Daily GK Updates - 9th April, 2021

 

NATIONAL UPDATES:

 

1. Dr Harsh Vardhan and Arjun Munda launches Tribal Health Collaborative ‘Anamaya’: The Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare, Dr Harsh Vardhan and the Union Minister of Tribal Affairs, Shri Arjun Munda jointly launched ‘Anamaya’, the Tribal Health Collaborative on April 07, 2021, through video conference. The initiative is supported by Piramal Foundation and Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF).

About the Anamaya: Anamaya is a multi-stakeholder initiative to enhance the health and nutrition status of the tribal communities of India by converging efforts of various Government agencies and organisations. As part of this Collaborative, the Ministry will undertake several activities such as setting up the National Council on Tribal Health to drive policy initiatives in tribal health, the establishment of a Health Cell to closely monitor healthcare delivery in the tribal areas and devising mechanisms to implement the Tribal Health Action Plan.

 

2. CJI launches top court’s AI-driven research portal ‘SUPACE’: The Supreme Court of India has launched it’s Artificial Intelligence portal “SUPACE” (Supreme Court Portal for Assistance in Courts Efficiency). Through this portal, the SC intends to leverage machine learning to deal with the vast amounts of data received at the time of filing of cases.

About the SC’s Artificial Intelligence Committee: Justice L Nageshwara Rao, who is also the chairman of the SC’s Artificial Intelligence Committee, delivered the opening address during the virtual launch of SUPACE. Chief Justice of India (CJI) SA Bobde was the first-ever chairman of the Artificial Intelligence Committee. CJI Bobde first spoke of the use of AI to assist the Supreme Court soon after he took oath as the Chief Justice in 2019.

 

3. ChintanVaishnav appointed as Mission Director of Atal Innovation Mission: Noted socio-technologist, DrChintanVaishnav has been appointed the mission director of Atal Innovation Mission (AIM), the government’s flagship initiative under NITI Aayog. Vaishnav will take over from RamanathanRamanan later this month. Ramanan has been leading AIM as its first mission director since June 2017. Vaishnav is currently at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), US. He holds a PhD in technology, management, and policy from MIT.

About the Atal Innovation Mission: AIM’s mission is to create and promote a vibrant ecosystem of innovation and entrepreneurship across the country. Over the past four years, since its inception, AIM’s various initiatives have achieved notable successes. So far, AIM has established 72,59 Atal Tinkering Labs in schools across 650 districts, providing over 3.5 million students access to emerging technologies.

 

4. Govt approves more than Rs 6,100 crore-worth highway projects: The government approved highway projects worth more than Rs 6,176 crore. These projects pertain to seven states and union territories, including Maharashtra, Assam and Ladakh. These include Rs 2,801.33 crore-worth projects in Maharashtra and RS 1,259 crore-worth projects in Assam. The projects worth Rs 779 crore have been approved for Ladakh while Rs 810 crore projects have been approved for Andhra Pradesh.

 

5. CRPF Valour Day: 09 April: Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) Valour Day (ShauryaDiwas) is observed on 9 April every year, as a tribute to the brave men of the Force. 2021 marks the 56th CRPF Valour Day. It was on this day in 1965, a small contingent of CRPF created history by defeating an invading Pakistani army, several time larger, at the Sardar Post located in the Rann of Kutch, Gujarat. The CRPF men eliminated 34 Pakistani soldiers and captured four alive. In the conflict, CRPF lost six personnel who had attained martyrdom.

Note: Central Reserve Police Force Headquarters: New Delhi, India; Central Reserve Police Force Formed: 27 July 1939; Central Reserve Police Force Motto: Service and Loyalty; CRPF director general: Kuldiep Singh.

 

INTERNATIONALUPDATES:

 

1. Vietnam National Assembly selects PM & President: Vietnam’s legislature voted to make Pham Minh Chinh, a member of the Communist party with a history as a security official, the country’s next Prime Minister. Outgoing Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc was appointed the new President. The votes of the nearly 500 members of the National Assembly rubber-stamped the leadership picks the Communist party made during its national congress in January.

Note: Vietnam Capital: Hanoi; Vietnam Currency: Vietnamese dong.

 

2. Kosovo’s parliament elects VjosaOsmani as president: Kosovo’s parliament elected VjosaOsmani as the country’s new president. Osmani received 71 votes from the lawmakers at the third round of voting in the Assembly of Kosovo. While 82 deputies participated in the vote in the 120-member parliament, 11 votes were declared invalid. The 38-year-old politician studied law at the University of Pristina in Kosovo and earned a doctorate from Pittsburgh University in the US.

Note: Kosovo Capital: Pristina; Kosovo Currency: Euro.

 

3. MukeshAmbani Reclaims Top Spot in Forbes India’s 10 Richest Billionaires 2021: Reliance Industries Chairman MukeshAmbani has achieved the top spot in the Forbes list of India’s 10 richest billionaires for the year 2021. The total net worth of Ambani was calculated at USD 84.5 billion. MukeshAmbani added around $48 billion to his fortune since 2020, and in turn reclaimed the title of Asia’s richest person as well. Adani Group chief Gautam Adani ($50.5 bn) ranked second, followed by HCL founder Shiv Nadar ($23.5 bn) at third spot.

