Daily Current Affairs and GK | 10 February 2021

Topic: Space and IT

1. Tianwen-1 probe has sent back first image of Mars.

• China’s Tianwen-1 probe has sent back its first picture of Mars.
• China had launched a mars mission named Tianwen-1 on 23 July 2020. It comprises a lander, orbiter and rover.
• Tianwen-1 main objective is to conduct a survey of the planet and collect information about its geological structures, surface characteristics, and climate.
• The image has been taken from 2.2 million kilometers from Mars. The image shows the geological feature of the surface of Mars.
• Tianwen-1 is China’s first independent interplanetary mission. It is expected to land on Mars on 10 February 2021.
• USSR was the first country to carry out a Mars landing in 1971, followed by US. India is the first country to reach Mars in its first attempt.
• UAE’s Mars mission ‘Hope Probe’ had also been launched in July 2020.

Topic: Reports and Indices

2. Five Indian business schools are in the top 100 of FT Global MBA ranking 2021.

• In the FT Global MBA ranking 2021, five Indian business schools have found a place in the top 100 MBA colleges.
• According to the FT Global MBA ranking 2021, the Indian School of Business is the best institute in India. It has been placed on the 23^rd spot.
• IIM Bangalore has been placed in 35^th position, IIM Calcutta in 44^th position, IIM Ahmedabad in 48^th position and IIM Indore is in 94^th position.
• INSEAD and London Business School are on the first and second spot in the FT Global MBA ranking 2021.
• The ranking is based on the various factors such as salary drawn by the alumni after three years of graduation, quality of research, value for money, etc. 

Topic: Sports

3. Steve Smith bagged his third Allan Border Medal.

• Former Australian Captain, Steve Smith, has won the Allan Border Medal. It is his third Allan Border Medal.
• He has been awarded for his performance in all three formats of the game.
• Beth Mooney has been conferred with the Belinda Clarke Award 2021. It is her first Belinda Clarke Award.
• She has received the award for her contribution to Australian women’s cricket.
• In 2020, David Warner had won the Allan Border Medal and Ellyse Perry had won the Belinda Clarke Award.
• Australian Cricket Awards:

Topic: Government Schemes and Initiatives

4. Government launched a new scheme for formation and Promotion of Farmer Producer Organizations.

• A new Scheme titled “Formation and Promotion of 10,000 Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs)” has been launched by the Ministry of Agriculture.
• The main objective of this scheme is to help small and marginal farmers through Farmer Producer Organizations. It will help them in accessing new technology, credit, and markets for improving the productivity of their produce.
• It will help in the government vision of ‘Doubling of Farmer’s Income’ by 2022. It will help in generating employment and strengthen the rural economy.
• Features of the scheme:
  • Under this scheme, 10,000 new FPOs will be formed over five years.
  • The formation and promotion of FPOs will be done through nine implementing agencies.
  • The Cluster Based Business Organizations, with the help of implementing agencies, will promote the FPOs.
  • NAFED, with the help of other implementing agencies, will provide market and value chain linkages to FPOs.
  • A National Project Management Agency will be set up for overall project guidance, coordination and data maintenance.
  • Each FPOs will receive financial assistance of Rs 18.00 lakh for a period of 3 years. A credit guarantee facility of Rs 2 crore will also be provided to every FPOs.
  • A District Level Monitoring Committee will be set up to coordinate and monitor the scheme in the district.  
  • Training will be provided to FPOs through different training institutes of India.

Topic: Sports

5. Rishabh Pant won the ICC Men’s Player of the Month for January 2021

• India wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant has won the ICC Men’s Player of the Month award for January 2021. He has received the award for his performances in the two Tests against Australia.
• South African cricketer Shabnim Ismail has won the ICC Women’s Player of the Month  for January 2021.
• ICC Player of the Month awards is given to recognize the best performances of both male and female cricketers across all forms of international cricket.

