Daily Current Affairs and GK | 18 August 2021

Topic: International News

1. Hakainde Hichilema wins Presidential election of Zambia.

• Hakainde Hichilema wins the Presidential election of Zambia. He defeated Edgar Lungu by more than a million votes.
• Hichilema secured 2,810,777 votes while Lungu received 1,814,201 votes. Hichilema will become Zambia’s seventh president.
• Hichilema is supported by ten opposition parties under the banner of the United Party for National Development (UPND).
• Zambia is facing an economic crisis due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Topic: Books and Authors

2. A book titled “The Dream of Revolution: A Biography of Jayaprakash Narayan” will be unveiled on 23 August.

• A Jayaprakash Narayan autobiography’s “The Dream of Revolution: A Biography of Jayaprakash Narayan” will be released on 23 August.
• It has been published by Penguin Random House India. It is written by Bimal Prasad and Sujata Prasad.
• The book is a comprehensive study of JP’s life and ideas. The author has written about the role of Jayaprakash Narayan during Indira Gandhi’s Emergency in 1975.

Topic: Reports and Indices

3. RBI introduces Financial Inclusion Index (FI-Index) to capture the extent of financial inclusion across the country.

• RBI has introduced Financial Inclusion Index (FI-Index) to capture the extent of financial inclusion across the country.
• It is a comprehensive index, which incorporates details of banking, investments, insurance, postal as well as the pension sector in consultation with government and respective sectoral regulators.
• It captures information on different aspects of financial inclusion in a single value, which ranges between 0 and 100. 0 shows complete financial exclusion and 100 shows full financial inclusion.
• It comprises of three parameters viz., Access (weightage 35%), Usage (weightage 45%) and Quality (weightage 20%). Each of these aspects consists of various dimensions. The dimensions are computed based on a number of indicators.
• The Index is responsive to ease of access, usage of services, and quality of services, comprising all 97 indicators.
• Quality parameter is a unique feature of the Index. It captures the quality aspect of financial inclusion.
• The FI-Index has been constructed without any ‘base year’. FI-Index will be published annually in July every year.
• RBI had made the announcement about creation of the Financial Inclusion Index in the first Bi-monthly Monetary Policy Statement for 2021-2022 on 17 April.

Topic: International News

4. S Jaishankar, External Affairs Minister, started a four-day visit to America from 16 August.

• S Jaishankar, External Affairs Minister, has started a four-day visit to America from 16 August.
• During his visit, he will attend a number of UN Security Council events.
• They include a briefing session on terrorism that will be organized under India’s Presidency of the UNSC.
• He will also preside over an open debate on peacekeeping at the UNSC. It will be focused on the theme of 'Protecting the Protectors: Technology and Peacekeeping'.
• India started its two-year tenure as a non-permanent member of the UNSC on January 1, 2021.
• It is holding the presidency of UNSC for the month of August.
• India and UN are expected to sign an MoU in support of the 'Partnership for Technology in Peacekeeping' initiative.

Topic: Awards and Prizes

5. Government announced winners of MeitY-NASSCOM Start-up Women Entrepreneur Awards 2020-2021.

• The government in partnership with UN Women has announced the winners of MeitY-NASSCOM Start-up Women Entrepreneur Awards 2020-2021.
• This award has been given to recognize the entrepreneurial spirit in women and to promote future entrepreneurs.
• The awards were declared on August 17, 2021, at an event organized to celebrate Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav.
• The Jury selected 12 women entrepreneurs as winners while two women receive Jury Choice Awards and one women entrepreneur felicitated as a special mention.
• Each winner and Jury Choice Awardees winner will be rewarded with Rs. 2 Lakh.
• The government has selected 33 women for MeitY-NASSCOM Tech Women Entrepreneur Accelerator Program.
• To encourage Women Entrepreneurship, the MeitY and UN Women have jointly launched the Amrit Mahotsav Shri Shakti Innovation Challenge 2021.

Topic: Defence

6. A Joint Exercise between Indian Navy and Royal Bahrain Naval Force will begin in Persian Gulf.

• A maritime Exercise between the Indian Navy and Royal Bahrain Naval Force (RBNF) will begin in the Persian Gulf. It is scheduled to be held from 18 to 21 August.
• Indian Navy and Bahrain Navy participated in coordination and operational planning conference before the Maritime Partnership Exercise.
• INS Kochi will participate in this exercise from the Indian side.
• The maritime exercise will give an opportunity to both country’s navies to gain learn best practices and to develop a common understanding of procedures for maritime security operations.
• In March 2021, the Indian Navy and Royal Bahrain Naval Force had conducted the Passage Exercise (PASSEX) under ‘Operation Sankalp’ in the Persian Gulf.

