Daily GK Update- 7th Sep, 2021

 

NATIONAL UPDATES:

 

1. India becomes first Asian nation to launch ‘Plastics Pact’: India has become the first country in Asia to launch a Plastics Pact, a new platform to promote a circular system for plastics. The India Plastic Pact platform was launched on September 03, 2021, by the British High Commissioner to India, Alexander Ellis, at the 16th Sustainability Summit hosted by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). About the ‘India Plastic Pact’:

(1) The new platform ‘India Plastic Pact’ is a joint effort of the World-Wide Fund for Nature-India (WWF India) and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), and envisions to create a world where plastic is valued and does not pollute the environment.

(2) The Pact targets the businesses to transition towards a circular economy for plastics by 2030.

(3) The initiative is supported by UK Research & Innovation (UKRI) and WRAP, a global NGO based in the UK, and endorsed by the British High Commission in India.

 

2. GoI launches AYUSH AAPKE DWAR campaign to distribute medicinal saplings: As a part of the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav celebration, the Ministry of AYUSH has launched a campaign titled ‘AYUSH AAPKE DWAR’, which aims to distribute medicinal plant saplings to 75 lakh households in one year. The campaign was inaugurated by the Union Minister of AYUSH Sarbananda Sonowal from Mumbai, during which he distributed medicinal plant saplings to citizens. Subsequently, the campaign was launched from more than 45 locations across the country. The medicinal plants being distributed include Tejpatta, Stevia, Ashoka, Giloy, Ashwagandha, Lemongrass, Tulsi, Sarpagandha and Amla. Under this campaign, it is proposed to undertake the cultivation of medicinal plants across 75,000 hectares in one year.

 

3. Maharashtra to set up science city named after Rajiv Gandhi in Pune: The Maharashtra Government has decided to set up a world-class science city at Pimpri-Chinchwad near Pune to develop a scientific outlook among the students and prepare them to become students in future. To be named as ‘Bharat Ratna Rajiv Gandhi Science Innovation City’, a science Centre will be developed on one acre area in an eight-acre complex in the PCMC area. The Centre has granted an assistance of Rs 191 crore to build the Science city in the PCMC area.

Note: Maharashtra Governor: Bhagat Singh Koshyari; Maharashtra Capital: Mumbai; Maharashtra CM: Uddhav Thackeray.

 

4. Vartika Shukla becomes first woman CMD of Engineers India Ltd: Vartika Shukla took charge as the first woman Chairperson and Managing Director of public sector enterprise Engineers India Ltd. She spearheaded the company’s innovative energy programmes, including biofuels, coal gasification, waste to fuel and hydrogen energy, among others.

Note: Engineers India Ltd Founded: 1965.

 

5. A book title “A Rude Life: The Memoir” by Vir Sanghvi: Vir Sanghvi, one of India’s most recognised journalists, has come out with a memoir titled A Rude Life. ‘A Rude Life: The Memoir’ has been published by Penguin Random House. Through this book, the author has shared his views and experience of the most eventful careers in Indian journalism, including his personal life, stories of and about celebrities and politicians, middlemen and behind-the-scene actors. Vir Sanghvi is an Indian print and television journalist, author, columnist and talk show host, who worked with Hindustan Times from 1999 to 2007, after which he continued at the paper as a columnist.

 

INTERNATIONALUPDATES:

 

1. India and US inks Project Agreement for Air-Launched Unmanned Aerial Vehicle: The Ministry of Defence, the Government of India and US Department of Defence have signed a Project Agreement (PA) for Air-Launched Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (ALUAV). This agreement is signed under the Joint Working Group Air Systems in the Defence Technology and Trade Initiative (DTTI).  The PA for ALUAV is part of the Research, Development, Testing and Evaluation (RDT&E) Memorandum of Agreement, which was first signed between the Ministry of Defence and the US Department of Defence, in January 2006 and renewed in January 2015. The RDT&E aims at deepening defence technology collaboration between the two nations through the co-development of defence equipment.

About the agreement: Under the collaboration, the two countries will work towards the design, development, demonstration, testing and evaluation of systems to co-develop an ALUAV Prototype. The DTTI aims to bring sustained leadership focus to promote collaborative technology exchange and create opportunities for co-production and co-development of future technologies for Indian and US military forces.

 

2. India becomes 3rd largest Unicorn ecosystem in the world: Hurun Research Institute has released the Hurun India Future Unicorn List 2021, as per which India is the third-largest Unicorn/startup ecosystem in the world. The USA is on top followed by China on second. India has 51 unicorns according to the list. The USA has 396 and China has 277 unicorns.

Zilingo is the top unicorn in the ranking in India with funding of USD 310. The headquarters of Zilingo is in Singapore. Bengaluru is the top Indian city in terms of the number of Unicorns headquartered in a city. Bengaluru has 31 unicorns followed by Mumbai which has 12 unicorns.

 

3. Know Your Rights and Claim Them: A Guide for Youth by Angelina Jolie: Hollywood actress Angelina Jolie has recently announced her upcoming book, titled “Know Your Rights and Claim Them: A Guide for Youth”. The book has been written jointly by Angelina Jolie, Amnesty International and human rights lawyer Geraldine Van Bueren QC.

About the book: This book will be helpful to young people and children from around the world in making them aware of their rights and how to claim these rights decided years ago based on what would make them healthy, balanced, safe and stable adults.

