Daily GK Update- 8th Aug, 2021

 

NATIONAL UPDATES:

 

1. Khel Ratna Award renamed as Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced that Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award will be renamed as Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award. The Prime Minister said the move was based on the numerous requests he received from across the nation. Dhyan Chand, whose birthday is celebrated as National Sports Day, won three Olympic golds for the country in Hockey.

About the award: The award was inaugurated in 1991-92, the award comprises a medallion, a certificate, and a cash prize of ₹ 25 lakh. The first recipient of the Khel Ratna was chess legend, Viswanathan Anand. Some of the winners in recent years include cricketer Rohit Sharma, wrestler VineshPhogat, women’s hockey team captain Rani Rampal, among others.

 

2. Uttarakhand unveils India’s first earthquake mobile app: Uttarakhand Chief Minister, Pushkar Singh Dhami has launched the first-of-its-kind earthquake early warning mobile application, named ‘Uttarakhand Bhookamp Alert’. The app has been developed by IIT Roorkee, in association with Uttarakhand State Disaster Management Authority (USDMA). Initially, this app was launched as a pilot project only by the Ministry of Earth Sciences, Government of India, for the Garhwal region of Uttarakhand, the project proposal was further extended by the Uttarakhand Government.

About the App: The Uttarakhand Bhookamp Alert is India’s first earthquake early warning’ app for notifying people about earthquake alerts. Earthquake Early Warning (EEW) mobile app can detect the onset of the earthquake and issue warnings regarding an earthquake occurrence in the neighbourhood and the expected time of arrival and intensity at the location to prevent any loss of life.

Note: Governor of Uttarakhand: Baby Rani Maurya; The chief minister of Uttarakhand: Pushkar Singh Dhami.

 

3. BRO builds world’s highest road in Ladakh at 19,300 feet: Border Roads Organisation (BRO) has constructed and black-topped the highest road in the world at Umlingla Pass in Eastern Ladakh. The highest motorable road in the world is situated at an altitude of 19,300 feet. This is higher than the base camps of Mount Everest. The road itself is a 52-km long tarmac stretch through Umlingla Pass, connecting important towns in the Chumar sector of Eastern Ladakh. Infrastructure development in places like Umlingla Pass is difficult due to the harsh and tough terrain coupled with extremely low temperatures. In winters, the temperature dips 40 degrees below zero. The oxygen level at this altitude is almost 50 per cent less than at normal places.

The north base in Tibet is at 16,900 feet, whereas the south base camp in Nepal is 17,598 feet. The summit of Mount Everest is a little over 29,000 feet. The road is constructed much above the altitude of Siachen Glacier which is at 17,700 feet. The Khardung La Pass in Leh is at an altitude of 17,582 feet. With this, India has bettered Bolivia’s record of a road at 18,953 feet.

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

 

4. CBIC launches Compliance Information Portal (CIP): The Central Board for Indirect Taxes & Customs launched the Indian Customs Compliance Information Portal at www.cip.icegate.gov.in/CIP. This portal providing free access to information on all Customs procedures and regulatory compliance for nearly 12,000 Customs Tariff Items. The portal will provide complete knowledge of all import and export related requirements for all items.

CIP is yet another facilitation tool developed by CBIC to empower our business as well as any interested person with up-to-date information on the legal and procedural requirements of Customs and Partner Government Agencies (FSSAI, AQIS, PQIS, Drug Controller etc.) for carrying out imports and exports. The portal would provide at the click of a button complete knowledge of all import and export related requirements for all items covered under the Customs Tariff thereby improving the ease of doing cross border trade.

Note: Central Board for Indirect Taxes & Customs Chairperson: M. Ajit Kumar; Central Board for Indirect Taxes & Customs Founded: 1 January 1964.

 

5. Zoological Survey of India gets 1st female director in 100 years: The Indian government approved the appointment of DrDhriti Banerjee as the director of the Zoological Survey of India. She is a prolific scientist, conducting research in zoogeography, taxonomy, morphology and molecular systematics. On the occasion of its centenary celebrations in 2016, Banerjee had co-authored the “The Glorious 100 Women’s Scientific Contribution in ZSI”, which chronicled the contributions of women scientists in the domain of animal-related groups.

Zoological Survey of India: Founded in July 1916, the ZSI has its headquarters in Kolkata. It has 16 regional centres under the ministry of environment and forest and climate change. ZSI started hiring women scientists as late as 1949, nearly three decades since its inception.

 

6. Nation observes 79th anniversary of Quit India movement: The 79th anniversary of the August Kranti Din or Quit India Movement, which is considered as one of the important milestones in the history of the freedom struggle of our country, is being observed on 8 August 2021. On 8 Aug 1942, Mahatma Gandhi gave a clarion call to end British rule and launched the Quit India Movement at the session of the All-India Congress Committee in Mumbai. After the failure of Cripps Mission, Gandhiji gave the call to “Do or Die” in his Quit India speech delivered at the Gowalia Tank Maidan in Mumbai. The grateful country is paying homage to the freedom fighters and remembering the supreme sacrifices of the martyrs during the freedom struggle.

