Daily GK Updates - 8th Sept, 2020

 

NATIONAL UPDATES:

 

1. GoI launches mental health rehabilitation helpline “KIRAN”: Social Justice and Empowerment Ministry have launched a toll-free mental health rehabilitation helpline “KIRAN”. The helpline was launched in view of the growing incidence of Mental Illness, particularly in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic. The helpline – 1800-500-0019 will provide relief and support to persons with mental illness. About “KIRAN” helpline:

The helpline will resolve mental health issues that are related to the following namely, anxiety, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD), depression, Panic Attack(s) Adjustment Disorders, suicidal thoughts, substance abuse, Post Traumatic Stress Disorders and the psychological issues & mental health emergencies induced by the pandemic. It will offer mental health rehabilitation services. It functions as a lifeline to provide 1st stage advice, counselling. It is available 24*7 with the Technical Coordination of BSNL.

Note: Union Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment: Thaawarchand Gehlot.

 

2. Karnataka approves Rs. 600-cr watershed project ‘REWARD’ with World Bank assistance: The Karnataka Cabinet has approved a project titled ‘Rejuvenating Watersheds for Agriculture Resilience through Innovative Development (REWARD)’. The REWARD project is designed to ensure soil and water conservation in 20 taluks with low groundwater levels in Karnataka. The total cost of this project is Rs 600 crore. The World Bank will fund 70% of the project amount, which amounts to Rs 420 crore, whereas, 30% of the expenses (Rs 180 crore) will be borne by the state government of Karnataka. The project will cover 50,000 hectares of parched land with depleted groundwater table for watershed development in each of the 20 taluks to increase the groundwater table. The taluks to be covered under the project are Bagepalli, Challakere, Shikaripur, Gundlupet, Harapanahalli, Sira, Arsikere, Kadur, Bailhongal, Athani, Hirekerur, Hungund, Kundgol, Bagewadi, Ron, Jewargi, Basavakalyan, Manvi, Yelburga, and Shahapur.

Note: Karnataka Capital: Bengaluru; Chief Minister: B. S. Yediyurappa

 

3. Andhra Govt & LEAF signs agreement for food processing: Government of Andhra Pradesh and Lawrencedale Agro Processing India (LEAF) has signed an agreement to expand the scope of food processing in the State. The State tops in the production of mango, lime, tomato, eggs, banana, chillies, and shrimp and second in production of groundnut, maize and paddy in the country. LEAF has inked an agreement with the Andhra Pradesh Food Processing Society at Tadepalli, Guntur, under the purview of the Andhra Pradesh government’s Department of Industries and Commerce to boost the income of marginal farmers with special focus on food processing. This initiative of Integrated Food Park Scheme is one more aspect towards ensuring higher income for farmers.

Note: Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh: YS Jagan Mohan Reddy; Governor: Biswa Bhusan Harichandan.

 

4. Venkaiah Naidu released ‘The State of Young Child in India’ report: Vice President of India, Venkaiah Naidu has released “The State of Young Child in India” report. The report was prepared by a policy advocacy organization, Mobile Creches. The report measured Health and Nutrition in the country. According to the report, there 159 million children aged below 6 years in India out of the 21 per cent are undernourished, 36 per cent are underweight and 38 per cent do not receive full immunization. According to the analysis on expense towards child nutrition, healthcare, education and other protection services, India has spent Rs 1,723 per child in 2018-2019, which is insufficient to reach the entire eligible population. The report has also released the list of Best-performing states & worst-performing states based on the Young Child Outcomes Index.

Best-performing states: (1) Kerala; (2) Goa; (3) Tripura; (4) Tamil Nadu; (5) Mizoram

Worst-performing states: (1) Bihar; (2) Uttar Pradesh; (3) Jharkhand; (4) Madhya Pradesh; (5) Chhattisgarh

The Young Child Outcomes Index (YCOI) measures health, nutrition and cognitive growth with help of indicators such as infant mortality rate, stunting and net attendance at the primary school level. Based on the index, eight states have scored below the country’s average. They are Assam, Meghalaya, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. The index was constructed for two time periods 2005-2006 & 2015-2016 to provide inter-state comparisons and also provides an idea of change over time.

