Daily Current Affairs 29 December 2020 – 7 January 2021 With Video Lecture

Giant Rock Bee Honey added to Tribes India Collection

• Apis dorsata, the giant honeybee, is a honeybee of South and Southeast Asia.
• They are typically around 17–20 mm long. Nests are mainly built-in exposed places far off the ground, like on tree limbs, under cliff overhangs, and sometimes on buildings.
• Giant Rock Bee Honey, a unique variant of honey is sourced from Malayali Tribes of Tamil Nadu.

About Tribes India

• TRIBES India is the brand under which the sourced handcrafted products from the tribal people are sold. There are 120 TRIBES India outlets across the country, making it a sustainable and reliable brand.

    “From Our Home to your Home” campaign

• It had been launched 8 weeks back by TRIFED under Ministry of Tribal Affairs in order to source as many effective, natural, and attractive products from diverse indigenous tribes across the country so that these can reach a wide variety of audience.
• Key among the products this week are the natural, fresh, organic produce from the Malayali tribes of Tamil Nadu, such as Giant Rock Bee Honey, honey, variants of millet rice, tamarind and black pepper.

Virat Kohli won ICC Male Cricketer of Decade Award, MS Dhoni picked up Spirit of Cricket Award

• Two Awards were bagged by Kohli – ICC ODI Men’s Cricketer of the Decade and ICC Male Cricketer of the Decade.
• MS Dhoni won the ICC Spirit of Cricket Award of the Decade.
• Having hit more than 20,000 runs in the qualification period, Virat Kohli also won the Sir Garfield Sobers ICC Male Cricketer of the Decade Award. For his prolific record in 50-over format.
• The Indian cricket captain pipped former skipper MS Dhoni, Ravichandran Ashwin, Joe Root and Steve Smith, among others to win the award.
• He smashed 66 hundreds and 94 fifties during the period.
• Australia batsman Steve Smith was named as the Test player of the decade.

US President signed Tibetan Policy and Support Act

• The US Congress had approved of the omnibus spending bill.
• This legislation sends a powerful message of hope and justice to the Tibetans inside Tibet and bolsters US support for the protection of Tibetan people’s religious freedom, human rights, environmental rights and exile Tibetan democracy like never.
• The bill calls upon the Secretary of State to not authorise any new Chinese consulate in the US.
• The TPSA makes it official United States policy that decisions regarding the reincarnation of the Dalai Lama are exclusively within the authority of the current Dalai Lama, Tibetan Buddhist leaders and the Tibetan people. There can be no interference by China on that front.
• The TPSA also has safety provisions for the environment of Tibet, which stands at peril because of the actions of the Chinese government.

International Blue Flag hoisted at 8 beaches across the Country

• Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Shri Prakash Javadekar virtually hoisted these.
• Blue Flag certification is a globally recognised eco-label accorded by “Foundation for Environment Education in Denmark” based on 33 stringent criteria.
• India started its journey by launching its beach cleaning campaign – “I Am Saving My Beach”.
• 100 more such beaches will be made Blue Flag in coming 3-4 years.
• Kappad (Kerala)
• Shivrajpur (Gujarat)
• Ghoghla (Diu)
• Kasarkod (Karnataka)
• Padubidri (Karnataka)
• Rushikonda (Andhra Pradesh)
• Golden (Odisha)
• Radhanagar (Andaman & Nicobar Islands).

India’s first pollinator park inaugurated in Haldwani

• The country’s first pollinator park with over 40 species of butterflies, honeybees, birds and insects has been developed over four acres at Nainital’s Haldwani in Uttarakhand.
• The objective behind developing the park is to conserve various pollinator species, create awareness among people in general about the importance of conservation of these species.
• Many pollinator species are in decline due to a loss in feeding and nesting habitats, pollution, overuse of pesticides and insecticides, disease, and changes in climatic patterns, are contributing to shrinking and shifting of pollinator populations, thereby endangering our food security.
• It is the country’s first Pollinator Park spread over 4 acres.

