G.K.Snapshots on 2 September 2021

National Nutrition Week 2021 – 1st to 7th September

National Nutrition Week(NNW) has been annually observed across India in the first week of September since 1982. The day aims to create awareness about the benefits of eating a nutritious diet and the importance of nutrition in maintaining better health, which impacts national development.

• The theme of National Nutrition Week(NNW) 2021 is ‘feeding smart right from start’.

• The National Nutrition Week(NNW) 2021 is observed from 1st to 7th September 2021.

Background:

i.The National Nutrition Week (NNW) was initiated in 1982 as a Mass Awareness Campaign by the Food and Nutrition Board under the Ministry of Women and Child Development(MWCD), Government of India.

ii.The first NNW was observed from 1st to 7th September 1982.

First-ever International Day for People of African Descent – 31st August 2021

The United Nations(UN)’s first-ever International Day for the people of African Descent was observed across the globe on 31st August 2021. The day aims to promote the contributions of the African diaspora across the globe and to eliminate all forms of discrimination against the descents of Africans.

Significance of 31st August:

i.31st August marks the end date of the first International Convention of the Negro Peoples of the World 1920.

ii.The convention resulted in the Declaration of Rights of the Negro Peoples of the World.

African Descents across the globe:

i.Latin America houses more than 134 million people of African heritage

ii.The report of the UN economic commission for the region, ECLAC, states that the people of African heritage suffer from poverty, lack of access to basic services and inequality.

Efforts to Protect the Rights of African Descent:

i.Durban Declaration and Programme of Action adopted at the World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance held in 2001 in Durban, South Africa requested the commission on human rights to

• Establish a working group or other mechanism of the United Nations to study the problems of racial discrimination faced by people of African descent

• make proposals for the elimination of racial discrimination against people of African descent.

Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent was established in 2002.

Bangladeshi Vaccine Scientist Firdausi Qadri and 4 Others Awarded for Ramon Magsaysay Award 2021

Bangladeshi scientist Firdausi Qadri, who developed a cheap oral vaccine against cholera won the Ramon Magsaysay award 2021 which is also called Asia’s Nobel Prize. Along with her, the other recipients received the award for the year 2021.

2021 other awardees are:

• Muhammad Amjad Saqib (Pakistan) – for helping people through social entrepreneurship.

• Steven Muncy (Southeast Asia) – for extending humanitarian and peace-building efforts across borders.

• Filipino fisher and community environmentalist Roberto Ballon from philippines.

• Watchdoc Indonesia (Indonesia) – for emergent leadership and for using journalism and filmmaking to give voice to the people.

NTPC-Ramagundam won the CII Energy Leader Award-2021

The National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC), Ramagundam (Telangana) won the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) Energy Leader Award-2021 at the 22nd National Award Ceremony for Excellence in Energy Management 2021 hosted by the CII.

• The awards were presented during the virtual CII energy summit held between 25th to 27th August 2021.

• This is the 3rd consecutive year for NTPC Ramagundam unit to win this top award in power category. It is also the only station of NTPC to win this award.

• NTPC-Ramagundam received the prestigious award for its exemplary performance and contribution in the area of energy efficiency and environment protection and implementation of energy management system as per ISO 50001 standards.

Alar Karis Elected as the President of Estonia

Alar Karis, Director of the Estonian National Museum has been elected as the 5th President of Estonia. He will be succeeding Kersti Kaljulaid, the first female president of Estonia. He will assume office on 11th October 2021.

• He won the second voting by securing 72 out of the 101 votes of the Parliament.

• He was the only presidential candidate in both rounds.

India virtually hosted 8th meeting of Agriculture Experts of BIMSTEC countries 2021

On August 31, 2021, India virtually hosted the 8th Meeting of Agriculture Experts of Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) Countries 2021 Krishi Bhawan, New Delhi.

