DAILY GK 4-5-6 JAN
1.
DESERT
CYCLONE 2024: 1ST INDIA-UAE JOINT MILITARY EXERCISE
·
Desert Cyclone 2024,
the 1st edition of the India-United Arab
Emirates (UAE) joint military exercise, commenced in Mahajan, Rajasthan
·
“Desert Eagle”, the
first-ever India-UAE Joint Air Forces exercise took place in September 2008 at
the Al-Dhafra base in Abu Dhabi, UAE.
·
UAE Capital– Abu Dhabi
·
Currency– UAE Dirham
(AED)
2.
J&K
BECOMES FIRST UT TO IMPLEMENT PM VISHWAKARMA YOJANA
·
Jammu and Kashmir
(J&K) has become the first Union Territory (UT) in India to implement the Pradhan ManthiriVishwakarmaYojana (PMVY).
·
The training programme
for the 1st batch of 30 trainees (Viswakarmas) in ‘darzi craft’ under PMVY was
inaugurated at Industrial Training Institute (ITI) Shopian, J&K.
·
PM
VishwakarmaYojana(PMVY) is a Central Sector
Scheme (CSS) launched by the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises
(MoMSME) in September 2023.
·
The
scheme aims to improve the quality and reach of products and services of
artisans and craftspeople
·
The
tagline of the scheme is ‘SammanSamarthyaSamridhi’
·
The
beneficiary should be at least 18 years old.
·
The
scheme will cover 18 traditional crafts
·
The scheme offers a collateral-free loan of upto Rs 3 Lakh
at a concessional interest rate of 5%
·
The trainees will be
offered basic training of 5 to 7 days,
and advanced training of 15 days or
more.
·
The trainees will be
paid a stipend of Rs 500 per day and
will receive a free modern toolkit worth Rs 15,000.
3.
FIVE
NEW COUNTRIES JOIN BRICS IN 2024
·
Five countries namely Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and
the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has joined BRICS(Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) bloc as their
membership came into force from January 1, 2024.
·
With the induction of
new members, BRICS’ membership count
increased to 10 from 5.
·
The act of inducting
new members into the bloc was decided in 15th BRICS summit under the
chairmanship of South Africa in August
2023.
·
Argentina which was
supposed to join BRICS withdrew from the entry by its President Javier Milei.
·
On 1st January 2024, Russia has taken over the BRICS chairmanship.
·
6th
BRICS summit was scheduled to happen in Kazan, Russia in October 2024.
·
BRICS
was formed in September 2006 and it originally comprised Brazil, Russia, India and China
(BRIC).
·
It was renamed as BRICS after South Africa was accepted as a
full member in September 2010.
4.
RBI
REVISED GUIDELINES FOR INOPERATIVE ACCOUNTS AND UNCLAIMED DEPOSITS
·
The Reserve Bank of
India (RBI) has issued revised guidelines for classifying accounts and deposits
as inoperative accounts and unclaimed deposits by banks which will come into effect from April 1, 2024.
·
Unclaimed
credit balances in bank accounts inactive for ten years or more
·
RBI also revises Bulk Deposits limit for Urban
Co-operative Banks (UCBs) by increasing
it from to Rs 1 crore and above from Rs 15 lakh and above for Scheduled
Primary (Urban) Co-operative Banks, in Tier 3 and 4. This is 6.66 times
increase.
Current
Affairs 5 January 2024
5.
EPFO
EXTENDS DEADLINE TO UPLOAD WAGE DETAILS FOR HIGHER PENSION OPTIONS TILL MAY 31
·
The Employees’
Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) has approved a five months extension
for employers for uploading wage details of higher pension options online i.e.
till 31st May, 2024 from 31st December 2023.
·
With over 3.6
lakh pending applications for the Validation of Options/ Joint Options, the
EPFO has approved an extension to facilitate employers in processing these
outstanding submissions.
