Daily Current Affairs and GK | 3 September 2021
Main Headlines:
- 1. Punjab government launched 'Innovation Mission Punjab' to boost start-up sector.
- 2. P.P.K Ramacharyulu appointed as Secretary-General of the Rajya Sabha.
- 3. New Development Bank (NDB) approves United Arab Emirates, Uruguay and Bangladesh as its new member countries.
- 4. Gujarat Government to host 12th Defence Expo-2022 in Gandhinagar next year.
- 5. Praveen Kumar bags silver medal in High Jump T64 event at Tokyo Paralympics.
- 6. India-US hold bilateral 2+2 intersessional meeting.
- 7. Shikshak Parv to be celebrated from 5th-17th September.
- 8. BRICS Energy Report 2021 and BRICS Energy Technology Report 2021 were launched at 6th meeting of BRICS Energy Ministers.
- 10. Ladakh administration announced black-necked crane as state bird and snow leopard as state animal.
- 11. Former Rajya Sabha MP & senior journalist Chandan Mitra passed away.
- 12. IMF allocated 12.57 billion SDRs to India.
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Topic: State News/ Punjab
1. Punjab government launched 'Innovation Mission Punjab' to boost start-up sector.
- Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh launched 'Innovation Mission Punjab' (IMPunjab) to boost the start-up sector in the state. It is a unique public-private partnership mission.
- Its main aim is to mobilize a global pool of ambassadors and partners for investment, mentorship, and market access.
- 'Innovation Mission Punjab' will bring all stakeholders including academia, incubators, investors, startups, government, progressive farmers in one place.
- The government will provide 10 percent of the corpus and guarantees up to Rs 10 crore cumulatively to incentivize early investors.
- The Department of Agriculture, Industries & Commerce, Mandi Board, and Startup Punjab are the partners in this mission.
- At present, Punjab has 450 startups and more than 20 incubators. Digital connectivity and artificial intelligence are the key areas for the start-up sectors.
- This mission will help in generating employment opportunities in the state and attract investment in start-ups.
Topic: Appointments
2. P.P.K Ramacharyulu appointed as Secretary-General of the Rajya Sabha.
- M Venkaiah Naidu has appointed Dr. Parasaram Pattabhi Kesava Ramacharyulu as the new Secretary-General of the Rajya Sabha.
- For the first time, a serving official has been appointed as the Secretary-General of the Upper House.
- Dr. P P K Ramacharyulu was serving as secretary in the Rajya Sabha Secretariat since 2018. He is the first-ever Rajya Sabha employee who has been promoted as secretary-general.
- He succeeds Desh Deepak Verma, who demitted office after serving as Secretary-General for four years.
Secretary-General of the Rajya Sabha:
He works as advisor of Rajya Sabha's Chairman.
He is the administrative head of the Secretariat of Rajya Sabha.
He is overall in charge of all administrative and executive functions in the name of the chairman.
Topic: International News
3. New Development Bank (NDB) approves United Arab Emirates, Uruguay and Bangladesh as its new member countries.
- New Development Bank (NDB) has approved United Arab Emirates, Uruguay and Bangladesh as its new member countries.
- The NDB Board of Governors started the negotiation to expand NDB’s membership in 2020.
- After approval of the Board, the countries are required to complete its domestic processes and deposit the instrument of accession.
New Development Bank:
It was established by the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) countries in 2015. It was earlier named as BRICS Development Bank.
Agreement on the New Development Bank was signed in July 2014. The agreement came into force in July 2015.
It is headquartered in Shanghai, China. Its President is Marcos Prado Troyjo.
(Source: News on AIR)
Topic: State News/Gujarat
4. Gujarat Government to host 12th Defence Expo-2022 in Gandhinagar next year.
- Gujarat Government will host the 12th Defence Expo-2022 in Gandhinagar from 10th to 13th March next year.
- Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani made this announcement after meeting with Defence Minister Rajnath Singh at Kevadiya on 02 September.
- Department of Defence Production and Gujarat Government have signed an MoU in this regard.
- Gujarat CM Vijay Rupani said that Dholera Special Investment Region has the potential of becoming the best destination for Defence Equipment Production Units.
- He said that after the Defence Expo-2022, Gujarat will be the top investment destination in the Defence sector also.
- Defence Expo is a biannual event in which nearly 100 countries are expected to participate.
Gujarat:
It is a coastal state of India. Its capital is Gandhinagar.
Governor: Acharya Dev Vrat, Chief Minister: Vijay Rupani
Lok Sabha seats: 26, Rajya Sabha seats: 11
Gir National Park is located in Gujarat.
Topic: Sports
5. Praveen Kumar bags silver medal in High Jump T64 event at Tokyo Paralympics.
- Indian Para-athlete Praveen Kumar has won silver medal in the High Jump T64 event at Tokyo Paralympics.
- He clinched the silver medal with a jump of 2.07 meter while Britain’s Jonathan Broom-Edwards won the gold medal with a jump of 2.10 meter.
- He is the fourth Indian to win a medal in the high jump after Nishad Kumar, Mariyappan Thangavelu, and Sharad Kumar at the ongoing Tokyo Paralympics.
- So far, India has won 11 medals including two Gold medals, six Silver, and three Bronze medals at Tokyo Paralympics.
- Prachi Yadav finished 8th in the finals of Women’s VL2 200 meter event. She is the first Indian to qualify for the Paralympics in Canoe Sprint.
