Daily Current Affairs and GK | 15 September 2021

Topic: Appointments

1. Justice M. Venugopal appointed as Acting Chairperson of NCLAT.

• Justice M Venugopal has been appointed as the acting Chairperson of the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT). He has assumed office from 11 September, 2021.
• He is the third acting chairperson of NCLAT after the retirement of permanent Chairperson Justice S. J Mukhopadhaya on March 14, 2020.
• Justice Bansi Lal Bhat was appointed as the acting chairperson on March 15, 2020, after that Justice A I S Cheema was appointed on April 19, 2021.
• Justice M Venugopal is a former judge of the High Court of Madras. He was appointed as a Judicial Member of the NCLAT on October 23, 2019.

Topic: Biotechnology and Diseases

2. Britain begins world's largest blood test campaign to detect 50 types of cancer.

• The National Health Service of Britain has started the world's biggest campaign of Galleri blood tests to detect 50 types of cancer before symptoms appear.
• Earlier diagnosis of cancers can save the lives of many patients. NHS will recruit 1.4 Lakh volunteers for this project.
• National Health Service will do the blood test of the 50 and 77 age group people.
• Lung cancer is the most common cause of cancer death in the United Kingdom. Breast cancers account for 45% of the United Kingdom's cancer deaths.
• At present, the Galleri test is available in the US and it can spot cancers that are not routinely screened.
• Cancer is the uncontrolled growth of abnormal cells anywhere in a body. It is the second leading cause of death globally. Chemotherapy is used in the treatment of Cancer.

Topic: Awards and Prizes

3. ICRISAT wins Africa Food Prize 2021 for Tropical Legumes Project.

• International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) has won Africa Food Prize 2021 for Tropical Legumes Project that has improved food security across 13 countries in sub-Saharan Africa.
• The institute was awarded at Africa Forum for Green Revolution 2021 Summit in Nairobi.
• ICRISAT director-general, Dr Jacqueline d’Arros Hughes, accepted the award virtually. The award carries US $1, 00,000 prize money.
• Between 2007 and 2019, ICRISAT had led the collaboration of partners to deliver the Tropical Legumes Project.
• The project developed 266 improved legume varieties and almost half a million tons seed for legume crops such as cowpeas, pigeon peas, chickpea, common bean, groundnut, and soybean.
• These new varieties have helped over 25 million smallholder farmers in both Africa and Asia in becoming more resilient to climate change, as well as pest and disease outbreaks.
• The project has been implemented in Burkina Faso, Ghana, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zimbabwe.
• International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) is headquartered at Patancheru on the outskirts of Hyderabad.

Topic: MoUs/Agreements

4. Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers welfare signs 5 MoUs with private companies.

• Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers welfare has signed 5 MoUs for pilot projects with CISCO, Ninjacart, Jio Platforms Limited, ITC Limited and NCDEX e-Markets Limited (NeML).
• On the basis of these pilot projects, farmers will be able to make informed decisions about the varieties of seeds to use and the methods to be adopted for maximum yield. MOUs were signed for taking forward Digital Agriculture.
• Government has initiated a Digital agriculture mission for 2021 -2025 for projects based on new technologies like artificial intelligence, block chain, remote sensing and GIS technology, use of drones and robots etc.
• Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said that MOUs are aimed at increasing farmer’s income and protecting their produce.
• Shri Kailash Chaudhary, Union Minister of State for Agriculture and Ms. Shobha Karandlaje, Union Minister of State for Agriculture were also present on the occasion.

(Source: PIB)

Topic: State News/ Jammu Kashmir

5. LG Manoj Sinha launched ‘One Gram Panchayat-One DIGI-Pay Sakhi’ mission.

• Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha has launched ‘One Gram Panchayat-One DIGI-Pay Sakhi’ mission to promote digital banking and financial services in remote areas.
• The DIGI-Pay facility will be provided in 2000 remote villages. In the first phase, 80 women from Self Help Groups of Jammu and Kashmir have been selected as DIGI-Pay Sakhis.
• DIGI-Pay Sakhi help in the financial inclusion of Self Help Group (SHG) in the state.
• Under JKRLM, Lieutenant Governor also distributed 80 Aadhaar Enabled Payment Systems (AEPs) among the DIGI-Pay Sakhis.
• He also inaugurated a week-long training program for Krishi Sakhis and Pashu Sakhis on sustainable agriculture and livestock management.
• He said that the government has recently launched Digi-Pay, Krishi, and Pashu Sakhi programs for women empowerment.

Topic: Economy/Banking/Finance

6. India’s UPI and Singapore’s PayNow will be linked by July 2022.

• India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI) and Singapore’s PayNow will be linked by July 2022. This decision has been jointly taken by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS).
• This UPI-PayNow linkage will enable users to make instant fund transfer on a reciprocal basis.
• It is a significant step towards the development of infrastructure for cross-border payments between India and Singapore.
• This UPI-PayNow linkage is the effort of NPCI International Private Limited (NIPL) and Network for Electronic Transfers (NETS) to increase cross-border interoperability of payments between India and Singapore.
• PayNow is a payment system in Singapore that enables users to send and receive money instantly.

