Daily GK Updates - 8th Aug, 2020

 

NATIONAL UPDATES:

 

1. Delhi Govt launches new “Electric Vehicle Policy”: Delhi government has launched the “Electric Vehicle Policy” for the national capital under which will waive registration fee, road tax, and provide an incentive of up to ₹1.5 lakh for new cars. The government aims to generate employment to give a boost to Delhi’s economy and reduce pollution levels in the national capital. There is already the Centre’s scheme on electric vehicles called ‘Fame India Phase-2’, under which the Union government also provides some incentives. Delhi government scheme will be an addition to the Centre’s scheme and people can also avail benefits under both the schemes. About Electric Vehicle Policy:

(1) Under the policy, the Delhi government will give an incentive of up to ₹30,000 for two-wheelers, autos, e-rickshaws and freight vehicles while for cars, it will provide an incentive of up to ₹1.5 lakh.

(2) The new EV policy as “progressive” and the policy also aim to constitute 25% electric vehicles by 2024, which is currently just 0.29% in the national capital.

(3) The Delhi government will also give a low-interest loan on electric commercial vehicles.

(4) The Delhi Chief Minister said his government will also set up 200 charging stations in a year to ensure that people driving these vehicles can get a charging station within the radius of three kilometres.

(5) The Delhi government will give a ‘scrapping incentive’ under the electric vehicle policy, which will be first-of-its-kind in the country.

Note: Chief Minister of Delhi: Arvind Kejriwal; Governor of Delhi: Anil Baijal.

 

2. Maharashtra partners with Google to deploy learning tools for online education: Considering the shutdown of schools due to the Covid-19 outbreak, the state government of Maharashtra has tied up with technology giant Google to launch online education project for the students in the state. Under the tie-up, students and teachers will get access to Google Classroom and G Suite for Education to provide solutions to support remote learning. Maharashtra is the first state in the country to introduce such a project. Key features of Google Classroom and G Suite:

(1) The Google Classroom and G Suite allows interactive sessions, which will enable teachers to explain lessons using audio or video presentations.

(2) Students can also ask their doubts while sitting at home

(3) Homework and assignments can be uploaded, and teachers can check them online.

(4) Parents can submit their complaints or suggestions through the system

(5) Around 250 participants can attend the class at a time.

(6) The initiative will cover over 1.09 lakh government, private, aided, and unaided schools, and benefit over 22.03 million students.

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

 

3. P S Ranipse becomes new IG of CRPF: Odisha cadre IPS officer, P S Ranipse has been appointed as Inspector General (IG), in Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF). He will hold the post on Central deputation for a period of five years from the date of joining. IPS officer P S Ranipse belongs to the 1995 batch and was serving as Additional Director General (Vigilance) in Odisha. He held the position of Inspector General of Police (Odisha) in 2013.

Note: Headquarters of CRPF: New Delhi; CRPF founded: 27 July 1939.

 

4. PM Narendra Modi inaugurates Rashtriya Swachhata Kendra: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on August 8 inaugurated Rashtriya Swachhata Kendra in New Delhi. The Kendra is an interactive experience centre on Swachh Bharat Mission. It is situated at Raj Ghat which is a samadhi of Mahatma Gandhi. During the occasion, PM Modi also watched a short video on ‘Swachh Bharat Mission’ at the Rashtriya Swachhata Kendra.

Objective of Rashtriya Swachhata Kendra: As per the official statement released by Prime Minister’s Office, the installations at Rashtriya Swachhata Kendra (RSK) will introduce the future generations to the successful journey of the world’s largest behavior campaign, which is the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM). The statement further added that the balanced mix of outdoor and digital installations at the Rashtriya Swachhata Kendra (RSK) will impart awareness, information, and education Swachhata and the related aspects. The interplay of the processes will be presented through success stories, assimilative learning, and thematic messages in an interactive format.

Gandagi Mukt Bharat Campaign: On the occasion, Prime Minister Narendra Modi also referred to the anniversary of the ‘Quit India Movement’ and launched ‘Gandagi Mukt Bharat’. It is a special week-long campaign for Swachhata in the run-up to the Independence Day. Under this, on each day till August 15, 2020, there will be special initiatives undertaken across the whole country.

 

5. NHAI inks MoU with IIT Delhi to set up Centre of Excellence for Advance Data Management System for Highways: The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi to set up a Centre of Excellence (CoE) for Use of Artificial Intelligence in Data Driven decision making and Advance Data Management System for Highways. Under the partnership, IIT Delhi will work with NHAI on developing advance analytics based on AI and ML, prepare simulation models, enhance data storage and retrieval capacities to further strengthen NHAI’s capabilities in data-driven decision making. IIT Delhi will provide space and infrastructural facility support to house the CoE along with providing scientific and technical expertise.

Note: Chairman NHAI: Sukhbir Singh Sandhu

 

6. NFDC organises first ever online patriotic film festival: The National Film Development Corporation (NFDC) will be organizing a first of its kind, online patriotic film festival from August 7 to August 21, 2020. The virtual film festival will be a part of Independence Day Celebrations 2020 by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. The festival will be showcasing Indian History that marks the bravery of the country’s freedom fighters and will aim at creating a festive and patriotic mood in the present times among the Indians across the world. Virtual Patriotic Film Festival key highlights:

(1) The festival organized by NDFC will be showcasing the high- quality Independence Day themed patriotic films daily.

(2) The selected films known for their brilliant storylines and performances will be available at the website cinemasofindia.com. The films will be available free of cost.

(3) The critically acclaimed movies from various Indian languages including Marathi, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Gujarati, Bengali, and Malayalam will be showcased in the festival.

(4) The movies are the consolidated collection of films from the National Film Archive of India (NFAI), National Film Development Corporation (NFDC), Films Division, and Children’s Film Society India (CFSI).

