Daily Current Affairs and GK | 14 and 15 February 2021

Topic: Important Days

1. National Women’s Day (Birth anniversary of Sarojini Naidu): 13 February

• Every year 13 February is celebrated as the National Women’s Day in India. The day is celebrated to mark the birth anniversary of Sarojini Naidu.
• International Women’s Day is celebrated every year on 8 March.
• Sarojini Naidu:
  • She was born on 13 February 1879 in Hyderabad.
  • She is known as the nightingale of India.
  • She was the first woman governor of India. She became governor of the United Provinces (now Uttar Pradesh) in 1947.
  • She was the first Indian woman President of the Indian National Congress. She presided over the 1925 Kanpur session of INC.
  • She was a follower of Mahatma Gandhi.
  • Some of her notable works:
    • The Broken Wing: Songs of Love, Death and the Spring
    • The Gift of India
    • Muhammad Jinnah: An Ambassador of Unity
    • The Sceptred Flute: Songs of India
    • Allahabad: Kitabistan
    • The Indian Weavers

Topic: Books and Authors

2. Jual Oram launched book “Turn Around India: 2020- Surmounting Past Legacy”.

• Jual Oram, the chairperson of Standing Committee on Defence, launched the book “Turn Around India: 2020- Surmounting Past Legacy”.
• The author of this book is R P Gupta.
• The book suggests options for reviving the Indian economy for creating new jobs and also structural reforms for dealing with economic crisis arising due to COVID-19 pandemic.

Topic: National News

3. PM launched Rs. 6100 crore worth projects in Kerala.

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched several key development projects worth 6,100 crore rupees at Kochi in Kerala.
• PM also launched India's first full-fledged international cruise terminal, Sagarika and Marine Engineering Training Institute of Cochin Shipyard Ltd.
• He also unveiled the Propylene Derivative Petrochemical Project of Bharat Petroleum Corporation at Kochi.
• He launched a Ro-Ro service at Willingdon Islands in Kochi and laid the foundation stone of Cochin Port Trust's South Coal Berth. Ro-Ro service will help in reducing the congestion and transportation cost.
• Kerala:
  • It was formed on 1 November 1956.
  • It is known as the Spice Garden of India.
  • It shares its border with Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.
  • Pinarayi Vijayan is the Chief Minister and Arif Mohammad Khan is the Governor of Kerala.
  • It is the most literate state in India, with a 96.2% literacy rate.
  • It has 20 Lok Sabha seats and 9 Rajya Sabha seats.

Topic: National News

4. PM unveiled several development projects worth 8000 crores in Tamil Nadu.

• Prime Minister unveiled and laid the foundation stone of several development projects worth over 8000 crore rupees at Chennai in Tamil Nadu.
• He also handed over indigenously developed Arjun Main Battle Tank (MK-1A) to the Army.
• He laid the foundation stone for the extension, renovation and modernization of the Anicut Canal System. It will improve irrigation facilities in the Thanjavur and Pudukkottai districts.
• PM appreciated farmers of Tamil Nadu for the record food grain production and wise use of water resources.
• He also inaugurated Phase-I extension part of Chennai Metro Rail. It will connect North Chennai to Airport and Central Railway Station. He also inaugurated the fourth line between Chennai Beach and Attipattu.
• He laid the foundation stone for the Discovery Campus of IIT Madras and inaugurated the Railway Electrification of single line section in Villupuram - Cuddalore - Mayiladuthurai - Thanjavur and Mayiladuthurai-Thiruvarur.
• Arjun Main Battle Tank (MK-1A): It has been indigenously designed and manufactured by the Defence Research and Development Organisation. It is an upgraded version of Arjun Main Battle Tank. DRDO, in collaboration with Combat Vehicles Research and Development Establishment (CVRDE), had started the Arjun Main Battle Tank project in 1972

Topic: National News

5. “Hunar Haat” will be organised by the Ministry of Minority Affairs on 20^th February.

• Ministry of Minority Affairs will organize “Hunar Haat” at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi from 20th February to 1st March 2021. It will be inaugurated by the Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.
• It will be the 26^th edition of “Hunar Haat”, whose theme will be “Vocal for Local”.
• It is organised by the government to promote indigenous products of artisans and craftsmen.
• The government will give employment to 7.5 lakh artisans and craftsmen through 75 “Hunar Haat” till the completion of 75 years of India’s Independence.  

(Source: PIB)

Topic: Art and Culture

6. 11^th Rashtriya Sanskriti Mahotsav inaugurated at Cooch Behar.

• The 11^th edition of Rashtriya Sanskriti Mahotsav has been inaugurated at Cooch Behar in West Bengal on 14^th February 2021.
• It has been inaugurated by the Governor of West Bengal Shri Jagdeep Dhankhar and Minister of State for Culture and Tourism, Prahlad Singh Patel.
• Rashtriya Sanskriti Mahotsav is organised by the Ministry of Culture since 2015. It helps in connecting people to their indigenous culture.  
• It has been organised under the goal of “Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat” initiative to showcase the rich cultural heritage of the country.
• It is scheduled to be held from 14 to 28 February, 2021 at Cooch Behar (14th to 16th February, 2021), Darjeeling (22nd to 24th February, 2021) and Murshidabad (27th to 28th February, 2021).  