• The meeting was chaired by Dr Trilochan Mohapatra, Director General (DG) of Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and Secretary (Department of Agricultural Research-DARE).

• It was co-chaired by Thanda Kyi, Deputy Director General, Department of Planning, Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation, Myanmar.

Key Points:
i.The discussions were held on the transformations that are happening in the agriculture and food systems globally.

• The cooperation in the areas of high impact transboundary diseases of livestock and poultry; aquatic animal diseases and biosecurity in aquaculture and digitalization to promote precision farming was also discussed in the meeting.

ii.Agricultural Experts from member countries favoured the strengthening of cooperation in the in agriculture and allied sectors for food and nutritional security.
iii.It should be noted that India offers six slots of scholarships each for Master and PhD programmes in agriculture and its other initiatives for capacity development and training.
iv.The UN (United Nations) Food System Summit 2021 was also highlighted during the meeting which will be held virtually during the UN General Assembly (UNGA) in New York, United States (US) on September 23, 2021.

Rajasthan Govt nominates Shooter Avani Lakhera as Brand Ambassador for ‘Beti Bachao and Beti Padhao’ Project

The government of Rajasthan nominated Gold Medalist of Tokyo Paralympics, shooter Avani Lakhera as the brand ambassador of the ‘Beti Bachao and Beti Padhao’ project under the Department of Woman and Child Development.

• Avani Lakhera is 19 years old and belongs to Jaipur, Rajasthan.She survived from spinal cord injury.

• She became the first Indian woman to secure gold medal in 10m Rifle (Class SH-1)at games and also made a world record equalling total of 249.6 points which is a new paralympic record.

• She along with Devendra Jhajharia and Sundar Gurjar, who won medals in Tokyo Paralympic Games, have been appointed by the State Government as Assistant Conservator of Forests in the Forest Department on out-of-turn basis.

Goa becomes 1st Indian state to give Free Water upto 16k lts to People

On August 31, 2021, the Chief Minister (CM) of Goa Pramod Sawant has launched ‘Save Water to Get Free Water’ scheme under which state households will not be charged for water consumption up to 16,000 litres. With this move, Goa becomes the first Indian state to supply water free of cost to its citizens w.e.f. September 1, 2021.
Key Points:
i.With this scheme, 60% of the households will get zero bills. Those living in flats or complexes will be able to utilise the scheme as water consumption of one meter will be divided among the total number of flats in the complex.
ii.Small businesses and restaurants will be billed as per commercial rates instead of industrial rates in order to take them under the benefits of the scheme.

iii.The state government also extended the one-time settlement scheme (OTS) for water bill defaulters by two months.

Ladakh Declared Snow leopard, Black-necked crane as its State Animal and Bird

The government of Union Territory (UT) of Ladakh has declared ‘Snow leopard’ (Panthera uncia) as its state animal and ‘Black-necked crane’ (Grus nigricollis) as its state bird.

Key Points:

i.Earlier (prior to the administrative division) Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) had the Black-necked crane and Kashmir stag (Hangul) as its state bird and animal.

ii.The black-necked crane is found in eastern Ladakh, whereas the Hangul is in Kashmir.

iii.Hence, after the bifurcation into 2 separate administrations, the black-necked crane was now declared as the state bird of Ladakh.

• As per the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019, the central government has bifurcated the state J&K into 2 UTs viz, J&K and Ladakh.

Delhi Tops Forbes India’s List of World’s Most Surveilled Cities

Delhi tops the the Forbers India Report on the Most Surveilld Cities in the World with 1,826.6 CCTV cameras per square(sq) mile. Delhi is followed by London with 1,138 and Chennai with 609.9 CCTV Cameras per sq miles in 2nd and 3rd spot respectively. Mumbai, Maharashtra has secured 18th spot with 157.4 cameras per sq miles.