Topic: State News/ Uttar Pradesh

6. A 16-digit Unicode will identify the landholding in Uttar Pradesh.

• Uttar Pradesh government has launched a system of issuing 16-digit unique code for all kinds of landholding in the state.
• This 16-digit code will be issued by the revenue department of the state for all kinds of agricultural, residential and commercial land.
• The first six digits of the code will be based on the population of the land and the next four-digits will provide a unique code to the land. The next four-digits from 11 to 14 will determine the number of the division of the land. The last two digits will be based on the category of the land.
• It will help resolve the issues of fake registration of land and reduce the land dispute cases in the state.
• Uttar Pradesh:
  • It is the most populous state in India and ranks 4^th in terms of area after Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra.
  • The Chief Minister of the state is Yogi Adityanath and Governor is Anandiben Patel.
  • Dinesh Sharma and Keshav Prasad Maurya are Deputy CMs.

Topic: Appointments

7. Basarvaraj Horatti elected as Chairman of Karnataka Legislative Council.

• JDS MLC Basavaraj Horatti has been elected as Chairman of Karnataka Legislative Council. He belongs to the Bharatiya Janata Party. He has defeated Congress candidate Naseer Ahmed.
• M K Pranesh was elected as the Deputy Chairman of the Council in January 2021.
• Karnataka’s upper house has a strength of 75 members.
• At present, six states of India have a legislative council. These states are- Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Maharashtra, Karnataka.
• Legislative Council:
  • Article 169 of the Constitution of India deals with the Abolition or creation of Legislative Councils in States.
  • According to Article 171, the Legislative Council of a state shall not have more than one-third of the total strength of the State Assembly, and not less than 40 members.
  • The members of the Legislative Council are either nominated by the Governor of the state or are indirectly elected.
  • The Chairman of the Legislative Council is elected among its members. He acts as a presiding officer of the Council.
  • The members of the Legislative Council are elected for six years.

Topic: National News

8. First ever Mahila Jan Sunwai Programme has been organised by NCW in association with J&K government.

• The National Commission for Women (NCW), in association with the Social Welfare Department of Jammu & Kashmir, has organised the first-ever Mahila Jan Sunwai Programme in Jammu.
• Chairman of NCW Rekha Sharma has chaired the Jan Sunwai programme.
• In this Programme, cases related to women were disposed and Chairman collected information about the problems faced by the women.
• National Women Commission:
  • It is the statutory body that usually advises the government on all policy matters affecting women.
  • It was formed in 1992.
  • Its headquarters is located in New Delhi.
  • The chairperson of the National Commission for Women is Rekha Sharma.

Topic: Infrastructure and Energy

9. South Korea signs an agreement to build world’s largest offshore wind farm.

• South Korea has signed a 48 trillion won ($43 billion) agreement to build world’s largest offshore wind farm near Sinan in its southwest.
• After signing the deal, the Government of South Korea announced that it intends to build the world’s largest offshore wind farm by 2030. It will have a maximum capacity of 8.2 gigawatts.
• As per President of South Korea, Moon Jae-in, this offshore wind farm will be bigger than the world’s current largest offshore wind farm.
• President of South Korea, Moon Jae-in, last year announced the goal of achieving carbon neutrality (net zero carbon dioxide emissions) by 2050.
• South Korea aims to become one of the world’s top five offshore wind energy powerhouses by 2030. It also aims to reduce the number of nuclear power plants from 24 to 17 by 2034.
• Sinan is a county (administrative division) in Jeonnam or South Jeolla province of South Korea. Won (South Korean won) is the official currency of South Korea.
• Hornsea 1 in the UK is the world’s largest offshore wind farm as of January 2020. It has a capacity of 1.12 GW. 

Topic: Sports

10. Drass Red wins 13^th CEC Cup Ice Hockey Championship.

• Drass Red has won the 13^th CEC Cup Ice Hockey Championship. Drass Red has beaten the Chiktan team in the finals.
• Shakar Chiktan Team has won the first Women CEC Ice Hockey Cup 2021. Shakar Chiktan team has defeated Wakha Mulbekh Team in the final match.
• In the 13th CEC Cup Ice Hockey Championship, 32 Men teams and 5 Women Teams have participated.
• Ice hockey:
  • It is a sport that is played by two teams on the ice. Each team has six players.   
  • The Ice Hockey Association of India is the governing body of ice hockey in India.