 

5. DRDO successfully tests scramjet technology for hypersonic missiles: Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has successfully flight-tested a Hypersonic Technology Demonstrator Vehicle (HSTDV), which is an unmanned scramjet vehicle with the ability to travel at six times the speed of sound. The test was conducted from Dr A P J Abdul Kalam Launch Complex at Wheeler Island, off the coast of Odisha.  Now, India has joined the elite club of the United States, Russia and China to develop and successfully test Hypersonic Technology. About HSTDV:

(1) The HSTDV tests the indigenously developed hypersonic air-breathing scramjet technology. The scramjets are a variant of air-breathing jet engines and have the ability to handle airflows of speeds much higher than the speed of sound.

(2) The hypersonic cruise vehicle was launched using a proven solid rocket motor, which took it to an altitude of 30 kilometres, where the aerodynamic heat shields were separated. The cruise vehicle separated from the launch vehicle and the air intake opened as planned.

(3) The hypersonic combustion sustained and the cruise vehicle continued on its desired flight path at a velocity of six times the speed of sound, which is nearly two kilometres per second, for more than 20 seconds.

(4) The critical events, like fuel injection and auto-ignition of the scramjet, demonstrated technological maturity.

Note: DRDO Chairman: Dr G. Satheesh Reddy; DRDO Headquarters: New Delhi.

 

6. NITI Aayog constitutes Multidimensional Poverty Index Coordination Committee (MPICC): NITI Aayog has constituted a Multidimensional Poverty Index Coordination Committee (MPICC). The MPICC is chaired by Ms. Sanyukta Samaddar, Adviser (SDG). NITI Aayog is the nodal agency for the Global Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) and has been assigned the responsibility of leveraging the monitoring mechanism for it and to drive reforms. Global MPI is an international measure of multidimensional poverty covering 107 developing countries and was first developed in 2010 by Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI) and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) for UNDP’s Human Development Reports.

 

7. AIM partners with Freshworks to provide robust support to innovators and entrepreneurs in India: The Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) of the NITI Aayog has partnered with a customer-engagement software company Freshworks Inc. to provide support to incubators and the startup ecosystem in India to get further empowered in their innovation journey. Under the partnership, Freshworks will provide credits for its suite of products to AIM and its beneficiaries, which will empower startups to function efficiently while keeping a tab on costs in related activities. The collaboration will increase the efficacy of the institutions and startups in the AIM portfolio and foster innovation and entrepreneurship among startup innovators. Freshworks is a cloud-based SaaS (software as a service) company, which provides innovative customer-engagement software for businesses of all sizes.

 

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

 

1. SCO Heads of Government Summit to be held in India on 30 November: India will host the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit of the council of heads of government on November 30, 2020 in New Delhi. This SCO Summit is the 19th edition of the council of heads of government meeting of SCO. India is hosting this summit for the first time after its admission into the grouping in 2017.

Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO): Beijing-based SCO is an eight-nation regional grouping comprising of China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, India and Pakistan. India was an observer at the SCO since 2005 and became its full member in 2017 along with Pakistan.

 

2. Australia appoints cricket icon Matthew Hayden as trade envoy to India: Government of Australia has appointed former cricketer, Matthew Hayden and Indian-origin politician Lisa Singh as trade envoys for advancing business ties with India. The council plays an important role in advancing Australia's foreign and economic policy interests with India. Three new appointments to the board of the Australia-India Council were announced recently, Ashok Jacob has been reappointed as chair, and will be joined by three new board members."

About Matthew Hayden: Hayden is a former international cricketer, who played 103 Tests and 161 One Day Internationals for Australia. He has scored 40 international centuries. He was made Member of the Order of Australia in 2010 for his sporting excellence. Hayden has served as a board member in the Institute for Australia India Engagement since 2018.

