Daily GK Update- 8th July, 2021

 

NATIONAL UPDATES:

 

1. President Kovind appoints new Governors for eight states: President of India, Ram NathKovind has appointed new Governors for eight states. The new governors have been appointed for states including Haryana, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Goa, Tripura, Jharkhand, Mizoram and Himachal Pradesh. While some of the current governors have been transferred to new states, in some others new appointments have been made.

Complete list of new governors:

 

SI.no	State	New Governor
1	Karnataka	ThawarchandGehlot
2	Madhya Pradesh	MangubhaiChhaganbhai Patel
3	Mizoram	Dr. Hari BabuKambhampati
4	Himachal Pradesh	RajendraVishwanathArlekar
5	Goa	P.S. Sreedharan Pillai
6	Tripura	Satyadev Narayan Arya
7	Jharkhand	Ramesh Bais
8	Haryana	BandaruDattatraya

 

2. KN Bhattacharjee appointed new Lokayukta in Tripura: Veteran advocate Kalyan Narayan Bhattacharjee has been appointed as the new Lokayukta in Tripura. He has been appointed to the post for three years w.e.f. July 1. The Lokayukta Act has been in force in Tripura since 2008 and in 2012, the first Lokayukta was appointed in Tripura. Bhattacharjee is the third Lokayukta in the state and the first to hold the post as a lawyer. Former Gujarat & Guwahati HC judge Pradeep Kumar Sarkar was 1st Lokayukta in Tripura.

Note: Chief Minister of Tripura: Biplab Kumar Deb; Governor: Ramesh Bais.

 

3. ISRO gives nod to parliamentary panel to implement satellite TV classrooms: Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has given its nod to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Education to provide technical assistance for satellite TV classrooms in the country to bridge the learning gap due to COVID-induced lockdown. ISRO scientists have appeared before the Parliamentary Standing Committee for Education and made a detailed presentation about the proposed satellite TV classroom for students.

Vinay Sahastrabuddhe-led parliamentary panel had earlier sought help from ISRO scientists to provide technical assistants to start satellite TV classrooms for students who reported a learning gap in the school syllabus due to the COVID pandemic. The Committee explored satellite TV classrooms that will broadcast school-based educational programs and students can take advantage of it in cluster classrooms and the issue of smartphone and data connectivity can be resolved, especially in the rural areas.

Note: ISRO Chairman: K.Sivan; ISRO Headquarters: Bengaluru, Karnataka; ISRO established: 15 August 1969.

 

4. GoI extends superannuation age of LIC chairman to up to 62 years: The government has extended the superannuation age of IPO-bound LIC Chairman, M R Kumar, to up to 62 years by making amendments to the Life Insurance Corporation of India (Staff) Regulations, 1960. The changes made in the rules will be called the Life Insurance Corporation of India (Staff) Amendment Rules, 2021, according to a government notification dated June 30, 2021. It is to be noted that the retirement age for the top executives of the majority of PSUs is 60 years, barring a few exceptions, including the State Bank of India (SBI).

Note: LIC Headquarters: Mumbai; LIC Founded: 1 September 1956.

 

INTERNATIONALUPDATES:

 

1. PM Narendra Modi inaugurates the Co-WIN Global Conclave: The Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi inaugurated and addressed the CoWin Global Conclave, virtually. The global meet was participated by representatives from 142 countries. The Conclave was jointly organized by the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare (MoHFW), Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) and National Health Authority (NHA) with an objective to extend the Co-WIN platform as a digital public good to the world.

About the Conclave: India has offered its indigenously developed cloud-based CoWIN platform to be made open-source so that it is available to any and all countries. The CoWin Global Conclave served as a platform to share India’s learnings and experiences with regards to planning, strategizing and executing the world’s largest vaccination drive through Co-WIN.

 

2. Cabinet approves MoU between India, Gambia on Refurbishing Personnel Administration & Governance Reforms: Cabinet has approved the signing of Memorandum of Understanding between Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions and the Public Service Commission of Gambia on refurbishing personnel administration and governance reforms. The MoU will help in understanding the personnel administration of both the countries and enable in improving the system of governance through replicating, adapting and innovating some of the best practices and processes.

 

3. Indian-American SirishaBandla set to fly into space: India-origin woman SirishaBandla will travel to the edge of the space aboard ‘VSS Unity’ of Virgin Galactic, which is scheduled to fly off on July 11 from New Mexico. This is significant as she will be the third woman of Indian origin to go to space after Kalpana Chawla and Sunita Williams.

About the Bandla: Bandla, the vice-president of government affairs at Virgin Galactic in Washington DC, will travel alongside his boss and the group’s founder, billionaire Richard Branson and four others in the company’s spaceflight. Bandla will take care of the researcher experience of the Unity22 mission. The 34-year-old hails from Guntur, Andhra Pradesh in India.

