Daily GK Update- 24th July, 2021

 

NATIONAL UPDATES:

 

1. Perumkulam is Kerala’s first ‘Book Village’: Perumkulam, in Kollam District, has been bestowed with the title Kerala’s first ‘Book Village’. This claim to fame results from years of concerted efforts aimed at encouraging the habit of reading. Perumkulam is a small village in Kulakkada near Kottarakkara in Kollam district. BapujiSmarakaGrandhasala’, a library in the village is at the forefront in this effort of making it the first book village of the State.

About the library:

(1) The library inculcates passion towards reading by setting up bookshelves, or ‘Book Nests’ placed at different corners of the village. Anybody can take books from the book nests, read them, and keep them back.

(2) Eleven such shelves have been set up in the village, and the house more than seven thousand books.

(3) The library also delivers books to homes. Legendary Malayalam writer M.T. Vasudevan Nair hailed it as the ‘Book village’.

(4) Following this, State Library Council reported its unique feat to the Chief Minister, and he officially conferred the title of ‘Book village’ to Perumkulam on this year’s Reading Day.

(5) The initiative of distributing books at houses helped several people- not just to increase knowledge, but also to fight the pandemic blues! A team has been deployed to distribute books by adhering to COVID norms. Eminent author M. Mukundan serves as the library’s patron.

Note: Kerala CM: PinarayiVijayan; Kerala Governor: Arif Mohammad Khan.

 

2. GoI extends ‘Stand Up India Scheme’ up to 2025: The Government of India has extended the duration of the ‘Stand Up India Scheme’ up to the year 2025. The scheme was launched by the Prime Minister on 05 April 2016 to facilitate loans to Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe and women borrowers, to promote entrepreneurship among them.

About the scheme: The scheme offers bank loans to women and SC & ST communities to encourage them in setting up a greenfield enterprise, outside of the farm sector, that is in the manufacturing, services or trading sector. A total of 1,16,266 loans amounting to Rs. 26204.49 crore has been extended under the Scheme since its inception. The loan under Stand Up India Scheme is extended by Scheduled Commercial Banks (SCBs) between Rs. 10 lakh and Rs.1 Crore.

 

3. IOC to set up first ‘green hydrogen’ plant at UP: Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), India’s largest oil firm, will build the first ‘green hydrogen’ plant of the country at its Mathura refinery, to meet the growing demand for both oil and cleaner forms of energy. This will be the nation’s first green hydrogen unit. Previously, projects have been announced to produce ‘grey hydrogen’ using fossil fuels such as natural gas.For this, the company will make use of 250 MW of electricity which it produces from renewable sources like solar power, to produce absolutely green hydrogen through electrolysis. Mathura has been selected by virtue of its proximity to TTZ (Taj Trapezium Zone). Hydrogen is the latest buzz for meeting the world’s energy needs. Hydrogen, in itself, is a clean fuel but manufacturing it is energy-intensive and has carbon byproducts.

Note: Indian Oil Corporation Chairperson: ShrikantMadhav Vaidya; Indian Oil Corporation Headquarters: Mumbai; Indian Oil Corporation Founded: 30 June 1959.

 

4. Vice President releases book ‘PallekuPattabhishekam’: Vice President of India, M Venkaiah Naidu has released a book titled ‘PallekuPattabhishekam’ authored by former MP Yalamanchili Sivaji. This book is based on rural India and agriculture. The Vice President said that villages and agriculture are intrinsically connected and we must address their issues holistically to bring ‘Gram Swarajya’ to our villages.

 

5. RakeyshOmprakashMehra announces autobiography ‘The Stranger In The Mirror’: Filmmaker RakeyshOmprakashMehra has announced his autobiography, “The Stranger In The Mirror”.  He has co-written the book with noted author Reeta Ramamurthy Gupta. The autobiography has published by Rupa Publications, the book will hit the stands across the country on July 27. Ad maker-turned-director Mehra, known for helming movies like Rang De Basanti, Delhi-6, BhaagMilkhaBhaag and the recently released Toofan. According to a press release, The Stranger In The Mirror features first-person accounts of noted personalities from the cinema and advertising world including Waheeda Rahman, A.R. Rahman, Bajpayee, Abhishek Bachchan, Akhtar, Kapoor Ahuja, Tandon, Ronnie Screwvala, Atul Kulkarni, R. Madhavan, Divya Dutta and PrahladKakar.

