DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS 24 September 2021
Parshuram Kund
- Shri G. Kishan Reddy lays the foundation stone for the development of Parshuram Kund in Arunachal Pradesh.
- The project “Development of Parasuram Kund, Lohit District Arunachal Pradesh” under the scheme was approved by the Ministry of Tourism with the cost of Rs 37.88 crores in January 2021.
- Parshuram Kund is a Hindu pilgrimage sites situated on the Brahmaputra plateau in the lower reaches of the Lohit River and 21 km north of Tezu in Lohit district of Arunachal Pradesh, India. Dedicated to sage Parshuram, the popular site attracts pilgrims from Nepal, from across India, and from nearby states of Manipur and Assam. Over 70,000 devotees and sadhus take a holy dip in its water each year on Makar Sankranti, in the month of January.
- The ‘National Mission on Pilgrimage Rejuvenation and Spiritual, Heritage Augmentation Drive’ (PRASHAD) is a Central Sector Scheme with complete financial assistance by the Government of India.
- The scheme is launched under the leadership of Prime Minister by the Ministry of Tourism in the year 2014-15 with the vision of focused infrastructure development to harness pilgrimage and heritage tourism destinations for its direct and multiplier effect upon employment generation and economic development.
- The scheme aimed at infrastructure development to envisage world class infrastructural development of the sites with special emphasis on Tourist Facilities including Tourist Facilitation Centers, way-side amenities Parking, Public convenience, Illumination and Sound and Light Shows.
Air Gun Surrender Campaign
- Appealing people to not hunt animals and birds, Shri Ashwini Kumar Choubey said that air gun surrender campaign will be launched across the country and retired forest workers, representatives of social organizations etc. will be roped in for the same.
- The Campaign is currently being run by Arunachal Pradesh Government.
- Air guns do not require any license. In such a situation, many people in our country hunt birds through air guns in every district and village. Due to this, the number of many birds is rapidly decreasing.
GeM Bags Prestigious CIPS Award
- Government e Marketplace (GeM) was announced as the winner in the “Best Use of Digital Technology” category at the CIPS Excellence in Procurement Awards 2021 (CIPS Awards).
- GeM emerged the winner in this category after competing with some of the biggest and best names in procurement across the public and private sector globally, including GEP, Jaguar Land Rover, Royal Dutch Shell, Vendigital and Shell.
- GeM was shortlisted as a finalist in two additional categories as well, i.e., ‘Public Procurement Project of the Year’ and ‘Best Initiative to Build a Diverse Supply Base’ where it was in the august company of some path-breaking organizations with great initiatives.
- The award was received on behalf of GeM by Shri Rohit Vadhwana, First Secretary (Economic), High Commission of India, in the UK at a ceremony held London yesterday.
- The CIPS Awards are one of the leading recognitions around procurement globally, which is conducted under the aegis of The Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply (CIPS), London. CIPS is a global not-for-profit organisation and professional body dedicated to promoting good practices in procurement and supply management, with a community across 150 countries.
PMJAY Completes Three Years
- Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana was launched on 23rd Sept 2018.
- It aims to provide free access to health insurance coverage for low-income earners in the country.
- Roughly, the bottom 50% of the country qualifies for this scheme.
- When anyone needs additional care, then PM-JAY provides free secondary health care for those needing specialist treatment and tertiary health care for those requiring hospitalization.
India-UAE Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA)
- India and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) formally launched negotiations on the India-UAE Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA).
- The UAE is currently India’s third-largest trading partner with bilateral trade in 2019-2020 valued at USD 59 billion.
- Looking to build on the progress made by both countries under the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership signed in 2017, both countries expressed a desire to reach a mutually beneficial economic deal.
- It is a kind of free trade pact which covers negotiation on the trade in services and investment, and other areas of economic partnership. It may even consider negotiation on areas such as trade facilitation and customs cooperation, competition, and Intellectual Property Rights.
- India has signed CEPAs with South Korea and Japan.
Surya Kiran XV
- The armies of India and Nepal have started the 15th edition of joint military exercise ‘Surya Kiran’ at Pithoragarh in the Indian state of Uttarakhand.
- The main objective of this biannual exercise is to:
- Establish military relations in inaccessible mountainous areas by the soldiers of both countries,
- Provide humanitarian assistance under disaster management etc.
- Get training in anti-terrorist operations,
- Build interoperability and sharing expertise between the two countries.
Patent fee for Educational Institutions reduced by 80%
- In yet another significant push towards Mission Atmanirbhar Bharat, benefits related to 80 percent reduced fee for patent filing and prosecution have been extended to educational institutions as well. Centre has notified the amendments to the Patents Rules in this regard.
- To encourage greater participation of the educations institutions, official fees payable by them in respect of various acts under the Patents Rules, 2003, have been reduced by way of the Patents (Amendment) Rules, 2021, which came into effect on 21st of September.
- In order to create a conducive environment for innovation, Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade has been working towards promoting greater collaboration between industry and academia. This can be achieved by facilitating commercialization of research undertaken in educational institutions.
AIIMS ‘Robotic lab’ to Multiply Testing Capacity 50-fold
- All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) has made a “robotic lab” which has a capacity to conduct over ‘two lakh general tests’ in one day.
- At present, the lab is conducting 3000-4000 tests in a single day, but the smart lab has the capacity to do approximately 8000 tests per hour which basically takes the per day count to 2 lakh.
- The smart lab has been providing high-quality diagnostics in reduced time and provides the reports swiftly. At present, the smart lab is conducting over 270 advanced tests and some of them are free of cost for the patients.
REVIEW QUESTIONS
- Parshuram Kund is situated on the lower reaches of the
- Kosi
- Lohit
- Cauvery
- Krishna
ANSWER: B
- Which of the following festival is celebrated at Parashuram Kund
- Dasara
- Sankranti
- Holi
- Deepavali
ANSWER: B
- Parashurama is _____ incarnation of Vishnu.
- 4th
- 5th
- 6th
- 7th
ANSWER: C
- Vamana is _____ incarnation of Vishnu.
- 4th
- 5th
- 6th
- 7th
ANSWER: B
- HQ of The Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply (CIPS) is located at
- Bristol
- Edinburg
- Northamptonshire
- Nottingham
ANSWER: C
- The PMJAY was launched in 2018 commemorating ______.
- Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya
- Deen Dayal Upadhyay
- Shyama Prasad Mukherjee
- V D Savarkar
ANSWER: B
- PM-JAY was first launched on 23 September 2018 at
- Ranchi
- Hyderabad
- Patna
- Varanasi
ANSWER: A
- All India Institute of Medical Sciences New Delhi was established in
- 1956
- 1967
- 1978
- 1985
ANSWER: A
- _______was India’s first health minister.
- Babu Jagjivan Ram
- Amrit Kaur
- Vijay Lakshmi Pandit
- Sarojini Naidu
ANSWER: B
- Global Hunger Index is annually released by______.
- World Health Organization (WHO)
- Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)
- World Hunger Aid
- United Nations World Food Programme (WFP)
ANSWER: B
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