GK Snapshots on 23 October 2021

International Stuttering Awareness Day 2021 – October 22

International Stuttering Awareness Day(ISAD) is annually observed across the globe on October 22nd to create awareness about stuttering and spread the knowledge about stuttering and the stigma related to it.

The stuttering awareness campaign has used the sea green colour ribbon as the symbol since 2009.

ISAD online conference 2021:

i.The ISAD online conference 2021 (1st to 31st October 2021) marks the 24th ISAD online conference.

ii.The theme of ISAD online conference 2021 is “Speak the change you wish to see”.

Cabinet approval on October 21, 2021

On October 21, 2021, the Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi approved the following proposals and the information for the same was provided by Union Minister Anurag Singh Thakur, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) during a media briefing on the Cabinet decisions in New Delhi.

Approval to Rs 100 lakh cr Gati Shakti National Master Plan for infrastructure

The Union Cabinet cleared the ‘PM GatiShakti – National Master Plan (NMP) for Multi-Modal Connectivity’ to economic zones. This approval comes after a week when the PM launched Rs 100 Lakh cr Gati Shakti NMP for Infrastructure Development from New Delhi.

India’s Largest Green Hydrogen Plant to be built by GAIL

GAIL (Formerly known as Gas Authority of India Limited) is all set to build India’s largest green hydrogen-making plant of 10MW (Mega Watt) capacity in 12-14 months. The information for the same was provided by GAIL Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) Manoj Jain during the 5th India Energy Forum by CERAWeek in a hybrid format in New Delhi.

• This plant will supplement GAIL’s natural gas business with carbon-free fuel.

Key Points:

i.GAIL has finalised 2-3 sites for the hydrogen making unit including one at Vijaipur in Madhya Pradesh.

ii.The produced hydrogen will be sold to fertilizer units because, government has mandated to use hydrogen as fuel.

iii.NTPC (formerly National Thermal Power Corporation Limited) also announced a 5MW green hydrogen plant.

iv.Notably, to achieve the target of raising the share of natural gas to 15% by 2030 from current 6.2% by India, gas consumption has to rise three and half times to 600 million standard cubic meters per day.

Pakistan to remain on ‘Grey List’ of global terror financing watchdog FATF

The global terror financing watchdog Financial Action Task Force (FATF) retained Pakistan in the ‘Grey List’ until it signifies the actions being taken against Jamaat-ud-Dawah chief Hafiz Saeed and Jaish-e-Mohammed founder Masood Azhar who are listed as global terrorists by the United Nations (UN).It was announced at the fifth Plenary of the FATF under the German Presidency of Dr. Marcus Pleyer, that took place on 19-21 October.

• This decision has been taken during the virtual meeting of the FATF Plenary which was attended by delegates from 206 members of the Global Network and observer organizations including the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the UN and the Egmont Group of Financial Intelligence Units.

• FATF also added Jordan, Mali and Turkey in its grey list.

• Mauritius and Botswana have been removed from the Grey List.

-Indian Army Commemorates Haifa Day on September 23

i.Every year the Indian Army commemorates September 23 as the Haifa Day to pay respects to the three brave Indian Cavalry Regiments – Mysore, Hyderabad and Jodhpur Lancers – which helped to liberate Haifa.

ii.The EAM paid homage to the cemetery for Indian soldiers who died in the region during World War I in Talpiot, Jerusalem.

• Around 900 Indian soldiers were buried in cemeteries across Israel in Jerusalem, Ramle and Haifa.

-EAM Unveils Plaque

i.EAM visited the Indian Hospice in Jerusalem and unveiled a plaque at there to symbolise India’s age-old civilisational connection to the region.

• The government of India has been contributing to the maintenance of Indian Hospice since 1960.

• The Plaque depicts – ‘Indian Hospice, Estd. 12th century A.D., supported by Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India, New Delhi’

ii.EAM also unveiled the ‘Bhoodan Grove’ plaque at the Jerusalem Forest.

-EAM Visited Israel’s Ovda Airbase to Meet the IAF at Blue Flag 2021

i.EAM S. Jaishankar visited Israel’s Ovda Airbase to meet the Indian contingent participating in the biennial exercise Blue Flag 2021, which involves Air Force missions from 8 countries, to share knowledge and combat experience to improve operational capabilities.

ii.About Blue Flag 2021:

• A total of 84 Indian Air Force (IAF) personnel were taking part in the Blue Flag 2021 international exercise along with IAF’s Mirage 2000 aircraft squadron.

• The other nations participating in the exercise include the US, UK, Germany, France, Italy, Greece and Israel.

• The 2-week exercise was started on October 17, 2021 and will conclude on October 28, 2021.

KMBL Ties-up with Pine Labs to Expand Point-of-Sale Services
Kotak Mahindra Bank Limited (KMBL) partnered with Pine Labs to expand its merchant acquiring and Point of Sale (PoS) services to more merchants and retailers.

Key points:
i.Through the tie-up, merchants in India will be able to get the advantage of KMBL’s PoS payment solutions along with Pine Labs’ technology stack to help grow their business.
ii.Due to increased demand for cashless payments, the PoS terminals in India have increased to around 4.7 million in August 2021 (before demonetisation PoS terminals were about 13 lakh).
iii.Pine Labs is a merchant commerce platform that provides B2C (Business to Customers) facilities such as innovative payment products, Pay Later offering, loyalty programmes, stored value solutions, and other value-added services. iv.The network of Pine Labs is spread over 245,000 merchants across Asia and the Middle East.
 

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