DAILY GK: 26 , 27 AUG 2021
1.
COUNTER TERRORISM EXERCISE ‘GANDIV’ CONDUCTED
• The
3rd Edition of the annual Counter Terrorism Exercise named ‘Gandiv’ is being
conducted by the National Security Guard (NSG) across National Capital Region
(NCR), Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh & Gujarat.
• NSG
founded in September 1986.
• It
is an Elite Counter-terrorism unit functioning under the Ministry of Home
Affairs (MHA).
2.
GOI LAUNCHES SAMRIDH PROGRAMME
• Government
of India (GoI) has launched the Startup Accelerator of Meity for Product
Innovation, Development & Growth (SAMRIDH) programme to support 300
Information Technology (IT) enabled Startups for a period of 6 months.
• It
aims to create 100 unicorns out of the selected IT Startups by providing Seed funding, Mentorship and Market
access.
• The
programme has been modelled on the basis of Ycombinator, one of the successful
startup accelerator programmes started in the United States.
3.
WORLD’S 1ST FOSSIL-FREE STEEL TO VOLVO AB
• Sweden’s
green steel venture HYBRIT had made the world’s first customer delivery of
steel produced without using coal and coke, to its truck-manufacturer Volvo AB
(Aktiebolaget Volvo) as a trial run.
• This
steel is produced with 100% fossil-free hydrogen.
• HYBRIT
stands for Hydrogen Breakthrough Ironmaking Technology.
• This
was the raw material used to manufacture the so-called ‘green steel.
4.
SAFE CITIES INDEX 2021
• The
Capital City and Financial Capital City of India i.e. New Delhi and Mumbai
respectively have found place in 4th Safe Cities Index 2021 of 60 global
cities, released by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) sponsored by NEC.
• The
index report is titled as ‘Safe Cities Index 2021- New expectations demand a
new coherence’.
5.1ST
INDIAN RENEWABLE ENERGY COMPANY TO LIST ON NASDAQ
• ReNew
Power, India’s largest renewable energy company, has become the first Indian
renewable energy company to get listed on the NASDAQ, an American stock
exchange based in New York, USA.
• ReNew
Power has been listed on the NASDAQ following the merger with RMG Acquisition
Corporation II (RMG II), a Nasdaq-listed special purpose acquisition company
(SPAC).
• The
merged company has been named ReNew Energy Global Plc.
6.
BPCL LAUNCHED AI-ENABLED CHATBOT ‘URJA’
• Bharat
Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) launched a virtual assistant named ‘Urja’
with AI/NLP (Artificial Intelligence/Natural Language Processing) technology.
• It
is trained on more than 600 use cases.
• Urja
speaks in 13 languages (English, Hindi, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, Telugu,
Marathi, Gujarati, Oriya, Bengali, Punjabi, Urdu and Assamese).
7.
SAHITYA AKADEMI AWARDS 2020
• The
Sahitya Akademi has announced the winners of the Sahitya Akademi Awards 2020 for
Odia and Malayalam.
• Yashodhara
Mishra and Omcherry NN Pillai have been declared as the winners of the 2020
Sahitya Akademi Awards for Odia and Malayalam respectively.
• Yashodhara
Mishra has been awarded for her book titled “Samudrakula Ghara”.
• Omcherry
NN Pillai has been awarded for his memoir titled “Akasmikam: Omcheriyute
Ormmakkurippukal”.
8.
RBI APPROVES REAPPOINTMENT OF MD& CEO OF ICICI BANK
• The
Reserve Bank of India(RBI) has approved the reappointment of Sandeep Bakhshi as
the Managing Director(MD) and Chief Executive Officer(CEO) of ICICI Bank with
effect from 15th October 2021 to 3rd October 2023.
9.
PAKISTAN SUCCESSFULLY TESTFIRES ‘FATAH-1’
• Pakistan
has successfully test-fired Fatah-1, an Indigenously developed Guided Multi
Launch Rocket System (MLRS) which has the capability of precision target
engagement deep into the enemy territories
• It
is capable of carrying conventional warheads & has a range of 140 km.
