Daily GK Updates - 23rd Aug, 2020

 

NATIONAL UPDATES:

 

1. Arjun Munda e-inaugurates “Tribes India Showroom” in Mumbai: “Tribes India Showroom” has been e-inaugurated by the Union Minister for Tribal Affairs, Arjun Munda. The showroom has been inaugurated in Indian Globe Chambers of LIC Western Zonal Office, Fort, Mumbai. “Tribes India Showroom” is an initiative of TRIFED, Ministry of Tribal Affairs to promote the livelihood of the tribal people marketing. “Tribes India on Wheels” is also launched by TRIFED to boost the sales and enhance tribal income in these challenging times. It is a mobile van stacked fully with Van Dhan natural produce, immunity boosters including other tribal products and aims to deliver these products directly to the customer’s doorstep in 150 cities across the nation. The van brings various kinds of immunity boosting products like wild honey, organic haldi, amla, ginger, black pepper etc.

 

2. Launch of Online system of “Registration and Renewal” for Jewellers: An online system of Registration and Renewal of Jewellers has been virtually launched by the Union Minister for Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution, Ram Vilas Paswan. The minister also launched the online system of recognition and renewal of the Assaying and Hallmarking Centres. These systems are expected to bring about ease of doing business for the jewellers as well as the entrepreneurs. Those jewellers and the entrepreneurs who have established Assaying and Hallmarking Centres or wish to do so, can access these newly launched online systems through Bureau of Indian Standards web portal. Hallmarking of precious metals will become mandatory from 1st June 2021. Those jewellers who are seeking to obtain a license can apply online and submit required necessary documents including fees through this online portal. These portals will ensure the availability of the gold jewellery of proven quality as well as purity to the consumers.

 

3. India’s longest river ropeway inaugurated in Assam: The longest river ropeway of India has been inaugurated in Assam. The ropeway is 1.8 Km long and connects Guwahati and North Guwahati over Brahmaputra river. The ropeway will be operated from Kachari Ghat in Guwahati to Dol Govinda temple in North Guwahati. The new ropeway service empowered with state-of-the-art technology will decrease the travel time between Guwahati and North Guwahati. It is also expected to strengthen the tourism sector as it will enable people to see the landscapes of Guwahati city, mighty Brahmaputra including the Umananda Temple on Peacock Island.

Note: Chief Minister of Assam: Sarbananda Sonowal; Governor: Jagdish Mukhi.

 

4. Nitin Gadkari launches “Harit Path” app to monitor plantation: Union Minister for road transport and highways, Nitin Gadkari has launched a mobile app named ‘Harit Path’ to monitor plantation along national highways. Under this initiative, the NHAI planted over 25 lakh plants in 25 days along the stretches of the national highways between July 21 and August 15, 2020. About “Harit Path” app:

(1) The minister launched ‘Harit Path’, a mobile app to monitor the plantations through geo-tagging and web-based GIS-enabled monitoring tools.

(2) The GPS-based app has been developed by National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), a Public Sector Undertaking (PSU) under the Ministry of Road and Transport.

(3) The app helps to monitor location, growth, species details, maintenance activities, targets and achievements of each of its field units for each and every plant under all plantation projects.

To commemorate 25 years of its service to the nation, the National Highways Authority of India has also recently undertaken ‘Harit Bharat Sankalp’, a nation-wide plantation drive which is in line with NHAI’s commitment to promoting environmental protection and sustainability.

 

5. Harsh Vardhan launches game on COVID-19 “The Corona Fighters”: Union Minister of Health & Family Welfare, Dr. Harsh Vardhan has launched a game on COVID-19 titled as “The Corona Fighters”. The game has been launched with a target to influence the players’ actions in the real world, reminding them to take the right precautions and escape infection. So, this game is a new and extremely creative method to teach people the right tools as well as behaviours to fight the COVID-19 pandemic. Along with “The Corona Fighters” game, the minister also launched IEC’s two promotional videos urging adherence to key COVID-19 Appropriate Behaviours. Both products will seek to influence children, and through them the elders in the community, and spread the message as well as importance of COVID-19 appropriate behaviour.

 

6. A book titled “Gastric Cancer” released by Jitendra Singh: Union Minister, Jitendra Singh has released a book on cancer named “Gastric Cancer” edited by Dr Ashok K. Vaid. The book was launched during a special session organized during the 3-day virtual conference on Oncology. The book is published by Springer Healthcare Education. Ashok K. Vaid is a Noted Oncologist and was awarded Padma Shri in 2009 for his outstanding work in the field of medicine.

 

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

 

1. Uttar Pradesh Govt Inks Deal with Israel for Bundelkhand water crisis solution: The Government of Uttar Pradesh has signed a ‘plan of cooperation’ with the Government of Israel for the management of water resources in Bundelkhand region of the state, which faces potable water shortage in summers. The plan of cooperation for the ‘India –Israel – Bundelkhand Water Project’ was signed by the Israeli ambassador to India, Ron Malka, and UP’s Agriculture Production Commissioner Alok Sinha on 20 August, the day on which ‘India Day’ is celebrated in Israel. The agreement has been signed for a period of two years and will be extended later. The Bundelkhand Water Project comprises of three key components – water conservation, water efficient transportation and advanced water practices for agriculture. Under this project 28 districts across the country, including two in Uttar Pradesh, have been selected. In the first phase, 25 villages in Babina block of Jhansi district had been selected. The project will provide farmers of the Bundelkhand region with latest farming technologies, including drip irrigation. The water reservoir of Pahuj dam in Jhansi will be enabled with integrated drip irrigation.

