Daily Current Affairs and GK | 16 April 2021

Topic: Important Days

1. World Art Day: 15 April

• World Art Day is observed every year on 15 April.
• It was proclaimed at the 40^th session of UNESCO’s General Conference in 2019.
• The day is celebrated to create awareness about the diversity of artistic expressions and highlight the contribution of artists to sustainable development.
• It is also celebrated as the birth anniversary of Leonardo Da Vinci. He was a famous painter, sculptor, architect of Italy.
• UNESCO celebrates this day in association with the International Association of Art.

Topic: Important Days

2. Himachal Day: 15 April

• Himachal Day is observed annually on 15 April. It is observed to celebrate the formation of Himachal Pradesh as the 18^th State of India.
• Himachal Pradesh became a Union Territory on 1 November 1956, and it became a state from Union Territory in 1971.
• This year Himachal Pradesh is celebrating the 50^th anniversary of its foundation day.
• Dr. Yashwant Singh Parma was the first Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh.
• Himachal Pradesh:
  • It is a North Indian state situated in the western Himalayas.
  • It shares a boundary with Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Punjab, Haryana, Uttarakhand, and Uttar Pradesh.
  • State capitals are Shimla (summer) and Dharamshala (winter).
  • Great Himalayan National Park, Pin Valley National Park, Khirganga National Park are located in Himachal Pradesh.
  • Nati is the most famous dance of Himachal Pradesh.
  • Governor is Bandaru Dattatrey and the Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh is Jai Ram Thakur
  • It is divided into 12 districts.

Topic: Government Schemes and Initiatives

3. EatSmart Cities Challenge and Transport 4 All Challenge launched by Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Singh Puri.

• ‘EatSmart Cities’ Challenge and ‘Transport 4 All’ Challenge have been launched by Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Singh Puri.
• The aim of the EatSmart Cities Challenge is to create an Environment of the Right Food Practices and Habits.
• EatSmart Cities Challenge is open to all Smart Cities, capital cities of States /UTs, and cities with a population of more than five lakh.
• Eleven cities will be selected at the end of the first phase of the EatSmart Cities Challenge.
• Transport 4 All Challenge aims to make Public Transport Safe, Affordable, Comfortable, and Reliable.
• It also aims to bring together cities, citizen groups, and start-ups to develop solutions that improve public transport to better serve the needs of all citizens.
• The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs launched the Transport 4 All challenge in collaboration with Institute for Transportation and Development (ITDP).
• The first edition of the Transport 4 All Challenge focuses on digital innovation.
• All the Smart Cities Mission cities, capitals of states and union territories, and all cities with a population of over 5 lakhs—are eligible for Transport 4 All Challenge.
• As part of the Transport 4 All Challenge, cities will be required to form a Transport4All Task Force (TTF).

(Source: News on AIR)

Topic: Committees/ Commissions/Taskforces

4. First meeting of National Startup Advisory Council chaired by Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal.

• First meeting of the National Startup Advisory Council was chaired by Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal.
• The Minister called Startups the New Champions of Aatmanirbhar Bharat. He further said that India has the potential to become the largest and most innovative startup ecosystem in world.
• Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade had constituted the council in January 2020.
• Besides the ex-officio members, the council has a number of non-official members, representing various stakeholders.
• The council had been constituted to give the government advice on measures to a strong ecosystem for nurturing innovation and startups in India.

(Source: News on AIR)

Topic: Science/ Space and IT

5. Three new initiatives of NIXI inaugurated by Secretary, MeitY.

• Three new initiatives of National Internet Exchange of India (NIXI) were inaugurated by Secretary Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY).
• The names of these initiatives are IP Guru, NIXI Academy and NIXI-IP-INDEX.
• IP Guru is a Group to support all Indian entities to migrate and adopt Internet Protocol version, IPv6.
• IP Guru will also help in identifying and hiring an agency that will help end customers by providing necessary technical support to adopt IPv6.
• NIXI Academy will educate technical and non-technical people in India about technologies like IPv6.
• The NIXI-IP-INDEX portal will show IPv6 adoption rate in India and across the world.
• Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) is the latest version of Internet Protocol (IP). It uses a 128-bit address.
• National Internet Exchange of India (NIXI):
  • It was established in 2003.
  • It is a non-profit company providing internet services in the country.
  • It manages Internet Exchanges, IDN domain, and Indian Registry for Internet Names and Numbers.

