Daily GK Update - 12th March, 2021

 NATIONAL UPDATES:

 1. Union Cabinet approves Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Nidhi: The Union Cabinet has approved the Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Nidhi (PMSSN), as a single non-lapsable reserve fund. This has been approved for the share of Health from proceeds of Health and Education Cess which is levied under the Section 136-b of Finance Act, 2007.

Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Nidhi: This is a non-lapsable reserve fund for the Health in the Public Account. This fund will comprise of the proceeds from the share of health in the Health and Education Cess. This revenue in the fund will be used for the flagship schemes of the Health Ministry including the National Health Mission, Ayushman Bharat – Health and Wellness Centres, Ayushman Bharat – Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana and for the emergency & disaster preparedness and responses in cases of health emergencies.

 2. ISRO Develops Joint Earth Observation Satellite Mission Radar With NASA: ISRO has completed the development of a Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) capable of producing extremely high-resolution images for a joint earth observation satellite mission with the US space agency NASA. NASA-ISRO SAR (NISAR) is a joint collaboration for a dual-frequency L and S-band SAR for earth observation. About NISAR:

(1) NISAR will be the first satellite mission to use two different radar frequencies (L-band and S-band) to measure changes in our planet’s surface less than a centimetre across.

(2) The mission is targeted to launch in early 2022 from ISRO’s Sriharikota spaceport in Andhra Pradesh’s Nellore district, about 100 km north of Chennai.

(3) NASA is providing the mission’s L-band SAR, a high-rate communication subsystem for science data, GPS receivers, a solid-state recorder and payload data subsystem.

(4) ISRO is providing the spacecraft bus, the S-band radar, the launch vehicle and associated launch services for the mission, whose goal is to make global measurements of the causes and consequences of land surface changes using advanced radar imaging.

Note: ISRO Chairman: K.Sivan; ISRO Headquarters: Bengaluru, Karnataka; ISRO established: 15 August 1969.

Acting Administrator of NASA: Steve Jurczyk; Headquarters of NASA: Washington D.C., United States; NASA Founded: 1 October 1958.

 3. President Ram Nath Kovind presents Baton of Honor to Kiran Bedi: President Ram Nath Kovind has presented a baton of honour and a letter of appreciation to former Puducherry lieutenant governor Kiran Bedi at Rashtrapati Bhavan. The former Puducherry lieutenant governor received a Baton of Honor decorated with the emblem of the Indian Republic and the appreciation letter recognizing her service in the Union Territory of Puducherry. Kiran Bedi was removed as the Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry on February 16 by the President of India and Tamilisai Soundararajan took additional charge as the Lieutenant Governor on February 18.

 4. Deepika Padukone joins WEF list of Young Global Leader: Actor Deepika Padukone has joined the list of the Young Global Leaders (YGLs) compiled by the World Economic Forum. The list also includes several Indian citizens and India-origin persons. They join a group of Nobel Prize recipients, Pulitzer winners, heads of state and chief executive officers committed to improving the state of the world. The Forum of Young Global Leaders was founded in 2005 by Klaus Schwab, founder and executive chairman of the WEF, to create a world where leaders take responsibility for a sustainable future while meeting increasingly complex and interrelated challenges.

Note: World Economic Forum Headquarters: Cologny, Switzerland; World Economic Forum Founder: Klaus Schwab; World Economic Forum Founded: January 1971.

 5. 2021 Dandi March to mark 75 years of Independence: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has flagged off the 91st anniversary of Dandi March on March 12 in Ahmedabad to celebrate the 75th anniversary of India’s Independence. The Salt March, which took place from March to April 1930, was an act of civil disobedience led by Mahatma Gandhi to protest the British rule in the country. The event is kicked off from Mahatma Gandhi’s Sabarmati Ashram and this event is also the part of the State government’s programme to mark “Azadi Ka Amrut Mahotsav.”

What was the original Dandi March: The Dandi March or Salt March as part of Mahatma Gandhi’s non-violent protest against the British monopoly on the production of salt. Led by Gandhi, 78 people started the 24-day march on March 12 and reached Dandi on April 5, 1930. After making salt at Dandi, Gandhi headed to Dharasana Salt Works, 40 km south, but was arrested on May 5.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

 1. Niger’s President Mahamadou Issoufou wins Africa’s top prize: Mahamadou Issoufou, the incumbent President of Niger has won the “2020 Ibrahim Prize for Achievement in African Leadership”, the world’s largest leadership prize, worth $5 million. He is the sixth winner of the Ibrahim Prize since it was introduced in 2006, by Sudanese billionaire Mo Ibrahim’s foundation to promote good governance in the world’s poorest continent. The 69-year-old Issoufou is stepping down as president of Niger in April 2021, after serving two terms in office. He first took office in 2011 and was then re-elected in 2016.

Note: Niger Capital: Niamey; Niger Currency: West African CFA franc.

 2. China and Russia Inks MoU to jointly build Lunar Space Station: The space agencies of China and Russia have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on behalf of their national governments, to jointly construct a lunar space station that will be open to all countries. The MoU was officially signed between the Chinese space agency, China National Space Administration (CNSA) and the Russian space agency Roscosmos, on March 09, 2021. Dubbed as the “International Scientific Lunar Station (ISLS)”, the centre will be a “complex of experimental and research facilities” created on the moon’s surface and/or in orbit of the moon. The goal of setting up ISLS is strengthening research cooperation and promoting the exploration and use of outer space for peaceful purposes in the interests of all mankind.