·
In response to a
Supreme Court order in October 2022, EPFO introduced an online application
facility for pension option validation in February 2023, with an initial
deadline of May 3, 2023.
·
EPFO works under
the administrative control of the Ministry of Labour and Employment(MoLE).
6.
NHAI &
NRSC TO DEVELOP GREEN COVER INDEX FOR NHAI
·
The National Highways
Authority of India (NHAI) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU)
with the National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC), one of the
primary centres of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), for 3
years to develop and report a “Green Cover Index” for the vast National
Highways network in India.
·
Ministry of Road
Transport and Highways (MoRTH) and NHAI has prioritised greening Highway
Corridors since initiation of the Green Highways Policy in 2015.
·
By using
high-resolution satellite imagery, NRSC will undertake a comprehensive
pan-India estimation of green cover referred to as the ‘Green Cover Index’ for
National Highways.
·
It promises a
time-saving and cost-effective solution for generating macro-level estimates of
greenness along National Highways.
32. 3 PRODUCTS FROM ARUNACHAL PRADESH GETS GI TAG
·
Chennai, Tamil Nadu (TN) based Geographical
Indications Registry has awarded the Geographical Indication (GI) tag 3 indigenous products from Arunachal
Pradesh (AR) namely AdiKekir (ginger), Handmade Carpet (by
Tibetan settlers), and Wancho Wooden Craft.
·
With the
addition of 3 new GI products, Arunachal Pradesh now has a total of 8 GI
products.
33. RBI ISSUES MASTER DIRECTION ON COMMERCIAL PAPER &
NON-CONVERTIBLE DEBENTURES 2024
·
The Reserve Bank
of India (RBI) issued Master Direction – RBI (Commercial Paper and
Non-Convertible Debentures of original or initial maturity upto one year)
Directions, 2024 which will come into effect from April 01, 2024.
·
Non-Convertible Debenture (NCD) means a secured money market instrument with a tenor
between 90 days and one year.
·
Commercial Paper (CP) means an unsecured money market instrument issued in the
form of a promissory note with maturity
between a minimum of 7 days and a maximum of up to one year from the date of
issue.
34. SPACEX LAUNCHES ITS FIRST ‘DIRECT-TO-CELL’ STARLINK
SATELLITES
·
SpaceX’s Falcon
9 launched the 21 Starlink satellites, including its first six
“direct-to-cell” satellites, to Low-Earth orbit(LEO) from Space Launch
Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, the
United States of America(USA).
·
Direct to cell
satellites aims to provide seamless
global access to text, call, and browse across all-terrain and location
coverage without changing hardware or firmware.
·
Starlink is the
world’s first and largest satellite constellation using a LEO to deliver
broadband internet to all its users.
·
At present, it
has more than 5,000 active satellites transmitting relatively low-latency
internet from orbit.
35. WORLD BRAILLE DAY 2024 – JANUARY 4
·
The United
Nations (UN) World Braille Day is annually observed across the
globe on 4 January to raise awareness about the significance of Braille
as a communication medium for people who are blind or partially sighted.
·
The Day
commemorates the birth anniversary of Louis Braille, a
19th-century French educator, who invented the Braille script for the blind and
visually impaired in 1824.
Current
Affairs 6 January 2024
36. 
ERNET
INDIA’S WEB PORTAL FOR EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS
·
Chairperson of
the Executive committee of Education and Research Network (ERNET), India,
launched integrated web portal (https://ernet.in/) of ERNET India for educational institutes in India.
·
The portal was
created using open-source software and advanced technologies like Artificial
Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML).
·
The portal will
offer domain registration, DNS (Domain Name System) and value-added services
viz. Website as a Service (WaaS) and Learning Management as a Service (LMaaS).
·
Users can choose
templates available for schools, colleges, or universities, meeting their
needs, to effortlessly create websites and Learning Management Systems.
·
ERNET India, a
not-for-profit autonomous scientific society under MeitY, is the exclusive
registrar for education and research institutes’ domains with ac.in, edu.in,
and res.in.
