Daily Current Affairs and GK | 12 January 2021

Topic: National News

1. Arunachal Pradesh could become India’s major producer of Vanadium.

• Geological Survey of India has found the presence of Vanadium in Arunachal Pradesh. It could be the first primary deposit of Vanadium in India.
• The concentration has been found in the Depo and Tamang areas of Papum Pare district in Arunachal Pradesh.
• Vanadium metal is produced as a by-product from the slag collected from the processing of vanadiferous magnetite ores.
• India is one of the primary consumers of Vanadium metal. It consumes around 4% of the total Vanadium produced across the world.
• China is the largest producer of Vanadium, followed by Russia and South Africa.
• Vanadium:
  • It is a hard, silvery-grey, malleable transition metal.
  • It is used in improving the tensile strength of steel and titanium.
  • It is durable in extreme temperature and is corrosion-resistant.

Topic: Banking System

2. RBI will implement Legal Entity Identifier (LEI) system to track large value transactions.

• RBI has announced the introduction of legal entity identifiers system for all payment transactions of ₹50 crores and above through the Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) and National Electronic Funds Transfer (NEFT).
• The Legal Entity Identifier (LEI) system will become effective from 1 April.
• RBI has adopted this system to improve the quality and accuracy of financial data systems.
• Under this system, Banks have to include the information of remitter and beneficiary in the payment messages.
• It will also help Banks in the tracking of large transactions.
• Legal Entity Identifier:
  • It is a 20 digit unique number.
  • Its main objective is to help in identifying the legal entities involved in a financial transaction.
  • Legal Entity Identifier India Ltd. (LEIL) issue LEI under the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007 in India.

Topic: Defence

3. Indian Navy is coordinating 2^nd edition of biennial pan-India coastal defence exercise ‘Sea Vigil-21’.

• 2^nd edition of the biennial pan-India coastal defence exercise ‘Sea Vigil-21’ is being coordinated by Indian Navy on 12-13 January 2021. 
• Sea Vigil-21 is being carried out along the entire 7516 km coastline and Exclusive Economic Zone of India.
• 13 coastal States and Union Territories are involved in Sea Vigil-21. Other maritime stakeholders, including the fishing and coastal communities, are also taking part in Sea vigil-21.
• Indian Navy also conducts Theatre-level exercise TROPEX [Theatre-level Readiness Operational Exercise] every two years. 
• The exercise Sea Vigil was inaugurated in January 2019. It is carried out once in two years.  It is a pan-India coastal defence exercise.

(Source: News on AIR)

Topic: Important Days

4. National Youth Day: 12 January

• The birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda is celebrated every year as National Youth Day since 1985.
• In 1984, government announced 12^th January as National Youth Day. National Youth Festival is celebrated annually on National Youth Day (12 January).
• Swami Vivekananda founded Ramakrishna Mission in 1897. Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa was his guru. 
• Swami Vivekananda was born as Narendranath Datta in 1863. He is known for his Chicago speech of 1893. He died in 1902.

Topic: Environment and Ecology

5. Environment Ministry released Management Effectiveness Evaluation for 146 National Park and Wildlife Sanctuaries.

• The Ministry of Environment has released Management Effectiveness Evaluation (MEE) for 146 National Park and Wildlife Sanctuaries.
• The Protected Areas (PAs) in India comprises national parks, wildlife sanctuaries, and conservation and community reserves.
• India has a network of 903 protected areas, which accounts for 5% of the total geographical area of India.
• The Management Effectiveness Evaluation has been released to assess the strengths and weaknesses of the protected area management systems. MEE score for 2018-19 is 62.01%.
• Environment Ministry has also announced that the ten best National Parks, five Coastal and Marine parks and the top five zoos in the country will be ranked and awarded from this year.
• The Ministry of Environment has also launched the Management Effectiveness Evaluation of Indian Zoos (MEE-ZOO) framework. It will provide guidelines, criteria and indicators for the evaluation of Zoos in the country.
• Prakash Javadekar is the current Union Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.

(Source: News on AIR)

Topic: National news

6. ISRO will adopt 100 Atal Tinkering Labs to promote space education.

• ISRO has announced that it will adopt 100 Atal Tinkering Labs to promote education in the field of space education, science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) and space technology.
• This initiative has been started by the Atal Innovation Mission and NITI Aayog in collaboration with ISRO. Under this initiative, ISRO scientists will guide and mentor the young innovators from the field of STEM education and Space technology.
• ISRO will not only give theoretical knowledge but also give practical knowledge of STEM and Space Education related concepts.
• The main objective of this initiative is to promote innovation and entrepreneurship in the country.
• Niti Aayog had established around 7,000 Atal Tinkering Labs to promote innovation across the country. Atal Tinkering Labs are established under the Atal Innovation Mission.
• Earlier, ISRO had collaborated with Atal Innovation Mission for the Aatmanirbhar Bharat ARISE-ANIC Initiative.
• Atal Innovation Mission (AIM):
  • It was launched on 24 February 2016.
  • It is a flagship initiative of NITI Aayog set up to promote innovation and entrepreneurship.
  • Atal Tinkering Labs is a major initiative under Atal Innovation Mission to promote a creative, innovative mindset in schools.