Google Pay will now offer FASTag in partnership with ICICI Bank

• Google Pay users can recharge their FASTag on the app but purchasing one directly from the Google app is not possible currently.
• ICICI Bank the first bank to join hands with Google Pay for the issuance of FASTag.
• This collaboration will help Google Pay users to apply for a new FASTag and get it delivered free of cost at their doorstep.
• The government has made January 1, 2021 as the new date for mandatorily adding FASTags to vehicles.
• This will also add competition for Paytm, which currently issues FASTags from the app as well and is quite a popular choice for many customers.

“TiHAN” – IIT Hyderabad – India’s first Test bed for Autonomous Navigation Systems

• Department of Science and Technology (DST) under the National Mission on Interdisciplinary Cyber-Physical Systems (NM-ICPS), Govt. of India has sanctioned this prestigious Technology Innovation Hub to IIT Hyderabad.
• TiHAN means “Technology Innovation Hub on Autonomous Navigation and Data Acquisition Systems” which is India’s first Test bed for Autonomous Navigation Systems (Terrestrial and Aerial).
• Union Minister of Education Shri. Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank has laid foundation stone of this.
• The Government of India has sanctioned Rs. 135 crores to IIT Hyderabad under the National Mission on Interdisciplinary Cyber-Physical Systems (NM-ICPS).

SBI introducing Positive Pay System 

• In a bid to check banking fraud, the Reserve Bank of India had decided to introduce the ”positive pay system” for cheque under which re-confirmation of key details may be needed for payments beyond ₹ 50,000.
• National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) shall develop the facility of Positive Pay in CTS and make it available to participant banks.
• Positive Pay System shall be implemented from January 01, 2021.
• The concept of Positive Pay involves a process of reconfirming key details of large value cheques.
• Under this process, the issuer of the cheque submits electronically, through channels like SMS, mobile app, internet banking, ATM, etc., certain minimum details of that cheque (like date, name of the beneficiary / payee, amount, etc.) to the drawee bank, details of which are cross checked with the presented cheque by CTS.

South Korea’s ‘artificial sun’ breaks world record

• Referred to as Korea’s “artificial sun”, the KSTAR, a superconducting fusion device, uses magnetic fields to produce and stabilize super-hot plasma, with the end goal of making nuclear fusion power a reality, which is possibly a limitless source of clean energy that could revamp the way we power our lives, given we can get it to work as intended.
• The KSTAR was able to achieve a temperature of over 6.6 times more than that of Sun’s.
• It achieved the same temperature in 2018 too, but only for one and a half seconds (now 2).
• No one has been able to sustain plasma nearly as hot as this for a long period of time.
• The KSTAR, placed at the Korean Institute of Fusion Energy (KFE), is a joint research project with Seoul National University (SNU) and Columbia University of the US, which achieved this milestone on November 24.
• KFE, according to the report, aims to achieve fusion ignition for 300 seconds at a time by 2025. The institute achieved its first fusion in 2008.

E-Committee of Supreme Court bags the Platinum Award for Excellence in Digital Governance

• It was conferred by the President of India.
• E-Courts project was visioned and implemented by the e-Committee.
• Supreme court of India along with Department of Justice and NIC is a Mission Mode Project of Government of India.
• The committee consists of
• Patron-in-Chief: Mr. Justice Sharad Arvind Bobde, Chief Justice of India;
• Chairperson: Dr. Justice Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud, Supreme Court Judge;
• Vice-Chairperson: Mr. Justice R.C. Chavan, Former Judge, Bombay High Court
• And four members.

Indian satellite “SD Sat” to carry names of common people in space

• This is to create awareness, generate curiosity and to get more people fascinated about space science.
• SD Sat is a 3U cube satellite named after the former Chairman and one of the founding fathers of the Indian space programme Professor Satish Dhawan. It is being launched by the PSLV-C51 rocket.
• The satellites would be primarily using frequency-shift keying (FSK) to transmit data back to earth, LoRa would be the secondary.
• Experimenting with LoRa would help them study the feasibility of using LoRa in ground communications for industrial purposes.
•  The satellite also tests the capabilities of LoRa technology in space which could be helpful for many applications in the future in short and M2M communication.