(5) For the first time, film Gandhi (1982) by Sir Richard Attenborough will also be made accessible and will be enjoyed by people with hearing and vision impairment.

(6) The link to the festival will be hosted on the website of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and the social media handles of PIB and MyGov.

 

7. Quit India Day: 8th August: Every year, the Quit India Day (or August Kranti Day) is observed on 8 August to commemorate the anniversary of Quit India Movement, launched by Father of Nation, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, on 8 August 1942 at the All-India Congress Committee session in Bombay. In 2020, we are celebrating the 78th anniversary of Quit India Day. Quit India Movement also known as Bharat Chodo Andolan and August Kranti Movement was a ‘do or die’ call to the people of India initiated by Gandhiji to demand an end to the British rule in India. The grateful country is paying homage to the freedom fighters and remembering the supreme sacrifices of the martyrs during the freedom struggle.

 

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

 

1. India extends Line of Credit worth 18 million dollars to Maldives for Fisheries Development: The Government of India has extended Line of Credit (LoC) of USD 18 million to the Government of Maldives for the expansion of fishing facilities at Maldives Industrial Fisheries Company (MIFCO). The fund will be used for development of fish collection and storage facilities and setting up of a tuna cooked plant and fishmeal plant. This grant is part of the 800 million US dollars line of credit offered by India with repayment tenor of 20 years and a 5-year moratorium.

Note: President of the Maldives: Ibrahim Mohamed Solih; Capital of Maldives: Male; Currency of the Maldives: Maldivian Rufiyaa.

 

OTHER UPDATES:

 

SPORTS

 

1. India to host ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in 2021: The International Cricket Council has confirmed that the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2020 that was postponed due to Covid-19 will be held in Australia in 2022. India will host the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021 as planned. ICC has also decided to postpone the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2021 in New Zealand till February-March 2022 because of the impact the Covid-19 pandemic has had on cricket globally. Format of the tournament:

(1) The format of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021 will remain as it was for 2020 and all teams that qualified for that event will now participate in India in 2021.

(2) A new qualification process will be run for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022.

(3) The format of the postponed ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup will remain as it was for 2021.

(4) Five teams have already qualified for the event and that will stand for 2022.

(5) The original global qualification event to determine the final three teams to contest the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup was scheduled to be held in Sri Lanka in July 2020, but this was postponed due to COVID-19. The qualification event will now be held in 2021.

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

 

BANKING AND FINANCE

 

1. Hardayal Prasad becomes new MD & CEO of PNB Housing Finance: PNB Housing Finance has announced the appointment of the former SBI Card head, Hardayal Prasad as its new managing director and chief executive officer. Prasad will take over from, Neeraj Vyas the current interim managing director and chief executive officer of the company, will step down from the position on August 10. Prasad is experienced in banking, international operations at SBI and SBI Cards and Payment Services (SBI Card). He resigned from the post of MD and CEO of SBI Card pursuant to voluntary retirement from SBI, the promoter of SBI Card on 15th July 2020 which came to effect on 31st July 2020.

Note: PNB Housing Finance Head Office: New Delhi; PNB Housing Finance Tag Line: Ghar Ki Baat.

 

2. IBBI amends the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (Voluntary Liquidation Process) Regulations, 2017: IBBI amends the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of IndiaIn exercise of the powers conferred by clause (t) of sub-section (1) of section 196 read with section 240 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (31 of 2016), the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India has amended the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (Voluntary Liquidation Process) Regulations, 2017 by Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (Voluntary Liquidation Process) (Second Amendment) Regulations, 2020.

What does this amendment say? As per the amendment, for initiating voluntary liquidation process the corporate person may replace the liquidator by appointing another insolvency professional as liquidator by a resolution of members or partners, or contributories, as the case may be. Earlier, to conduct the voluntary liquidation process the corporate person appoints an insolvency professional. However, there can be situations which may require the appointment of another resolution professional as the liquidator. Hence this amendment has been made.

 

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY

 

1. Reliance Industries ranks second biggest brand globally; Apple tops: FutureBrand Index 2020: Billionaire Mukesh Ambani owned oil-to-telecom conglomerate Reliance Industries has been ranked as second biggest brand in the world in the FutureBrand Index 2020. The 2020 index is topped by technology giant Apple. Samsung is ranked third, followed by Nvidia, Moutai, Nike, Microsoft, ASML, PayPal and Netflix among top 10 global brands. FutureBrand Index 2020 is the 6th edition of the annual brand. The index ranks world’s 100 leading firms that are rising while dealing with challenges and how they have fared over the past year. The index looks at PwC’s Global Top 100 Companies by Market Capitalisation and reorders them according to global perception strength rather than on financial strength

 

DEFENCE

 

1. India to participate in Kavkaz 2020 exercise in Russia: India will take part in the multilateral military “Russian Kavkaz 2020” strategic command-post exercise to be held in Astrakhan, Russia. The Indian contingent includes 150 Army personnel and a smaller number of personnel from the Navy and Air Force. The invitation for participation to Kavkaz 2020, also referred to as Caucasus-2020, has been extended to at least 18 countries including China, Iran, Pakistan and Turkey apart from other Central Asian Republics part of the SCO.

 

OBITUARIES

 

1. Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Shirley Ann Grau passes away: Pulitzer Prize-winning fiction writer Shirley Ann Grau (91 years) passed away due to stroke. She won 1965 Pulitzer Prize for her book titled ‘The Keepers of the House’. She writes six novels and four short stories during her writing career, all of which were set in the Deep South, from New Orleans to north Louisiana and Alabama. Her work depicts both the dark secrets and the beauty of Deep South, Southern region of United States.