Topic: Awards and Prizes

7. Indian Railways won 13 awards at the National Energy Conservation Awards 2020.

• India railways have bagged 13 awards in the three categories of National Energy Conservation Awards 2020.
• The ‘Western Railway’ got the first prize in the transport category while the Eastern Railway got the second prize.
• Divisional Railway Manager’s offices at Bhavnagar receive the first prize and the Divisional Railway Manager’s offices at Rajkot received the second prize in the Building Category.
• In the Railway workshops subcategory, Diesel Loco Shed, Vijayawada bagged the first prize while Kanchrapara Workshop, North 24 Parganas has received the second prize.
• Awards in Different categories:

• National Energy Conservation Awards: It was launched in 1991. It is given by the Bureau of Energy Efficiency and Ministry of Power for the efforts for energy conservation.

Topic: Defence

8. Pakistan successfully tested indigenously developed Multi-Launch Rocket System (MLRS).

• Pakistan has successfully test-fired the ‘Fatah-1’, a guided multi-launch rocket system.
• It has a maximum range of 140 km and is capable of hitting the target accurately.
• Multi-launch rocket system is a type of rocket artillery system that contains multiple launchers assembled on the same platform.
• Pakistan:
  • It is a country in South Asia.
  • It is bordered by India, Afghanistan, Iran, and China.
  • It has the world’s second-largest Muslim population.
  • Islamabad is the capital and Pakistani rupee is the currency of Pakistan.
  • Arif Alvi is the President and Imran Khan is the Prime Minister of Pakistan.
  • Parliament of Pakistan is known as Majlis-e-Shoora.

Topic: Miscellaneous

9. Saurav Ganguly became the brand ambassador of Classplus.

• Sourav Ganguly has become the brand ambassador of an Edtech startup Classplus.
• Classplus helps teachers and coaching institutes with a mobile app to take live classes, share study material with students, and grow their student base.
• Saurav Ganguly is the current BCCI President.
• He is also the brand ambassador of Bengal Peerless Housing Development Company Limited, and Adani Wilmar.

Topic: Banking System/Finance

10. Bandhan Bank signed an MoU with Indian army for Bandhan Bank Shaurya Salary Account.

• Bandhan Bank has signed an MoU with Indian army to work for Bandhan Bank Shaurya Salary Account.
• Serving personnel of Indian Army will be offered services under Bandhan Bank Shaurya Salary Account through Bandhan bank’s network of banking outlets.
• The Bandhan Bank Shaurya Salary Account will have following features.
  • Zero balance facility with 6% interest on balance above Rs.1 lakh
  • Unlimited free ATM transactions across ATMs
  • Waiver of annual charge on Shaurya Visa Platinum Debit Card
  • Unlimited free NEFT/RTGS/IMPS/DD transactions
  • Free personal accident insurance of Rs.30 lakh
  • Air accident cover of Rs.1 crore
• Free educational benefit of up to Rs.1 lakh per year for 4 years to a dependent child in case of accidental death of the account holder
• Bandhan Bank is a Kolkata based private sector bank. Dr. Anup Kumar Sinha is its current chairman. Chandra Shekhar Ghosh is its MD and CEO.
• It began as not-for-profit enterprise in 2001 and changed into NBFC later.
• In 2015, RBI gave a universal banking license to Bandhan Bank and it started operation in 2015.

Topic: International News

11.  Oman’s sultan, Haitham bin Tariq al-Said (Sultan Haitham in short) announced appointment of a crown prince for the first time.

• Oman’s sultan, Haitham bin Tariq al-Said (Sultan Haitham in short) has announced the appointment of a crown prince for the first time.
• Haitham bin Tariq al-Said had become Oman’s sultan after the death of Sultan Qaboos.
• Now, Sultan Haitham has issued a new basic law, which provides for the appointment of a crown prince. But, the new crown prince has not been named yet.
• The new basic law also does other changes in the governance of Oman.
• Oman:
  • It is a West Asian country located on the southeast side of the Arabian Peninsula.
  • The capital of Oman is Muscat and its currency is Omani Rial.