IFSCA becomes member of IOSCO

• The International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA) has become an Associate Member of the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO).
• The IOSCO is the international organization that brings together the world’s securities (financial) regulators.
• The membership of IOSCO would provide IFSCA the platform to exchange information at the global level and regional level on areas of common interests.
• The IOSCO platform would enable IFSCA to learn from the experiences.
• Financial Regulators in India:
• Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI)
• Reserve Bank of India (RBI)
• Ministry of Finance (MoF)
• Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MoCA)
• Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI)
• Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA)

PM laid foundation stone of the permanent campus of IIM Sambalpur

• The permanent campus of the IIM Sambalpur will not only showcase the culture and resources of Odisha but will also give it a global recognition in the field of management.
• The PM asked the students to align their career with the aspiration of the country. He also dwelled at length on the students’ role in making the local rise up to the global level.
• The Prime Minister urged students of IIM Sambalpur to help the local community of Odisha grow, by utilising the knowledge they gain at the institute. He urged the students to “turn local into global”.
• To turn local into global, IIM students need to find new and innovative solutions.
• The ceremony was also attended by Odisha Governor Ganeshi Lal, Union Ministers Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’, Dharmendra Pradhan, and Pratap Chandra Sarangi.

Swasth Vayu Non-invasive Ventilator developed by CSIR-NAL receives regulator nod

• It is a microcontroller based precise closed-loop adaptive control system with a built-in biocompatible “3D printed manifold and coupler” with HEPA filter (Highly Efficient Particulate Air Filter).  These unique features help to alleviate the fear of the virus spread.
• CSIR-NAL has commercialized this technology with six private companies and one of these companies (which is in the MSME category) has set up the production facilities for almost 300 units per week.
• It has features like CPAP, Bi-Timed, Spontaneous / AUTO modes with provision to connect Oxygen concentrator or Enrichment unit externally.
• The SwasthVayu has successfully conducted clinical trials at Command Hospital, Bangalore and Mysore Medical College & Research Institute, Mysore on 50 Covid-19 patients.

04 January – World Braille Day

• The day is celebrated to create awareness of the importance of Braille as a means of communication in the realization of human rights for the blind.
• Braille is the representation of alphabetic and numerical symbols using six dots. The dots represent the letters and numbers and mathematical, musical and scientific symbols as well.
• It is celebrated on January 4 because the day marks the birthday of Louis Braille, the creator of this writing system. He was born in France in 1809.
• The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has produced 4,050 braille materials on awareness and prevention of COVID-19.
• World Braille Day, celebrated since 2019, is observed to raise awareness of the importance of Braille as a means of communication in the full realization of the human rights for blind and partially sighted people.

40^th Indian Scientific Expedition to Antarctica

• Ministry of Earth science launched this under GoI.
• Ice class vessel MV Vasiliy Golovin has been deployed.
• The expedition will take a team of 40 members to Antarctica and return by April 2021.
• XL Indian Antarctica expedition has been Limited due to existing challenges of covid-19.
• The 40th Indian Scientific Expedition to Antarctica (ISEA) departed for the South Pole from Mormugao Port, Goa.
• India has two stations on the polar continent of Antarctica — Maitri and Bharati — which are being operated under the National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research (NCPOR), Union Ministry of Earth Sciences.

World’s largest floating solar energy project in India

• The project is to be constructed at Omkareshwar Dam on Narmada River. The project will begin its power generation by 2022 to 2023.
• The project is to have floating solar panels of 600 megawatts of power generation capacity. The electricity is to be generated in about two thousand hectares of water area by installing solar panels in the dam.
• Tender for the study of environmental and social impact of the project area is also being issued. Madhya Pradesh Power Management Company has agreed to purchase 400 MW power from the project.
• The project will have floating solar panels of 600 MW power generation capacity in the backwaters of Omkareshwar dam.

