Daily GK Update- 6th Sep, 2021

 

NATIONAL UPDATES:

 

1. IMF increases India’s quota of Special Drawing Rights (SDR): The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has made an allocation of Special Drawing Rights (SDR) 12.57 billion to India. (approx USD 17.86 billion). With this, the total SDR holding of India has gone upto SDR 13.66 billion (equivalent to around USD 19.41 billion). SDR is one of the components of the Foreign Exchange Reserves (FER) of India. Hence the Foreign Exchange Reserves (FER) has also increased now. IMF has allocated a total of SDR 456 billion to all its member countries out of which India has got SDR 12.57.

Note: IMF Headquarters: Washington, D.C. U.S; IMF Managing Director and Chairman: Kristalina Georgieva; IMF Chief Economist: Gita Gopinath.

 

2. Ladakh announces snow leopard as state animal, black-necked crane as state bird: The Union Territory of Ladakh has declared snow leopard (Panther unica) as the new state animal and black-necked crane (Grus nicricollis) as the new state bird. The notification in this regard was released by Shri Radha Krishna Mathur, Lieutenant Governor of Union Territory of Ladakh on August 31, 2021. The decision was taken keeping in view bifurcation of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh into separate administrative divisions in 2019. In the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir, the black-necked crane and Kashmir stag (Hangul) were the state bird and animal respectively.

 

3. J&K LG Manoj Sinha inaugurates ‘Saath’ initiative for women: In Jammu and Kashmir, Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha has launched a Rural Enterprises Acceleration Programme titled ‘Saath’ for Self Help Group (SHG) women. The programme aims to transform the lives of women and make them independent and strong in social and financial aspects, by mentoring the women associated with SHGs and create market linkages of products created by these women. Jammu and Kashmir already has 48000 SHGs, with around four lakh women connected to these SHGs. The J&K administration further aims to create 11000 more SHGs in the coming year. This will transform the lives of these women and make them independent and strong in social and financial aspects.

Aim of the programme: Saath is aimed at accelerating the livelihoods of rural women, associated with SHGs and which are doing small works. There is not much profit in their work and there is a lack of knowledge about marketing, packaging and branding. This initiative aims to teach women such skills and convert their businesses into Higher Order Enterprises.

 

4. NMCG partners SAIARD for ‘Capacity Building on Integrated River Basin Management with a focus on Geospatial Technology in Riverine Ecosystem’: The National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) and South Asian Institute for Advanced Research and Development (SAIARD) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to create an academic platform for young students and develop a research and capacity building hub to support regional development in the eastern region. Under this MoU, NMCG and SAIARD will work together to create and enhance capacity building on integrated river basin management, with a focus on geospatial technology in riverine ecosystems. Additionally, SIAIRD will also be considered as the regional capacity building center for NMCG in the eastern region.

 

5. PPK Ramacharyulu appointed Rajya Sabha secretary general: Rajya Sabha Chairman, M Venkaiah Naidu has appointed Dr PPK Ramacharyulu, who is the secretary in the Rajya Sabha Secretariat since 2018, as the secretary general. He succeeds Desh Dipak Verma, who demitted office as secretary-general after serving the top post for four years. Ramacharyulu is the first insider to have risen from the ranks of the secretariat to the top post in the about 70 years of the Rajya Sabha.

About the Dr PPK Ramacharyulu: Ramacharyulu joined the Rajya Sabha Secretariat in 1983 after serving in the Lok Sabha Secretariat for a year. Ramacharyulu had served as special secretary, Andhra Pradesh Legislature. Ramacharyulu has about 40 years of experience of handling various aspects of the functioning of Parliament.

Note: Rajya Sabha Chairperson: M. Venkaiah Naidu; Rajya Sabha Founded: 3 April 1952; Rajya Sabha Term limits: 6 years.

 

INTERNATIONALUPDATES:

 

1. India to host conference on International Climate Summit 2020-21: India is all set to host a key conference as part of the International Climate Summit (ICS) 2020-21 to build a dialogue for India’s transition to clean energy. Policymakers, regulators, industry leaders, experts, and scientists from across the globe are going to be a part of the climate summit. Director of CSIR, National Chemical Laboratory, Dr Ashish Lele has underlined the importance of the conference for the future mitigation strategies of climate change. The need to adopt these strategies and the problems arose due to dependence on conventional fuels.

 

2. Canadian City Burnaby to Observe September 5 As Gauri Lankesh Day: The Canadian city of Burnaby has declared September 5 as “Gauri Lankesh Day”, as a tribute to the dead journalist on her death anniversary, her sister Kavitha Lankesh. The proclamation issued by the office of the Mayor of Burnaby Mike Hurley said Gauri Lankesh was a courageous Indian journalist who stood up for truth and justice, challenged superstition and social ills, and dedicated her life to serving the poor and oppressed. Gauri Lankesh, a left-leaning journalist who brought out a magazine “Gauri Lankesh Patrike”, was shot dead by two assailants on September 5, 2017 evening just outside her house in Bengaluru allegedly for her anti-Hindutva stand.

 

3. University of Oxford tops Times World University Rankings 2022: The Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings 2022 has been announced. The University of Oxford is at the top of the list, followed by the California Institute of Technology and Harvard University at the second and third positions, respectively. The Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru, is placed between the 301-350 position. Incidentally, it is also the only university in the top 350 rankings. The Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2022 includes record 1,662 universities from 99 countries and territories. The ranking is based on 13 balanced performance indicators.

