Daily GK Update- 4th Sep, 2022

 

NATIONAL UPDATES:

 

1. India’s First Vaccine against Cervical Cancer Launched: India is set to launch its first indigenously developed Quadrivalent Human Papillomavirus Vaccine (qHPV) against Cervical cancer with the help of the Serum Institute of India (SII) and the Department of Biotechnology (DBT). The vaccine for Cervical cancer “CERVAVAC”, will be launched by Union Minister of State Science and Technology Jitendra Singh. The vaccine is likely to cost around 200-400 per dose.

As per the government data, cervical cancer ranks number 2 for most prevalent cancer in India and also accounts for one-fourth of the world’s cervical cancer deaths. Approximately 1.25 lakhs women are diagnosed with Cervical cancer and over 75 thousand females die from the disease in India. The Union government plans to target the age of 9-14 years of girls for vaccination against cervical cancer. Before the rollout of the vaccine, a sensitization program will be organized by the government to educate parents and school authorities. The government also said that CERVAVAC is an outcome of the partnership of DBT and BIRAC with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

 

2. 5th Rashtriya Poshan Maah 2022 celebrating from Sep 1 to 30th September: Ministry of Women and Child Development is celebrating the 5th Rashtriya Poshan Maah 2022 across the nation from 1st September till 30th September. Rashtriya Poshan Maah serves as a platform to bring focus to the discourse of nutrition and good health. In the 5th Rashtriya Poshan Maah, the aim is to convert Jan Andolan into Jan Bhagidari to fulfil the Prime Minister’s vision of a Suposhit Bharat. The Central Theme of Poshan Maah 2022 is “Mahila aur Swasthya” and “Bacha aur Shiksha”.  Poshan Maah is being celebrated as part of the POSHAN Abhiyaan, the Central Government’s flagship programme which aims to improve nutritional outcomes for children under 6 years of age, pregnant women and lactating mothers.

The activities will be organised with the following key objectives:

a)      Spreading Awareness about Nutrition at the Grassroot level

b)      Conduct Sensitization Drive to make citizens aware of the importance of nutrition

c)       Identification and Outreach programmes for pregnant and lactating women

d)      Awareness Drives, Camps and Fairs for children below six years and adolescent girls

e)      Highlight objectives of ‘Swasth Bharat’ and plan activities to sensitize citizens about it

 

3. Railways top CVC’s list for rejecting directives to punish corrupt officers: The Railways Ministry tops the list of government agencies that ignored the CVC’s recommendations against corrupt officers and employees and resolved matters in accordance with their own disciplinary procedures. 55 similar occurrences were discovered across government agencies in the annual report for 2021, 11 of which were in the Railways. Key Points:

a)      Along with Railways, Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI), Bank of India, and Delhi Jal Board each had four cases, and according to CVC, Mahanadi Coalfields Limited protected three of its workers in such situations.

b)      The Indian Overseas Bank, Bank of Maharashtra, Madras Fertilizers Limited, Indira Gandhi National Open University, and North Delhi Municipal Corporation (which is now a part of the unified Municipal Corporation of Delhi) were listed as two of the institutions involved in these cases, according to the report.

c)       The CVC claimed to have discovered some “severe and major errors and lapses.” These include disregard for or ignorance of rules, as well as the disciplinary authority’s failure to follow procedures for consultation with the CVC and/or the Department of Personnel and Training in cases of disagreement or delays in seeking guidance.

d)      Another issue that was brought up included SIDBI and led to huge financial losses.

 

4. NHAI Organizes Workshop on Global Navigation Satellite System-Based Tolling: The National Highway Authority of India (NHAI), organized a stakeholder consultation workshop on Global Navigation Satellite (GNSS) based tolling in India. The main objective of the day-long workshop was to seek input and suggestions from various industry experts and stakeholders on different aspects of the GNSS-based tolling system. Also, this workshop will work as a guide to help strategies and design the future roadmap for free flow rolling systems in India based on GNSS technology.

Various stakeholders were invited for deliberations on GNSS based tolling system including government departments, ISRO, NIC, and industry players such as Vehicle Manufactures, AIS-140 On-Board Unit (OBU) manufacturers, Global GNSS service providers, Banks, and Payment Aggregators/Gateway service providers. The discussions for GNSS based tolling system were held on the findings of the pilot carried out by the NHAI in Delhi.