 

6. AaykarDiwas (Income Tax Day): 24th July: The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) observed the 161st Income Tax Day (also known as AaykarDiwas) on 24 July 2021. In India, the Income Tax Day is celebrated every year on July 24, as it was on 24 July 1980 that Income Tax was introduced for the first time in India by Sir James Wilson. The purpose of this tax was to compensate for the losses incurred by the British regime during the first war of independence against British Rule in 1857. July 24 was first celebrated as Income Tax day in 2010.

Note: Central Board of Direct Taxes chairman: JagannathBidyadharMohapatra; Central Board of Direct Taxes Established: 1924; Central Board of Direct Taxes Headquarters: New Delhi.

 

INTERNATIONALUPDATES:

 

1. Leftist school teacher Pedro Castillo declared New Peru President: Rural teacher-turned-political novice, Pedro Castillo became the winner of Peru’s presidential election after the country’s longest electoral count in 40 years. Castillo, whose supporters included Peru’s poor and rural citizens, defeated right-wing politician Keiko Fujimori by just 44,000 votes. Electoral authorities released the final official results more than a month after the runoff election took place in the South American nation. The economy of Peru, the world’s second-largest copper producer, has been crushed by the coronavirus pandemic, increasing the poverty level to almost one-third of the population and eliminating the gains of a decade.

Note: Peru Capital: Lima; Peru Currency: Sol.

 

2. Ariel Henry to take over as new Haitian Prime Minister: Ariel Henry has formally assumed the post of Prime Minister of Haiti. He assumed the role of the leader of the Western Hemisphere’s poorest nation in a ceremony in the capital Port-Au-Prince. Henry was installed as head of a new government in an attempt to stabilize a country on the brink of chaos since the murder of President JovenelMoise at his residence in the early hours of July 7. The swearing-in of Henry, who was named to the post by Moise days before his death, was seen as a key step towards holding elections as demanded by many Haitians.

Note: Haiti Capital: Port-au-Prince; Haiti Currency: Haitian gourde; Haiti Continent: North America.

 

OTHER UPDATES:

 

SPORTS

 

1. AmanGulia and SagarJaglan become cadet world champions: Young wrestlers AmanGulia and SagarJaglan emerged as the new world champions in their respective categories as India dished out an impressive show on the second day of the Cadet World Championship 2021 at Budapest, Hungary. Gulia emerged the winner with a convincing 5-2 win over American Luke Joseph Lilledahl in a 48kg final while Jaglan blanked James Mockler Rowley 4-0 in the 80kg summit clash.

 

BANKING AND FINANCE

 

1. ICICI Bank, HPCL launch ‘ICICI Bank HPCL Super Saver’ Credit Card: ICICI Bank has announced the launch of a co-branded credit card with Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) to enable users to get benefits and reward points for using multiple credit cards in one. Named, ‘ICICI Bank HPCL Super Saver Credit Card’, the card offers best-in-class rewards and benefits to customers on their everyday spends on fuel as well as other categories including electricity and mobile, departmental stores like Big Bazaar and D-Mart, and e-commerce portals, among others. Powered by VISA, the card is unique among its peers which typically offer benefits on only one category of spends.

Customers can apply for the ‘ICICI Bank HPCL Super Saver Credit Card’ through the Bank’s internet banking platform or the mobile banking app, iMobile Pay. They get a digital card in a 100% contactless and paperless manner. The physical card is also sent to the customer by ICICI Bank within a few days. Further, customers can manage their transaction settings and credit limit conveniently on the iMobile Pay app.

