Daily GK Update- 17th Nov, 2021

 

NATIONAL UPDATES:

 

1. PM Modi inaugurates Purvanchal Expressway: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has inaugurated the 341-km long Purvanchal Express in Sultanpur district, Uttar Pradesh. The expressway links state capital Lucknow with Ghazipur and has been constructed at an estimated cost of Rs 22,500 crore. PM Modi landed on the Purvanchal Expressway airstrip in a military transport aircraft. The key feature of the Expressway is the 3.2 km long airstrip to enable landing and take-off of Indian Air Force fighter planes in case of emergency.

About the Purvanchal Expressway:

(1) The Purvanchal Expressway starts from village Chaudsarai in the Lucknow district and ends at Haidaria village on National Highway number 31, 18 kilometres east of the Uttar Pradesh-Bihar border.

(2) The expressway is 6-lane wide which can be expanded to 8-lane in the future.

(3) This expressway is set to give a boost to the economic development of the eastern part of Uttar Pradesh especially the districts of Lucknow, Barabanki, Amethi, Ayodhya, Sultanpur, Ambedkar Nagar, Azamgarh, Mau and Ghazipur.

 

2. Arunachal’s approved “Kaiser-i-Hind” as state butterfly: State Cabinet of Arunachal Pradesh, headed by Chief Minister Pema Khandu, approved “Kaiser-i-Hind” as the state butterfly. Kaiser-i-Hind is scientifically known as Teinopalpus imperialis. In literal terms, it means Emperor of India. The butterfly is having a wingspan of 90-120 mm. It is found across six States along Eastern Himalayas at elevations from 6,000-10,000 feet in a well-wooded terrain. The Kaiser-i-Hind is protected under Schedule II of Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. Despite that, they are hunted for the supply to butterfly collectors. International Union for Conservation of Nature has red-listed the Kaiser-i-Hind. Key facts:

(1) Kaiser-i-Hind’ is a large and brightly coloured butterfly.

(2) It is an elusive swallowtail butterfly, which carries ‘India’ in its name.

(3) They also flutter in Bhutan, Nepal, Laos, Myanmar, southern China and Vietnam.

Note: Arunachal pradesh CM: Pema Khandu; Arunachal Pradesh Governor: B. D. Mishra.

 

3. India inks USD 61 mn loan pact with ADB for development projects in Agartala: The Government of India and Asian Development Bank (ADB) have signed a $61 million loan (approx Rs 454 crore) to fund development projects in Agartala, Tripura. The fund will be used for the project which aims to upgrade urban infrastructure services and improve livability in Agartala with the provision of better road connectivity, flood resilient measures and making tourist places more attractive.

 

4. Gujarat government launches Niramay Yojana: The Gujarat government launched ‘Niramay Gujarat Yojana’ to screen and protect people above 30 years from non-communicable diseases. The scheme includes the screening of those above 30 years of age against such diseases at primary health centres and community health centres every Friday — also known as Mamta Divas. They will be given a Niramay Card with their health details. The screening and facilities of treatment would save a family’s expenses by Rs 12,000 to 15,000.

 

5. Rahul Dravid named as brand ambassador of kids footwear brand Plaeto: Children’s footwear brand Plaeto has announced the appointment of celebrated Indian cricketer Rahul Dravid as its brand ambassador and mentor. Plaeto is India’s first D2C foot-health focused footwear brand designed specifically for Indian children. Plaeto was founded in March 2020 by Ravi Kallayil, Sara Kilgore and Pavan Kareti. The brand has announced the partnership along with a campaign featuring Dravid. The campaign has been developed by Bangalore-based People Design and Communication, in partnership with team Plaeto. The video campaign will be promoted across the brand’s social media channels and will go live on 14 November.

 

6. National Epilepsy Day: 17th November: In India, November 17 is observed every year as National Epilepsy Day by the Epilepsy Foundation, to create awareness about epilepsy. Epilepsy is a chronic disorder of the brain characterized by recurrent ‘seizures’ or ‘fits’. The month of November is observed as ‘National Epilepsy Awareness Month’.

Epilepsy: Epilepsy is a varied set of persistent neurological disarray and causes sudden seizures and fits. The seizures of epilepsy result due to the unusual and extreme activities in the brain and the seizures also result from hypersynchronous neuronal brain activity.

History Epilepsy Foundation of India: The National Epilepsy Day is a national level campaign initiated by the Epilepsy Foundation of India to reduce the prevalence of Epilepsy in India. The Epilepsy Foundation of India in Mumbai, Maharashtra was established by Dr Nirmal Surya in 2009. Epilepsy Foundation of India is a non-profitable charitable organisation to help people with seizures to have a fulfilling life and to change their view about epilepsy in society.

 

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

 

1. World Bank and Asian Development Bank launches ‘WePOWER India Partnership Forum’ to increase workforce participation of women in energy sector: The WePOWER India Partnership Forum, held through a virtual platform launched the efforts to scale up the South Asia Women in Power Sector Professional Network (WePOWER) in India. This important initiative was attended by 168 key energy sector stakeholders. The event was organized by the World Bank and Asian Development Bank in association with the India Smart Grid Forum (ISGF).

India is significantly investing in clean energy, grid modernization, and digitalisation of its utilities. Consequently, job profiles in the Indian energy sector are evolving with more emphasis on Information and Communications Technology (ICT) and renewable energy solutions. There is a growing demand for skilled human resources to fill these new green jobs. Women can help to fill this skills gap required for the energy transition. However, the participation of women in the energy sector remains very low. To address this, the energy sector must attract, develop and retain talented women professionals.

