Daily GK Update- 19th, May 2021

 

NATIONAL UPDATES:

 

1. SWAMIH Fund for stalled housing projects to benefit 1.16 lakh home buyers: FM Sitharaman: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman handed over possession to 640 homebuyers of the first stalled project completed with funding by SWAMIH Fund managed by SBICap Ventures Ltd and said that the Fund will benefit 1.16 lakh buyers whose projects had been stalled due to last mile funding issues. Rivali Park Wintergreens is the first investment by the Fund and is also the first project to get completed. It is a large project spread over 7 acres consisting of 708 units of various configurations. The project is Rivali Park Wintergreen is developed by CCI Projects Pvt Ltd (CCIPPL), an associate company of Cable Corporation of India Ltd.

 

2. DRDO develops an Oxycare system to regulate oxygen in patients body: The Defence Research and Development Organisation, DRDO has developed an Oxycare system to regulate oxygen being administered to the patients based on the sensed values of oxygen saturation in the body. The intelligent configuration of this Oxycare system provides automatic regulation of oxygen through a Low Pressure Regulator and Electronic Control System. The Oxycare system developed by DRDO optimises consumption of oxygen based on oxygen saturation in the body. It reduces the workload of hospital staff eliminating the need of routine measurement and manual adjustment of oxygen flow. It is integrated with Non-Rebreather Masks saving oxygen by 30 to 40 per cent. The Oxycare system with audio warning for various failure scenarios can be used at homes, Quarantine Centres, COVID Care Centres and hospitals.

 

3. CovAid portal set up for real-time monitoring of relief: All Covid-19 related foreign aid received by the government can be tracked online end-to-end till distribution by the donors. The NITI Aayog has set up a dedicated portal – CovAid – for tracking all aid coming via missions or by individual organisations. CovAid will help individuals and organisations to do end-to-end tracking till the ultimate beneficiary.A detailed SOP has been laid out to ensure that the states with high active cases receive supplies on a priority basis.

 

4. Amazon India launches miniTV, a free video streaming service, within the Amazon App: Amazon India has launched miniTV, an ad-supported video streaming service that rests within its shopping app itself. miniTV boasts of created as well as curated content across genres like web series, comedy shows, tech news, food, beauty, fashion and more. The service is absolutely free, and as of now, is only available to Android users. The iOS and mobile web versions are expected to roll out in the coming months. Once you start streaming, you will never run out of content on miniTV! Amazon India has tied up with leading studios such as TVF and Pocket Aces.

miniTV is not to be confused with Prime Video. As mentioned earlier, miniTV is part of the Amazon app, free to view, and doesn’t require a separate app to be downloaded. Prime Video requires a Prime subscription and offers a collection of award-winning Amazon Originals, latest movies and TV shows, in English and 9 Indian languages. Viewers can access Prime Video on the app or stream it on their smart TV.

 

INTERNATIONALUPDATES:

 

1. ElisabettaBelloni named as first woman to head Italy secret service: A former ambassador has been named as the first woman to lead Italy’s secret services. Prime Minister Mario Draghi announced ElisabettaBelloni as head of the Department of Information Security (DIS). The department oversees the country’s foreign and domestic intelligence services and reports directly to the Italian government. After serving as a diplomat in Vienna and Bratislava, MsBelloni went on to lead the Italian foreign ministry’s crisis unit from 2004 to 2008, the first time a woman had held the role.

 

2. NASA and Axiom ink deal for 1st private astronaut mission to space station: NASA and Texas-based company Axiom Space have agreed on terms for the first private astronaut mission to the International Space Station, which will launch as soon as January 2022. The agreement, which was announced includes only a portion of the assorted exchanges required to make a flight like this a reality, but it will result in a net payment from NASA to Axiom of $1.69 million. The agreement will allow Axiom to send a retired NASA astronaut and three passengers to the orbiting laboratory aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule for a journey of about a week in the first crewed space station mission for exclusively private interests.

 

OTHER UPDATES:

 

SPORTS

 

1. Leicester beat Chelsea to clinch maiden FA Cup title: Leicester won the FA Cup for the first time in the club’s 137-year history last night as YouriTielemans’s sensational strike beat Chelsea 1-0 in front of 22,000 fans at Wembley. The largest crowd for a sports event in England since the coronavirus pandemic hit 14 months ago were treated to a goal worthy to win any trophy as the Belgian midfielder blasted into the top corner on 63 minutes.

 

2. 2021 Rugby World Cup: New Zealand to host postponed women’s tournament in October and November 2022: World Rugby has announced that New Zealand will now host the postponed 2021 Rugby World Cup (RWC) more than one year after it was initially scheduled, following confirmation of a new masterplan for the women’s tournament. In March, World Rugby announced it would postpone the 2021 RWC until next year due to ongoing concerns over the “uncertain and challenging” global COVID-19 situation. The rugby union showpiece was due to be held from September 18 to October 16, but has now been granted a fresh position in the calendar of October 8 to November 12, 2022.