 

5. NCRB published a report titled Accidental Deaths & Suicides in India 2021: The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) released a Accidental Deaths & Suicides report, as per the number of suicide-related deaths in India reached an all-time high in 2021. In 2021, 1.64 lakh people committed suicide, a 7.2% rise from 2020, when 1.53 lakh people had done so. Since 1967, the first year for which statistics are available, there have been more suicide-related fatalities than ever before. 11.3 suicides per 100,000 individuals have been reported up to this time, as per the Accidental Deaths & Suicides report. Key Points:

a)      As per the information on accidental fatalities and suicides given by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) in Accidental Deaths & Suicides, this number was around 1.39 lakh in 2019.

b)      The suicide rate, or the number of suicide-related deaths per one lakh people, was 12 in 2021.

c)       This is the highest rate of suicide-related deaths since 1967, the first year for which statistics is available. Up until this point, 11.3 suicides per 100,000 people have been recorded.

d)      The year 2010 had the highest reported suicide rate in the nation up until this point (11.3), as per Accidental Deaths & Suicides report.

 

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

 

1. India to Host Quad Senior Officials’ Meeting: The Quad group meeting will be hosted by India in New Delhi with Japan, U.S, and Australia in the coming week. The Quad meeting is the first such “Senior Officers Meeting” (SOM) to be held after tensions rose between China and Taiwan. The Quad SOM meeting is one of several meetings to be held between India and Indo-Pacific Partners.

The Quad SOM meeting is going to be held anytime between 5th-6th September. The SCO summit in Uzbekistan in mid-September is ahead of the Quad SOM meeting. Prime Minister Narendra Modi along with the important leaders of Russia, Iran, China, Pakistan, and Central Asia will attend the SCO Summit, as it is the first such in-person meeting since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war.

The officials of the Ministry of External Affairs will follow the Quad meeting with an India-US 2+2 “inter-sessional” meeting, with U.S Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Donald Lu leading the American delegation to discuss bilateral issues. The meeting will also be attended by officials of the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) and the Direction General of the Foreign Policy Bureau from Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

 

OTHER UPDATES:

 

SPORTS

 

1. Amlan Borgohain breaks 100m national record at All India Railway C’ships: Amlan Borgohain, who holds the 200m national record, has now added the 100m record to his name. The 24-year-old from Assam clocked 10.25s (wind speed +1.8, legal) to break the six-year-old national record of Amiya Kumar Mallick (10.26s) at the 87th all-India inter-Railway athletics championships in Rae Bareli, Uttar Pradesh. Borgohain’s previous best, 10.34s, came at the National Open in Warangal last year. He is the reigning national champion in the 100m and 200m. Amlan Borgohain holds the 200m national record of 20.52s, set in April this year at the Federation Cup.

 

2. Former Leg Spinner Rahul Sharma Announced Retirement: Indian Spinner Rahul Sharma has announced retirement from international and domestic cricket. In 2011, the tall leg-spinner came into the limelight where he represented Pune Warriors in IPL. Rahul Sharma made his ODI debut against West Indies in 2011 under Virendra Sehwag’s Captaincy. He made his T20 debut in 2012 against Australia under the Captaincy of MS Dhoni. Later that year, he played his final series on the Sri Lanka tour. The former cricketer wrote an emotional post on his retirement from all forms of cricket.

 

BANKING AND FINANCE

 

1. ICICI Bank and NMDFC ink an Agreement for development of banking software: ICICI Bank and NMDFC ink an Agreement: The National Minorities Development and Finance Corporation (NMDFC) announced that it had entered into an agreement with ICICI Bank for the creation of mobile applications and financial accounting software. According to a formal announcement, ICICI Bank will develop, construct, and deploy the application for NMDFC in addition to giving source code and executable database data, among other things. Key Points:

a)      The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) calls for the creation of loan accounting software for the receipt and processing of loan applications as well as the accounting of beneficiary repayments, as well as financial accounting software for NMDFC and State Channelizing Agencies (SCAs).

b)      In addition to providing source code and executable database information, among other things, ICICI Bank will design, build, and deploy the application for NMDFC, according to an official statement.

c)       The NMDFC and SCAs’ loaning and accounting processes would be more transparent and swift thanks to the customised banking software.

d)      The targeted recipients will be able to submit their applications more easily by doing this.

e)      The organisation claimed that automating its operations by creating software and a mobile app would be a huge step toward realising its purpose of “Development with Dignity.”