Three Indian educational institutes have found a place in the top 400 list:

IISc Bangalore – 301-350 bracket

Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Ropar – 351-400 bracket.

IIT Indore – 401-500 bracket.

Top Five Universities in the world:

University of Oxford, UK

California Institute of Technology, US

Harvard University, US

Stanford University, US

University of Cambridge, UK

 

OTHER UPDATES:

 

SPORTS

 

1. Shuttler Pramod Bhagat wins India’s 4th GOLD, Manoj Sarkar claims bronze at Tokyo Paralympics 2020: Indian shuttler Pramod Bhagat created history as he won a Gold medal in the men’s singles badminton SL3 final match at the ongoing Tokyo Paralympics on September 04, 2021. He defeated Daniel Bethell of Great Britain, 2-0. Badminton has been introduced for the first time in Paralympics this year. The 33-year-old Pramod Bhagat, from Bhubaneswar, has now become the first athlete from India to win gold in Badminton in the Paralympics or Olympics. Meanwhile, Indian player Manoj Sarkar has won the bronze in the same event.

 

2. Krishna Nagar Wins Gold, Suhas L Yathiraj wins silver in Badminton at Tokyo Paralympics: Krishna Nagar of India defeated Hong Kong’s Chu Man Kai in the final of the men’s singles badminton in (SH6) category. This is India’s fifth gold medal at the Tokyo Paralympic Games. Apart from this, India’s para-shuttler Suhas L Yathiraj, won a silver medal in the men’s singles SL4 category (badminton) of the Tokyo Paralympics. He lost to Lucas Mazur (France) 21-15, 17-21, 15-21 in the final.  Suhas L Yathiraj is the district magistrate of Gautam Buddh Nagar in Uttar Pradesh. He is now the first-ever IAS officer to win a medal at the Paralympics.

 

BANKING AND FINANCE

 

1. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman chairs 24th meeting of FSDC: Union Minister for Finance & Corporate Affairs Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman has chaired the 24th meeting of the Financial Stability and Development Council (FSDC). Finance Minister is the chairperson of FSDC. It must be noted that FSDC Sub-Committee is chaired by the Governor, RBI.

About the Financial Stability and Development Council (FSDC):

(1) Financial Stability and Development Council (FSDC) is the apex level forum set up by the Government of India for strengthening and institutionalizing the mechanism for maintaining financial stability, enhancing inter-regulatory coordination and promoting financial sector development.

(2) The Council also, inter alia, discussed issues relating to the management of stressed assets, strengthening institutional mechanism for financial stability analysis, financial inclusion, the framework for resolution of financial institutions and issues related to IBC processes, banks’ exposure to various sectors and Government, data sharing mechanisms of government authorities, internationalisation of Indian Rupee and pension sector related issues.

 

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY

 

1. HDFC Life to acquire Exide Life Insurance for ₹6,687 crore: HDFC Life has announced to acquire a 100 per cent stake in Exide Life Insurance Company in a stock and cash deal, for Rs 6,887 crore. Subsequently, Exide Life will be merged with HDFC Life, subject to regulatory approvals. Exide Life is a wholly-owned subsidiary of battery maker Exide Industries. This acquisition will mark one of the first and the largest acquisitions in the life insurance space. About the deal:

(1) From the total deal value of Rs 6,887 crore, HDFC Life will pay Rs 725 crore in cash, while the balance amount will be in form of shares.

(2) HDFC Life will issue 87.02 million equity shares of the face value of Rs 10 at a price of Rs 685 per share to Exide Industries Limited.

(3) Post the acquisition, Exide Industries will hold a 4.1 per cent stake in merged HDFC Life and mortgage lender HDFC Ltd will hold 47.9 per cent. Currently, HDFC Ltd. holds a 49.9 per cent stake in HDFC Life.

Note: HDFC Life Headquarters: Mumbai; HDFC Life CEO: Vibha Padalkar; HDFC Life Founded: 2000.

 

DEFENCE

 

1. Gujarat to host Defence Expo 2022: The next Defence Expo will be hosted by Gujarat in 2022. This was announced by chief minister Vijay Rupani. The Memorandum of Understanding has been signed between the Department of Defence Production and the Gujarat Government in this regard. About 100 countries are expected to participate in this biannual event.

About the Defence Expo-2022: Defence Expo-2022 will be held in Gandhinagar from 10th to 13th March next year. The aim of Defense Expo 2022 is to move from Make in India to make for the world. The Defence Expo-2022 will focus on making India a Defence manufacturing hub.

 

2. 28th Singapore-India Maritime Bilateral Exercise ‘SIMBEX-2021’: The 28th edition of the Singapore-India Maritime Bilateral Exercise (SIMBEX) took place from September 02 to 04, 2021. The SIMBEX-2021 annual bilateral maritime exercise was hosted by the Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN) in the southern fringes of the South China Sea.

About the SIMBEX-2021:

(1) The Indian Navy was represented by Guided Missile Destroyer INS Ranvijay with a shipborne helicopter, ASW Corvette INS Kiltan and Guided Missile Corvette INS Kora and one P8I Long Range Maritime Patrol Aircraft.

(2) The exercise aimed to strengthen the bilateral defence ties between both countries. This year’s edition of SIMBEX is also a special occasion as it takes place during the ongoing celebrations of the 75th year of India’s independence.

(3) The success of SIMBEX-2021 is yet another demonstration of the mutual resolve on both sides to strengthen the bilateral partnership further in the years ahead.