Daily GK Update- 19th Aug, 2021

 

NATIONAL UPDATES:

 

1. Government announces ‘Prime Minister Gatishakti Scheme’: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced a Rs 100 lakh crore Pradhan Mantri Gatishakti scheme while addressing the nation on the 75th Independence Day from Red Fort. The Pradhan Mantri Gatishakti scheme aims to adopt a holistic and integrated approach in infrastructure growth and create employment opportunities for the youth of the country. The government will soon announce the Master Plan for the scheme, to help boost the productivity of industries, and boost the economic growth of the country, besides creating job opportunities for hundreds of thousands of youths.

About the scheme: Gati Shakti will be a national infrastructure master plan for our country that will lay the foundation of holistic infrastructure and will lead to an integrated and holistic pathway to our economy. The PM Gati Shakti scheme is aimed at breaking the silos between road, rail, air and waterways to reduce travel time, improving industrial productivity, making manufacturing globally competitive, facilitating future economic zones and creating employment.

 

2. Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel announces 4 new districts: Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel has announced the creation of four new districts and 18 new tehsils in the state. The four new districts are: Mohla Manpur, Sarangarh-Bilaigarh, Shakti, Manendragarh. With the creation of four new districts, the total number of administrative districts in the state have reached 32. Apart from this, a garden will be developed exclusively for women in every district headquarter and the municipal corporation of the state, which will be known as the “Minimata Udyan”. The park has been named after ‘Minimata’, the first woman MP from Chhattisgarh elected in 1952, who devoted her life toward the empowerment of women and the betterment of society.

Note: CM of Chhattisgarh: Bhupesh Baghel; Governor of Chhattisgarh: Anusuiya Uikey.

 

3. AIIMS Delhi becomes first Indian hospital to house fire station inside premises: The All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS), New Delhi has become the first hospital of India to house a fire station inside the hospital premises, to meet any emergency. For this, AIIMS has collaborated with Delhi Fire Service (DFS). The fire station, meant for quick response in case of fire emergency, will have its infrastructure developed by the AIIMS, while the fire tender, equipment, and manpower will be managed by the DFS. Having a total of 61 fire stations and 3,616 personnel, including 3,280 firefighters, the DFS attends to nearly 22,000 fire and rescue calls on an average in a year.

 

4. Kaziranga becomes India’s first national park with satellite phones: Kaziranga National Park (KNP) in Assam has become the first national park in India to be equipped with satellite phones. Assam Chief Secretary Jishnu Barua handed over 10 satellite phones to the forest personnel of the Kaziranga National Park. The satellite phones will boost the anti-poaching measures in the park. BSNL will be the service provider of these phones.

Significance: The park which has been spread over a massive 430 sq km area and divided into six ranges in upper Assam, has certain areas with poor to no connectivity.  The satellite phones, given to the officials of Kaziranga Parks, which draw signals from the satellites instead of mobile towers will ensure connectivity in most of the remote locations. The move will also boost anti-poaching measures undertaken by the park.

Note: Assam Governor: Jagdish Mukhi; Assam Chief Minister: Himanta Biswa Sarma; Assam Capital: Dispur.

 

5. 4 more sites in India added to Ramsar list: Four more wetlands from India have been added to the list of Ramsar sites, giving it the status of ‘Wetland of International Importance’. With this, the total number of Ramsar sites in India have reached 46, covering a surface area of 1,083,322 hectares. The sites have been recognised as wetlands of international importance under the Ramsar Convention. Two of these sites are in Haryana, while the other two are in Gujarat.

These sites are: (1) Thol, Gujarat; (2) Wadhwana, Gujarat; (3) Sultanpur, Haryana; and (4) Bhindawas, Haryana

Ramsar Convention: The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands is an intergovernmental treaty adopted on February 2, 1971, in the Iranian city of Ramsar, on the southern shore of the Caspian Sea. It came into force for India on February 1, 1982. Those wetlands which are of international importance are declared as Ramsar sites. Last year, Ramsar declared 10 more wetland sites from India as sites of international importance.

 

6. A book to explore life and works of Jayaprakash Narayan: A new biography of revolutionary leader and independence activist Jayaprakash Narayan will hit the stands on August 23, publisher Penguin Random House India. The book, “The Dream of Revolution: A Biography of Jayaprakash Narayan”, shares anecdotes and never-before-told stories from the life of the man who was known for his “emotional hunger for transformative politics, shunning power and incubating revolutionary ideas”. According to the publisher, the book, written by historian Bimal Prasad and author Sujata Prasad, explores “the ambiguities and ironies of a life lived at the barricades, and one man’s unremitting quest to usher in a society based on equality and freedom”.

 

INTERNATIONALUPDATES:

 

1. Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin resigns: The Prime Minister of Malaysia, Muhyiddin Yassin and his cabinet resigned after losing a confidence vote in parliament. The 74-year-old Muhyiddin came to power in March 2020. He will however stay on as a caretaker prime minister until a successor is named. The resignations plunged Malaysia even deeper into political turmoil while it contends with one of the world’s worst surges of the virus. The nation of about 32 million people has averaged more than 20,000 cases per day in the last 14 days, and just 33 per cent of the population is fully vaccinated. The total death toll from the pandemic in the country is at least 12,510.

Note: Malaysia Capital: Kuala Lumpur; Malaysia Currency: Malaysian Ringgit.

 

2. World Photography Day: 19th August: World Photography Day is celebrated on 19 August every year to promote photography as a hobby and also inspire photographers around the globe to share a single photo with the rest of the world. The first official World Photo Day was observed on August 19, 2010.

History of the day: The origin of World Photo Day comes from the invention of the Daguerreotype, a photographic process developed by Frenchmen Louis Daguerre and Joseph Nicephore Niepce in 1837. It was on August 19, 1939 that the French government purchased the patent of Daguerreotype process and announced the invention as a gift “free to the world”.

