Daily GK Updates – 7th Feb, 2021

 

NATIONAL UPDATES:

 

1. Kerala to open its First Human Milk Bank: Kerala will open its first Human Milk Bank (HMB) on February 5, 2021. This is a state-of-the-art facility, and Kerala Health Minister KK Shailaja will open at Ernakulam General Hospital. A milk bank was established with the support of the Rotary Club of Cochin Global. After the State Health Department signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Rotary Club of Cochin Global in 2020, its cost was 3.5 million rupees. The Association of Pediatricians (IAP) will provide trained nursing staff to operate the milk bank. About the Human Milk Bank:

(1) The breast milk bank will ensure that newborn babies who are not ill or deceased or who are not breastfed due to insufficient breast milk production can obtain breast milk.

(2) Approximately 3,600 babies are born in general hospitals every year. Among them, 600 to 1,000 sick babies enter the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). However, due to the low weight of premature babies or babies separated from their mothers, mothers cannot adequately feed them. Therefore, pasteurized breast milk from the milk bank will reduce the risk of infection and help strengthen its immunity.

(3) The concept of this milk bank appeared in India 32 years ago, but Kerala has no milk bank until now.

(4) Milk will be collected in accordance with all safety regulations and procedures, stored and provided to children in need in accordance with government guidelines. The collected milk will be safely stored in the bank for 6 months. Initially, the milk will be provided free of charge to babies admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit. At a later stage, plans will be made to establish a hospital network for multiple collections and safe distribution points.

(5) The milk will be donated by the delivery mother in the hospital. These mothers will get all health statistics in the hospital.

(6) The human milk bank includes a pasteurization unit, deep freezer, refrigerator, disinfection equipment, reverse osmosis equipment and computer.

Note: Kerala CM: Pinarayi Vijayan; Kerala Governor: Arif Mohammad Khan.

 

2. Centre Appoints Praveen Sinha as interim Director of CBI: Department of Personnel and Training, under Personnel Ministry, has appointed Praveen Sinha, as the interim director of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), with immediate effect on 03 February 2021. He has been appointed in place of the incumbent chief RK Shukla, whose tenure came to an end on February 03, 2021. Sinha, a 1988-batch Gujarat cadre Indian Police Service (IPS) officer, is currently an additional director at CBI, the premier investigating agency of India. Sinha shall look after the duties of Director CBI till the appointment of new director CBI, or until further orders, whichever is earlier.

Note: Central Bureau of Investigation Headquarters: New Delhi; Central Bureau of Investigation Founded: 1 April 1963; Central Bureau of Investigation Founded: 1 April 1963.

 

3. S.N. Subrahmanyan appointed as Chairman of the National Safety Council: The Ministry of Labour & Employment has appointed S.N. Subrahmanyan as the new Chairman of the National Safety Council (NSC) of India for a period of three years. Subrahmanyan is the CEO and Managing Director of L&T Ltd., India’s largest construction company.

About the National Safety Council: National Safety Council plays a major role to ensure safety in workplaces under new Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions code, 2020 (OSH Code, 2020).

 

4. Andaman and Nicobar Islands becomes first Union Territory to be corona free: Andaman and Nicobar Islands has become the first state or Union territory in the country to become Covid-19 free with active cases falling to zero in the islands. Health ministry’s website reported that the last four infected persons in Andaman and Nicobar Islands have been declared cured. The UT had reported a total of 4,932 cases and 62 deaths from the virus. The share of Kerala in India’s daily cases crossed 50 per cent for the first time. There were 11,024 fresh cases in the country out of which Kerala alone reported 5,716, 51.8 per cent of the total. The state also has the highest count of active cases at 69,157, out of around 1 lakh 61 thousand in the country.

Note: Andaman and Nicobar Capital: Port Blair; Andaman and Nicobar Lieutenant Governor: Admiral D K Joshi.

 

5. Ayesha Aziz becomes India’s Youngest Female Pilot at 25: A 25-year-old Kashmiri woman, Ayesha Aziz, has become the youngest female pilot in the country. She became the youngest student pilot to get a license at the age of 15 in 2011. The 25 -year-old from Kashmir who is the youngest female pilot in the country acts is a source of inspiration and a beacon of empowerment for numerous Kashmiri women.

