Daily GK Update- 7th July, 2021

 

NATIONAL UPDATES:

 

1. Pushkar Singh Dhami to be next chief minister of Uttarakhand: Pushkar Singh Dhami will be the next chief minister of Uttarakhand. He will be the youngest CM of Uttarakhand. 45-year-old Pushkar Singh Dhami, an MLA from the Khatima constituency in Udham Singh Nagar district. He will replace Tirath Singh Rawat, who resigned from the post. He was elected by the state leaders during the legislature party meeting in Dehradun. Pushkar Singh Dhami is a two-time MLA from the Khatima constituency. Pushkar Singh Dhami was also associated with RashtriyaSwayamsevakSangh (RSS) and also served as the state president of Bharatiya Janata YuvaMorcha in Uttarakhand. Pushkar Singh Dhami served as the officer on special duty for former Uttarakhand chief minister Bhagat Singh Koshyari in 2002.

Note: Governor of Uttarakhand: Baby Rani Maurya.

 

2. Satish Agnihotri take charges as MD of NHSRCL: Satish Agnihotri has taken over charge as Managing Director, National High-Speed Rail Corporation Ltd. He comes with more than 20 years of experience in the implementation of mega rail infrastructure projects. He has worked as Chairman & Managing Director, Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL), a schedule ‘A’ CPSE under the Ministry of Railways for close to 9 years. During his tenure as CMD/RVNL, RVNL completed 7000 km of project length including 3000 km doubling/3rd line, 880 km conversion of metre gauge track to broad gauge, 3000 km railway electrification, 85 km new line, 6 factories and many important bridges. A 7 km long tunnel was also completed in a record time of 25 months in a new line project in Andhra Pradesh.

 

3. J&K ends 149-year-old darbar move tradition: The LG Manoj Sinha formally put an end to a 149-year-old biannual tradition of shifting offices between summer capital Srinagar and winter capital Jammu. The administration served notice to employees to vacate the ‘Darbar Move’ related accommodations in three weeks in Jammu and Srinagar. Administration cancelled the residential accommodation of “darbar move” employees in Jammu and Srinagar, implying the employees will remain stationed in either Jammu or Kashmir. Around 8000-9000 employees working in Civil Secretariats, with headquarters in Jammu and Srinagar, would move along with files twice every year. While Srinagar served as the summer capital, Jammu was the winter capital.

Note: Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir, Manoj Sinha.

 

4. New jumping spider species named after 26/11 martyr TukaramOmble: A group of scientists who discovered two new species of jumping spiders from the Thane-Kalyan region named one of them after the brave police constable TukaramOmble who lost his life in the 26/11 terror attacks. The species is called ‘IciusTukarami.’  The paper citing the discovery of the new species was published in the Russian science journal Anthropoda Selecta by scientists Dhruv A. Prajapati, John Caleb, Somnath B. Kumbhar and Rajesh Sanap.

 

5. “Lady Doctors: The Untold Stories of India’s First Women in Medicine” by Kavitha Rao: A book titled “Lady Doctors: The Untold Stories of India’s First Women in Medicine” has authored by Kavitha Rao. This book recovers the stories of India’s first women doctors, often ignored by history. In this excerpt from Kavitha Rao’s ‘Lady Doctors: The Untold Stories of India’s First Women in Medicine, the story of RukhmabaiRaut. Rukhmabai was an Indian physician and feminist. She is best known for being one of the first practising women doctors in colonial India as well as being involved in a landmark legal case involving her marriage as a child bride between 1884 and 1888.

 

INTERNATIONALUPDATES:

 

1. China is certified malaria-free by WHO: Following a 70-year effort, China has been awarded a malaria-free certification from WHO – a notable feat for a country that reported 30 million cases of the disease annually in the 1940s. China is the first country in the WHO Western Pacific Region to be awarded a malaria-free certification in more than 3 decades. Other countries in the region that have achieved this status include Australia (1981), Singapore (1982) and Brunei Darussalam (1987). Globally, 40 countries and territories have been granted a malaria-free certification from WHO – including, most recently, El Salvador (2021), Algeria (2019), Argentina (2019), Paraguay (2018) and Uzbekistan (2018).

Keys to success

(1) China provides a basic public health service package for its residents free of charge. As part of this package, all people in China have access to affordable services for the diagnosis and treatment of malaria, regardless of legal or financial status.

(2) Effective multi-sector collaboration was also key to success. In 2010, 13 ministries in China – including those representing health, education, finance, research and science, development, public security, the army, police, commerce, industry and information technology, customs, media and tourism – joined forces to end malaria nationwide.

(3) In recent years, the country further reduced its malaria caseload through strict adherence to the timelines of the “1-3-7” strategy. The “1” signifies the one-day deadline for health facilities to report a malaria diagnosis; by the end of day 3, health authorities are required to confirm a case and determine the risk of spread; and, within 7 days, appropriate measures must be taken to prevent further spread of the disease.