 

INTERNATIONALUPDATES:

 

1. India for implementing MoU with Bangladesh in disaster management: India has emphasized the implementation of the recently-signed memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Bangladesh over disaster management, resilience and mitigation on a priority basis. Bangladesh has decided to accept the invitation to join the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI). CDRI is a coalition of national governments, UN agencies, multilateral development banks and the private sector which aims to promote resilience of new and existing infrastructure to climate and disaster risks. In a letter written to Bangladesh Foreign Minister Dr A K Abdul Momen, Foreign Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar urged Bangladesh to implement the recently concluded MoU in the field of disaster management, resilience and mitigation on a priority basis. He expressed the hope that these mechanisms will help the two countries to remain better prepared to face such challenges in the future.

 

OTHER UPDATES:

 

SPORTS

 

1. Neeraj Chopra wins Olympic gold medal in Javelin throw: Neeraj Chopra has won a Gold medal for India in the javelin throw event at Tokyo Olympics. With a throw of 87.03 metres in his first attempt, Neeraj killed the competition. In his second he improved it to 87.58m and that turned out to be the golden throw. Except for ViteszalavVeslay of the Czech Republic who threw 86.67m none of his rivals including world champion Johannas Vetter fell by wayside. This is India’s 7th medal at Tokyo 2020, the best ever medal haul for India at a single edition of the Games. Neeraj Chopra’s Gold is also India’s second-ever individual Gold medal at the Olympics, after AbhinavBindra in Shooting.

 

BANKING AND FINANCE

 

1. RBI announces its bi-monthly monetary policy: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has announced its bi-monthly monetary policy. This is the seventh time in a row that the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) headed by RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das has maintained the status quo. RBI had last revised its policy rate on May 22, 2020, in an off-policy cycle to perk up demand by cutting the interest rate to a historic low.  The meeting was held between August 4 and 6. The remaining will take place in October (6 to 8); December (6 to 8) and February (7 to 9, 2022).The Marginal Standing Facility (MSF) rate and bank rates remain unchanged:

(1) Policy Repo Rate: 4.00%

(2) Reverse Repo Rate: 3.35%

(3) Marginal Standing Facility Rate: 4.25%

(4) Bank Rate: 4.25%

(5) CRR: 4%

(6) SLR: 18.00%

RBI Monetary Policy Highlights & Key Decisions:

(1) RBI keeps the GDP growth forecast for FY22 unchanged at 9.5%.

(2) RBI to conduct two more auctions of ₹25,000 crores each on August 12 and August 26 under the G-sec Acquisition Programme (GSAP).

(3) CPI inflation is projected at 5.7 % during 2021-22 – this consists of 5.9% in Q2, 5.3% in Q3 and 5.8% in Q4 of 2021-22 with risks broadly balanced. CPI inflation for the first quarter of 2022-23 is projected at 5.1%.

The composition of the Monetary Policy Committee is as follows:

(1) Governor of the Reserve Bank of India – Chairperson, ex officio: Shri Shaktikanta Das.

(2) Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank of India, in charge of Monetary Policy– Member, ex officio: Dr Michael Debabrata Patra.

(3) One officer of the Reserve Bank of India to be nominated by the Central Board – Member, ex officio: DrMridul K. Saggar.

(4) A professor at the Mumbai-based Indira Gandhi Institute of Developmental Research: Prof. Ashima Goyal.

(5) A professor of finance at the Indian Institute of Management in Ahmedabad: Prof. Jayanth R Varma.

(6) An agricultural economist and a senior adviser with the National Council of Applied Economic Research in New Delhi: DrShashankaBhide.

 

2. Axis Bank crosses one million customers on WhatsApp banking: Axis Bank has crossed the milestone of over one million customers on its WhatsApp banking channel with a total request count of 6 million till now. Axis Bank had launched banking services on WhatsApp in January 2021 and has since witnessed robust organic growth in its customer base for WhatsApp banking. After signing up for the service, customers can inquire and get details of products across savings account, credit and debit cards, deposits and personal loans. Non-financial service requests can also be initiated, such as locating ATMs or getting updates on third-party deals available on credit and debit cards.

Note: Axis Bank CEO: Amitabh Chaudhry; Axis Bank Headquarters: Mumbai; Axis Bank Founded: 3 December 1993, Ahmedabad.

 

AWARDS AND HONOURS

 

1. West Bengal receives four SKOCH awards: The government of West Bengal has received four SKOCH awards for its schemes under the Ease of Doing Business initiative. The State scheme ‘Silpasathi’-the online single window portal won the platinum award while the Auto-Renewal of Certificate of Enlistment through the online system for urban areas has received the gold award. Online issuance of trade licences in rural areas and the E-Nathikaran: the online system for registration, preparation and submission of deeds have won two silver awards. The state government will ensure that the ease of doing business in West Bengal continues to be one of the foremost in the country.

Note: Chief Minister of West Bengal: Mamata Banerjee; Governor: JagdeepDhankhar.

 

OBITUARIES

 

1. Olympian footballer S.S. ‘Babu’ Nayaran passes away: Two-times Olympian Shankar Subramaniam, alias “Babu” Nayaran passed away. He was India’s goalkeeper during the 1956 and 1960 Olympics. Besides representing Maharashtra in football and basketball, Narayan emerged as one of the most reliable goalkeepers in India. His decade-long career for the national team also included the stellar effort of India finishing fourth in the 1956 Olympics and representing India in the 1964 Asian Games. Subramaniam was born in Palakkad district in Kerala, Narayan was a star in Mumbai’s local circuit during his appearances for Matunga Students, Matunga Gymkhana, Caltex and Tata Sports Club. He was part of Maharashtra’s Santosh Trophy-winning campaign in 1964.