Daily GK Update- 3rd Oct, 2021

 

NATIONAL UPDATES:

 

1. IFSCA Constitutes an Expert panel on Sustainable Finance: International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA) has constituted an Expert Committee to recommend an approach towards the development of the Sustainable Finance Hub at IFSC. The expert committee will be chaired by C.K. Mishra, Former Secretary to Government of India, Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change. The committee consists of a total of 10 members including the chairperson and the member secretary.

About the expert committee: The committee shall study the current regulatory practices in Sustainable Finance across major International financial jurisdictions and recommend a robust framework to develop a world-class sustainable finance hub at IFSC, along with a road map for the same.

About IFSCA: IFSCA was established by the Ministry of Finance on April 27 2020, as a unified regulator of all financial products, financial services, and financial institutions in the International Financial Services Centres (IFSCs) in India. It has its headquarter at GIFT city in Gandhinagar, Gujarat.

 

2. Amazon India launched its Global Computer Science Education programme: E-commerce major Amazon India has announced the launch of Amazon Future Engineer, its global computer science education programme in India. The programme will enable access to quality computer science education and career opportunities for students from underrepresented and underserved communities. In the first year of its launch, Amazon aims to enable and deliver learning opportunities to more than 1 lakh students from 900 government and aided schools across seven states in India. About the programme:

(1) Amazon Future Engineer aims to address the gap by bringing early exposure and access to computer science education to students through in-person, online and blended learning formats.

(2) Amazon is working with its global knowledge partner Code.org, a global non-profit organization dedicated to computer science education.

(3) Amazon Future Engineer programme in India will focus on the students of 6-12 class and it will also provide training to teachers for teaching computer science in a more engaging way.

(4) Amazon is running this kind of programme in the US, the UK, Canada, and France.

Note: Amazon CEO: Andrew R. Jassy; Amazon Founded: 5 July 1994.

 

3. Mukesh Ambani tops Hurun India Rich List 2021: Reliance Industries Chairman, Mukesh Ambani has topped the IIFL Wealth Hurun India Rich List for the 10th consecutive year. In 2021, his total net worth was recorded at Rs 7,18,000 crore. Meanwhile, Adani Group Chairman Gautam Adani is in the second spot with a net worth of Rs. 5,05,900 crore. Shiv Nadar & the family of HCL technologies are third in the list with a net worth of Rs 2,36,600 crore.

About the Hurun India Rich List 2021: The Hurun India Rich list 2021 has named the richest individuals in the country with a wealth of Rs 1,000 crore or more as on September 15, 2021. The Hurun India Rich List 2021, features as many as 1,007 individuals across 119 cities with a net worth of Rs 1,000 crore. As per the report, India has 237 billionaires, up 58 compared to last year.

Other Richest Indians In The Top 10:

Name	Rank
SP Hinduja & family	4th
LN Mittal & family	5th
Cyrus S Poonawalla of Serum Institute of India	6th
Radhakishan Damani of Avenue Supermarts	7th
Vinod Shantilal Adani & family	8th
Kumar Mangalam Birla & the family of Aditya Birla Group	9th
Jay Chaudhry of cloud security company Zscaler	10th

 

4. Sunil Kataria elected as the chairman of the ISA: The newly elected Executive Council of the Indian Society of Advertisers (ISA) has elected Sunil Kataria, Chief Executive Officer, India and SAARC, Godrej Consumer Products Limited as the Chairman of the ISA. Sunil has led the Society over the past five years to greater heights garnering support from the fellow Executive Council members, the ISA members and other industry bodies.

About the ISA: ISA is the apex national body as a strong voice to advertisers over the last 69 years. Its cross-sector advertiser members contribute to more than half of the annual national non-governmental ad spends. ISA, which is a founder member of the World Federation of Advertisers (WFA) and one of the founders of ASCI, continues to partner with other industry bodies that connect to the advertisers. The ISA played a significant role in the formation of BARC and is closely partnering with it towards advertisers getting robust and credible data.

 

5. Chronicles from the Land of the Happiest People on Earth by Wole Soyinka released: A novel titled “Chronicles from the Land of the Happiest People on Earth” authored by Wole Soyinka has been released. Wole Soyinka is Africa’s first Nobel laureate in Literature. He wrote his last novel ”Season of Anomy” in 1973. He returns with a new novel after nearly 50 years. His notable plays include ”The Jero Plays”, ”The Road”, ”The Lion and the Jewel”, ”Madmen and Specialists” and ”From Zia, With Love”.