About the Ayesha Aziz: In the year 2011, Aziz became the youngest student pilot to get a license at the age of 15 and underwent training to fly a MIG-29 jet at Russia’s Sokol airbase the following year. She later graduated in aviation from the Bombay Flying Club (BFC) and obtained a commercial license in 2017.

 

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

 

1. India ranks 53rd in EIU’s Democracy Index: India’s position has slipped by two places to be placed at 53rd spot in the 2020 Democracy Index, from among 167 countries. The overall score of India is 6.61 in the Index, on a scale of 0-10. India has been classified as a ‘flawed democracy’. Democracy Index is the global ranking released by The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) that provides a snapshot of the current state of democracy worldwide.

About the Index: Norway has topped the Index. Iceland, Sweden, New Zealand and Canada are the top five countries on the list. From the 167 countries, the Democracy Index has classified 23 countries as full democracies, 52 as flawed democracies, 35 as hybrid regimes and 57 as authoritarian regimes.

Note: The Economist Intelligence Unit Headquarters: London, United Kingdom; The Economist Intelligence Unit Parent organization: Economist Group; The Economist Intelligence Unit Founded: 1946.

 

2. Reliance sources world’s first ‘carbon-neutral’ oil from United States: Billionaire Mukesh Ambani-owned Reliance Industries Ltd has received the world’s first consignment of ‘carbon-neutral oil’ from Oxy Low Carbon Ventures (OLCV), a division of United State oil major Occidental. This feat will further help the oil major to accomplish its target of becoming a net zero-carbon company by 2035.

The Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC) Sea Pearl containing the carbon-neutral oil from Permian basin, unloaded the cargo at Jamnagar on January 28, 2021. It must be noted that Reliance operates the world’s largest single-location oil refining complex at Jamnagar in Gujarat with a capacity of 68.2 million tonnes a year.

 This transaction is the first major petroleum shipment of Reliance, for which greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the entire crude lifecycle, including oil extraction, transport, storage, shipping, refining, subsequent use, and combustion, have been offset.

 

OTHER UPDATES:

 

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY

 

1. PHDCCI Report: India to emerge as second most resilient economy in 2021: India will emerge as the second most resilient economy in 2021, as per the International Economic Resilience (IER) Rank, released by industry body, PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PHDCCI). The ranking has been topped by Germany, among the top-10 leading economies. South Korea is at the third position in the list. Apart from this, India’s real GDP growth rate is projected to be the highest in the year 2021 among the top-10 leading economies in the world, at 11.5%. It reflects India’s strong “economic resurgence” to the global economic turmoil caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

2. BSE sets up innovation sandbox web portal: Leading stock exchange BSE said it has set up an “innovation sandbox” web portal where fintech firms and individuals may use the environment for offline testing of their applications in a test environment. This will help in creating an ecosystem which promotes innovation in the securities market. The portal is a workflow-based platform, where applicants will be able to access application programming interfaces (APIs), test data of stock exchanges, depositories and qualified registrar and share transfer agents, among others.

 

DEFENCE

 

1. HAL inks deal with MIDHANI to develop, manufacture composite raw materials: The state-owned aerospace and defence company, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Hyderabad-based Mishra Dhatu Nigam Limited (MIDHANI) for development and production of composite raw materials for use in aerospace. This is the first time that such an MoU has been signed for composite raw materials. The MoU was signed during the Aero India 2021 on February 04, 2021, in Bengaluru.

About the Composites raw materials: Composites raw materials are currently imported since there is no equivalent proven Indian approved/qualified supplier for these raw materials for the aircraft applications. These composite raw material, mainly in the form of prepregs, are used in platforms like Light Combat Aircraft (LCA), Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH), Light Combat Helicopter (LCH) and Light Utility Helicopter (LUH).

 

2. India hosts Indian Ocean Region Defence Ministers’ Conclave: India hosted Indian Ocean Region (IOR) Defence Ministers’ Conclave on the sidelines of Aero India 2021. The conclave is an initiative to promote dialogue in an institutional, economic and cooperative environment that can foster the development of peace, stability and prosperity in the Indian Ocean region. The broad theme of the conclave is ‘Enhanced Peace, Security and Cooperation in the Indian Ocean’.  The conclave is also taking place at a time Indian and Chinese troops are locked in a bitter standoff in eastern Ladakh for the last eight months.