Daily GK Updates – 8th Feb, 2021

 

NATIONAL UPDATES:

 

1. Arvind Kejriwal launches ‘Switch Delhi’ campaign to promote electric vehicles: Delhi Chief Minister, Arvind Kejriwal has launched the ‘Switch Delhi’ campaign to promote electric vehicles and appealed to people to buy such vehicles to combat pollution in the city. Kejriwal said his government will hire only electric vehicles for various purposes in the next six weeks.

About the ‘Switch Delhi’ campaign: In the ‘Switch Delhi’ campaign, awareness will be created about the benefits of electric vehicles and how it can contribute to making Delhi clean and pollution-free. Under its electric vehicle policy, the Delhi government has planned extensive subsidies on purchase of electric two-wheelers and four-wheelers, besides waiving road tax and registration charges. More than 6,000 electric vehicles have been purchased since the policy launch in August 2020. The government has also issued tenders for setting up 100 charging stations across the city. The government has fixed an ambitious target of 25 per cent electric vehicles among total vehicle registrations in Delhi by 2024.

 

2. Centre approves release of Rs 1,751 cr to Assam, Arunachal, Odisha, Telangana & UP: The High-Level Committee under the Chairmanship of Home Minister Amit Shah approved Additional Central Assistance of over one thousand seven hundred 51 crore rupees under the National Disaster Response Fund, NDRF to five states, which were affected by floods, landslides during South-West Monsoon-2020 and hailstorm during Rabi 2019-20. For floods and landslides during South-West Monsoon-2020, over 437 crore rupees were approved for Assam, over 75 crore rupees to Arunachal Pradesh, nearly 321 crore to Odisha, nearly 246 crore rupees to Telangana and over 386 crore rupees to Uttar Pradesh. For hailstorm during Rabi 2019-20, over 285 crore rupees to Uttar Pradesh has been approved

 

3. Assam CM launches schemes for college students, literary bodies: Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal launched two schemes to provide monetary assistance to college students and literary bodies of the state. Under Pragyan Bharati scheme, 3,26,046 college students were given Rs 1,500 each for purchasing textbooks, while a total of Rs 161 crore was reimbursed for the free admission of 4 lakh eligible students. The second scheme is Bhasha Gourab, under which the state government provided 21 Sahitya Sabhas (literary bodies) with a total of Rs 43 crore as a contribution towards their corpus funds.Under the scheme, 600 writers have also got Rs 50,000 each to help in their literary activities.

 

4. HAL to develop world’s first high-altitude pseudo satellite: The Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) is developing a futuristic high altitude pseudo satellite with a start-up company, to strengthen the country’s military strike capabilities. It is a first of its kind project in the world, where a manned aircraft will operate within the boundary and the unmanned aircraft will enter the enemy zone and can carry out strikes deep inside the enemy territory.

About the Satellite: Capable of autonomous functions, these unmanned aerial vehicles will also have all the manoeuvring capabilities. “It can straightway hit the target at a distance of 700 kilometres or can go to 350 kilometres and come back. It carries ammunition, missiles if needed CATS Alpha. The technology has been named Combined Air Teaming System (CATS). It will have a manned aircraft (will be known as mother ship), operating from far away, and four autonomous unmanned aerial vehicles known as CATS Warrior. The satellite will be solar energised and become a big asset flying unmanned around 70,000 ft for 2-3 months and taking information.

 

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

 

1. World’s First ‘Energy Island’ to be built by Denmark: The Government of Denmark has approved a project to build the world’s first energy island, in the North Sea that will produce and store enough green energy to meet the electricity needs of three million households in European countries. The hub will strengthen the integration of Europe’s power grids and increase renewable electricity production necessary for a climate-neutral Europe.

About the hub: The energy hub will serve as an offshore power plant gathering and distributing green electricity from hundreds of wind turbines surrounding the island directly to consumers in countries surrounding the North Sea. It is the long-term ambition to be able to store green electricity on the island, convert it to liquid green fuel, and send it via subsea cables to Denmark and neighbouring countries. Facts about the energy islands:

(1) The artificial island will offer the best opportunities to expand the project, for example by building a harbour and facilities for storage and conversion of green electricity from the nearby wind turbines in the sea.

(2) The first-of-its-kind giant island will be as big as 18 football pitches (120,000sq m).

(3) A broad coalition of Danish parties have decided to establish two energy hubs and associated offshore windfarms. One as an artificial island in the North Sea and one at the Danish island Bornholm.

(4) An energy hub serves as a hub that collects electricity from the surrounding offshore windfarms and distributes the electricity between countries connected via the electricity grid.

(5) The two hubs initial capacity will be 5 GW triple the current installed offshore capacity in Denmark. Later they will be expanded to provide a capacity of 12 GW in total.