 

2. World COPD Day 2021: 17th November: World COPD Day is observed on the third Wednesday of November every year to raise awareness about chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and improve COPD care throughout the world. The World COPD Day 2021 falls on November 17, 2021. The 2021 theme is Healthy Lungs – Never More Important.

History of the day: The day is organized by the Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) in collaboration with health care professionals and COPD patient groups throughout the world. The first World COPD Day was held in 2002. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is a lung disease that blocks airflow and makes it difficult to breathe.

 

OTHER UPDATES:

 

SPORTS

 

1. Alexander Zverev beats Frances Tiafoe to win fifth ATP title in 2021: Alexander Zverev won his fifth ATP title of the season and 18th overall by defeating American qualifier Frances Tiafoe 7-5, 6-4 at the Erste Bank Open. The fourth-ranked German improved to 5-0 in finals this season, becoming the second player after Norwegian Casper Ruud with a tour-leading five tournament wins in 2021.

 

2. Erik Kynard becomes 2012 Olympic high jump gold medalist in 2021: American Erik Kynard was upgraded to a 2012 Olympic high jump gold medal after original gold medalist Ivan Ukhov of Russia was previously stripped for doping, the IOC announced. Kynard’s leap of 2.33 meters placed second behind Ivan Ukhov, who was proven years later to have taken part in the Russian state-backed steroid doping program. Ukhov was banned for four years in 2019 at the Court of Arbitration for Sport. He went back to the same court last year for an appeal hearing but failed to overturn the ruling.

 

BANKING AND FINANCE

 

1. RBI introduces Internal Ombudsman mechanism for select NBFCs: The Reserve Bank of India has announced to introduce the Internal Ombudsman mechanism for the following two types of Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs). These two types of NBFCs are Deposit-taking NBFCs (NBFCs-D) with 10 or more branches and Non-Deposit taking NBFCs (NBFCs-ND) with asset size of Rs.5,000 crore and above having public customer interface.

Consequently, these two categories of NBFCs will have to appoint Internal Ombudsman (IO). The internal Ombudsman will be responsible for handling the public grievance at the entity level before the grievance is escalated to Ombudsman at RBI. RBI has given a timeline of six months to the NBFCs for the appointment of the Internal Ombudsman.

Note: RBI Founded: April 1, 1935; RBI Headquarters: Mumbai, Maharashtra; RBI Governor: Shaktikanta Das.

 

2. Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance partners IPPB, Department of Posts: Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance has entered into a tripartite partnership with the India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) and the Department of Posts (DoP), launching two insurance products to tap the vast rural customers across the country. Under the partnership, the rural customers can access Bajaj Allianz Life Smart Protect Goal and Bajaj Allianz Life Guaranteed Pension Goal, the term and annuity products, respectively. The partnership aims to enable the customers, particularly from the weaker sections and living in un-banked and underserved areas, so that they can be financially secure.

 

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY

 

1. Tata Projects bags $120mn order for power transmission project in Bangladesh: Tata Projects Limited has received an order for a 400kV double circuit transmission line project valued at around $120 million (around ₹900 crores) from the Power Grid Company of Bangladesh Limited (PGCB). This 120-km project from Barapukuria to Bogura has been secured on a turnkey basis. It will be executed in 30 months and the funding shall be done by EXIM Bank India under Indian Line of Credit.

 

AWARDS AND HONOURS

 

1. Teenage Indian brothers win Children’s Peace Prize for waste project: Two Delhi-based teenage brothers Vihaan (17) and Nav Agarwal (14) have won the 17th annual KidsRights International Children’s Peace Prize for tackling pollution in their home city by recycling household waste. The duo received the prestigious award by Indian Nobel Peace Prize laureate Kailash Satyarthi. Vihaan and Nav have developed an “One Step Greener” initiative for segregating rubbish and organising waste pickups for trash from thousands of homes, schools and offices.

About the award: The International Children’s Peace Prize is given annually by the International children’s rights organization KidsRights based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. It is given to a child who has made a significant contribution to advocating children’s rights and improving the situation of vulnerable children such as orphans, child labourers and children with HIV/AIDS.

 

2. M Mukundan Bags 2021 JCB Prize for His Book ‘Delhi: A Soliloquy’: Author M Mukundan won the 2021 JCB prize for Literature, for his book ‘Delhi: A Soliloquy’. The book, which has originally been written in Malayalam has been translated into English by Fathima EV and Nandakumar K. The novel, published by Westland, is a story about Delhi through the eyes of its Malayali youth protagonists.

Mukundan received the Prize trophy, which is a sculpture by Delhi artist duo Thukral and Tagra entitled ‘Mirror Melting’, and he will receive a prize amount of Rs 25 lakh. This is the third translation to have won the JCB award in the last four years. The jury for this award comprised Sara Rai (Chair), Annapurna Garimella, Shahnaz Habib, Prem Panicker, and Amit Varma.

 

DEFENCE

 

1. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh inaugurates first operationalised private sector defence manufacturing facility: Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh inaugurated the first operationalised private sector defence manufacturing facility in Uttar Pradesh Defence Industrial Corridor (UPDIC) in Lucknow. The facility will be run by Aerolloy Technologies, a wholly owned subsidiary of PTC Industries Limited. It will manufacture parts for Aircraft Engines, Helicopter Engines, Structural parts for aircrafts, Drones and UAV, Submarines, Ultra-Light Artillery Guns, Space Launch Vehicles and Strategy Systems.