 

3. World Humanitarian Day: 19th August: World Humanitarian Day (WHD) is observed every year on 19 August to pay tribute to humanitarian personnel and those workers who lost or risked their lives while doing humanitarian service. In 2021 we are celebrating the 12th WHD. The theme for 2021 WHD is #TheHumanRace: a global challenge for climate action in solidarity with people who need it the most.

History of the day: 19 August marks the day on which the then Special Representative of the Secretary-General to Iraq, Sérgio Vieira de Mello and 21 of his colleagues were killed in the bombing of the UN Headquarters in Baghdad. World Humanitarian Day was commemorated for the first time on 19 August 2009, after it was formally recognised by the United Nations General Assembly in 2009.

 

OTHER UPDATES:

 

SPORTS

 

1. Messi signs for Paris St Germain after leaving Barcelona: Lionel Messi joined star-packed Paris St Germain after leaving Barcelona, the club where he had begun, after 21 years. Messi, a six-time winner of the Ballon d’Or for Europe’s best soccer player, signed a two-year contract with an option for a third year. Paris Saint-Germain Football Club, commonly referred to as Paris Saint-Germain or PSG. Messi leaves Barcelona with 672 goals in 778 appearances, a record tally for one club. His trophy haul includes four Champions Leagues and 10 La Liga titles.

 

2. Raunak Sadhwani wins 2021 Spilimbergo Open Chess Tournament: A 15-year-old young Indian Grandmaster Raunak Sadhwani has won the 19th Spilimbergo Open chess tournament in Italy. The fourth-seeded Sadhwani, who hails from Nagpur, remained undefeated in the tournament, with seven points from nine rounds, in which claimed five wins and four draws. In the ninth and final round, Sadhwani and Italian GM Pier Luigi Basso finished level on seven points, but the Indian was declared the winner on the basis of a better tie-break score.

 

BANKING AND FINANCE

 

1. RBI launches the Financial Inclusion Index: The Reserve Bank of India has introduced the Financial Inclusion Index (FI-Index), which is a measure of the extent of financial inclusion in India. FI-Index incorporates the inclusion details of banking, investments, insurance, postal and pension sector in India. This was among the announcements made in the first bimonthly monetary policy in April this year. Financial Inclusion Index (FI-Index):

(1) The value of FI-Index will range between 0 to 100. Where 0 denotes complete financial exclusion while 100 denotes full financial inclusion.

(2) Parameters of FI-Index: The FI-Index comprises of three parameters, namely- Access (35%), Usage (45%), and Quality (20%) with each of these consisting of various dimensions, which are computed based on a number of indicators. In total there are 97 indicators.

(3) The annual FI-Index for the period ending March 2021 is 53.9 while for the period ending March 2017 it is 43.4. RBI will release the FI-Index in the month of July every year. There is no base year for this Index.

 

2. AU Small Finance Bank unveils new brand campaign, ‘BADLAAV Humse Hai’: AU Small Finance Bank has unveiled a mega Brand Campaign, aptly titled ‘BADLAAV Humse Hai’. This is the first integrated marketing communication campaign from AU Bank since its inception – a creative endeavor that will showcase the bank’s passion for innovation. As  a part of this campaign, AU will release a series of ad films on products and practices such as monthly interest, anywhere banking, Video banking, UPI QR and new age Credit Cards to bring alive the proposition of BADLAAV through tangible offerings.

 

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY

 

1. IATA extend partnership with UNCTAD to facilitate global trade: The International Air Transport Association (IATA) and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) have extended their collaboration to facilitate international trade, particularly e-commerce. The extended partnership will enrich their history of working together. This includes the successful integration of air cargo messaging standards (Cargo-XML) into UNCTAD’s automated customs management system ASYCUDAWorld. For the 100 counties choosing to deploy the latest version of ASYCUDAWorld, this enables more efficient processing of air cargo shipments.

 

AWARDS AND HONOURS

 

1. Mohammad Azam honoured with National Youth Award: Mohammad Azam from Karimnagar district in Telangana has been awarded the National Youth Award recently by the Union Youth Affairs and Sports Minister Anurag Singh Thakur in Delhi for displaying exemplary leadership qualities. He has conducted several awareness programmes related to blood donation, organ donation and plantation programmes under the Haritha Haram project. The award carries an appreciation certificate and Rs 50,000 cash.

Apart from these, he has also worked on water conservation, construction of soaking pits, works related to the Swachh Bharat mission and government welfare schemes, for the benefit of the people in various villages. He received the ‘Indira Gandhi NSS Award’ from then President of India Pranab Mukherjee. He was also awarded the Pratibha Puraskar award by the State government in the erstwhile Andhra Pradesh and the Rashtriya Gaurav Samman Award.

 

2. Women Sub-Inspector Rita Debnath of Tripura Police awarded ‘Union Home Minister’s Medal for Excellence in Investigation’: Women Sub-Inspector Rita Debnath of Tripura Police has been awarded the ‘Union Home Minister’s Medal for Excellence in Investigation’ for the year 2021. The list of awardees were announced by the Ministry of Home Affairs. The ‘Union Home Minister’s Medal for Excellence in Investigation’ for the year 2021 has been awarded to 152 police personnel all over the country including 28 women police officers across the country are to receive the award. The medal recipients include 15 from CBI, 5 from NCB, 5 from NIA, 11 each from Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra Police, 10 from Utter Pradesh, 9 from Kerala and Rajasthan Police, 8 from Tamil Nadu Police, 7 from Bihar, 6 each from Gujarat, Karnataka and Delhi Police and the remaining from other States/UTs.