the Olympic Games. ‘Ek India Team India' campaign captures India's
journey in the Olympic Games and the concept behind the adoption of its new
identity, which celebrates the country's uniqueness, its sporting legacy and
the values of unity, friendship and merit in sport, the IOA said in a
statement. As a part of the launch of the campaign video, IOA will promote the
new logo on its website and social media channels. The new logo will be used by
athletes and officials while representing Team India, when competing on the
world arena, as well as in all official events and ceremonies at the Olympic
Games, Commonwealth Games and other international sporting events.
BANKING AND FINANCE
1.
HDFC Bank launches “Shaurya KGC Card” to members of armed forces: HDFC Bank has
launched “Shaurya KGC Card” for Indian armed forces personnel. The card will
offer agriculture loans for military and paramilitary professionals. A
first-of-its-kind product for over 45 lakh Indian armed forces personnel. The
product will target 5 lakh military and paramilitary professionals, for
catering to their family’s agricultural needs. This product comes with unique
features and eligibility criteria specially crafted for the people who are
posted far away from their homes. About “Shaurya KGC Card”:
(1) “Shaurya KGC Card” entails both
short-term loans for cropping and also long-term ones for farm investments for
a period of up to five years which will be reviewed at regular intervals.
(2) The product comes with a life cover of
₹ 10 lakh as against ₹ 2 lakh for an average card.
(3) The loan facility has been designed
keeping in mind the financial needs of the armed forces and can be availed by
visiting HDFC Bank Branches, applying for the loan through recently launched
HDFC Bank e-Kisan Dhan app and by dialling an all India Interactive Voice
Response (IVR) toll-free number (1800 120 9655).
Note: Headquarters of HDFC Bank: Mumbai,
Maharashtra; CEO: Aditya Puri
2.
PNB launches ‘DIGITAL APNAYEN’ campaign to promote digital banking: Punjab National
Bank has launched a campaign named ‘DIGITAL APNAYEN’ to encourage customers to
use digital banking channels. The campaign launched by the bank’s Managing
Director S S Mallikarjuna Rao on the occasion of Independence Day is till March
31, 2021. PNB encourage customers to use digital channels and participate in the
noble cause of donating to the PM CARES Fund for COVID-19. PNB will contribute
Rs 5 towards the PM CARES Fund on behalf of each customer conducting the first
financial transaction to activate their RuPay Debit card either on point of
sale (PoS) or e-commerce platform, under the campaign ‘DIGITAL APNAYEN’.
PNB aimed at the financial and digital
inclusion of millions of Indians, for making banking services universally
accessible to all.
Note: PNB Headquarters: New Delhi; PNB
Founded: 19 May 1894, Lahore, Pakistan; PNB Founders: Lala Lajpat Rai, Dyal
Singh Majithia.
DEFENCE
1.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh approves proposal to expand NCC in 173 border
and coastal districts: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has approved the
proposal for a major expansion of the National Cadet Corps (NCC) to cover 173
border and coastal districts, to meet the aspirations of youth in all the
border and coastal districts. With the expansion of NCC in the border and
coastal districts, these areas will get trained manpower for disaster
management, and the youth will also get skill training for making their career
in the armed forces. A total of one lakh cadets from 173 border and coastal
districts will be inducted to the NCC. Of the total, one-third of the Cadets
would be girl Cadets.
OBITUARIES
1.
Legendary Indian Classical Vocalist, Pandit Jasraj, Passes away: One of the world’s
most prominent Indian classical vocalists, Pandit Jasraj, has passed away due
to cardiac arrest in New Jersey, US. He was 90. His musical career spanned more
than 80 years, during which he received several national and international
awards. Some of his awards include:
Padma Shri – India’s fourth highest civilian award – in 1975; Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1887; Padma Bhushan in 1999; Padma Vibhushan, the second highest civilian honour in 2000.
No comments:
Post a Comment