 

OTHER UPDATES:

 

SPORTS

 

1. Tokyo Paralympics 2020: India finishes 24th with record 19 medals: India finished their campaign at the Tokyo Paralympics 2020 with an all-time high of 19 medals which includes five gold, eight silver, and six bronze. This is the best medal tally for India a single edition of the Paralympic Games. India is placed at 24th position in the overall medal tally out of a total of 162 nations.

Important takeaways from Tokyo Paralympics:

(1) Tokyo Paralympics was the 16th Summer Paralympic Games, held in Tokyo, Japan from August 24, to September 05, 2021.

(2) Badminton and Taekwondo were inducted for the first time in Tokyo Paralympics.

(3) Team China topped the final medal tally at Tokyo Paralympic Games. The country won a total of 207 medals (96 golds, 60 silvers and 51 bronzes). United Kingdom (124) gets the second position followed by the USA (104).

Indian Flag Bearers: Javelin thrower Tek Chand was the flag bearer at the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Paralympics. Shooter Avani Lekhara was India’s flag-bearer at the closing ceremony.

India at Paralympics 2020: India sent its biggest ever contingent of 54 para-athletes at Tokyo Paralympics to compete across as many as 9 sporting disciplines at the Games. Prior to this, India had won a total of 12 Paralympics medals, since making its first appearance at the Paralympics in 1968, till the 2016 Rio.

List of Indian medallists winners of Tokyo Paralympics 2020:

Gold

(1) Athletics: Sumit Antil (Men’s Javelin Throw)

(2) Badminton: Pramod Bhagat (Men’s Singles)

(3) Badminton: Krishna Nagar (Men’s Singles)

(4) Shooting: Manish Narwal (Mixed 50m Pistol)

(5) Shooting: Avani Lekhara (Women’s 10m Air Rifle Standing)

Silver

(1) Athletics: Yogesh Kathuniya (Men’s Discus Throw)

(2) Athletics: Nishad Kumar (Men’s High Jump)

(3) Athletics: Mariyappan Thangavelu (Men’s High Jump)

(4) Athletics: Praveen Kumar (Men’s High Jump)

(5) Athletics: Devendra Jhajharia (Men’s Javelin Throw)

(6) Badminton: Suhas Yathiraj (Men’s Singles)

(7) Shooting: Singhraj Adhana (Mixed 50m Pistol)

(8) Table Tennis: Bhavina Patel (Women’s Singles)

Bronze

(1) Archery: Harvinder Singh (Men’s Individual Recurve)

(2) Athletics: Sharad Kumar (Men’s High Jump)

(3) Athletics: Sundar Singh Gurjar (Men’s Javelin Throw)

(4) Badminton: Manoj Sarkar (Men’s Singles)

(5) Shooting: Singhraj Adhana (Men’s 10m Air Pistol)

(6) Shooting: Avani Lekhara (Women’s 50m Rifle 3 Positions)

 

BANKING AND FINANCE

 

1. PhonePe launches digital payment interactive geospatial platform “Pulse platform”: PhonePe has launched a platform named PhonePe Pulse. Pulse is India’s first interactive platform with data insights and trends on digital payments. The platform shows more than 2000 crore digital transactions by customers on an interactive map of India. PhonePe also launched the Pulse Report, an in-depth study on the evolution of digital payments over the past 5 years. The report also has insights about how digital payment adoption across India has evolved since 2016 and includes detailed geographical and category-specific trends.

About the PhonePe Pulse:

(1) The insights on the website and in the report have been drawn from two key sources – the entirety of PhonePe’s transaction data combined with merchant and customer interviews.

(2) The report is available as a free download on the PhonePe Pulse website. This new product is relevant to multiple ecosystem stakeholders including the government, policymakers, regulatory bodies, media, industry analysts, merchant partners, startups, academic institutions and students.

(3) The rich data set along with insightful trends and stories can be used by these partners to understand consumer and merchant behaviour and identify new opportunities for growth.

Note: CEO of Phonepe: Sameer Nigam; Headquarters location of Phonepe: Bengaluru, Karnataka.

 

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY

 

1. LIC buys 3.9% stake in Bank of India via open market acquisition: Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) has bought 3.9 per cent (15,90,07,791 shares) of the Bank of India through open market acquisition. Before this acquisition, LIC held about 3.17 per cent stake in the Bank of India. After this acquisition, LIC now has 7.05 per cent, equivalent to 28,92,87,324 shares of Bank of India. This information was shared by the Bank of India to SEBI. As per SEBI guidelines, companies have to inform the stock exchanges when an entity holds more than 5 per cent shares in a listed company.

Note: LIC Headquarters: Mumbai; LIC Founded: 1 September 1956; LIC Chairman: M R Kumar.

 

AWARDS AND HONOURS

 

1.  & Toubro and Powergrid Wins the Prestigious ATD 2021 BEST Award: Larsen & Toubro Technology Services has been awarded with the “Association for Talent Development (ATD) 2021 BEST Award”, securing the first rank from 71 organisations globally. Apart from this, Power Grid Corporation of India Limited (POWERGRID), a Maharatna CPSU under Ministry of Power, Government of India has also won the 2021 BEST Award, placed at 8th position. These are the only two companies from India in Top 20 of 2021 BEST Award. The Association for Talent Development (ATD) has honored 71 organizations from around the globe with 2021 BEST Awards.

 

OBITUARIES

 

1. Former IOC President Jacques Rogge passes away: Former President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Jacques Rogge has passed away. He had spent 12 years as president of IOC, from 2001 to 2013, overseeing three summer Games and three winter Games, as well as creating the Youth Olympics. He was then succeeded by Thomas Bach. He was the 8th President of IOC.