37. THREE HANDLOOM SAREES IN WEST
BENGAL & 7 PRODUCTS FROM ODISHA GET GI TAG
·
The Geographical Indications Registry under the
Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT),
awarded geographical indication (GI) tags to 3 handloom sarees of West Bengal,
namely Tangail, Korial and Garad received
geographical indication (GI) tags under the goods of Textiles.
·
The Geographical
Indications Registry also awarded GI tags to 7 distinct products of Odisha.
·
These include two local foods,three agricultural products
and one each for Textile and Handicraft
products viz. LanjiaSaura painting,
DungariaKondh embroidered shawl, Gajapati Date Palm, DhenkanalMagji, Mayurbhanj Kai Chutney, NayagarhKanteimundiBrinjal and KoraputKalajeera
Rice.
38. CUSTOMER COMPLAINTS SHOULD BE COMMUNICATED IN 30
DAYS: RBI
·
The Reserve Bank
of India (RBI) issued the Master Direction – Reserve Bank of India
(Internal Ombudsman for Regulated Entities) Directions, 2023, as per which the regulated entities (REs) and their Internal Ombudsmen (IOs) should
communicate a final decision to customers within 30 days of
receiving a complaint.
·
This directive
aims to enhance consumer grievance redress and customer service standards within
RE by facilitating a thorough review before the rejection of customer
complaints by IO.
·
IOs usually deal
with customer complaints related to deficiency in service.
39. ‘RASHTRIYA KHEL PROTSAHAN PURUSKAR’
2023
·
The Ministry of
Youth Affairs &Sports(MoYAS) announced the winners of ‘Rashtriya Khel
ProtsahanPuruskar’ 2023 which recognises the corporate entities and individuals
for outstanding contribution in the area of sports promotion and development.
·
Category 2
Winner - Encouragement to sports
through Corporate Social Responsibility- Odisha
Mining Corporate Limited Bhubaneswar, Odisha
·
The Rashtriya
Khel Protsahan Puruskar is one of the 6 National Sports Awards annually
presented by the MoYAS.
·
The award recognises the efforts of corporate
entities (private and public sector), Sports Control Boards,
Non-Governmental organisations(NGOs), and State and National level sports bodies
towards sports promotion and development.
·
The awardees
will get Acitation and a Trophy and
it does not include any cash prize.
40. CHAD’S PRIME MINISTER
·
Succes Masra, president of ‘The Transformers’ party and former
opposition leader, was appointed as the Prime Minister (PM) of
the Republic of Chad by transitional government under the presidentship of
General Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno following
a referendum.
·
Republic of Chad:Capital – N’Djamena
41. PM OF KUWAIT
·
Sheikh Meshal
al-Ahmad Al-Jaber al-Sabah, Emir of Kuwait, has appointed Sheikh
Mohammed Sabah al-Salem al-Sabah as the Prime Minister(PM)
of Kuwait and has been tasked to form a new cabinet.
·
He
succeeds Sheikh Ahmad Nawaf Al Ahmad Al Sabah, the
son of late Emir Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, who has been serving as the
PM of Kuwait since 2022.
·
Kuwait:Currency– Kuwaiti Dinar (KWD)
42. NSIL TO LAUNCH GSAT-N2 SATELLITE ONBOARD SPACEX’S
FALCON-9
·
New Space India Limited (NSIL), the commercial arm of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), is
set to launch GSAT-20 (renamed GSAT-N2), a Ka-band high throughput satellite (HTS), onboard the Falcon-9 rocket
of Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX)
·
GSAT-N2
is specifically designed to meet the broadband, In-flight and Maritime Connectivity (IFMC) and cellular
backhaul service needs of remote/ unconnected regions.
·
GSAT-N2
weighing 4700 kg, offers an HTS capacity of nearly 48 Gigabytes
Per Second(Gpbs).
