Daily Current Affairs and GK | 10 March 2021

Topic: Art and Culture

1. President Inaugurated conservation works of Singorgarh Fort in Madhya Pradesh.

• President inaugurated the conservation works of the Singorgarh Fort in Damoh district of Madhya Pradesh.
• He also inaugurated Jabalpur Circle of Archaeological Survey of India and addressed the State Level Tribal Conference in Damoh.
• On this occasion, President also launched the portal for virtual classes for tribal artists and a booklet of the Tribal Department was also released.
• President also gave Shankar Shah and Rani Durgavati awards to tribal students.
• The Program was organised by the Ministry of Culture and the Tribal Affairs Department of Madhya Pradesh.
• Singorgarh Fort:
  • It is located in the Damoh district of Madhya Pradesh.
  • It was a residence of Rajgond rulers of Central India. It was conquered by Gond ruler Sangram Shah in the 16^th century.
  • It was attacked during the last war of the Garha Kingdom dynasty, under the rule of Rani Durgavati.

(Source: PIB)

Topic: Personality in News

2. Former Rajasthan Governor Anshuman Singh passed away.

• Former Rajasthan Governor Anshuman Singh has passed away at the age of 86 years.
• Anshuman Singh was the Governor of Rajasthan from January 1999 to May 2003.
• He was appointed as a judge of the Allahabad high court in 1984 and later, he also served as Chief Justice of the Rajasthan High Court.
• Governor:
  • All matters related to the Governor are described under Article 153 to Article 162 of the Constitution of India.
  • Governor is the constitutional head of state and works only on the advice of the Council of Ministers.
  • The Governor of a state is appointed by the President.

Topic: Sports

3. Ravichandran Ashwin becomes ICC men’s Player for the Month of February.

• Ravichandran Ashwin has become ICC men’s Player for the Month of February for his performance against England in a four-match Test Series.
• India won the Test Series to qualify for World Test Championship final. England’s Tammy Beaumont was named women’s Player of the Month.
• Ashwin scored 106 in the second innings of India’s second Test victory over England at Chennai. In the third Test victory at Ahmedabad, Ashwin took his 400^th Test wicket. India won four- match Test Series by 3-1 margin.
• Ashwin scored 24 wickets against England last month to help his team secure its spot in World Test Championship final against New Zealand at Southampton in June.
• Ravichandran Ashwin plays for Tamil Nadu in domestic cricket. He plays for Delhi Capitals in Indian Premier League. He is a bawling all-rounder.

(Source: News on AIR)

Topic: State News/Uttar Pradesh

4. UP Government to launch campaign to prepare golden cards of Ayushman Bharat scheme.

• UP Government will launch a campaign to prepare the golden cards of the Ayushman Bharat scheme and it will be given to families who have not yet benefited from the scheme.
• The campaign will be launched all over the state with twin aims as given next.
  • Promote awareness about Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB PM-JAY) and its benefits.
  • Enable rural beneficiaries and beneficiaries in remote areas to get cashless healthcare worth Rs 5 lakh per family per year.
• The campaign will start from today and will continue till 24 March. Golden cards will be made at Panchayat offices, Anganwadi centres and primary schools.
• They will also be made at health and wellness centres, community health centres and PDS shops.
• Under the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana scheme, beneficiaries are required to show golden cards to avail benefits of scheme.

(Source: News on AIR)

Topic: Important Days

5. CISF Raising Day celebrated every year on 10 March.

• Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) Raising Day lies every year on 10 March and it is 52^nd CISF Raising Day this year.
• On 10 March 2019, the 50^th Raising Day of CISF was celebrated at Ghaziabad and PM Modi attended the celebrations. 
• Central Industrial Security Force (CISF):
  • It is one of the Central Armed Police Force in India. It was established on 10 March 1969 under an act of Parliament.
  • It works under the Ministry of Home Affairs. Currently, it provides protection to 300 industrial units, government infrastructure projects and establishments in India.
  • Its current Director-General is Subodh Kumar Jaiswal. Its headquarters is in New Delhi.
  • Its motto is protection and security.

Topic: Defense

6. DRDO achieves milestone in Air Independent Propulsion (AIP) System development.

• DRDO has achieved a milestone in Air Independent Propulsion (AIP) System development by successfully demonstrating a land-based prototype on 08 March 2021.
• Naval Materials Research Laboratory (NMRL) of DRDO is developing AIP System. Fuel cell-based AIP of NMRL is unique among various AIP systems being pursued internationally.
• AIP increases the lethality of a diesel-electric submarine manifold.  The technology has been successfully developed with the help of industry partners L&T and Thermax.
• DRDO also took part in ‘Bandhan’ ceremony at Aero India 2021 in Yelahanka, Bengaluru, on 5 February 2021.

(Source: PIB)

Topic: Banking System

7. SBI remains at top of the list of Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology’s Digital Payment Scorecard for three consecutive months.