About Lisa Singh: Singh has represented Tasmania in the Federal Senate from 2010 to 2019. She is a recipient of the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award from the government of India for her service as a person of Indian heritage in fostering friendly relations between India and Australia.

Note: Prime Minister of Australia: Scott Morrison; Currency of Australia: Australian dollar; Capital of Australia: Canberra.

 

3. Saudi Arabia chairs G20 Education Ministers Meeting: The Education Ministers Meeting will take place as part of the Sherpa Track for the G20 Leaders Summit 2020, which is to be hosted by Saudi Arabia at the end of 2020. The Saudi Arabian Presidency has selected the following theme for the G20’s 2020 activities: Realizing Opportunities of the 21st Century For All. The meet was chaired by Saudi Arabia’s Education Minister Dr Hamad Al-Asheikh where India was represented by Union Minister of Education,  Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, in the virtual mode.

The focus of the Meeting: This meeting held to discuss and share experiences of member countries in the three identified areas viz. Education Continuity in Times of Crises, Early Childhood Education and Internationalization in Education.

Note: Capital of Saudi Arabia: Riyadh; Currency: Saudi riyal.

 

4. International Literacy Day: 8th September: International Literacy Day is observed globally on 8th September every year. The day spread awareness about the importance of literacy for individuals, communities, and societies and the need for intensified efforts towards more literate societies. International Literacy Day 2020 focuses on “Literacy teaching and learning in the COVID-19 crisis and beyond,” especially on the role of educators and changing pedagogies. The theme highlights literacy learning in a lifelong learning perspective, and therefore, mainly focuses on youth and adults. The day was declared by UNESCO on 26 October 1966 at 14th session of UNESCO’s General conference. It was celebrated for the first time in 1967.

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

 

OTHER UPDATES:

 

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY

 

1. Apple’s first ‘floating’ store to be launched in Singapore: Technology giant Apple Inc. has announced that it is going to open its first ever “floating” store, in Singapore on 10th September 2020. The floating Apple Store, will be located at Singapore’s posh Marina Bay Sands resort. It will be the third retail store of Apple in Singapore. The first-of-its-kind store has a sphere-shaped all-glass dome structure that is fully self-supported, and made up of 114 pieces of glass, held together by only 10 narrow vertical mullions for structural connection.

 

2. Mahindra Finance’s subsidiary set to enter online insurance: Mahindra Finance is set to enter the business of online insurance broking giving digital services to the customers of its insurance brokerage subsidiary, Mahindra Insurance Brokers, through a soon-to-be launched portal called PayBima. The new portal would play a role in the transformation of Mahindra’s insurance broking services to a “phygital” model, which would leverage its feet-on-the-street agents at more than 400 locations in the country, with the digital aggregation and settlement services.

 

AWARDS AND HONOURS

 

1. David Attenborough awarded the Indira Gandhi Peace Prize 2019: The Indira Gandhi Memorial Trust will present the Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development for 2019 to renowned broadcaster Sir David Attenborough. The prize is awarded to him for a lifetime of doing more to reveal the wonders of the natural world than perhaps any other individual. The Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development was instituted in the memory of the former prime minister by a trust in her name in 1986. It consists of a monetary award of Rs 25 lakh along with a citation.

 

OBITUARIES

 

1. Oscar winning Czech Director Jiri Menzel passes away: Oscar-winning Czech film director, Jiri Menzel passed away. He was born in Prague, Czechoslovakia on 23 February 1938. His 1st feature film, ‘Closely Watched Trains’ won an Academy Award (Oscars) for Best Foreign Language film in 1968. Menzel won the Czech Lion for lifetime artistic contribution and was honoured by the Karlovy Vary festival. He is a recipient of the Medal of Merit, the French Order of Arts and Literature and a score of other international awards. He was awarded an IIFA Lifetime Achievement Award in November 2013.