GK Snapshots on 1 July 2021

International Asteroid Day 2021 – June 30

United Nations (UN)’s International Asteroid Day or Asteroid Day is a global awareness campaign annually celebrated across the globe on 30th June to create awareness and engage and educate the general public about the asteroid’s opportunities and risks.

Aim:

• To create awareness about the hazards of asteroid impacts.

• To educate the public on the crisis communication actions which should be taken at the global level in case of Near-Earth Object(NEO) threat.

Significance of Asteroid day:

The Asteroid Day is a global program that provides online educational asteroid resources and produces a 24-hour global broadcast known as “Asteroid Day LIVE” from Luxembourg.

International Day of Parliamentarism 2021 – June 30

The United Nations (UN)’s International Day of Parliamentarism is annually observed across the globe on 30th June to recognise the importance of parliaments in national plans and strategies. The day also highlights the importance of parliaments in ensuring transparency and accountability at national and global levels.

• The Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) and its Member Parliaments mark the International Day of Parliamentarism 2021 by organising various events focusing on youth empowerment. This follows the launch of the IPU campaign “I Say Yes to Youth in Parliament!”. 

Significance of the Parliaments:

i.Parliaments are a vital part of the democracy, which represents the voices of the people, pass laws, and allocate funds for the implementation of the laws and policies.

ii.The parliament links the international and national agendas and ensures the implementation of their international treaties and agreements.

iii.Parliamentary systems fall into two categories:

• Bicameral (with two chambers of parliament)

• Unicameral (with one chamber).

iv.Out of 193 countries, 79 are bicameral and 114 are unicameral.

Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant Gets 1 Year Extension, till June 2022

The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the extension in tenure of Amitabh Kant as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Niti Aayog for a period of one year up to 30.06. 2022.

• Initially he was appointed as the CEO of Niti Aayog on February 17, 2016 for a period of 2 year and was later extended several times.

Microsoft Officially Launched ‘Windows 11’

Microsoft officially launched its new Windows operating system ‘Windows 11’ on June 24, 2021. It is being called the “next generation” of Windows.

• The release comes nearly six years after the current latest Windows Operating System ‘Windows 10’ was launched in July 2015.

Key Points:
i.Windows 11 is special because it focuses on a new user interface, a new Windows Store, and improvements to performance, including centre-aligned Taskbar and Start button.
ii.One of the unique features of Windows 11 is that it will support Android apps via Amazon’s app store.It will work better in touch mode as well.
iii.Windows 11 operating system (OS) will be available as a free upgrade for Windows 10 users in late 2021. iv.PCs having Intel’s sixth and seventh-generation processors will not be eligible to use Windows 11.

India Presented 10 Translated Books of Modern Indian Literature to SCO

Indian Ambassador to China Vikram Misri presented 10 Translated Books of Modern Indian Literature to Shanghai Cooperation Organisation(SCO) Secretary General Vladimir Norov at the SCO secretariat in Beijing,China.

Key Points:
i.It includes English, Russian and Chinese translations of 10 classic works of modern literature written by prominent Indian authors in different languages.
ii.The translated books included,

• Arogyaniketan (Bengali) written by Tarashankar Bandyopadyay

• Ordained by Fate (Urdu) by Rajender Singh Bedi,

• Illu (Telugu) by Rachakonda Vishwanatha Sastry

• The Last Exit (Hindi) by Nirmal Varma

• Longing for Sunshine (Assamese) by Sayed Abdul Malik

• Mystery of the Missing Cap and other short stories (Odia) by Manoj Das

• The Last Flicker (Punjabi) by Gurdial Singh

• Of Men and Moments (Tamil) by Jayakanthan

• Parva: A Tale of War, Peace, Love, Death, God and Man (Kannada) by S L Bhyrappa

• The Promised Hand (Gujrati) by Jhaverchand Meghnani.

iii.These books are translated by the Sahitya Akademi which had commissioned the translation project and completed it by the end of 2021.
iv.This presentation was a follow-up to the announcement by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the SCO Council of Heads of State Summit in Bishkek in 2019 that 10 great works of Indian literature will be translated into Russian and Chinese, which are the official languages of the SCO.


States, UTs to Implement ‘One Nation One Ration Card’ by July 31, 2021: Supreme Court Order

The Supreme Court(SC) directed States and Union Territories (UT) to extend the implementation of the ‘One Nation, One Ration Card’ scheme (ONORC) by July 31, 2021, to ensure food security, cash transfers and other welfare measures for migrant workers under COVID-19.

• The bench of justices Ashok Bhushan and M R Shah mentioned the difficulties faced by 38 crore migrant workers around India, who form one-fourth of the country’s population during the second wave of COVID-19 due to lack of ration cards.

• It also directed that the process of registration of the unorganised labourers / migrant workers be completed at the earliest, but not later than December 31, 2021.

