Daily GK Update- 7th, May 2021

 

NATIONAL UPDATES:

 

1. BRO celebrates 61st raising day on 7th May: The Border Roads Organisation (BRO) was formed on 7 May 1960, with the primary goal of securing India’s borders and developing infrastructure in remote areas of India’s north and northeastern states. On 7 May 2021 BRO celebrated its 61st Raising Day (foundation day).

About BRO: It is a leading road construction agency under the Ministry of Defence. Its primary role is to provide road connectivity in India’s border areas. It also creates upgrades and maintains infrastructure along borders to meet India’s overall tactical and strategic goals. Apart from road construction it also executes maintenance works along Northern and Western frontiers mainly to meet strategic requirements of the Indian Army. It is responsible for over 53,000 Km roads. It contributes towards India’s strategic objectives in neighbouring regions by constructing roads in friendly foreign nations like Afghanistan, Bhutan, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Nepal.

Note: Director-General of BRO: Lt. Gen. Rajeev Chaudhary; BRO Headquarters: New Delhi; BRO Founded: 7 May 1960.

 

2. DMK chief Stalin appointed as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu: Tamil Nadu governor BanwarilalPurohit has appointed DravidaMunnetraKazhagam (DMK) chief MK Stalin as the chief minister of Tamil Nadu. The 68-year-old is the son of the former five-term Tamil Nadu chief minister, the late M Karunanidhi. The DMK-led alliance won 159 seats, well ahead of the majority mark of 118 seats. The party alone won 133 seats in the election. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Stalin led the United Progressive Alliance (UPA), of which the DMK is a constituent, to victory in 38 out of 39 parliamentary seats in Tamil Nadu.

 

3. RM Sundaram appointed as Director of Indian Institute of Rice Research: Raman MeenakshiSundaram has been appointed as Director of the Indian Institute of Rice Research (IIRR), an arm of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research. Prior to this elevation, he was working as Principal Scientist (Biotechnology) at the institute crop Improvement Section. He is a scientist of global repute working in the area of rice biotechnology, molecular breeding, and genomics and has over 160 research papers in national and international journals of repute and has published several books, book chapters and popular articles. Sundaram’s research accomplishments include the development of one of the first biotechnology products in rice, Improved Samba Mahsuri, which is high yielding, is of fine-grain type, has a low glycaemic index and is highly resistant to bacterial blight, it said.

 

4. Vijay Goel takes over as CMD of THDCIL: THDC India Ltd has announced that Vijay Goel assumed as chairman and managing director. His appointment will come into effect from May 1, 2021. He joined the company in 1990 as a senior personnel officer (SPO) from NHPC Ltd. He has more than 35 years of varied experience in the field of human resource management.

During his tenure as general manager, he was also in charge of corporate communications, law and arbitration functions. His key areas of interventions are policy formation, manpower planning, establishment and estate functions, employee relations, compliance of labour laws and overall formulation and implementation of policies. He played a vital role in putting in place initial HR systems immediately after the establishment of the THDCIL.

 

 

INTERNATIONALUPDATES:

 

1. India, France, Australia hold first trilateral dialogue: The first-ever India-France-Australia Trilateral Foreign Ministerial Dialogue was held in London, UK, on the sidelines of the G7 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting. The meeting was attended by External Affairs Minister, Dr S. Jaishankar from India, France’s Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, Mr Jean-Yves Le Drian and Australia’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, Senator Marise Payne. The France, India, Australia trilateral meet was launched in September 2020 at Foreign Secretaries’ levels but has been elevated to ministerial level within one year of its inception. It has three joint priorities which are maritime security, environment, and multilateralism.

G7 foreign ministers meeting: The G7 foreign ministers meeting is the first in-person meeting of foreign minister of the grouping amid pandemic, with the last such meeting taking place in 2019. Members of the G7 are Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The host nation UK invited India, Australia, South Korea, South Africa and the secretary-General of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to be part of this meet.

 

2. The World’s Longest Pedestrian Bridge Opens in Portugal: The world’s longest pedestrian suspension bridge named “Arouca” was opened in Portugal, according to a press release by UNESCO’s Arouca World Geopark. The Arouca Bridge offers a half-kilometre (almost 1,700-foot) walk across its span, along a metal walkway suspended from cables. Some 175 meters (574 feet) below, the Paiva River flows through a waterfall. The bridge hangs on steel cables strung between V-shaped concrete towers and connects the banks of the Paiva River. The record-breaking bridge took several years to build and was designed by Portuguese studio Itecons. It was constructed by Conduril and cost about $2.8 million (2.3 million euros).

Note: Portugal President: Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa; Portugal Capital: Lisbon; Portugal Currency: Euro.

