Daily GK Update- 9th Feb, 2023

NATIONAL UPDATES:

 

1. Defence ministry, Larsen & Toubro sign contract for modular bridges: The Ministry of Defence has signed a contract with Larsen & Toubro (L&T) for the procurement of 41 sets of Modular Bridges at an estimated cost of ₹2,585 crore for the Corps of Engineers, Indian Army.

Designed and developed: DRDO It shall be produced by L&T as a DRDO-nominated production agency. Each set of bridges shall consist of seven carrier vehicles based on 8x8 heavy mobility vehicles and two launcher vehicles based on 10x10 heavy mobility vehicles.

 

2. Skye Air launches India’s first traffic management system for drones: Skye Air launched a drone-based traffic management system named 'Skye UTM' in India. It was unveiled by the Minister of Road Transport and Highways of India, Nitin Gadkari. Skye UTM is a Cloud-based aerial traffic management system. It integrated unmanned air traffic with manned aviation airspace. The software will allow drone operators to plan routes, make flight plans and assess risks before running drone-based operations in the country. 

 

3. Jio-bp introduces E20 blended petrol: Jio-bp has launched E20 petrol and became one of the first fuel retailers in India to make E20 blended petrol available. E20 petrol: 20% blend of ethanol and 80% of fossil-based fuel E20 blending in petrol is being introduced in the country by the government of India. Aim: To reduce the country's oil import cost, energy security, lower carbon emission, and better air quality, among others. The government had advanced the target of E20 fuel from 2030 to 2025.

 

4. NCAER Report on Farm Machinery Industry in India: The National Council of Applied Economic Research’s (NCAER) report on “Making India a Global Power House on Farm Machinery Industry” was released. It was released by the Union MoS for Agriculture and Farmer’s Welfare, Shobha Karandlaje This study was sponsored by Mahendra & Mahendra. Purpose: To analyze the non-tractor farm machinery industry from both demand and supply side perspectives.

India’s farm power availability is at 2.49 Kw/ha in 2018-19.

 

5. Karnataka CM launched 108 Namma Clinics in Bengaluru: Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai has launched 108 Namma Clinics within the municipal limits of the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP). Objective – To integrate promotive, preventive and curative healthcare services under one roof and provide quality primary care to people in their neighbourhood. Along with the treatments for common ailments like cough and fever, there will also be examination and testing of blood pressure and diabetes at the clinics. Even the medicines will be provided free of cost. Around 438 clinics are being set up in the urban areas across the state

 

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

 

1. Visva-Bharati to be world’s first Living Heritage University: Visva-Bharati University, West Bengal is set to become the world’s first “Living Heritage University”. The university is expected to receive the heritage tag from UNESCO in April or May 2023. Visva-Bharati University was founded by Rabindranath Tagore in 1921. It is one of India’s major Central Government funded autonomous universities. The institution was given the status of a Central University in 1951 through a central Act. The President of India appoints the Vice-chancellor of the University.

 

2. India ranks first with 24 percent contribution to global milk production: According to production data from the Food and Agriculture Organization Corporate Statistics Database (FAOSTAT), India is the world’s largest milk producer, contributing 24 percent to global milk production in the year 2021-22 India’s milk production has registered a growth of 51 percent during the last eight years – 2014-15 and 2021-22 and has increased to 220 million tonnes in the year 2021-22. The Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying runs various schemes to benefit the economically weaker farmers in the dairy sector. Further, the National Programme for Dairy Development aims at enhancing the quality of milk, milk products and increasing the share of organized procurement, processing, value addition and marketing

 

3. World’s first ‘Super’ magnets for testing in nuclear plant developed: World’s first ‘Super’ magnets for testing in nuclear fusion plant developed by UK’s Tokamak Energy. Tokamak Energy announced that the Demo4 magnet has a magnetic field strength that is nearly a million times stronger than the Earth’s magnetic field, making it capable of confining and controlling the extremely hot plasma created during the nuclear fusion process. Nuclear fusion has been hailed as the “holy grail” of clean energy, with scientists working on the technology since the 1950s. Tokamak Energy is aiming to be the first private company to produce commercial fusion energy, with the goal of demonstrating grid-ready fusion in the early 2030s.

 

OTHER UPDATES:

 

SPORTS

 

1. LeBron James becomes NBA's all-time leading scorer: LeBron James becomes the all-time leading scorer in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He has surpassed a record held by the great Kareem Abdul Jabbar since 1984. He pushed his career total to 38,388 points. He has won four NBA titles and competed in 10 NBA finals. He has a career average of 27.2 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 7.3 assists. Abdul-Jabbar took 1,560 games to record his total, and James set his record in just over 1,400 appearances.

