Daily GK Updates – 25th Jan, 2021

 

NATIONAL UPDATES:

 

1. Amit Shah inaugurates new 4-lane Thaltej-Shilaj-Rancharda railway overbridge: Union Home Minister Shri Amit Shah has inaugurated the new 4-lane Thaltej-Shilaj-Rancharda railway overbridge in Ahmedabad city of Gujarat through video conferencing. The new overbridge has been built at a cost of Rs 55 crore. There was a big problem of traffic on more than one lakh railway crossings in the country. Railway gates would open and close more than 100 times a day, due to which the costly fuel and precious time was wasted. In view of this, Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi decided and under the leadership of Railway Minister Shri Piyush Goyal, a huge campaign was started in which the work of constructing overbridges or underbridges at these one lakh railway crossings was started. Today, this overbridge has been inaugurated under the same scheme.

 

2. Odisha’s famous ‘Toshali National Crafts Mela’ begins: Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has inaugurated the annual Toshali National Crafts Mela in Bhubaneswar. The Crafts Mela was inaugurated virtually. The Toshali Crafts Mela has become one of the most popular handlooms and handicrafts fairs in Eastern India. Three artisans were also presented with the State Handicrafts Award-2019 in the event. Three winners are- Dilip Kumar Swain (palm leaf engraving), Divyajyoti Behera (stone sculpting), and Priyanka Patra (terracotta). A total number of 250 stalls have been set up at the Janata Maidan venue displaying the best handloom and handicrafts from across the country. Out of the total, 170 stalls represent Odisha textiles and crafts and 80 stalls are of other states.

Note: Chief Minister of Odisha: Naveen Patnaik; Odisha Capital: Bhubaneswar; Odisha Governor: Ganeshi Lal.

 

3. Arjun Munda Virtually Launches “Shramshakti” Portal: The Union Minister of Tribal Affairs Shri Arjun Munda has launched a National Migration Support Portal “ShramShakti”, during a virtual programme organised at Panjim, Goa. The portal will help the government in smooth formulation of state and national level programs for migrant workers.

Shram Shakti portal will address the data gap and empower migrant workers who generally migrate in search of employment and income generation. The government would also be able to link the migrant population with existing Welfare Scheme- under Atam Nirbhar Bharat.

The minister also launched “ShramSaathi”, a training manual for migrant workers, to ensure that the process of livelihood migration is safe and productive. Apart from this, a dedicated Migration cell was also launched in Goa to facilitate and support migrants who come from different States to Goa. This makes Goa first destination state of India to set up a dedicated migration cell to address diverse issues of migrant workers.

 

4. India’s longest Road Arch Bridge inaugurated in Meghalaya: Meghalaya Chief Minister, Conrad K. Sangma has inaugurated India’s longest road arch bridge “Wahrew Bridge” at Sohbar in East Khasi Hills district of Meghalaya on 22 January 2021. The project was sanctioned in 2013 and, the work started in 2014. The construction of the bridge was completed in December 2018. The arch bridge has been constructed at an estimated cost of Rs 49.395 crore under the Non-Lapsable Central Pool of Resources (NLCPR) of the Ministry of Development of North East Region (DoNER). The iconic structure is expected to boost the tourism sector in the State.

Note: Meghalaya Capital: Shillong; Meghalaya Governor: Satya Pal Malik; Meghalaya Chief minister: Conrad Sangma.

 

5. National Tourism Day of India: 25th January: The Indian government established January 25 as the National Tourism Day to raise awareness about the importance of tourism for the country’s economy. The day is observed to cultivate awareness among the global community on the importance of tourism and its social, political, financial and cultural worth. India offers several forms of tourism such as cultural, nature, heritage, educational, business, sports, rural, medical, cruise, and eco-tourism. The ministry of tourism is the nodal agency in India to form national policies for the promotion and development of tourism. It also coordinates with central, state agencies and the public sector.

 

6. National Voters’ Day: 25th January: India observes “National Voters’ Day” every year on January 25 to encourage more young voters to take part in the political process. 2021 marks the 11th National Voters’ Day (NVD). The theme of NVD 2021 is, ‘Making Our Voters Empowered, Vigilant, Safe and Informed’. The day has been started from January 25, 2011, to mark the Foundation day of Election Commission of India (ECI), which was established on 25th January 1950.

Note: 1st Chief Election Commissioner of Independent India- Sukumar Sen; Sunil Arora is the current 23rd Chief Election Commissioner.