About ‘One Nation, One Ration Card’ (ONORC) scheme:

i.It was started in June 2019 to enable migrant workers and their family members to buy subsidised ration from any fair price shop anywhere in the country under the National Food Security Act(NFSA), 2013.

ii.As of March 2021, 17 states have implemented the scheme, the 4 States/UT (Assam, Chhattisgarh, Delhi & West Bengal) were not yet covered under the scheme.

iii.ONORC is based on technology that involves details of beneficiaries’ ration card, Aadhaar number, and electronic Points of Sale (ePoS).

PMFME Scheme Launched under Atma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyan Completes 1 Year

The Pradhan Mantri Formalisation of Micro Food processing Enterprises (PMFME) scheme, which was launched under the Aatmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan completed one year of its launch on 29th June, 2021.

i.PMFME is a centrally sponsored scheme, which aims to enhance the competitiveness of existing individual micro-enterprises in the unorganized segment of the food processing industry, promote formalization of the sector, and support Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs), Self Help Groups (SHGs) and Producers Cooperatives along their entire value chain.

ii.It was launched with an outlay of INR 10,000 crore over a period of 5 years from 2020-21 to 2024-25.

iii.Under the scheme, 2,00,000 micro food processing units will be directly assisted with credit linked subsidy.

INS Kiltan Conducted Military Exercise with South Korean ship in East China Sea

Indian Navy’s indigenous ASW (Anti-submarine warfare) Corvette INS (Indian Naval Ship) Kiltan conducted a Navy Partnership Exercise in East China Sea with Republic of Korea Navy Ship (ROKS) Gyeongnam, a Daegu-class frigate.

• This military exercise is aimed at enhancing interoperability and exchange of best practices in the maritime domain.

• It was also conducted due to China’s growing assertiveness in the region.

PM Modi Inaugurated Zen Garden, Kaizen Academy at AMA, Ahmedabad

Narendra Modi, Prime Minister(PM) of India, virtually inaugurated a Zen Garden and Kaizen Academy at Ahmedabad Management Association (AMA) in Ahmedabad, Gujarat to display the bond between India and Japan.

The Zen Garden and the Kaizen Academy is a symbol of spontaneity and modernity of relation between Indian and Japan.

• The leaders of the Hyogo Prefecture, Governor Toshizo Ido and Hyogo International Association has played a major role in establishing the Zen Garden and Kaizen Academy at AMA.

• Kaizen is currently used in various departments, institutions and schemes of the Central Government.

Ashgabat, Turkmenistan becomes World’s Most Expensive City, Mumbai Ranked 78th: Mercer Survey 2021

According to Mercer’s 2021 Cost of Living City Rankings – Ashgabat, the capital of Turkmenistan has become the world’s most expensive city for foreign workers (Expatriates) followed by Hong Kong, Hong Kong (SAR) & Beirut, Lebanon. Mumbai, Maharashtra was ranked at 78, making it India’s most expensive city for expatriates (a fall of 18 places compared to 60th rank in 2020 Mercer Survey).

• The rankings are based on Mercer’s 27th annual Cost of Living Survey.

• Around 209 cities across 5 continents have been ranked in the survey. New York City, which was ranked 14th on the list, was used as the base city for the survey.

India ranked 20th in Global Startup Ecosystem Index 2021, US Tops

StartupBlink released the Global Startup Ecosystem Index 2021, which ranks countries & cities depending on the Startup Environment. In the country-wise ranking, India with a score of 8.833 was ranked 20th out of 100 countries. The United States (US) topped the index followed by the United Kingdom (UK) & Israel.

i.In the City-wise ranking – San Francisco Bay, USA topped the ranking followed by New York, USA & Beijing, China. A total of 1000 cities were ranked in the index.

• Bengaluru, Karnataka was the highest ranked Indian City at 10 (up from 14 in 2020). Overall 43 Indian cities featured in the list, out of which 9 were new.

ii.India was ranked 23rd in the Global Startup Ecosystem Index 2020.

Global Startup Ecosystem Index

i.The Global Startup Ecosystem Index by Startup Blink has been updated annually since 2017.

ii.It ranks cities & countries based on 3 parameters – Quantity (number of startups, number of accelerators etc), Quality (number of unicorns, number of employees per start-up etc) & Business Environment (Internet speed and freedom, research and development investment etc).

New International Cricket Stadium in Jharkhand by SAIL-BSL

The Jharkhand State Cricket Association (JSCA) has inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with SAIL Bokaro Steel Plant (BSL), for the construction of an International Cricket Stadium in Bokaro city,Jharkhand.

• Bokaro will become the third city in Jharkhand to have an International Cricket Stadium after Jamshedpur and Ranchi.

• Bokaro Steel Plant will transfer 20.17 acres of its land to JSCA for 33 years, for the construction of Stadium.

• The proposed stadium will also be the first stadium to be constructed in SAIL township.