• SBI is at the top of the list of the Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology’s Digital Payment Scorecard for three consecutive months.
• SBI recorded the highest UPI transaction volume. It recorded nearly 64 crores (640 million) UPI transactions despite having a user base of 13.5 crores.
• The number of UPI transactions processed by SBI through its digital platforms is 636 crore. It is about 67% of transactions of SBI’s total transaction volume.
• SBI’s market share by transaction volume of mobile banking is 25%. SBI’s digital platform YONO disbursed more than 10 lakh personal loans during April-December 2020.
• SBI is also the largest issuer of debit cards. SBI’s Payment Aggregator service SBIePay provides to digital payment needs of large merchants in the public sector.
• Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology’s Digital Payment Scorecard tracks the performance of commercial banks on different digital parameters.

Topic: State News/ Delhi

8. Delhi government presented Rs 69,000-crore ‘Deshbhakti Budget’.

• The Delhi government has presented Rs 69,000-crore budget for the financial year 2021-22.
• The Budget has been kept on the theme of “Deshbhakti” (patriotism) to pay tribute to freedom fighters.
• Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia has presented the Budget for the seventh consecutive time.
• Delhi Government has announced to celebrate 75 years of India’s Independence from March 12.
• Details of Budget:
  • In the Budget of FY 2021-22, Rs 16,377 crore has been allocated for the education sector and Rs 9,934 crore has been granted for the health sector.
  • Rs 50 crore has been allocated to Nishulk COVID Vaccine Yojana. Delhi government also announced to provide free Covid-19 vaccine in its hospital.
  • Delhi government has aimed to increase the per capita income of Delhi at par with Singapore by 2047.
  • Delhi government has also announced to open “Mahila Mohalla Clinics” at various locations.
  • More than 100 specialized schools of excellence and a virtual model school will also be set up in Delhi. The Budget also proposes to set up a Sainik school in Delhi.
  • The Budget of FY 2021-22 has allocated Rs 3,274 crore to the Delhi Jal Board.

Topic: Space and IT

9. ISRO, in collaboration with NASA, develop a Synthetic Aperture Radar for producing high-resolution images.

• The Indian Space Research Organisation, in partnership with NASA, has developed a Synthetic Aperture Radar for producing extremely high-resolution images. It has been developed for the earth observation satellite mission ‘NISAR’.
• The NASA-ISRO SAR (NISAR) is a joint earth observation satellite mission of India and US space agencies. It is the first satellite which is using dual-frequency L and S-band SAR for earth observation.
• NISAR will be launched in 2022 by ISRO’s Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre.
• NASA is providing the L-band synthetic aperture radar for the Mission, while ISRO is providing the S-band radar.
• In a three-year mission, NISAR will observe the Earth’s surface and snow-covered surfaces every 12 days. On average, it will take samples of the Earth every six days.
• It will provide real time high-resolution images of the Indian sub-continent. It will facilitate real-time images of India’s borders and help in monitoring natural disasters. 

Topic: Summits/ Conferences/ Meetings

10. Quad countries leaders will hold their first summit on March 12.

• The first-ever summit of the leaders of Quad countries will be organised on March 12 in a virtual mode.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and the President of US Joe Biden will participate in this summit.
• The leaders will discuss many issues in this meeting. The issues are listed below:
  • Contemporary challenges related to critical technologies, maritime security, and climate change
  • Efforts to combat the Covid-19 pandemic and to provide safe, equitable and affordable vaccine in the Indo-Pacific region
  • Areas of cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region
• Recently, the 3^rd edition of the Quad Ministerial meeting was held on 18 February 2021.
• The foreign ministers of the Quad nations had met in Tokyo on 6 October 2020.
• QUAD:
  • It was established in 2007.
  • Australia, India, Japan, and the United States are members of this forum.
  • It aims to establish an “Asian Arc of Democracy”, including the countries in Central Asia, Mongolia, the Korean peninsula, and other Southeast Asia countries.
  • Its main objective is to counter China in the Indo-Pacific region.

Topic: Polity

11. Trivendra Singh Rawat quits as Uttarakhand CM.

• Trivendra Singh Rawat has resigned as the Chief Minister of Uttarakhand. He has submitted his resignation to Governor Baby Rani Maurya.
• He was appointed as the Chief Minister of Uttarakhand in 2017. He was scheduled to complete his four years on 18 March.
• Narayan Dutt Tiwari is the only chief Minister of Uttarakhand who has completed his five years tenure.
• Sh. Tirath Singh Rawat has been declared as the new Chief Minister of the state.
• Chief Minister:
  • Chief Minister is the elected head of the government of a state.
  • Article 164 states that the Chief Minister shall be appointed by the Governor and the other ministers shall be appointed on the advice of the Chief Minister.
  • He advises the Governor regarding the appointment of other Ministers and decides the portfolios for them
  • Chief Minister of a state can give his resignation to the Governor.

(Source: News on AIR)