 

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY

 

1. Bloomberg Billionaires Index: Gautam Adani becomes world third richest person: India’s Gautam Adani is now the third richest person in the world. The rankings by Bloomberg Billionaires Index come as business conglomerate Adani Group’s chairman overtakes Louis Vuitton chairman Bernard Arnault. With a total net worth of USD 137.4 billion, 60-year-old Adani is now just behind business magnate Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos in the ranking. This is the first time an Asian person has broken into the top three of the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

Key Points:

a)      In the latest Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Reliance chief Mukesh Ambani is at number 11 with a total of USD 91.9 billion worth.

b)      The net worth of Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos is currently at USD 251 billion and USD 153 billion, respectively.

 

2. Aadhaar Ventures fined by SEBI for violating industry standard: Aadhaar Ventures India Ltd. (AVIL) and its directors were fined a total of Rs 25 lakh by the capital markets regulator SEBI for breaking the listing requirements and insider trading laws. Aadhaar Ventures India Ltd. (AVIL), its directors Jils Raichand Madan, Somabhai Sunderbhai Meena, and Jyoti Munver, and the regulator each received a fine of Rs. 10 lakh (to be paid jointly and severally) for disclosure violations. Key Points:

a)      It fined Aadhaar Ventures India Ltd. (AVIL) and Meena Rs. 5 lakh (to be paid jointly and severally) for breaking the rules on insider trading.

b)      Aadhaar Ventures India Ltd. (AVIL), Madan, Meena, and Munver had violated disclosure lapses by failing to disclose the information to the stock exchange.

c)       Additionally, Munver violated PIT (Prohibition of Insider Trading) regulations by failing to ensure that AVIL had complied with continuous disclosure obligations while serving as the company’s compliance officer.

d)      It assessed Aadhaar Ventures India Ltd. (AVIL) a 5 lakh rupee fine.

 

AWARDS AND HONOURS

 

1. 64th Ramon Magsaysay Award 2022 announced: The Ramon Magsaysay Awards Foundation (RMAF), which is widely regarded as the “Nobel Peace Prize of Asia,” recently announced this year’s awardees in a global announcement ceremony. The 2022 Ramon Magsaysay Awardees are Sotheara Chhim (Cambodia), Bernadette Madrid (Philippines), Tadashi Hattori (Japan) and Gary Bencheghib (Indonesia). Recipients Ramon Magsaysay Award 2022:

a)      Sotheara Chhim-> He is a mental health advocate from Cambodia. He is a leading voice in Cambodian trauma syndrome. He is being recognized for “his calm courage in surmounting deep trauma to become his people’s healer”. As a child, he was forced to work in Khmer Rouge camps for more than three years until their rule ended in 1979.

b)      Tadashi Hattori-> He is a sight-saving humanitarian from Japan. He is being recognized for his simple humanity and extraordinary generosity as a person and a professional. He decided to become a doctor at age 15 when he witnessed the rude treatment that his cancer-stricken father received in a hospital.

c)       Bernadette J. Madrid-> She is a children’s rights crusader from the Philippines. She is being recognized for “her unassuming and steadfast commitment to noble and demanding advocacy. Since 1997, she has led the country’s first child protection centre at the Philippine General Hospital in Manila. It has served more than 27,000 children as of last year.

d)      Gary Bencheghib-> He is an anti-plastic pollution warrior from Indonesia. He is being recognized for Emergent Leadership for “his inspiring fight against marine plastic pollution.

About Ramon Magsaysay Award:The Ramon Magsaysay Award, established in 1957, is Asia’s greatest honour and distinction. The award is managed by RMAF. It is named after Ramon Magsaysay, the third president of the Philippines. The award is regarded around the world as ‘’Asia’s Nobel Prize’’. The prize is annually presented in a ceremonial ceremony in Manila, Philippines on August 31. The first Ramon Magsaysay Awards ceremony was held on 31st August 1958.