(Source: Ministry of Culture)

Topic: Appointments

7. Justice Puligoru Venkata Sanjay Kumar appointed as Chief Justice of Manipur High Court.

• President has appointed Justice Puligoru Venkata Sanjay Kumar as the Chief Justice of Manipur High Court.
• He had started his practice in Andhra Pradesh High Court as an Advocate in 1988. Later, he was appointed as Additional Judge of the Andhra Pradesh High Court in 2008.
• Chief Justice of High Court:
  • Appointment: The President appoints the Chief Justice of the High Court after consultation with the Chief Justice of India and the governor of the state.
  • Tenure: A Chief Justice of High Court holds the office until he completes the age of 62 years.
  • Qualification:
    • He should be a citizen of India.
    • He should have held a judicial office in India’s territory for ten years or have been an advocate of a high court for ten years.
  • Oath: The oath is administered by the governor of the state or Lieutenant Governor in Union Territories or a person appointed by the President.

Topic: Awards and Prizes

8. Ministry of Tribal Affairs received Award of Appreciation in 18th CSI SIG E-Governance Awards 2020.

• The Ministry of Tribal Affairs has won the Award of Appreciation in the 18th CSI SIG E-Governance Awards 2020.
• This award has been given for the performance dashboard initiative. The dashboard provides real-time information about the 11 schemes of the Ministry. It also gives detail about the implementation of schemes.
• Ministry of Tribal Affairs has been a pioneer in implementing the e-governance initiative.
• Recently, the Ministry of Tribal Affairs has won the SKOCH Challenger Award for its “Best Performance in eGovernance”. It has won 5 SKOCH awards for different projects.
• CSI SIG E-Governance Awards:
  • It is given by the Computer Society of India at State, Department, District and Project level in the field of e-Governance.
  • These awards are conducted by the CSI-SIGegov.
• Computer Society of India: It was launched in 1965. It is a body of computer professionals in India.

(Source: PIB)

Topic: National News

9. Union Minister Mahendra Nath Pandey chaired an inauguration function related to SANKALP initiative.

• The Union Minister of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship chaired an inauguration ceremony of ‘Transforming skilling through strategic partnerships under SANKALP’ and Mahatma Gandhi National Fellowship (MGNF).
• SANKALP (Skills Acquisition and Knowledge Awareness for Livelihood Promotion):
  • It is a World Bank-supported programme for strengthening district skill administration and the District Skill Committees.
  • It will support the Training of Trainer (ToT) system in the Public-Private-Partnership (PPP) mode, which is a collaborative approach between industries and the technical and vocational education and training (TVET) ecosystem.
  • A ‘Cluster Approach’ has been adopted to implement this project. TVET trainers are trained in domain Knowledge, pedagogical skills and industrial experience.
  • An academic partnership between IIMs, IITs, GIZ-IGVET, KILA has been established under the SANKALP scheme for skill development.
  • Awards for Excellence in District Skill Development Planning (DSDP Awards) had been established under SANKALP in 2018.
• Mahatma Gandhi National Fellowship:
  • It is a Certificate Program in Public Policy and Management offered by IIMs. It has been designed at the initiative of the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE).
  • MSDE has collaborated with the Kerala Institute of Local Administration (KILA) for capacity building programmes.
  • It has now been extended to all over the country and more IIMs are added for this project.
• On this occasion, “Skill training on Gender Sensitisation and Prevention of Sexual Harassment (POSH) at the workplace” projects were also launched.

Topic: Reports and Indices/Rankings

10. Google was top mobile publisher all over the world in January 2021. 

• Google was the top mobile publisher all over the world in January 2021, as per the report by Sensor Tower, a market insights provider for the global app economy.
• Google was also a top mobile publisher all over the world in December 2020. Facebook occupied the second position in the list of the top five most installed mobile publishers all over the world in January 2021.
• Voodoo, AppLovin, and Crazy Labs were also present in the list of the top five most installed mobile publishers all over the world in January 2021.
• The most downloaded non-gaming app all over the world in January 2021 was Telegram. India accounted for the largest number of downloads of Telegram.
• TikTok was the second most downloaded non-gaming app all over the world in January 2021. In December 2020, TikTok was the most downloaded app.
• Signal, Facebook, and WhatsApp were also included in the top five most downloaded non-gaming apps worldwide in January 2021.

Topic: Reports and Indices/Rankings

11. India accounts for 11% of global deaths in road accidents as per the World Bank report.

• India accounts for 11% of global deaths in road accidents, as per the World Bank report released by Union Minister Nitin Gadkari on 13 February 2021.
• World Bank report is titled as “Traffic Crash Injuries And Disabilities: The Burden on India Society”.
• Often the poor, especially male road-users of working-age, form the category of vulnerable road users (VRUs) in India as per the report.
• As per the report, India’s share (11%) of global deaths due to road accidents is the highest. India has only 1% of the world’s vehicles.
• The report says that 53 road crashes occur every hour in India and one person is killed every 4 minutes due to the road crashes in India.
• As per a study by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, the cost of road crashes stands at 3.14% of GDP.
• The 2019 World Bank report estimates the cost of road crashes and serious injuries at 7.5% of India’s GDP for 2016.
• Guide for Road Safety Opportunities and Challenges: Low- and Middle-Income Countries Country Profiles is the title of this report.
• As per World Bank, the road crash fatality rate is three times higher in low-income countries than in high-income countries.