Note: Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh: Yogi Aditya Nath; Governor: Anandiben Patel.

Prime Minister of Israel: Benjamin Netanyahu; Capital: Jerusalem; Currency: Israeli Shekel

 

2. International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition: 23rd August: International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition is a UNESCO designated day held every year on August 23 to memorialize the transatlantic slave trade. It was on the night of 22 and 23 August 1791, in Santo Domingo (today Haiti and the Dominican Republic) that saw the beginning of the uprising that would play a crucial role in the abolition of the transatlantic slave trade. It is a day to honour  the  memory  of  the  men  and  women  who,  in  Saint-Domingue  in  1791,  revolted  and  paved  the  way  for  the  end  of  slavery  and  dehumanization.

Note: UNESCO headquarters: Paris, France; UNESCO Head: Audrey Azoulay; UNESCO Founded: 16 November 1945.

 

OTHER UPDATES:

SPORTS

 

1. Jacques Kallis, Zaheer Abbas & Lisa Sthalekar inducted into ICC Hall of Fame: Legendary South African all-rounder Jaques Kallis, Pakistan batting great Zaheer Abbas and Pune-born former Australian captain Lisa Sthalekar were inducted into the International Cricket Council’s Hall of Fame in a virtual ceremony. Kallis represented South Africa in 166 Tests, 328 ODIs and 25 T20s between 1995 and 2014. Kallis is the fourth South African player to be inducted into the Hall of Fame. Zaheer Abbas played 78 Tests and 62 ODIs for Pakistan, accumulating 5062 and 2572 runs respectively. He averaged over 40 in both the formats. Abbas is the sixth Pakistani player to be inducted into the Hall of Fame. Sthalekar represented Australia in eight Tests, 125 ODIs and 54 T20s. Sthalekar is the 27th from Australia and the ninth woman player in the list, which includes five from her country.

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

 

BANKING AND FINANCE

 

1. Axis Bank launches hiring initiative named ‘Gig-a-Opportunities’: Axis Bank has launched a new initiative named ‘Gig-a-Opportunities’. The initiative aims to attract skilled talent that can work with the bank remotely, from anywhere in the country. This hiring model comprises two working patterns. One is the full-time permanent job and the second is based on the duration of a project and is temporary in nature. Axis Bank aims to employ 800-1000 people over the next under this initiative.

Note: MD and CEO of Axis Bank: Amitabh Chaudhry; Axis Bank Headquarters: Mumbai, Maharashtra; Axis Bank Founded: 1993, Ahmedabad.

 

2. ICICI Lombard, Bharti AXA to merge general insurance businesses: ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company and Bharti AXA General Insurance Company have announced the merger of their businesses. The merger would result in an entity with a combined annual premium of Rs 16,447 crore and a market share of nearly 8.7%. The merger will happen through a scheme of arrangement. About the deal:

(1) The board of directors of ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company and Bharti AXA General Insurance Company at their respective meetings approved entering into definitive agreements for demerger of Bharti AXA’s non-life insurance business into ICICI Lombard through a Scheme of Arrangement.

(2) Once the deal is completed the combined entity will become the largest private non-life insurer and the 3rd largest non-life insurer in the general insurance industry after New India Assurance and United India Insurance.

(3) The shareholders of Bharti AXA will receive 2 shares of ICICI Lombard for every 115 shares of Bharti AXA, held by them as on the date on which the scheme is approved by the board.

(4) As a part of the deal, shareholders of the demerged company( i.e. Bharti and AXA) will be allotted equity shares of the combined entity of Rs 10 each, where Bharti will receive 18.23 million shares and AXA will receive 17.52 million shares which will amount to 521 million euro.

(5) Currently, promoter ICICI Bank Ltd holds is 51.89% stake in ICICI Lombard & the rest by the public. After the deal, ICICI Bank Ltd stake will come down to 48.11%.

(6) Post the merger, no special rights will be given to Bharti Enterprises or AXA and they will be categorised as public shareholders in the combined entity after the deal. Both Bharti Enterprises and AXA will exit the non-life business after the merger.

Note: Bharti AXA General Insurance Headquarters: Mumbai, Maharashtra; Bharti AXA General Insurance MD and CEO: Sanjeev Srinivasan.

ICICI Lombard General Insurance Headquarter: Mumbai, Maharashtra; ICICI Lombard General Insurance MD & CEO: Bhargav Dasgupta.

 

DEFENCE

 

1. Indian Coast Guard launches Interceptor Boat ‘ICGS C-454’: Indian Coast Guard (ICG) has launched an Interceptor Boat ‘ICGS C-454’ in Surat, Gujarat. The Interceptor Boat ‘ICGS C-454’ has been built by Larsen and Toubro and it has a maximum speed of 45 nautical miles or 83 kilometers per hour. The newly launched Interceptor Boat ‘ICGS C-454’ is a 27-meter-long boat with average draft of 1.4 meter and empowered with excellent seakeeping, maneuverability and endurance range of 500 nautical miles.

Note: Director-General of Indian Coast Guard: Krishnaswamy Natarajan.