Other names in top 10 are:

4. RadhakishanDamani (Avenue Supermarts ) – $16.5 bn

5. Uday Kotak (Kotak Mahindra Bank) -$15.9 bn

6. Lakshmi Mittal (ArcelorMittal) – $14.9 bn

7.Kumar Birla  (Aditya Birla Group) – $12.8 bn

Cyrus Poonawalla (Serum Institute of India) – $12.7 bn

Dilip Shanghvi (Sun Pharmaceuticals) – $10.9 bn

Sunil Mittal & family (Bharti Airtel) – $10.5 bn

 

OTHER UPDATES:

 

SPORTS

 

1. FIFA suspends Pakistan and Chad football federations: FIFA has suspended the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) and Chadian Football Association (FTFA) with immediate effect due to claims of outside interference. The suspension will be lifted once the relevant government decisions have been repealed.

What is the situation with Pakistan: A group of football officials led by Ashfaq Hussain, which was elected by the Supreme Court in 2018 to run the PFF but was not recognised by FIFA, took over the headquarters recently and seized control from the FIFA Normalisation Committee headed by Haroon Malik. The decision to suspend the PFF was prompted by the “hostile takeover” which constituted a serious violation of its statutes. Pakistan was also suspended by FIFA for third-party interference in 2017.

What is the situation with Chad: The Chadian Ministry of Youth and Sports had stripped the country’s FA of its powers on March 10 following concerns over the way it was being run and a breakdown in communication. Last month the country was disqualified from the Africa Cup of Nations by the Confederation of African Football due to interference.

Note: President of FIFA: Gianni Infantino; Founded: 21 May 1904; Headquarters: Zürich, Switzerland.

 

BANKING AND FINANCE

 

1. RBI to release Financial Inclusion Index (FI Index) annually: The Reserve Bank of India has announced that it will periodically publish a “Financial Inclusion Index” (FI Index) annually in July for the financial year ending previous March. The FI Index would be based on multiple parameters and shall reflect the broadening and deepening of financial inclusion in the country, a statement on regulatory and developmental policies of RBI.Financial Inclusion has been a thrust area for the government, the Reserve Bank and other regulators, with significant progress made over the years. To measure the extent of financial inclusion in the country, the Reserve Bank proposes to construct and publish a Financial Inclusion Index (FI Index) based on multiple parameters.

 

2. RBI increases WMA limits for the State Governments/UTs: The Reserve Bank of India has increased the limit for Way and Means Advances (WMA) for the State Governments/UTs from Rs. 32,225 crore (fixed in February 2016) to Rs. 47,010 crore based on the recommendation of a committee headed by Shri SudhirShrivastava. This represents an increase of about 46%.RBI has extended the enhanced interim WMA limit of ₹ 51,560 crores (a 60 per cent increase in the current limits allowed by the Reserve Bank during the last fiscal to help states/UTs to tide over the difficulties faced by them during the pandemic) for a further period of six months i.e., from April 1, 2021, up to September 30, 2021.

 

3. RBI enhances maximum balance limit per account in Payments Banks: The Reserve Bank of India has enhanced the limit of maximum balance at end of the day maintained in Payments Bank from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 2 lakh per individual customer. The step has been taken to encourage the efforts of Payments Bank for financial inclusion and to expand their ability to cater to the needs of their customers, including MSMEs, small traders and merchants.The extant “Guidelines for Licensing of Payments Banks” issued on November 27, 2014, allow payments banks to hold a maximum balance of ₹ 1 lakh per individual customer.  Based on a review of the performance of payments banks and with a view to encouraging their efforts for financial inclusion and to expand their ability to cater to the needs of their customers, including MSMEs, small traders and merchants.

 

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY

 

1. Bharti Airtel sells 800 MHz spectrum in three circles to Reliance Jio: Bharti Airtel has entered into an agreement with Reliance JioInfocomm to transfer ‘Right to Use’ for some of its 800 MHz spectrum in three circles to the MukeshAmbani-led firm. Following this agreement, Bharti Airtel will receive a consideration of ₹1,037.6 crores from Reliance Jio for the proposed transfer. In addition, Reliance Jio will assume future liabilities of ₹459 crores relating to the spectrum.As per the agreement, which is subject to statutory approvals, Reliance Jio will acquire the right to use spectrum in the 800MHz band in Andhra Pradesh (3.75 MHz), Delhi (1.25 MHz) and Mumbai (2.50 MHz) circles through spectrum trading.

Note: Bharti Airtel CEO: Gopal Vittal; Bharti Airtel Founder: Sunil Bharti Mittal; Bharti Airtel Founded: 7 July 1995.

Reliance Industries Ltd Founder: DhirubhaiHirachandAmbani; Reliance Industries Ltd Chief Executive Officer(CEO): MukeshDhirubhaiAmbani; Reliance Industries Ltd Headquarters: Mumbai, Maharashtra.

 

OBITUARIES

 

1. India’s first female cricket commentator Chandra Naidu passes away: India’s first female cricket commentator Chandra Naidu passed away. She was the daughter of the country’s first Test captain CK Naidu. She had done her first commentary during a match between national champions Bombay (now Mumbai) and MCC in Indore in 1977. She had also penned a book titled ‘CK Nayudu: A Daughter Remembers’ on her late father, who was a distinguished cricketer.