Prime Minister inaugurated the National Atomic Scale at the National Meteorology Conclave

• Atomic Time provides the exact speed at which the clock ticks. In technical words, it measures the actual length of a second. Atomic Clocks deviate only one second in up to 100 million years.
• The International System of Units (SI unit) defines one second (in atomic time) as the time taken by the Cesium-133 atom in the ground state to oscillate 9,192,631,770 times. In simple words, the atomic clocks count one second after the Cesium-133 atom has oscillated 9,192,631,770 times.
• With the newly inaugurated National Atomic Time, India has become self-reliant in measuring time within the range of nanosecond. It has now achieved the accuracy level of 2.8 Nanosecond matching the International Standard Time.
• Reaching an accuracy of 2.8 Nanoseconds in atomic time is of great help to ISRO. Atomic time pay huge role in cutting edge technology.
• It is calculated by taking weighted average of more than 300 atomic clocks. These clocks are located at more than sixty timing laboratories around the world.
• It is also called Astronomical time that refers to the Earth rotation.

Global Economic Prospects Report 2020

• According to the report the Indian economy is to contract by 9.6% in 2020-21. 
• The Indian economy is to recover 5.4% in 2021-22. 
• The contraction in Indian economy will be mainly due to sharp decline in household spending and private investment.
• World economy is to expand by 4% in 2021.
• The services and manufacturing sector are gaining Momentum.
• In India, the pandemic hit the economy at a time when growth was already decelerating.

 U.S. Congress passes ‘Malala Yousafzai Scholarship Act’

• The bill requires the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to award at least 50% of scholarships under a Pakistan-based higher education scholarship programme to Pakistani women, from 2020 to 2022, across a range of academic disciplines and in accordance with existing eligibility criteria.
• The bill also requires USAID to consult with and leverage investments by the Pakistani private sector and diaspora in the US to improve access to education programmes in Pak.
• Malala shared the Nobel Peace Prize with Indian children’s rights activist Kailash Satyarthi for her “struggle against the suppression of children and young people and for the right of all children to education”.
• Since 2010, the USAID has awarded more than 6,000 scholarships for young women to receive higher education in Pakistan. The bill expands this programme.

QUICK REVIEW

1. From which state Giant Rock Bee Honey, a Unique Variant of Honey Sourced?
2. Tamil Nadu
3. Sikkim
4. Gujarat
5. Goa

ANSWER: A

• Who has won ICC Male Cricketer of Decade Award?
• MS Dhoni
• Virat Kohli
• Rashid Khan
• Steven Smith

ANSWER: B

• India has launched which campaign for its beach cleaning?
• My Beach My Water
• India’s Beaches – Life source for Exotics
• I Am Saving My Beach
• We Must Save Our Beaches

ANSWER: C

• India’s first pollinator park has inaugurated in which state?
• Uttarakhand
• Sikkim
• Gujarat
• Goa

ANSWER: A

• Which bank has collaborated with Google Pay to offer FASTag recharging services?
• HDFC Bank
• ICICI Bank
• SBI Bank
• YES bank

ANSWER: B

• India’s first Test bed for Autonomous Navigation Systems is to set up in?
• Mumbai
• Bangalore
• Kolkata
• Hyderabad

ANSWER: D

• Which bank has introduced its Positive Pay System to make Cheque payment secure?
• Dena Bank
• HDFC Bank
• YES Bank
• State Bank of India

ANSWER: D

• Which among these has became a member of International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) recently?
• Industrial Development Bank of India (IDBI)
• International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA)
• World Trade Organization (WTO)
• TCL Technology

ANSWER: B

• According to the report the Indian economy is to contract by how much percent in 2020-21?
• 9.6%
• 9.8%
• 6.6%
• 6.8%

ANSWER: A

1. Prime Minister inaugurated the National Atomic Scale at?
2. National Meteorology Conclave
3. National Education Conclave
4. National Solar Power Conclave
5. National Metrology Conclave

ANSWER: A

1. World’s largest floating solar energy project in India is going to be constructed on Omkareshwar Dam. This dam is located on which river?
2. Tapti
3. Gomti
4. Narmada
5. Godavari

ANSWER: C

                                                 QUESTION OF THE DAY

        How many countries are there in European Union?

1. 25
2. 27
3. 39
4. 34