 

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

 

1. Najla Bouden Romdhane appointed as first woman PM of Tunisia: Najla Bouden Romdhane has been appointed as the first-ever female Prime Minister of Tunisia. The 63-year-old has also become the first female prime minister in the whole Arab world. Prior to this appointment, Najla served in the education ministry in 2011. She is a geologist by profession and professor at the Tunis National School of Engineering.

Note: President of Tunisia: Kais Saied; Capital of Tunisia: Tunis; The currency of Tunisia: Tunisian Dinar.

 

OTHER UPDATES:

 

SPORTS

 

1. Professional boxer Manny Pacquiao announces retirement from boxing: After 26 years and 72 professional bouts, Former world champion Manny Pacquiao announced his retirement from professional boxing. He made his professional debut in 1995 at age 16. He became the first boxer to win the lineal championship in five different weight classes and is the only boxer to hold world championships across four different decades. He held the welterweight title as recently as 2019 at age 40.

 

2. India women team played their first-ever pink-ball test: The first pink-ball day and night Test match between India and Australian women team at the Carrara Oval in Queenslandon, Australia on 30th September. The BCCI and Cricket Australia wish to slot in a Test in the full series they play going forward. The Indian team lead by Mithali Raj. Australia played the first pink-ball Test against England in 2017 in Sydney during the women’s Ashes.  The two teams last played a Test in Adelaide in 2006 when Australia won convincingly. Jhulan Goswami is one of two survivors from that Test along with Mithali Raj.

 

BANKING AND FINANCE

 

1. Paytm acquires 100% ownership of lending startup CreditMate: Online payment services provider, Paytm has acquired a 100% stake in Mumbai-based digital lending startup CreditMate. However, the transaction details of the deal have not been disclosed. The Paytm Group will now be the 100% beneficial owners of the business, while the co-founders of CreditMate will exit the business.

About the CreditMate: CreditMate was founded in 2019 by Jonathan Bill, Ashish Doshi, Swati Lad and Aditya Singh as a collection platform that helps lenders collect overdue payments from borrowers.

Note: Paytm HQ: Noida, Uttar Pradesh; Paytm Founder & CEO: Vijay Shekhar Sharma; Paytm Founded: 2009.

 

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY

 

1. NSDL appointed Padmaja Chunduru as MD & CEO: Padmaja Chunduru has been appointed as the managing director and chief executive officer (MD & CEO) of National Securities Depositories (NSDL). She has replaced GV Nageswara Rao as the MD & CEO of NSDL. In India, there are two depositories namely National Securities Depositories Ltd (NSDL) and Central Securities Depositories Ltd (CDSL). Both the depositories hold our financial securities.

 

AWARDS AND HONOURS

 

1. Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2021 announced: The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2021 was awarded jointly to David Julius and Ardem Patapoutian “for their discoveries of receptors for temperature and touch.” These breakthrough discoveries launched intense research activities leading to a rapid increase in our understanding of how our nervous system senses heat, cold, and mechanical stimuli. The laureates identified critical missing links in our understanding of the complex interplay between our senses and the environment. The announcement was made by a panel at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm.

About the David Julius: David Julius of the University of California utilised capsaicin, a pungent compound from chili peppers that induces a burning sensation, to identify a sensor in the nerve endings of the skin that responds to heat.

About the Ardem Patapoutian: Ardem Patapoutian, who is with Howard Hughes Medical Institute at Scripps Research, used pressure-sensitive cells to discover a novel class of sensors that respond to mechanical stimuli in the skin and internal organs.

The Nobel Prize: The prestigious award comes with a gold medal and 10 million Swedish kronor (over $1.14 million). The prize money comes from a bequest left by the prize’s creator, Swedish inventor Alfred Nobel, who died in 1895. The other prizes are for outstanding work in the fields of physics, chemistry, literature, peace and economics.

 

OBITUARIES

 

1. Ghanshyam Nayak of Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah passes away: Veteran television actor Ghanashyam Nayak, who was famous for his role as Nattu Kaka in the TV series Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah has passed away due to cancer. He was known for playing the role of Natwarlal Prabhashankar Undhaiwala AKA Nattu Kaka in the famous show Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah. Apart from this, he has worked in over 100 Gujarati and Hindi films and around 350 Hindi television serials.