Topic: MoUs/Agreements

6. MoU signed between Union Agriculture Ministry and Microsoft.

• An MoU has been signed between the Union Agriculture Ministry and Microsoft for a pilot project in 100 villages of six states.
• The names of six states are Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Haryana, Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh.
• As part of the pilot project, different tasks will be carried out for the betterment of farmers in 100 villages.
• Microsoft will develop a farmer interface for smart and well-organized agriculture.
• Microsoft is an American company. Its CEO is Satya Nadella.

(Source: News on AIR)

Topic: Appointments

7. Siddharth Singh Longjam will assume charge as Director General of NADA.

• Siddharth Singh Longjam has been appointed as the Director-General of the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA).
• He was currently working as the joint secretary in the sports ministry and the CEO of the National Dope Testing Laboratory (NDTL).
• He has taken the place of Navin Agarwal. During his tenure, Navin Agarwal had worked for the creation of an Athlete Biological Passport (ABP) for 60 important Indian sportspersons.
• NADA:
  • It is India’s independent anti-doping organization.
  • It was formed in 2005 under Societies Registration Act 1860.
  • It is responsible for promoting, coordinating, and monitoring the doping control program in India.
  • The main objective of NADA is to implement anti-doping rules in accordance with the World Anti-Doping Agency’s code.

Topic: Awards and Prizes

8. Seville will host Laureus World Sports Awards ceremony.

• Seville will host the 22^nd Laureus World Sports Awards virtual ceremony on May 6. Seville is a Spanish city.
• This year Seville is celebrating 500^th anniversary of the first circumnavigation of the Earth by Ferdinand Magellan and Juan Sebastian Elcano.
• Laureus World Sports Awards:
  • It was instituted by Laureus Sport for Good Foundation in 1999.
  • The first Laureus World Sports Awards ceremony was held on 25 May 2000 in Monte Carlo.
  • The recipient of this award receives a Laureus statuette created by Cartier.
  • It is an annual award ceremony for honouring the achievements of individuals and teams.
  • Lewis Hamilton and Lionel Messi were the winners of the Laureus World Sports Award for Sportsman of the Year in 2020.

Topic: Personality in News

9. Former Indian Hockey player Balbir Singh Junior passed away.

• Indian Hockey player Balbir Singh Junior passed away at the age of 88.
• He was a member of the silver medal-winning 1958 Asian Games Indian hockey team.
• He is also known as the nursery of Indian Hockey.
• He started playing for India in 1951. He also played for the Punjab state hockey team.
• He joined the Indian Army as an emergency commissioned officer in 1962.
• He will be remembered for his contribution to Hockey.
• Hockey in India:
  • It is the national sport of India.
  • India’s hockey team has won eight gold medals in Olympics.
  • ‘Hockey India’ is the governing body for both men’s and women’s hockey in India.

Topic: MoUs/Agreements

10. Facebook signed a deal to buy renewable energy in India.

• Facebook has signed a deal with a local renewable energy firm to buy renewable energy in India. It is the first such kind of deal of Facebook in India.
• In 2020, Facebook became the net-zero carbon emitter. Its global operation is fully supported by renewable energy.
• Facebook and CleanMax are working together on solar and wind projects to supply renewable energy in India. A 32-megawatt wind power project of Karnataka is part of this pact.
• Facebook has also signed a similar deal with the Singapore energy providers Sunseap Group and Terrenus Energy.
• The wind and solar projects will be owned and operated by CleanMax. Facebook will only purchase electricity from the renewable power company.
• Facebook:
  • It is an American online social media and Social networking company.
  • It was founded by Mark Zuckerberg in 2004.
  • Its headquarters is located in California, United States.

Topic: Corporates/ Companies

11. Flipkart to acquire online travel technology company Cleartrip.

• Indian e-commerce company, Flipkart, will acquire online travel technology company Cleartrip. It will acquire 100% shareholding of Cleartrip.
• Under the agreement, Flipkart will acquire the operation of Cleartrip. However, Cleartrip will continue to work as a separate brand.
• Cleartrip will work with Flipkart to develop technology solutions for travel customers.
• The deal will be approved by the concerned regulatory.
• Cleartrip:
  • It was founded by Hrush Bhatt, Matthew Spacie, and Stuart Crighton in 2006.
  • It operates as an online travel aggregator website for booking flights, hotels, and train tickets.
  • Stuart Crighton is the current CEO of Cleartrip.
• Flipkart is an e-commerce company. It is headquartered in Bangalore. Myntra and PhonePe are its subsidiaries.