 

BANKING AND FINANCE

 

1. Yono by SBI Joins Hands with Shivrai Technologies, to Launch Small Farm Accounting App, FarmizoKhata:  Shivrai Technologies, Indian AgTechCompany, recently announced the launch of their B2C Farm accounting mobile application, FarmizoKhata. Joining hands with Yono by SBI, they aim to help farmers across the country to manage their accounts efficiently, thus cutting down on losses. Shivrai also owns their own B2B brand, FarmERP.

Farmers incur massive losses due to the lack of knowledge, disorganised book-keeping skills, and inability to manage their expenses in the most profitable manner. To aid this process, Shivrai Technologies partnered with leading digital banking platform, Yono SBI to help smallholder, marginal, and large-holder farmers by way of a free application. This will allow them to focus on their costs incurred, as well as the bookkeeping of total profits that are in line. This free-of-cost application will not only efficiently manage their accounts but will also give them a platform to analyse and calculate their profits, losses, and expenses, thus enabling them to make wiser purchase, harvest, and production decisions. It is curated in the simplest possible way for smallholder farmers to benefit from it.

 

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY

 

1. Groww to acquire Indiabulls’ mutual fund business for Rs 175 crore: Online investment platform Groww, backed by funds such as Sequoia Capital and Tiger Global, has signed an agreement with Indiabulls Housing Finance to acquire its asset management company for Rs 175 crore, paving the way for the Bengaluru-based fintech startup to enter the mutual fund business. The sale of Indiabulls Mutual Fund will be limited to its mutual fund business while its other verticals—such as the Alternate Investment Fund (AIF) and Portfolio Management Services (PMS)—will be demerged and continue under Indiabulls Housing Finance.

 

AWARDS AND HONOURS

 

1. Nagaland conservationist NukluPhom gets prestigious Whitley Awards 2021: An environmentalist from Nagaland’s remote Longleng district, NukuPhom has won this year’s Whitley Awards 2021, also known as the Green Oscar. NukuPhom’s name, along with that of five others, was announced recently in a virtual award ceremony organized by the UK-based Whitley Fund for Nature (WFN). Nuku and his team want to offer alternatives that engage communities in conservation using the Amur falcon as a flagship.

The award recognisesPhom’s efforts at establishing a new biodiversity peace corridor changing the fate of Amur Falcons, which come to roost in Nagaland each year, from being hunted by locals. Worth £40,000, the award is for creating a new network of community-owned forests to protect Amur Falcons and increase biodiversity in Nagaland.

Note: Chief Minister of Nagaland: Neiphiu Rio; Governor of Nagaland: R. N. Ravi.

 

2. UN Chief honours Indian peacekeeper Yuvraj Singh, who died in line of duty in 2020: An Indian peacekeeper, who lost his life in the line of duty in 2020, was honoured at a solemn memorial service that paid tribute to over 300 United Nations personnel who died last year, the highest number of UN colleagues lost in a single year. Corporal Yuvraj Singh was among the 336 UN personnel who lost their lives in the line of duty and due to the COVID-19 and related circumstances between January 1 and December 31, 2020. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres led the annual memorial service honouring the United Nations personnel.

 

OBITUARIES

 

1. Six-time MP from Amritsar Raghunandan Lal Bhatia Passes Away: Senior Congress leader and six-time MP from Amritsar, Raghunandan Lal Bhatia passed away after a brief illness. He was 100. Raghunandan Bhatia was first elected to the Lok Sabha in 1972 from the Amritsar parliamentary constituency, and again re-elected from the same seat in the 1980, 1985, 1992, 1996 and 1999 elections as a member of the Indian National Congress. Bhatia had also served as the governor of Kerala from 2004 to 2008 and the governor of Bihar from 2008 to 2009. He had also served as the minister of state for external affairs in 1992.

 

2. Former Jathedar of Akal Takht, GianiJoginder Singh Vedanti passes away: Former Akal TakhtjathedarGianiJoginder Singh Vedanti died of a heart attack in Amritsar. He was 80. Vedanti, who served as jathedar of the highest temporal seat of Sikhs from 2000 to 2008, was well-versed in Gurbani grammar. He also served for a long time as the head granthi of the Golden Temple. During his tenure Vedanti had taken several landmark decisions. In 2003, the former jathedar had approved the Nanakshahi calendar, prepared by Canada-based Sikh scholar Pal Singh Purewal. He had also declared Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale a martyr 19 years after Operation Bluestar. He was also the first jathedar who declared to commemorate the death anniversaries of the Sikh militants.