Topic: International News

7. India and UK will start negotiation on FTA by November 2021.

• India and UK have set a target to start negotiation on Free Trade Agreement (FTA) by November 2021.
• Both sides will try to reach an Interim Agreement by March 2022 and later try to sign the Comprehensive Agreement.
• FTA between India & UK will open new opportunities for business and generate jobs.
• The trade relationship has made substantial progress after both countries' Prime Ministers agreed upon the Enhanced Trade Partnership on 4th May 2021.
• Interim Trade Agreement will be the first step towards signing FTA. It will help both countries to strengthen bilateral trade ties.
• Both countries can also consider the signing of Mutual Recognition Agreements for services like nursing and architecture.

Topic: Important Days

8. Engineer’s Day: 15 September

• Engineer’s Day is celebrated every year on 15 September to commemorate the birth anniversary of India’s greatest engineer Sir M Vishweshvaraya.
• M Vishweshvaraya is remembered for his contribution to the field of engineering and education.

Topic: International News

9. India to hold the India-Africa Defence Dialogue in March 2022.

• India will hold the India-Africa Defence Dialogue in March next year. India has proposed to institutionalize it as a regular event to be held once every two years.
• The main aim of the dialogue is to strengthen defence ties between India and African Countries. It will also explore new opportunities for mutual engagements.
• The India-Africa Defence Dialogue will be organized under the theme of ‘India-Africa: Adopting Strategy for Synergizing and Strengthening Defence and Security Cooperation’.
• Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses will be the knowledge partner of the Dialogue. It will also provide support to enhance the defense cooperation between both sides.
• The first India-Africa Defence Ministers’ Conclave was held in Lucknow in February 2020.

Topic: State News/Uttar Pradesh

10. The foundation stone of Raja Mahendra Pratap Singh State University in Aligarh laid by PM Modi.

• The foundation stone of Raja Mahendra Pratap Singh State University in Aligarh was laid by PM Modi on 14 September.
• The University is being established by the State Government in total area of over 92 acres at village Lodha and village Musepur Kareem Jarouli of Aligarh’s Kol tehsil.
• The University is being set up in memory and honour of the great freedom fighter, educationist and social reformer, Raja Mahendra Pratap Singh.

Topic: Sports

11. Sri Lankan cricketer Lasith Malinga announces retirement from all forms of cricket.

• Sri Lankan cricketer Lasith Malinga has announced retirement from all forms of cricket.
• He had retired from Test cricket in 2011 and ODI cricket in July 2019 but was yet to quit from T20I. Now, he has announced retirement from T20I also.
• He was captain of Sri Lanka's 2014 T20I World Cup winning team. He last played a T20I match for Sri Lanka in March 2020 against West Indies in Pallekele.
• He took total 546 wickets across all formats for Sri Lanka. Malinga has played 122 IPL matches.
• He has 170 wickets to his credit, the highest in the IPL. He picked up 107 wickets in 84 T20 Internationals, 338 scalps in 226 ODIs and 101 wickets in 30 Tests.
• He was the first bowler to take 100 T20I wickets and finishes fourth in the highest wicket-taker category.
• He is the only bowler to bag four wickets off four successive balls in ODIs. He also picked up three hat-tricks in the ODI cricket.
• He is one of the two bowlers who have taken four wickets off four successive balls in T20Is. Afghanistan’s leg spinner Rashid Khan is the other one.
• He is also known as "Slinga Malinga". He is the only bowler in the world to have two World Cup hat-tricks. He holds the record for most hat-tricks in international cricket.
• Yorker King, Kagawena, Malinga the Slinga, Mali, Rathgama Express are his nicknames.

Topic: Reports and Indices

12. World Bank’s updated Groundswell report released on September 13.

• World Bank’s updated Groundswell report has been released on September 13.
• The updated Groundswell report says that climate change could force 216 million people across six world regions to move within their countries by 2050.
• It also says that hotspots of internal climate migration could emerge as early as 2030.
• As per the report, hotspots of internal climate migration could continue to spread and intensify by 2050.
• As per the report, immediate and concerted actions are required to reduce global emissions. It could lower the scale of climate migration by as much as 80 %.
• The report says that by 2050, sub-Saharan Africa could see as many as 86 million internal climate migrants.
• South Asia could see 40 million internal climate migrants by 2050. Eastern Europe and Central Asia could see five million internal climate migrants by 2050.

Topic: Space and IT

13. Skyroot Aerospace becomes first private company to formally enter into an agreement with ISRO.

• Skyroot Aerospace has become the first private company to formally enter into an agreement with ISRO to use its expertise and access its facilities.
• As per ISRO, the agreement will allow the company to use facilities at various ISRO centres and get technical expertise of ISRO for testing their space launch vehicle systems and subsystems.
• R Umamaheswaran, scientific secretary at ISRO and chairman at Interim IN-SPACe Committee and Pawan Chandana (CEO of Skyroot Aerospace) signed the agreement on 11 September.
• IN-SPACe is the authorisation and regulatory body to allow private players to undertake space activities in India. It is under the Department of Space.
• Skyroot Aerospace is a Hyderabad-based space technology startup founded by former ISRO scientists.
• It is building Vikram series of rockets to carry small satellites into space. It has already test fired its solid propulsion rocket engine named Kalam-5.
• Skyroot and other rocket startups such as Agnikul Cosmos and Bellatrix Aerospace are looking at the growing global opportunity to build rockets and launch small satellites from Indian soil.