 

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

 

1. Harsh Vardhan inaugurates 7th Edition of MASCRADE 2021: The 7th edition of ‘MASCRADE 2021 – Movement against Smuggled & Counterfeit Trade’ was inaugurated by Dr Harsh Vardhan, the Union Minister of Health and Family welfare. The two-day programme was organized by FICCI CASCADE (Committee Against Smuggling and Counterfeiting Activities Destroying the Economy), to combat illicit trade, especially in a post COVID era.

The event provided a platform to deliberate and discuss actionable, innovative policy solutions that can reverse the rising incidences of counterfeit, smuggled and spurious products, causing significant damage to the economy of the nation, health and safety of people worldwide.

 

OTHER UPDATES:

 

SPORTS

 

1. ITBP wins IHAI National Ice Hockey Championship: The Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) has won the Ice Hockey Association of India (IHAI) 10th National Ice Hockey Championship trophy after a win over Ladakh in the finals in Gulmarg. The match was held at Gulmarg Ice Rink. Ladakh has been considered as the capital of ice hockey in India where local men and women play this game with great enthusiasm. The championship was held at an altitude of 8,694-feet and temperatures below freezing point. Top eight teams of ice hockey in India participated in the event. Top teams of Ice Hockey in India participated in the Championship organized from January 16 to 22, 2021.

Note: ITBP Founded: 24 October 1962; ITBP Headquarters: New Delhi, India; ITBP DG: S S Deswal.

Ice Hockey Association of India president: K. L. Kumar; Ice Hockey Association of India membership: 27 April 1989.

 

BANKING AND FINANCE

 

1. Axis Bank launches Aura Credit Card with health, wellness benefits: Axis Bank has unveiled a credit ‘AURA’ exclusively loaded with several health and wellness benefits for its users at an affordable price. Axis Bank has partnered with Poshvine to offer benefits and specialists such as Decathlon, Practo, Fitternity, IndushealthPlus, 1MG etc., to offer a complete and unique health & wellness solution to the cardholders.

Benefits of the Card: Cardholders will get a discount on annual medical checkup through IndushealthPlus. It offers up to 4 free online video consultations for a month, with round the clock access to doctors on all 21 specialities. This is offered by Procto. It also offers 4 free online interactive fitness sessions for a month by Fitternity. Through this card, the users can have access to 16 recorded training sessions for one month and can choose from a wide range of sessions such as yoga and cross-functional training programs, etc.

Note: Axis Bank Commenced operations: 1994; Axis Bank Headquarters: Mumbai, Maharashtra; Axis Bank Tagline: Badhti Ka Naam Zindagi Managing; Axis Bank MD and CEO: Amitabh Chaudhry.

 

AWARDS AND HONOURS

 

1. Nikhil Srivastava named joint winner of Michael and Sheila Held Prize: Nikhil Srivastava, a young Indian mathematician, has been named winner of the prestigious 2021 Michael and Sheila Held Prize along with two others for solving long-standing questions on the Kadison-Singer problem and on Ramanujan graphs. Srivastava is currently Associate Professor of Mathematics at the University of California. Srivastava from the University of California, Berkeley, Adam Marcus, the Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL) and Daniel Alan Spielman from Yale University will receive the 2021 Michael and Sheila Held Prize.

About the Michael and Sheila Held Prize: The Michael and Sheila Held Prize is presented annually and honours outstanding, innovative, creative, and influential research in the areas of combinatorial and discrete optimisation, or related parts of computer science, such as the design and analysis of algorithms and complexity theory. The prize was established in 2017 by the bequest of Michael And Sheila Held. The prize consists of a medal and USD 100,000.

 

DEFENCE

 

1. DRDO Successfully Test Flights indigenously developed “SAAW”: The DRDO successfully conducted captive and release trial of indigenously developed Smart Anti-Airfield Weapon (SAAW) from Hawk-I aircraft of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) off the Odisha coast. This was the 9th successful mission of SAAW conducted by DRDO till now and the first test conducted from the Hawk-i aircraft.

About Smart Anti-Airfield Weapon (SAAW): The 125 Kg class smart weapon SAAW was successfully test-fired from Indian Hawk-Mk132 of HAL. SAAW is indigenously designed and developed by DRDO’s Research Centre Imarat (RCI) Hyderabad. It is capable of engaging ground enemy airfield assets such as radars, bunkers, taxi tracks, and runways among others, up to a range of 100 km.

 

OBITUARIES

 

1. Veteran Bureaucrat, poet and Hyderabad historian Narendra Luther passes away: Noted historian, author, poet and retired bureaucrat Narendra Luther has passed. A 1955 batch IAS officer, Luther was closely associated with the history and culture of erstwhile Hyderabad state and its rulers. He had served in various positions before retiring as the chief secretary of the undivided Andhra Pradesh in 1991. He has penned a number of books on the history, heritage and architecture of Hyderabad.