Daily Current Affairs and GK | 22 January 2021

Topic: Defense

1. Indian Armed Forces will conduct a Joint military exercise ‘Exercise Kavach’.

• Indian Army, Indian Navy, Indian Air Force and Indian Coast Guard will conduct a joint military exercise ‘Exercise Kavach’ under the aegis of the Andaman and Nicobar Command.
• It is scheduled to be held next week in the Andaman Sea and Bay of Bengal.
• The exercise aims to develop synergy between air and sea strikes, air defense, submarine and landing operations. It will also help in the coordinated use of maritime surveillance resources.
• An Intelligence Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) exercise will also be conducted between the three services.  
• The armed forces had conducted a joint tri-service exercise, ‘Bull Strike’ from 3 to 5 November 2020 under the Andaman and Nicobar Command.
• Andaman and Nicobar Command is the only Joint Forces Command of the country.

Topic: Infrastructure and Energy

2. Petroleum Minister inaugurated first small-scale LNG supply infrastructure of Shell Energy India in Gujarat.

• Union Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has inaugurated the LNG truck-loading unit of Shell India at Hazira, Gujarat.
• It will help Shell Energy India to supply Liquefied natural gas through trucks. It will also help in providing cleaner fuel to industries and transport sector.
• Government is committed to provide clean energy fuel to a large section of the population.
• Shell Energy India is an Indian company involved in the production and storage of liquified natural gas.
• Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG):
  • It is the liquefied form of petroleum gases released during the extraction of crude oil and natural gas.
  • It is a mixture of propane, butane and pentane.
  • It is used as fuel in heating appliances, cooking equipment, and vehicles.

(Source: PIB)

Topic: National News

3. Union Minister of Coal launched Project Passion and presented Coal Minister’s Award 2020.

• The Union Minister of Coal & Mines has launched ‘Project Passion’–the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) of Coal India Ltd (CIL) and presented the Coal Minister’s Award for 2020.
• Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) is a resource Planning and Hospital Management system in CIL. Under this planning, Phase-I of ‘Project Passion’ has been launched to bring all aspects of business operations into a single easy to use system.
• Enterprise Resource Planning will be implemented in two phases. In the first phase, it will cover CIL headquarters, WCL and MCL.
• Northern Coalfields Ltd (NCL), Central Coalfields Ltd (CCL) and Western Coalfields Ltd (WCL) have received the Coal Minister’s Award 2020.
• NCL has received the award for their performance in Coal production. CCL and WCL have been awarded for adopting best safety practices and sustainable mining respectively.
• Union Minister has also inaugurated a Coal Handling Plant (CHP) at Krishnashila Coal Project of NCL.
• Coal India Limited (CIL):
  • It is a coal mining and refinery company owned by the government of India.
  • It is the world's largest coal producer.
  • It has seven producing subsidiaries namely Eastern Coalfields Limited (ECL), Bharat Coking Coal Limited (BCCL), Central Coalfields Limited (CCL), Western Coalfields Limited (WCL), South Eastern Coalfields Limited (SECL), Northern Coalfields Limited (NCL) and Mahanadi Coalfields Limited (MCL)
  • It is headquartered in Kolkata, West Bengal. 

(Source: PIB)

Topic: Reports and Indices

4. TRAI released “Indian Telecom Services Performance Indicator Report" for the third quarter.

• Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has released the "Indian Telecom Services Performance Indicator Report" for July to September 2020.
• It has provided detail about the growing trends of the Telecom Services as well as cable services. It also provided detail about the factor responsible for the growth of both services.
• Major outcome of the report are:
  • Telephone subscribers registered a growth of 0.70% over the previous quarter.
  • The Tele-density has also increased from 85.85% to 86.22% as in QE Sep-20.
  • Rural telephone subscribers and Rural Tele-density have also increased over the previous quarter.
  • Wireless Tele-density has also increased from 84.38% to 84.74% at the end of Sep-20.
  • The total number of Internet subscribers increased from 749.07 million to 776.45 million at the end of Sep-20.

Topic: MoUs/Agreements

5. Indian Army and SIDM have signed an Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to promote Indigenization and Innovation.

• Indian Army has signed an MoU with Society of Indian Defence Manufacturers (SIDM) for fostering indigenization of defense equipment.
• This MoU has been signed to reduce dependency on foreign products, under the vision of ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’. It has been signed on the occasion of 25 years partnership between Army and Confederation of Indian Industry.
• For tackling the security challenges government has started many initiatives for the modernization and Indigenization of defense equipment.
• Industry associations have established a common platform for Industries to interact with the Indian army.
• Army Design Bureau (ADB) has been established for connecting the defence manufacturers directly with the user.
• Society of Indian Defence Manufacturers (SIDM) is a not-for-profit association formed to be the apex body of the Indian defence industry. It is responsible for the growth of the defence industries in India.