(Source: PIB)

Topic: International News

7. UK to launch resettlement scheme for people of Afghanistan.

• The United Kingdom will launch a new resettlement scheme for the people of Afghanistan. It will be especially launched for women and girls of Afghanistan.
• UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that international partners need to come together to prevent a humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan.
• Britain's resettlement scheme for Afghanistan will be similar to the programme launched for Syrian refugees.
• Britain will also host a virtual meeting of the Group of Seven nations to discuss the Afghanistan issue.
• A humanitarian crisis has emerged after the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan. This crisis is particularly dangerous for Afghanistan’s 14 million women and girls.
• Taliban doesn’t believe in women’s educational, and political rights.

Topic: Personality in News

8. Former Indian Footballer Chinmoy Chatterjee passed away.

• Former India Footballer Chinmoy Chatterjee passed away at the age of 68.
• He was a member of the Indian team who finished fourth in the quarter-final league at the 1978 Bangkok Asian Games.
• He played for Mohun Bagan, Mohammedan Sporting, and East Bengal football club. He played a key role in Mohammedan Sporting's CFL win in 1981.
• He represented Bengal in Santosh Trophy four times. After his retirement, he was appointed assistant coach of East Bengal.

Topic: Miscellaneous

9. HAL conducted taxi trials of Hindustan-228 aircraft.

• Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) successfully completed Ground Run and Low-Speed Taxi Trials (LSTT) of the Hindustan-228 (VT-KNR) aircraft.
• The Hindustan-228 is a multi-role utility aircraft. It can be used by civil operators and state governments for their intra and inter-state connectivity.
• It is a milestone for the Made-in-India civil aircraft sector. It will help in strengthening the regional air connectivity.
• Kanpur-based HAL’s Transport Aircraft Division has developed this aircraft.
• The aircraft full-fill the latest “FAR 23 certifications” requirements.

Topic: Miscellaneous

10. Mirabai Chanu appointed by Amway India as brand ambassador for Nutrilite range.

• Mirabai Chanu has been appointed by Amway India as brand ambassador for Nutrilite range.
• She will be in charge of company’s campaigns focused on product ranges such as Nutrilite Daily, Omega and All Plant Protein among others.
• Saikhom Mirabai Chanu has won silver medal at 2020 Tokyo Olympics in the women’s 49kg category.
• Olympian P.R. Sreejesh will be appointed as brand ambassador of adventure tourism in Kerala.
• Parattu Raveendran Sreejesh (P.R. Sreejesh) is an Indian professional field hockey player.

Topic: State News/Odisha

11. Odisha Chief Minister announces ‘Smart Health Cards’ for free treatment.

• Odisha Chief Minister has announced ‘Smart Health Cards’ for free treatment.
• Odisha Chief Minister said that Odisha would provide smart health cards to 3.5 crore people in the state under Biju Swasthya Kalyan Yojana.
• Odisha government has redesigned Biju Swasthya Kalyan Yojana to provide people smart health cards. These smart health cards would work as debit cards for a certain amount.
• Under re-launched Biju Swasthya Kalyan Yojana, each family can get treatment cost up to ₹5 lakh per annum. Women members can get this benefit up to ₹10 lakh every year.
• The scheme is meant for 3.5 crore people in 96 lakh families. Under the scheme, card will be given to all beneficiaries phase wise.

Topic: State News/Maharashtra

12. E-crop survey initiative launched by Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray.

• E-crop survey initiative has been launched by Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray. This initiative became effective from August 15.
• The project was initially introduced as a pilot in two districts. It is jointly implemented by the Departments of revenue and agriculture along with the Tata Trust.
• Speaking on the occasion, the CM said that e-crop survey app is yet another initiative to reduce the difficulties of the farmers as it would provide them crop-related information without hassles.
• Government has already launched a digitized 7/12 document, which is an extract from the ‘Land Register’ that the farmers can now access on their mobile phones.

(Source: News on AIR)