DAILY GK: 21 MAY 2021
1. RENEWABLE ENERGY COUNTRY ATTRACTIVENESS INDEX
• India
with a score of 66.2 has been ranked 3rd out of 40 countries in the 57th
Renewable Energy Country Attractiveness Index (RECAI) – May 2021 – released by
Ernst & Young Global Ltd (EY).
• The
United States (US) topped the index, while China took the 2nd Rank.
• India
has improved its rank from 4th (in 56th RECAI) to 3rd due to its exceptional
performance in the Solar PhotoVoltaic (PV) sector.
• It’s
Installed Solar PV capacity has increased to 39 GigaWatts (GW) in 2020.
2.
IDMC REPORT
• According
to ‘2021 Global Report on Internal Displacement (GRID): Internal displacement
in a changing climate’ released by Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre
(IDMC), globally the number of people living in Internal displacement reached
55 Million at the end of 2020.
• Around 5
million new displacements were recorded in 2020, which is the highest in 10
years.
• The
highest number of internally displaced people in 2020 was in China (5 Million),
followed by Philippines & Bangladesh.
3.
PRIME GLOBAL CITIES INDEX OF KNIGHT FRANK
• The
Knight Frank, London based International Property Consultant has released the
Prime Global Cities Index Q1 2021, a valuation based on the prime residential
prices in the local currency across more than 45 cities across the globe.
• Delhi
has recorded a decline of 0.2% and dropped from 31st rank in Q4 2020 to 32nd
rank in Q1 2021.
• Mumbai
recorded a decline of 0.1% and dropped from 35th rank in Q4 2020 to 36th rank
in Q1 2021.
• Chinese
cities Shenzhen (1st), Shanghai(2nd) and Guangzhou(3rd) have topped the Q1 2021
index where Shenzhen recorded a growth of 18.9%.
4.
RBI INCREASED THE LIMIT TO RS 2 LAKHS FOR FULL-KYC PPIS
• Reserve
Bank of India (RBI) mandated all licensed Prepaid payment instruments (PPIs)
issuers to give the holders of full-KYC PPIs or mobile wallets such as Paytm,
PhonePe and Mobikwik to be interoperable within FY22.
• Under
the Bi-monthly monetary policy in April 2021, to incentivise the migration of
PPIs to full-KYC, the RBI proposed the following measures.
• Proposed
to make interoperability mandatory for full-KYC PPIs.
• Increase
the limit of outstanding balance PPIs from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 2 lakh.
• Proposed
to allow the facility of cash withdrawal for full-KYC PPIs of non-bank PPI
issuers (subject to a limit)
5.
S&P GLOBAL REPORT ON INSURTECH
• S&P
Global Market Intelligence reported India as the 2nd largest
insurance-technology (insurtech) market in Asia- Pacific (AP) region after
China, as it accounts for 35 percent/$1.28 billion of the total venture capital
($3.66 billion) poured into the insurtech sector in the AP region so far.
• Around
335 private insurtechs are operating in AP, in which 122 of them disclose
fundraise, amounting to a total of USD 3.66 billion.
• Almost
half of them are headquartered in India and China and have collectively
attracted about 78 percent of the total investment.
6.
SBIRS GEO-5 MISSILE WARNING SATELLITE FOR US SPACE FORCE
• United
Launch Alliance (ULA) launched the Space-Based Infrared System Geosynchronous
Earth Orbit Flight 5 (SBIRS Geo-5) into orbit for the United States Space Force
(USSF).
• The
satellite was launched aboard the Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station,
Florida, USA.
• SBIRS
Geo-5 is a missile warning satellite built by Lockheed Martin.
• It will
help the US to prepare for any threatening missile attacks.
• ULA is
an American Spacecraft launch service provider.
• It is a
joint venture between Lockheed Martin Space & Boeing Defense, Space &
Security, and was formed in December 2006.
7.
IRAN LAUNCHED SUPERCOMPUTER NAMED SIMORGH
• Iran has
launched its most powerful supercomputer Simorgh, named after the mythical
Phoenix-like bird Simorgh or Simurgh.
• The
system was designed by the Amirkabir University of Technology (AUT) at a cost
of 1 trillion Iranian rials (around Rs 173 crore).
• The
system is located at the Iranian High-Performance Computing Research Center
(IHPCRC) at AUT.
8.
EX RAJASTHAN CM JAGANNATHPAHADIA PASSED AWAY
• Veteran
Congress leader and former Rajasthan Chief Minister(CM)JagannathPahadia passed
away due to COVID-19 at the age of 89 in Jaipur,Rajasthan.
• Jagannath
Pahadia served as the Chief Minister of Rajasthan in 1980-81.
• He was
the first Dalit chief minister of the Rajasthan.
9.
WORLD BEE DAY 2021 – MAY 20
• United
Nations(UN)’s World Bee Day is annually observed across the globe on 20th May
to create awareness on the importance of bees.
• As a
part of the celebration of World Bee Day 2021, The Food and Agriculture
Organization (FAO) of the United Nations has organised a virtual event under
the theme “Bee engaged – Build Back Better for Bees”.
10.
WORLD METROLOGY DAY 2021 – 20 MAY
• World
Metrology Day (WMD) is annually observed across the globe on 20th May to
celebrate the International system of Unit.
• The day
marks the annual celebration of the signing of the Metre Convention on 20 May
1875 in Paris, France by 17 nations.
• The
theme for World Metrology Day 2021 is “Measurement for Health”.