(Source: PIB)

Topic: National News

6. Union Health Minister inaugurated the seventh edition of “MASCRADE 2021”

• The Union Health Minister has inaugurated a movement named “MASCRADE 2021” against Smuggled & Counterfeit Trade. It is being organised by FICCI Cascade.
• It is being organised to discuss the challenges of counterfeiting and smuggling in the post COVID period.
• Government has amended the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940 to deal with the offences related to drug adulteration. It has also established Special Courts for offences under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act.
• Government has urged Businesses and industries to come together in the fight against the threat of counterfeiting and smuggling of drugs.
• Union Minister has also raised the various issues including the use of the latest technology for fighting against this threat, current regulation against counterfeiting and smuggling of drugs, raising penalties for this crime, etc.  
• Dr Harsh Vardhan is the current Union Health Minister of India.
• Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry:
  • It was established in 1927.
  • It is the largest, oldest and the apex business non-governmental trade association in India.
  • It is headquartered in New Delhi.

Topic: National News

7. Tribal Affairs Minister launched Shram Shakti Portal and Shram-Saathi for migrant workers in Goa.

• Union Tribal Minister and Goa Government jointly launched Shram Shakti, a National Migration Support Portal and Shram-Saathi, a training manual for migrant workers.
• The Ministry will also establish a Tribal research Institute, Tribal Museum, and VanDhan Kendras in Goa.
• Chief Minister of Goa will also launch a Migration cell for migrant workers.
• Recently, the Union government has started the National Migrant Information System to capture information on the movement of migrants.
• The current Minister of Tribal Affairs is Arjun Munda.
• Goa:
  • It is located in the south-western part of India.
  • It shares a boundary with Maharashtra and Karnataka.
  • It is the smallest state of India in terms of area and fourth-smallest by population.
  • Panaji is the capital of Goa.
  • Pramod Sawant is the Chief Minister and Bhagat Singh Koshyari is the Governor of Goa.

Topic: Personality in News

8. Bhawana Kanth will be the first woman fighter pilot to take part in Republic day parade.

• Flight lieutenant Bhawana Kanth will be the first woman fighter pilot to become part of the Republic Day parade of 2021.
• Bhawana Kanth, Avani Chaturvedi and Mohana Singh are the first women fighter pilot of India. They had joined IAF in 2016.
• Rafale, Su-30s and MiG-29s fighter jets will take part in this year’s Republic Day Parade.
• She was awarded to Nari Shakti Puraskar on the International Women’s Day in 2020.
• Shivangi Singh is the first woman fighter pilot of India to fly the Rafale combat aircraft.

Topic: Banking System

9. 2020 list of D-SIBs released by RBI on 19 January 2021.

• 2020 list of Domestic Systemically Important Banks (D-SIBs) was released by RBI on 19 January 2021.
• State Bank of India has continued to find place in list of D-SIBs. Two private sector banks, ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank have found place in 2020 list of D-SIBs.
• SBI, HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank were present in the earlier lists such as 2018 list of D-SIBs.
• Along with the capital conservation buffer, Domestic Systemically Important Banks (D-SIBs) are required to keep prescribed additional Common Equity Tier 1 requirement as a percentage of Risk Weighted Assets (RWAs).
• In case of SBI, additional CET1 requirement as percentage of RWAs is 0.6%. In case of ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank, additional CET1 requirement as percentage of RWAs is 0.4%.
• D-SIB framework was issued by RBI in July 2014. Under this framework, RBI has been announcing the name of banks designated as D-SIBs since 2015.

Topic: Corporates/Companies

10. POWERGRID and Himachal Pradesh State Electricity Board signed agreement to improve telecom connectivity in hilly areas of Himachal Pradesh.

• POWERGRID and Himachal Pradesh State Electricity Board signed agreement to improve telecom connectivity in hilly areas of Himachal Pradesh.
• The signed agreement is for using 500 Kms of optical ground wire (OPGW) Telecom network. 350 Kms of OPGW is already being used in state.
• Total 850 Kms long telecom network will improve telecom in remote areas of Himachal Pradesh such as Kangra, Una, Mandi, Kullu, Bilaspur etc.
• POWERGRID has also played important role in providing domestic component of International Connectivity to Bhutan and Nepal.
• Power Grid Corporation of India Limited (POWERGRID):
  • It is a Maharatna company. It is owned by Government of India.
  • It is headquartered in Gurgaon. Kandikuppa Sreekant is its Chairman & MD.