Daily GK Update- 31st Dec, 2023

NATIONAL UPDATES:

 

1. IIT Guwahati collaborated with Assam govt’s Arohan Scheme over STEM: The Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati has collaborated with the Government of Assam’s flagship Arohan scheme to motivate meritorious students to pursue STEM subjects in their higher education. To date, the Institute has successfully hosted 3311 students (2009 girls and 1302 boys) and few hundred mentee teachers, inspiring them to explore the vast opportunities and interests in STEM education. Interestingly, the number of girl students was around 65 percent of the total participants, highlighting the importance of encouraging and promoting girl/women in STEM education. Under the Arohan scheme, IIT Guwahati has hosted meritorious students (Mentees) along with their Guide teachers/Officers in a total of 12 batches. During their visit to IIT Guwahati, these students had the opportunity to engage with institute faculty members, interact with students, and explore institutional facilities.

 

2. RK Singh inaugurated power grid’s Vishram Sadan in Bengaluru: Union Minister for Power, New and Renewable Energy RK Singh has inaugurated POWERGRID Vishram Sadan in Bengaluru. Built at a cost of about Rs 23 crore, this 2-storey Vishram Sadan has 270 beds. The 55 rooms of this Sadan are equipped with all necessary facilities and are capable of providing the maximum possible comfort to the attendants of the patients. POWERGRID as a responsible corporate citizen has built similar Vishram Sadans at AIIMS, New Delhi, IGIMS, Patna, DMCH Darbhanga, KGMU, Lucknow, Guwahati and Vsadodara for the benefit of the masses. Such Vishram Sadans are also being constructed by POWERGRID at Ranchi and Jhansi.

 

3. Reliance Jio joins hands with IIT Bombay to launch Bharat GPT: Reliance Jio Infocomm, India’s largest telecom service provider, is working with the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay to launch ‘Bharat GPT’, a large language model specifically tailor for India’s needs. The company is also “comprehensively thinking” to launch an operating system for smart televisions. Ambani said that the next 10 years will be defined by large-language models and generative AI.

 

4. 10th Edition of Sagar Parikrama: India’s Fisheries Minister Parshottam Rupala inaugurated the 10th edition of Sagar Parikrama – a coastal yatra spreading awareness about government welfare schemes among fishermen. Key Focus Areas The 15-day journey spans fishing harbors and villages across Andhra Pradesh and Puducherry. ..

 

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

 

1. Leap Year 2024: February 29th only comes once every four years – but what exactly is a leap year and why was an extra calendar day needed? Accounting for Earth’s True Revolution A solar year equals one full revolution of Earth around the ..

OTHER UPDATES:

DEFENCE

 

1. Vice Admiral Kiran Deshmukh Takes Charge as Indian Navy’s Chief of Material: On January 1st, Vice Admiral Kiran Deshmukh assumed duties as the Chief of Material of the Indian Navy. He took over from Vice Admiral Sandeep Naithani, who retired following 39 years of praiseworthy service spearheading the Navy’s maintenance efforts. Key ..

 

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

 

1. ISRO launched FEAST software and book to guide faculty and students: The Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) of the Indian space agency ISRO, has developed an analysis software that is used to perform Finite Element Analysis (FEA) of various types of structures including rockets, aircraft, satellites, buildings, etc. FEA is a computerised method for predicting how a component or a structure reacts to real-world forces- like various types of structural loads, thermal conditions and other physical effects that a structure experiences while in operation. During the design and development phase of a product, FEA is carried out to evaluate how well and safely the structure/component can withstand the various loads, and perform its intended function without any failure. With their latest offering—an FEA software known as FEAST (Finite Element Analysis of Structures)— Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) hopes to take this indigenous and customisable FEA software to the Indian user base.

 

BANKING AND FINANCE

 

1. ICICI Pru Mutual Fund to acquire 9.95% stake in Federal, RBL Bank: The Reserve Bank of India has accorded approval to ICICI Prudential Asset Management Company Ltd (ICICI AMC) for acquiring up to 9.95 percent stake in the bank. The approval granted by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is subject to compliance with the relevant provisions of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949, RBI’s Master Direction and Guidelines on Acquisition and Holding of Shares or Voting Rights in Banking Companies dated January 16, 2023. Meanwhile, RBI also accorded approval to ICICI AMC to acquire a 9.95 percent stake in RBL Bank and Equitas Small Finance Bank.

 

2. HDFC Bank approves re-appointment of Atanu Chakraborty as chairman for 3 years: Private lender HDFC Bank board has recommended the reappointment of Atanu Chakraborty as the part-time non-executive chairman and independent director, subject to further approval. The matter is with the Reserve Bank of India for a second term of three years from May 5, 2024, to May 4, 2027 approval. Chakraborty, a 1985 batch IAS officer of Gujarat cadre, retired as Secretary of Department of Economic Affairs in April 2020. Chakraborty mainly worked in areas of Finance & Economic Policy, Infrastructure, Petroleum & Natural Gas. In the Union Government, he held various posts such as Secretary to Government of India in the Ministry of Finance- Department of Economic Affairs (DEA) during FY 2019-20.