 

OTHER UPDATES:

 

SPORTS

 

1. AICF launches Checkmate Covid Initiative: The All India Chess Federation has launched the ‘Checkmate Covid Initiative’ to help the chess community affected by the pandemic. The initiative was launched at an online event in the presence of FIDE (World Chess Federation) president ArkadyDvorkovich, five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand, World Rapid Chess Champion Koneru Humpy, AICF president Sanjay Kapoor and secretary Bharat Singh Chauhan. The idea is to not just help the chess community affected by COVID through financial aid, but also have a team of doctors that works round-the-clock to provide the right assistance.

Note: All India Chess Federation President: Sanjay Kapoor; All India Chess Federation Headquarters location: Chennai; All India Chess Federation Founded: 1951.

 

BANKING AND FINANCE

 

1. RBI Announces Term Liquidity Facility of Rs. 50,000 Crore for Healthcare: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das has announced a Covid-19 healthcare package of Rs 50,000 crore, for lending to entities such as vaccine makers, medical equipment suppliers, hospitals and related sectors, besides the patients in need of funds for treatment.

About the Covid-19 healthcare package: The new on-tap special liquidity facility of Rs 50,000 crore will be made available to the banks at the repo rate, for access to emergency health security amid the economic stress due to the second wave of Covid-19 in India. Banks can give loans under this facility till March 31, 2022. This Covid loan will be provided for a tenure of up to 3 years and will be classified as a priority sector loan till repayment or maturity.

About the Covid loan book mechanism: Besides, a Covid loan book mechanism has also been announced for banks, where banks will have an option to place an equivalent amount as lend to borrowers, with RBI at the reverse repo rate plus 40 basis points. This means that if banks lend Rs 50,000 crore to the borrowers and the equivalent amount of Rs 50,000 crore of surplus funds of the system is put in the reverse repo with RBI, they can earn 3.75 per cent instead of 3.35 per cent.

About the long-term repo operation (LTRO): A special long-term repo operation (LTRO) has been announced for small finance banks (SFBs) worth Rs 10,000 crore, to provide further lending support to NBFC-microfinance institutions (MFIs) and other MFIs (Societies, Trusts etc.) which are members of RBI recognised ‘Self-Regulatory Organisation’. These MFIs must have an asset size of Rs 500 crore, as of 31 March 2021.

 

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY

 

1. S&P Revises India’s GDP Growth Forecast to 9.8% for FY22: The US-based S&P Global Ratings has lowered the GDP growth forecast of the Indian economy to 9.8 per cent for the financial year 2021-22 (FY22). The US-based rating agency in March had an 11 per cent GDP growth forecast for India for April 2021-March 2022 fiscal. on account of a fast economic reopening and fiscal stimulus.

 

AWARDS AND HONOURS

 

1. Gita Mittal to be awarded Arline Pacht Global Vision Award: Former Chief Justice of Jammu & Kashmir High Court, Justice Gita Mittal, has been declared as one of the two recipients of the Arline Pacht Global Vision Award for 2021. The Award will be presented at IAWJ’s Biennial Conference during the virtual opening ceremony on May 7, 2021. She shares the honour with Margarita Luna Ramos from Mexico. International Association of Women Judges (IAWJ) instituted this award in 2016. Justice Mittal would be the first Indian judge to receive the award. Award is presented to a sitting/retired woman judge to recognize her contribution to IAWJ.

At present, Justice Mittal is the Chairperson of Broadcasting Content Complaints Council (BCCC), an independent, self-regulatory body for general entertainment channels set up by the Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF). She is the first woman to hold this position.

Note: President of International Association of Women Judges: Vanessa Ruiz; International Association of Women Judges Founded: 1991; International Association of Women Judges  HQ: Washington DC, USA.

 

OBITUARIES

 

1. Former Union Minister and RLD Founder Ajit Singh Passes Away: Former Union Minister and RashtriyaLok Dal (RLD) founder and leader Ajit Singh has passed away battling COVID-19. He was the son of former Prime Minister of India, Chaudhary Charan Singh. Ajit Singh had served as Minister of Commerce & Industry under Prime Minister V. P. Singh; Minister of Food Processing Industries in P. V. Narasimha Rao’s cabinet; Minister of Agriculture in Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s government and Minister of Civil Aviation in Manmohan Singh’s cabinet.

 

2. Actress AbhilashaPatil passes away due to Covid-19: Actress AbhilashaPatil, who featured in films like ‘Good Newwz’, ‘Badrinath Ki Dulhania’ and ‘Chhichhore’, passed away due to Covid-19 complications. She was in her early 40s. Apart from Bollywood movies, Patil also appeared in Marathi films such as ‘TeAathDiwas’, BaykoDetaKaBayko’, ‘Prawaas’, ‘Pipsi’ and ‘TujhaMajha Arrange Marriage’.