Note: ICICI Bank Headquarters: Mumbai, Maharashtra; ICICI Bank MD & CEO: Sandeep Bakhshi; ICICI Bank Tagline: Hum Hai Na, KhayalApka;

Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited Headquarters: Mumbai; Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited CEO: Mukesh Kumar Surana; Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited Chairperson: Mukesh Kumar Surana.

 

2. Kotak Mahindra Bank signs MoU with the Indian Navy for salary account: The Indian Navy has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Kotak Mahindra for salary accounts of all its personnel – both serving and retired. The bank will reportedly offer special salary account benefits to the Indian Navy like enhanced complimentary personal accident insurance cover, special education benefit for children, and additional girl child benefit, and attractive rates and zero processing fees on personal loans, home loans and car loans.

The Kotak salary account provides a range of privileges, and we have further personalized our offering, keeping in mind the requirements of Indian Navy personnel and their families. With a full suite of products, we will support the Indian Navy with all their banking requirements, backed by quality customer service and digital-first solutions.

Note: Chief of Naval Staff: Admiral Karambir Singh; Indian Navy Founded: 26 January 1950.

Kotak Mahindra Bank Establishment: 2003; Kotak Mahindra Bank Headquarters: Mumbai, Maharashtra; Kotak Mahindra Bank MD & CEO: Uday Kotak.

 

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY

 

1. Dvara E-Dairy partners with IFFCO Tokio General Insurance for AI-led tag: Dvara E-Dairy Solutions, a portfolio company of Dvara Holdings has launched an artificial intelligence (AI) led digital tag ‘Surabhi e-Tag’ to identify cattle based on muzzle identity. This will be used for cattle insurance products offered in partnership with IFFCO Tokio General Insurance.

Under this initiative:

(1) Muzzle images of the cattle are collected through the Surabhi mobile application and stored in hi-resolution images as a unique digital identity.

(2) The artificial intelligence-driven mobile application of Dvara E-Dairy captures muzzle images with the mobile phone, compares the cattle’s unique digital identity stored in a secured cloud server and retrieves the results in less than 60 seconds.

(3) Conventional methods like polyurethane ear tags (PU ear tags) can be easily tampered with and are prone to duplication and fraud.

(4) Also, Injectable Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags are considered expensive and require specialized skills.

(5) On the other hand, muzzle printing or nose printing is a unique identifier because it perceives patchy traits on the muzzle of cattle, just like human fingerprints.

Note: IFFCO Tokio General Insurance CEO: Anamika Roy Rashtrawar; IFFCO Tokio General Insurance Headquarters: Gurugram; IFFCO Tokio General Insurance Founded: 2000.

 

DEFENCE

 

1. DRDO successfully flight-tests indigenously developed MPATGM: The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) successfully flight-tested indigenously developed third-generation Man-Portable Antitank Guided Missile (MPATGM) for its minimum range. The missile was launched from a man-portable launcher integrated with a thermal site, and all the mission objectives were met.

About the Missile: The missile has already been flight-tested for the maximum range. MPATGM is a low weight, fire and forgets missile, incorporated with state-of-the-art Miniaturized Infrared Imaging Seeker along with advanced avionics. It is being developed to strengthen the combat capabilities of the Indian Army.

Note: Chairman DRDO: Dr G Satheesh Reddy; DRDO Headquarters: New Delhi; DRDO Established: 1958.

 

2. DRDO successfully test-flights surface-to-air missile ‘Akash-NG’: The Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO) successfully flight-tested the New Generation Akash Missile (Akash-NG), from Integrated Test Range (ITR) off the coast of Odisha. The Akash missile system has been developed by the DRDO’s laboratory in Hyderabad in collaboration with other wings of the premier defence research organisation. The Akash-NG weapon system is a surface-to-air missile that can strike targets at a distance of around 60 km and fly at a speed of up to Mach 2.5. The flight data on the missile confirmed the success of the test. DRDO deployed a number of monitoring mechanisms such as electro-optical tracking systems, radar and telemetry.