Dubai gets Ain Dubai, World’s largest & Tallest Observation Wheel

The World’s largest and tallest observation wheel named ‘Ain Dubai’ is set to be opened in Dubai, United Arab Emirates(UAE) on 21st October 2021. The ain Dubai is located at Bluewaters Island. Hyundai Engineering & Construction and Starneth Engineering were the primary design and construction contractors of Ain Dubai. The Ain Dubai is around 2 times taller than the London Eye, which will take the visitors to a hight of 250 meters.

South African Cricketer Dale Steyn Retires from All forms of Cricket

South African Cricketer & Right-arm fast bowler, Dale Willem Steyn has announced his retirement from all forms of Cricket (ODIs, T20Is) at the age of 38. He had retired from Test cricket in 2019.

• The Right arm bowler has played 93 Tests, picking 439 wickets at an average of 22.95. Steyn ranks 8th in the all-time list of Wicket-takers in Test cricket.

• In One Day Internationals (ODIs), he has played 125 ODIs, picking 196 wickets & 47 Twenty20 Internationals (T20Is) by taking 64 wickets.

• Steyn has played for Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) & Gujarat Lions in the Indian Premier League (IPL)

• He was born in June 1983 in Phalaborwa, South Africa.

Princepal Singh Becomes 1st Indian to be a Part of NBA Championship Roster

Princepal Singh Bajwa from Punjab became the first Indian to be part of an NBA title winning team (at any level of the NBA) when his team Sacramento Kings won the 2021 NBA Summer League in Las Vegas in United States against the Boston Celtics.

• He signed a professional contract with NBA G League Ignite and became the 1st NBA Academy global alumni to sign a G League Contract and 1st ever NBA Academy India alumni to sign a professional contract.

• The win made the Sacramento Kings the only franchise to win multiple summer league titles.

NSO: India’s GDP in Q1 FY22 Grow by 20.1%; Fiscal Deficit in April-July 2021 Reached 21.3% of BE

As per the data of the National Statistical Office (NSO), Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI), India’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the first quarter of financial year 2021-22 (Q1 FY22) (i.e. April to June 2021) grew by 20.1 percent as compared to a contraction of 24.4 (-24.4) percent in Q1 FY21.

Key Points:

i.GDP Estimation in Q1 FY22:

• GDP at Constant Prices (2011-12): It is estimated at Rs 32.38 lakh crore in Q1 FY22, as against Rs 26.95 lakh crore in Q1 FY21 (a growth of 20.1 percent). • GDP at Current Prices: It is estimated to be Rs 51.23 lakh crore in Q1 FY22, as against Rs 38.89 lakh crore in Q1 FY21 (a growth of 31.7 percent as compared to a contraction of 22.3 percent in Q1 FY21).

ii.GVA at Basic Price Estimation in Q1 FY22:
• Gross Value Added (GVA) at Constant Prices: It is estimated at Rs 30.48 lakh crore, as against Rs 25.66 lakh crore in Q1 of FY21 (a growth of 18.8 percent).
• GVA at Current Prices: It is estimated at Rs 46.20 lakh crore as against Rs 36.53 lakh crore in Q1 FY21 (growth of 26.5 percent).

iii.Pre Pandemic Level Comparison: The GDP growth in Q1 FY22 was 9.2 percent lower than in the Q1 FY20 (i.e. Prior to COVID-19 level) and the overall GVA in Q1 FY22 was 7.8 percent lower than the Q1 FY20.
• It shows that the economy has still not recovered to the FY20 level.

iv.The Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing sector grew by 4.5 percent in Q1 FY22 from 3.5 percent in Q1 FY21.

Fiscal Deficit in April-July 2021 Reached 21.3% of Estimation

As per data released by the Controller General of Accounts (CGA), India’s fiscal deficit during April – July 2021 (i.e. the 1st 4 months of FY22) stood at Rs 3.21 lakh crore or 21.3 percent of the budget estimate (BE) at the end of July 2021.

• The fiscal deficit for FY22 was estimated by the centre at Rs 15.07 lakh crore.