 

2. Women’s Premier League to be held in Mumbai: The inaugural season of the Women’s Premier League (WPL) 2023 will be held in Mumbai (Maharashtra) from 4 to 26 March 2023 in Mumbai. The Brabourne Stadium and the DY Patil Stadium will host all the matches with the tournament opener expected to be played between Gujarat Giants and Mumbai Indians-owned franchise. The auction of WPL players will take place on February 13 in Mumbai. With the five teams fetching Rs 4669.99 crore and the BCCI selling the media rights for Rs 951 crore, the WPL is the second biggest T20 League in the world behind the Indian Premier League. Apart from three IPL team owners — Mumbai Indians, Royal Challengers Bangalore and Delhi Capitals — Capri Global Holdings (Lucknow) and the Adani Sportsline have bought the five franchises. Around 1500 players have registered for the league. IPL chairman: Arun Dhumal

 

3. Aditi Ashok won Kenya Ladies Open title 2023: Indian golf player, Aditi Ashok has clinched her fourth Ladies European Tour (LET) title at the Kenya Ladies Open 2023 golf tournament held at Vipingo Ridge, Kenya. Aditi last won a Ladies European Tour golf tournament in 2017. She carded a 12-under to win ahead of Alice Hewson (England) and April Angurasaranee (Thailand), who finished with identical final scores of 3-under. Meanwhile, India’s Avani Prashanth finished tied-ninth and Amandeep Drall came tied-52nd.

 

4. Kamran Akmal announced retirement from all forms of cricket: Pakistan wicket-keeper Kamran Akmal has announced his retirement from all forms of professional cricket. He is currently serving as a batting consultant for Peshawar Zalmi. He made his Test match debut against Zimbabwe in November 2002 and he also made his ODI debut against Zimbabwe in November 2002. He featured in 53 Tests, 157 ODIs, and 58 T20 Internationals for Pakistan.

 

BANKING AND FINANCE

 

1. MobiKwik becomes India's first app to support credit cards on UPI: India’s leading fintech, MobiKwik has become the first fintech application to support RuPay Credit Cards on UPI. The RuPay Credit Cards are now linked directly to UPI IDs. MobiKwik’s customers can easily make payments to merchants by scanning the UPI QR code and using UPI PIN for payment authentication. Aim: To make financial services accessible and lead the way to financial inclusion The integration of RuPay Credit Cards with UPI is in line with the NPCI.

 

2. Ujjivan Small Finance Bank launches app for 'digitally challenged': Ujjivan SFB launched a mobile banking application named 'Hello Ujjivan' with three Vs (voice, visual, and vernacular). Aim: To provide banking access to individuals who have limited reading and writing skills This application was co-created with Navana.AI. It is accessible by voice in eight languages (Hindi, Marathi, Bengali, Tamil, Gujarati, Kannada, Odia, and Assamese). Customers can perform banking transactions, and access services in their native language.

 

3. RBI to launch QR code-based coin vending machines: The Reserve Bank of India will launch QR Code-based Coin Vending Machine (QCVM) in collaboration with a few leading banks. Aim: To improve the distribution of coins This pilot project will be launched in 19 locations in 12 cities across the country. QCVM is a cashless coin dispensation machine. It will dispense coins against debit to the customer’s bank account using UPI. It would eliminate the need for physical tendering of banknotes and their authentication.

 

4. Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw launches ‘Digital Payments Utsav’: Union Minister of Electronics and Information Technology and Communications, Ashwini Vaishnaw launched the ‘Digital Payments Utsav’ in New Delhi on February 9, 2023. Aim: To promote Digital Payments across the nation This campaign particularly focuses on G-20 Digital Economy Working Group event cities - Lucknow, Hyderabad, Pune, and Bengaluru. It also witnesses the flagging off of the Digital Payment Sandesh Yatra.

 

AWARDS AND HONOURS

 

1. MRF Chairman K.M. Mammen receives the ATMA Lifetime Achievement Award: Chairman and MD of MRF, K.M. Mammen was honoured with the ATMA Lifetime Achievement Award at the Automotive Tyre Manufacturers’ Association (ATMA) Annual Conclave 2023 in New Delhi. Reason: For his leadership qualities, an invaluable contribution to the Indian tyre industry Maruti Suzuki India MD & CEO Hisashi Takeuchi presented the award. He also leads the industry from the front for over 20 years. ATMA Headquarters: New Delhi.

 

2. Rakhi Kapoor awarded Golden Book Awards 2023 for ‘NowYou Breathe’: Author Rakhi Kapoor has been awarded the Golden Book Awards 2023 for her book ‘Now You Breathe – Overcoming Toxic Relationships and Abuse in the category Powerful Relationship Guide’. The Golden Book Awards is one of Asia’s prestigious award programs which celebrates the best works on literature. Now You Breathe is author Rakhi Kapoor’s twenty-fifth book. Rakhi was awarded the author of the year at the National Achievers Award in December 2022 at the Constitution Club of India. She has also won the prestigious Writeinfluence award and Author of the year nonfiction in the Ukiyoto Literary Awards.

 

3. VP Nandakumar, Manappuram Finance gets Hurun India award 2023: MD & CEO of Manappuram Finance Ltd, VP Nandakumar has bagged the Hurun India’s award for his remarkable achievements in the world of business. He received The Hurun Industry Achievement Award 2022 from top Hurun India officials at a function held in Mumbai. While V.K. Mathews, founder, and executive chairman, of IBS Software, has been conferred the Hurun Industry Achievement Award 2022. K. Mathews was nominated on the basis of the research made by the Hurun global team.

 

OBITUARIES

 

Popular artist B.K.S. Verma passed away: Veteran Indian painter, BKS Varma passed away at the age of 74. The subject of his paintings was mainly environmental and social issues presented in a surreal form. He was honoured with the Karnataka Rajya Puruskar (2001), Rajyothsava award (2001), and Honorary Doctorate by Bangalore University (2011). The legendary art teacher A.N. Subbarao at the art and culture institution trained Verma in art.