(6) The deal also established a final phase-out date of fossil extraction by 2050 and laid out plans for a just transition of impacted workers. Denmark is currently the largest oil producer in the EU, and it is the biggest producer worldwide to establish a final phase-out date so far.

Note: Denmark Capital: Copenhagen; Denmark Currency: Danish krone.

 

2. India & Bahrain join hands for Renewable Energy: The first India-Bahrain Joint Working Group meeting in the field of Renewable Energy was held in a virtual format on February 04, 2021, for promoting bilateral cooperation in the field of Renewable Energy. The Indian delegation was led by Dinesh Dayanand Jagdale, Joint Secretary, Ministry of New & Renewable Energy. Abdul Hussain bin Ali Mirza, President of Sustainable Energy Authority led the Bahraini delegation. Both sides also agreed to forge deeper engagement in capacity building and focused cooperation between concerned agencies as well as the private sector of the two countries in this sector, particularly in the field of solar, wind and clean hydrogen.

Note: King of Bahrain: Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa; Bahrain Capital: Manama; Bahrain Currency: Bahraini dinar.

 

3. Hunter Biden to Release Memoir ‘Beautiful Things’: United States President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, is publishing his memoir titled “Beautiful Things”, which narrates about his struggles with addiction and drug abuse. The book is scheduled to be published in the United States on April 6 by Gallery Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster. The 51-year-old Hunter Biden has narrated his personal story about how he was a drug addict- from his first sips of alcohol as a child, when he was dealing with the aftermath of a family tragedy, to his crack-cocaine use and how he fixed that problem.

 

OTHER UPDATES:

 

BANKING AND FINANCE

 

1. RBI to Set up Committee on Urban Co-op banks: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will set up an expert committee on Urban Co-operative Banks (UCBs). The committee, involving all stakeholders, will provide a medium-term road map for strengthening the sector, enable faster resolution/rehabilitation of UCBs.

About the committee: Along with enabling faster resolution of UCBs, the committee will also examine critical aspects related to the urban co-op banks. The provisions of the Banking Regulation (Amendment) Act, 2020 have become applicable to Primary (Urban) Co-operative Banks (UCBs) from June 26, 2020. The amendments have brought near parity in supervisory and regulatory powers between UCBs and commercial banks in respect of regulatory powers, including those related to governance, audit, and resolution. The members of the committee and its terms of reference have not been notified yet. It will be informed separately by the RBI.

 

2. Federal Bank launches ‘FedFirst’ savings account scheme for children: Federal Bank has announced the launch of “FedFirst”, a special savings account scheme for children below 18 years of age. The account helps children develop healthy saving and spending habits, thereby giving them the freedom to save, spend and earn.

About the account: The account is designed to enable children to learn the importance of money management. The account comes with unique features and offers. The account holder is provided with a FedFirst contactless Debit Card with a daily cash withdrawal limit of ₹2,500 and POS/e-com limit of ₹10,000, in addition to free online facilities including access to internet banking, mobile alerts and e-mail alerts.

Note: Federal Bank MD & CEO: Shyam Srinivasan; Federal Bank HQ: Aluva, Kerala.

 

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY

 

1. RBI: India’s GDP growth projected at 10.5 per cent for FY22: In the last bi-monthly monetary policy meet for the current, the Reserve Bank of India projected India’s GDP growth rate at 10.5 per cent for the fiscal year 2021-22. The growth outlook has improved significantly, and the vaccination drive will further boost the economic rebound. The apex bank expects the Indian economy to grow in the range of 8.3 per cent to 26.2 per cent in the first half of FY22, followed by a 6 per cent growth in Q3FY22. The central bank’s projection is lower than that of the Economic Survey that projected India to grow at a rate of 11 per cent in the coming fiscal.

 

2. Paypal to shut domestic payments service in India from April 1: The California-based global digital payment platform PayPal has announced that the company has decided to wind down its domestic payment services in India with effect from April 01, 2021. The decision has been taken because the company wants to shift its focus on cross-border payments business. However, the global customer will be able to pay Indian merchants using Paypal. PayPal was a payments options on many Indian online apps such as travel and ticketing service MakeMyTrip, online film booking app BookMyShow, and food delivery app Swiggy.

Note: PayPal Founded: December 1998, Palo Alto, California, United States; PayPal CEO: Dan Schulman.

 

OBITUARIES

 

1. Oscar-winning Canadian actor Christopher Plummer passes away: Oscar-winning actor Christopher Plummer, who rose to prominence for his critically-acclaimed film ‘Sound of Music’, has passed away. He won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor at the age of 82 for Beginners (2010), becoming the oldest person to win an acting award. The prolific and versatile Canadian-born actor has received various awards for his work, which includes Academy Award, two Primetime Emmy Awards, two Tony Awards, a Golden Globe Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and a British Academy Film Award.