Topic: Awards and Prizes

11. Bodo film Sijou won 4 awards at Golden Sparrow International Film Festival 2021.

• Bodo film ‘Sijou’ has bagged four awards at the Golden Sparrow International Film Festival 2021.
• The film has won “Best Director”, “Best Debut Filmmaker”, “Best Screenplay Writer”, and “Special jury award,” in Indian feature film Category.
• This film is written and directed by Vishal P. Chaliha. The film will be released by the end of 2021.
• Golden Sparrow International Film Festival 2021 has been organised in Tamil Nadu.

Topic: Awards and Prizes

12. Rajiv Gandhi International Airport and Indira Gandhi International Airport received ACI Voice of Customer award.

• Rajiv Gandhi International Airport and Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) have received the ACI (Airports Council International) ‘Voice of Customer’ award.
• The award has been given for their efforts in improving the Customer service.
• Both airports had adopted new measures for the safe travel of passengers after the COVID-19 Pandemic.
• Indira Gandhi International Airport has installed XOVIS Passenger Tracking System to maintain social distancing at the airport.
• Rajiv Gandhi International Airport had launched a paperless e-boarding facility and ‘Air Suvidha’ portal for international passengers.
• Earlier, both airports had received the ACI’s Airport Service Quality (ASQ) Departures Awards 2019.
• Airports Council International (ACI): It was established in 1991. It is a global trade representative of the world’s airport authorities.    

Topic: MoUs/ Agreements

13. A MoU signed between India and Afghanistan for the construction of Shahtoot Dam.

• On 9 February 2021,India and Afghanistan have signed an MoU for the construction of Shahtoot dam near Kabul.
• The dam will provide drinking water facility to the people living in Kabul.
• India has committed to rebuild Afghanistan through development of $80 million worth of projects.
• PM Modi cited the “civilizational connect” between India and Afghanistan and assured long term commitment for peaceful and stable Afghanistan.
• Lalandar/Shahtoot Dam:
  • It will be built on the Kabul river basin.
  • The project is a part of the New Development Partnership between India and Afghanistan.
  • It is the second major dam being constructed by India in Afghanistan after Salma Dam.
  • Salma Dam, India-Afghanistan friendship dam, was inaugurated in June 2016.

(Source: News on AIR)

Topic: Government Schemes and Initiatives

14. Institutional deliveries have increased under the Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY).

• Minister of State (Health and Family Welfare), Ashwini Kumar Choubey has replied in Rajya Sabha that the institutional deliveries have increased under the Janani Suraksha Yojana.
• Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY):
  • It is a safe motherhood intervention under the National Rural Health Mission.
  • It was launched on 12 April 2005.
  • It is a 100% centrally sponsored scheme that aims to reduce maternal and infant mortality rate by promoting institutional delivery.
  • Government provides cash assistance to the pregnant women for giving birth in a government or accredited private health facility, irrespective of the age of the mother and number of children.
  • It focuses mainly on poor pregnant women (especially belonging to SC, ST and BPL households) in states like Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Assam, Rajasthan, Odisha, and Jammu and Kashmir. These states have low institutional delivery rates.
  • Women health volunteers, ASHA, are given performance based incentives under the scheme for promoting institutional delivery.

(Source: PIB)

Topic: Banking/Financial Schemes

15. RBI publishes annual report of its Ombudsman Schemes for 2019-20.

• RBI published the annual report of its Ombudsman Schemes for 2019-20 on 08 February 2021.
• As per the report, the receipts of complaints under three Ombudsman Schemes has seen an increase of nearly 65%.
• The complaints received by the offices of Banking Ombudsman were mainly related to ATM/Debit Cards and Mobile/Electronic banking.
• Complaints received by Digital Transactions Ombudsmen were mainly about fund transfer.
• In its Monetary Policy Statement on 5 February, RBI had announced that it would integrate three Ombudsman Schemes and launch Integrated Ombudsman Scheme in June 2021.
• RBI’s Ombudsman Schemes for grievance redressal:
  • The three Ombudsman Schemes are - Banking Ombudsman Scheme of 2006, Ombudsman Scheme for Non-Banking Financial Companies of 2018 and Ombudsman Scheme for Digital Transactions 2019.
  • RBI had notified Banking Ombudsman Scheme for the first time in 1995. RBI administers Banking Ombudsman Scheme through 22 offices of Banking Ombudsman. All states and UTS are covered under the scheme.  

(Source: News on AIR)