Note: China Capital: Beijing; China Currency: Renminbi; China President: Xi Jinping.

Russia President: Vladimir Putin; Russia Capital: Moscow; Russia Currency: Russian Ruble.

 3. World Kidney Day: 11th March: World Kidney Day is observed globally on the second Thursday of March every year. This year World Kidney Day is observed on 11th March 2021. The theme of the 2021 World Kidney day is “Living Well with Kidney Disease”. World Kidney Day is a global campaign aimed at raising awareness of the importance of our kidneys. World Kidney Day aims to raise awareness of the importance of our kidneys to our overall health and to reduce the frequency and impact of kidney disease and its associated health problems worldwide.

OTHER UPDATES:

 BANKING AND FINANCE

 1. MeitY released the list of “Digital Payment Scorecard”: The Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MeitY) has released the list of “Digital Payment Scorecard”. In the list, the State Bank of India (SBI) has topped for the third consecutive months. The digital payment scorecard tracks the performance of the Commercial Banks on several digital parameters. SBI maintained the top remitter bank by recording the highest UPI transaction volume which accounted for nearly Rupees 640 million.

SBI has also emerged as the largest issuer of debit cards. It issued over 290 million debit cards with a 30% market share with respect to card spends and 29% share with respect to transaction volume. Bank has also made steady progress with respect to increasing payment acceptance infrastructure.

Note: SBI Chairperson: Dinesh Kumar Khara; SBI Headquarters: Mumbai; SBI Founded: 1 July 1955.

 2. RBI removes PCA restrictions on IDBI Bank: The Reserve Bank of India has removed IDBI Bank from its enhanced regulatory supervision or Prompt Corrective Action (PCA) framework. It was noted that as per published results for the quarter ending December 31, 2020, the bank is not in breach of the PCA parameters on regulatory capital, net NPA and leverage ratio. The bank has also provided a written commitment that it would comply with the norms of minimum regulatory capital, net NPA and leverage ratio on an ongoing basis and has apprised the RBI of the structural and systemic improvements that it has put in place which would help the bank in continuing to meet these commitments.

Returns to profit in Dec quarter: The central bank had placed IDBI Bank under the PCA framework in May 2017 after it had breached the thresholds for capital adequacy, asset quality, return on assets and the leverage ratio. The bank had reported a standalone net profit of Rs 378 crore for the December quarter of 2020-21 compared to a standalone net loss of Rs 5,763 crore in the year-ago quarter.

Note: IDBI Bank CEO: Rakesh Sharma; IDBI Bank Headquarters: Mumbai, Maharashtra.

 AWARDS AND HONOURS

 1. 40 Scholars from Six Countries Awarded India Science Research Fellowship (ISRF) 2021: Forty scholars from six countries have been awarded with Indian Science Research Fellowship (ISRF) 2021. The winning scholars will now have the opportunity to carry out their research in Indian institutes and universities using the state of the art facilities in these places. These scholars have been selected on the basis of their research proposal, experience, academic merit and publication record.

Indian Science Research Fellowship: The Indian Science Research Fellowship is a platform to establish research cooperation and S&T partnerships with neighbouring countries of India. The initiative was launched by the Department of Science and Technology (DST) in 2015 for Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand. Since its launch, 5 calls have been made between 2015-2019 and 128 fellows from these countries have been awarded fellowship under this programme. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, no award was made in 2020.

 DEFENCE

 1. India-Uzbekistan joint military exercise DUSTLIK II commences in Ranikhet: The India – Uzbekistan joint military exercise DUSTLIK II has commenced in Foreign Training Node Chaubatia, Ranikhet in Uttarakhand. This is the Second Edition of the annual bilateral joint exercise of both armies. It will continue till the 19th of this month. The first edition of the exercise was held in Uzbekistan in November 2019. 45 Soldiers each from Uzbekistan and the Indian Army are participating in the exercise.

Both contingents will be sharing their expertise and skills in the field of counter-terrorist operations in mountainous or rural or urban scenarios under UN mandate. The validation exercise will be a testbed for the soldiers of both armies as they would be undergoing the challenges of actual operations in such scenarios. The joint exercise will definitely provide impetus to the ever-growing military and diplomatic ties between the two nations and also reflects the strong resolve of both nations to counter-terrorism.

Note: Capital of Uzbekistan: Tashkent; Currency: Uzbekistani Som; President of Uzbekistan: Shavkat Mirziyoyev.

 OBITUARIES

1. Veteran Marathi Actor Shrikant Moghe Passes Away: The Marathi stage and film actor, Shrikant Moghe has passed away. He was popular for his work in both Marathi and Hindi languages. He was born at Kirloskarwadi in the Sangli district of Maharashtra. He is known for his performances in Marathi films like Madhuchandra, Sinhaasan, Gammat Jammat and Umbaratha, and plays such as Varyavarchu Varaat and Tuze Aahe Tujapashi.