10.
INDIAN ARMY RECEIVES 1ST BATCH OF MMHG
• Indian
Army received the delivery of 1st batch of Multi-Mode Hand Grenade (MMHG)
manufactured by Nagpur based private company Economic Explosives Limited (EEL).
• MMHG
has been designed by Chandigarh based Terminal Ballistic Research Laboratories
(TBRL) of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) & is
manufactured by EEL, Nagpur.
• In
October 2020, Ministry of Defence (MoD) has signed a contract with EEL for
supply of 10 lakh MMHG to Indian Army at cost of around INR 409 crore
11.
‘SUJALAM’ , A 100 DAYS ODF PLUS CAMPAIGN
• The
Ministry of Jal Shakti has launched a 100 Days campaign – ‘SUJALAM’ as part of
Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav celebrations to achieve Open Defecation Free (ODF) Plus
Status in villages across the country by undertaking waste water management at
the village level.
• It
aims to create 1 million Soak-pits & other grey water management activities
in the villages.
12.
US-INDIA CLIMATE TECHNOLOGIES ACTION GROUP
• The
United States (US) Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) and the US India
Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF) launched the US-India Climate Technologies
Action Group (CTAG) which aims to integrate private and public sector inputs on
a concrete initiative that can contribute to advanced global action on climate.
13.
INDIA-ISA ENERGY TRANSITION DIALOGUE, 2021
• India-International
Solar Alliance (ISA) Energy Transition Dialogue, 2021 held on August 24th, 2021
virtually.
• R
K Singh, Union Minister of Power, New & Renewable Energy has highlighted
that India’s Emissions have reduced about 28% from 2005 levels, against the
target of 35% by 2030 in India’s Intended Nationally Determined Contributions
(INDC) at the Paris Agreement, 2015.
• Currently,
38.5% of India’s Installed power generation capacity is from clean Renewable
energy sources when 46 GW of hydropower is included.
• It
is expected by 2050, 80-85% of India’s overall power capacity will come from
Renewables.
• Target
by 2030: India plans to have 450GW of Renewable energy capacity by 2030
14.
25TH EDITION OF ‘EXERCISE MALABAR’
• The
25th Edition of Naval Exercise Malabar is conducted between the India Navy, the
United States (US) Navy, Japanese Maritime Self Defence Force (JMSDF) & the
Royal Australian Navy (RAF) in the Western Pacific Ocean.
• The
exercise is hosted by the US Navy from 26th-29th August, 2021.
15.
INDIA EXTENDS USD 1 MILLION AID TO ZIMBABWE
• The
government of India provides USD 1 million aid to Zimbabwe under United Nations
World Food Programme (WFP).
• This
aid will help to tackle affected populations due to climate shocks.
• It
will help in climate resilient agriculture in Zimbabwe.
16.
PAWANDEEP RAJAN APPOINTED AS UTTARAKHAND’S BRAND AMBASSADOR
• Pushkar
Singh Dhami, Chief Minister(CM) of Uttarakhand, has announced that Pawandeep
Rajan, winner of the Indian Idol Season 12(2021), a music reality show, has
been appointed as the brand ambassador of Uttarakhand’s art, tourism and
culture.
17.
2021 ITTF CZECH INTERNATIONAL OPEN
• Indian
Table Tennis Player Sathiyan Gnanasekaran won the 2021 International Table
Tennis Federation (ITTF) Czech International Open.
• Sathiyan
beat Yevhen Ryshchepa of Ukraine in the finals in straight sets 11-9, 11-6,
11-6, 14-12. He did not lose a single set throughout the tournament.
18.
TED DEXTER PASSES AWAY
• Former
England Cricket team Captain & Journalist Ted Dexter passed away at 86 due
to illness in Wolverhampton, England.
• He
was instrumental in devising the players ranking system that was later adopted
by the ICC and is currently known as the ICC Player Rankings.