 

OTHER UPDATES:

 

SPORTS

 

1. Mithali Raj surpasses Edwards to become highest run-getter: India captain Mithali Raj became the highest run-getter in women’s cricket across formats, overtaking former England skipper Charlotte Edwards. Mithali became the world’s most prolific batter in women’s internationals, overtaking Edwards’ 10,273 runs. Suzie Bates of New Zealand is third with 7849 runs. Stafanie Taylor (7832) and Meg Lanning (7024) round up the top five.

Mithali achieved the feat during the third and final inconsequential ODI against hosts England while chasing 220 for a consolation win. In 2020, Raj was named to the ICC’s ODI team of the decade, a fitting honour for her consistency in the sport. She is also the most capped player in the history of the women’s game, having featured in 11 Tests, 216 ODIs and 89 Twenty20 Internationals so far.

 

2. Max Verstappen wins Formula 1’s Austrian Grand Prix 2021: Red Bull’s Max Verstappen won the Austrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring, the ninth race of the 2021 Formula 1 World Championship season. Verstappen won the race ahead of Mercedes-AMG’s ValtteriBottas and McLaren’s Lando Norris. Lewis Hamilton – Bottas’ teammate and Verstappen’s challenger for the 2021 Drivers’ championship – came home in fourth place.

 

BANKING AND FINANCE

 

1. RBI imposes Rs 25 lakh penalty on Punjab & Sind Bank: The Reserve Bank of India imposed a penalty of Rs 25 lakh on Punjab and Sind Bank for non-compliance with certain provisions of directions on ‘Cyber Security Framework in Banks. The state-owned bank had reported a few cyber incidents to the RBI on May 16 and 20, 2020, the central bank said while giving details. Accordingly, the central bank had issued a show-cause notice to the bank asking it why a penalty should not be imposed for non-compliance with the directions issued by RBI. This penalty has been imposed in the exercise of powers vested in RBI under the provisions of section 47 A (1) (c) read with sections 46 (4) (i) and 51 (1) of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949.

Note: Punjab and Sind Bank Founder: Vir Singh; Punjab and Sind Bank Founded: 24 June 1908; MD & CEO of  Punjab and Sind Bank: S Krishnan.

 

2. Axis Bank tie-up with AWS for powering digital banking services: Axis Bank has inked a multi-year deal with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to power the digital transformation programme of the country’s third-largest private sector bank. As part of the agreement, Axis Bank with help of AWS will build a portfolio of new digital financial services to bring advanced banking experiences to customers, including online accounts that can be opened in 6 min & instant digital payment. This will help the bank increase customer satisfaction by 35 per cent and lower costs by 24 per cent. To date, Axis Bank has deployed over 25 mission-critical applications on AWS, including a Buy Now Pay Later product and a new loan management system to support it, Account Aggregator, Video-Know Your Customer (V-KYC), and WhatsApp Banking.

Note: Axis Bank Headquarters: Mumbai; Axis Bank Founded: 1993; Axis Bank MD and CEO of Axis Bank: Amitabh Chaudhry.

 

DEFENCE

 

1. Indian Army chief to inaugurate war memorial for Indian soldiers in Italy: Indian Army chief General MM Naravane will embark on an official visit to the United Kingdom (UK) and Italy, during which he will be meeting his counterparts and the senior military leadership of these countries. The highlight of the visit will be Gen Naravane’s inauguration of the Indian Army Memorial in the famous town of Cassino, Italy. In the Battle of Monte Cassino during World War II, over 5,000 Indian soldiers laid down their lives while fighting to save Italy from fascist forces. Nearly 50,000 Indians were enlisted for Italy’s liberation between September 1943 and April 1945. Both the UK and Italy are important partners for India in the fields of defence, healthcare, aerospace, education, clean technology, renewable energy and information and communication technology among others.

 

OBITUARIES

 

1. Legendary Bollywood actor Dilip Kumar passes away: Legendary Bollywood actor Mohammed Yusuf Khan, known professionally as Dilip Kumar passed away at 98. He was popularly known as the tragedy king of Bollywood. He was last seen in the 1998 film Qila. He was the first actor to win the Filmfare Award for Best Actor in 1954 and won it a total of 8 times. He and Shah Rukh Khan jointly hold the record for most Filmfare trophies. Dilip Kumar is listed in the Guinness World Records for winning the maximum number of awards by an Indian actor. He is also credited as the first method actor in India. He was honoured with the DadasahebPhalke Award in 1994 and Padma Vibhushan in 2015.