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

 

2. World Chocolate Day: 7th July: World Chocolate Day or International Chocolate Day is observed on 7th July every year. The day celebrates the existence of chocolate in our lives. It is marked by eating chocolates and sharing with dear ones. The day is an annual global celebration of chocolate, which allows people to gorge and indulge, hopefully guilt-free, in it. On this day, chocolate lovers from all over relish eating different kinds of chocolate or create several dishes with it like cakes, pastries, sinful and gooey brownies, hot chocolate or chocolate mousse, without any guilt.

History of International Chocolate Day: World Chocolate Day was first celebrated in the year 2009. However, some even believe that people started marking July 7 as International Chocolate Day because it was the day when chocolate was first introduced to Europe in 1550.

 

OTHER UPDATES:

 

SPORTS

 

1. Mariyappan Thangavelu named flag-bearer for Tokyo Paralympics: Top para high-jumper Mariyappan Thangavelu was named the flag-bearer of the Indian contingent in the Tokyo Paralympics, which begins on August 24. Thangavelu, who is defending the T-42 gold he had won in the 2016 Rio Paralympics during the August 24 to September 5 showpiece in Tokyo, was picked for the honour by the executive committee of the national body.

The 25-year-old Thangavelu, who was conferred with the Khel Ratna, the country’s highest sporting award, last year is one of the 24 para-athletes picked by the selection committee for the Tokyo Paralympics. Thangavelu, who hails from Salem district in Tamil Nadu, suffered a permanent disability at the age of five when a bus crushed his right leg below the knee.

 

2. Norway’s KarstenWarholm breaks men’s 400 metres hurdles world record: KarstenWarholm, a 25-year-old athlete from Norway, broke the long-standing world record in the 400m hurdles during the Bislett Games. Earlier the record was held by American hurdler Kevin Young for 29 years. His mark of 46.78 seconds was set at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, Spain, which was finally broken with an official time of 46.70 seconds by Warholm.

 

BANKING AND FINANCE

 

1. Indian Overseas Bank becomes the second most-valued public lender: Indian Overseas Bank (IOB) has become the second most-valued listed public sector bank (PSB) with a market capitalisation of over Rs 50,000 crore. As Street discounts privatisation of the state-owned lender, its shares have appreciated nearly 80 per cent on the BSE in the past one month. IOB stood with an m-cap of Rs 51,887 crore, pushing PNB (Rs 46,411 crore) and BOB (Rs 44,112 crore) to third and fourth position, respectively, as per data available on BSE. In the past month, the market price of IOB has zoomed 57 per cent, as compared to a 4 per cent decline in PNB and a 5 per cent gain in BOB share price. The bank plans to come out of the Prompt Corrective Action (PCA) framework by focusing on recovery, low-cost deposits, and less capital consuming advances.

Note: Indian Overseas Bank Headquarters: Chennai; Indian Overseas Bank CEO: ParthaPratimSengupta; Indian Overseas Bank Founder: M. Ct. M. Chidambaram Chettyar; Indian Overseas Bank Founded: 10 February 1937, Chennai.

 

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY

 

1. AJNIFM, Microsoft partner to build AI, emerging technologies: The ArunJaitley National Institute of Financial Management (AJNIFM) and Microsoft announced a strategic partnership to build an AI and emerging technologies centre of excellence at AJNIFM. The collaboration seeks to explore the role of cloud, AI and emerging technologies in transforming and shaping the future of public finance management in India. The centre of excellence will serve as a central body for research, AI scenario envisioning and tech-led innovation. AJNIFM and Microsoft will jointly explore use cases of emerging technologies in finance and related areas, across central and state ministries and public sector enterprises. Microsoft will partner closely with AJNIFM to define the future of public finance management in India, providing the technology, tools and resources to build a strong ecosystem of partners, upskill government officials and build thought leadership.

 

AWARDS AND HONOURS

 

1. Invest India won the most innovative Investment Promotion Agency 2021 award: Invest India has been awarded the world’s most innovative Investment Promotion Agency 2021 by OCO Global. OCO Global is a leading authority on foreign investment and offers a range of economic development services, products, and unique company assessment tools.

About Invest India: Invest India, set up in 2009, is a non-profit venture under the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India. It is the national investment promotion and facilitation agency. Invest India focuses on sector-specific investor targeting and the development of new partnerships to enable sustainable investments in India. Invest India also actively works with several Indian states to build capacity as well as bring in global best practices in investment targeting, promotion and facilitation areas.

 

DEFENCE

 

1. India’s 1 indigenous drone defencedome‘Indrajaal’ developed by Grene Robotics: India’s 1st indigenous drone defence dome ‘Indrajaal’ has been developed by Hyderabad-based Grene Robotics. As per the company, the drone defence dome – ‘Indrajaal’ is capable of autonomously protecting an area of 1000-2000 sq km against aerial threats. It protects the area by assessing and acting on aerial threats such as Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), and Low- Radar Cross Section (RCS) targets. The company said that cutting-edge technologies such as UAVs, Smart Swarms, etc. have been for the first time used in India to drop explosives next to the Mi-17 hangar at Jammu Air Base.

Salient features of India’s 1st indigenous drone defence dome – ‘Indrajaal’: (1) Real-time situational awareness;(2) Integrated and Intelligent meshed network;(3) Synergic combination of 9-10 technologies;(4) 24×7 persistent and autonomous monitoring, action and tracking.