- Indian Shuttler Suhas Yathiraj, Tarun Dhillon, and Manoj Sarkar won their respective Group matches of Men’s Singles.
Topic: Summits/ Conferences/ Meetings
6. India-US hold bilateral 2+2 intersessional meeting.
- India and United States organized a bilateral 2+2 intersessional meeting in Washington on 1 September 2021.
- In this meeting, both countries reviewed the progress made since the last 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue held in October 2020.
- The Indian delegation was led by Vani Rao and Somnath Ghosh while the U.S. delegation was led by Dr. Ely Ratner and Ervin Massinga.
- Both sides reviewed the progress made in the field of defense, global public health, economic and commercial cooperation, etc. under the India-US strategic partnership.
- Both sides agreed to explore opportunities for enhancing cooperation in the area of space, cyber security, and emerging technologies.
- India and US discussed many issues including recent developments in South Asia and in the Indo-Pacific region.
India-US 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue:
It is the highest level institutional mechanism between the US and India in which the defense and foreign ministers from both countries meet.
The first 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue was held in September 2018 in New Delhi.
Topic: National News
7. Shikshak Parv to be celebrated from 5th-17th September.
- Shikshak Parv-2021 will be celebrated from 5 to17 September. It will be organized by the Ministry of Education.
- It will be celebrated to recognize the contributions of teachers and to take the new National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 one step forward.
- On the occasion of Teacher’s Day, the President will confer National Awards to 44 teachers. National Awards to Teachers were first instituted in 1958.
- Webinars, Presentations, and discussions will be organized during the Shikshak Parv.
- On 7th September, Prime Minister will launch various initiatives including the Indian Sign Language dictionary of 10,000 words, Talking Books (audiobooks for visually impaired), School Quality Assessment and Accreditation Framework (SQAAF) of CBSE, NISTHA teachers' training programme for NIPUN Bharat, etc.
Topic: Summits/ Conferences/ Meetings
8. BRICS Energy Report 2021 and BRICS Energy Technology Report 2021 were launched at 6th meeting of BRICS Energy Ministers.
- Union Minister of State for Power and Heavy Industries Krishan Pal Gurjar chaired the 6th meeting of BRICS Ministers of Energy.
- He launched BRICS Energy Report 2021, BRICS Energy Technology Report 2021, and BRICS Energy Research Directory 2021 at BRICS Energy Ministers meet.
- Minister of State for Power and Heavy Industries emphasized upon the need of promoting energy efficiency and renewable energy to prevent the environment from the adverse effect of climate change.
- He also said that India is committed to provide electricity to all citizens. The government has launched The ‘Power for All’ by 2022 program in this direction.
- This BRICS Energy Ministers meet is the concluding event of the energy dialogue between member countries, since April 2021.
BRICS:
It is a group formed by five major emerging countries- Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. South Africa joined the group in 2010.
The first BRIC Summit was held in Russia on 16 June 2009.
India will host the 13th BRICS summit in 2021.
(Source: News on AIR)
Topic: National News
9. FSSAI awards 5-star ‘Eat Right Station’ certification to Chandigarh railway station of Indian Railways.
- FSSAI has awarded 5-star ‘Eat Right Station’ certification to Chandigarh railway station of Indian Railways.
- FSSAI grants this certification to railway stations that follows standard food storage and hygiene practices.
- FSSAI also awards this certification to railway stations setting benchmarks in providing safe and wholesome food to passengers.
- Chandigarh railway station is the fifth station in India to get this certification from FSSAI. The other four stations are given below.
- Anand Vihar Terminal railway station (Delhi)
- Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (Mumbai)
- Mumbai Central railway station (Mumbai)
- Vadodara railway station (Gujarat)
- The certification is part of the ‘Eat Right India’ movement being run by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI). FSSAI launched 'Eat Right Movement’ on 10th July, 2018.
Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI):
It was established in August 2011 under Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006.
It is a statutory body. It is headquartered in New Delhi.
Rita Teotia is its current chairperson. It consists of a chairperson and 22 members.
It has six regional offices. They are located in Delhi, Guwahati, Mumbai, Kolkata, Cochin, and Chennai.
Topic: State News/ Ladakh
10. Ladakh administration announced black-necked crane as state bird and snow leopard as state animal.
- The Ladakh administration has declared black-necked crane as its state bird and snow leopard as the state animal.
- A notification has been issued by the Union Territory’s Forest, Ecology, and Environment Department in this regard.
- Before the reorganization of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir, the black-necked crane and the Kashmir stag (hangul) were the state bird and state animal respectively.
Black-necked crane:
It is found in mainly found in eastern Ladakh's high-altitude wetlands and marshes.
It is listed as Near Threatened on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) red list.
These birds arrive in Ladakh for breeding and migrate by October end.
Snow Leopard
Snow Leopard is mainly found in Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Arunachal Pradesh, and Sikkim.
Its estimated population in India is between 450-500.
In 2009, Indian Government had launched Project Snow Leopard for the conservation of leopard.
Topic: Personality in News
11. Former Rajya Sabha MP & senior journalist Chandan Mitra passed away.
- Former Rajya Sabha MP and senior journalist Chandan Mitra died at the age of 66.
- He was the editor and managing director of The Pioneer newspaper. He was a Rajya Sabha member from 2003 to 2009.
- He started his career in journalism as Assistant Editor with The Statesman in Kolkata.
- He gave special attention to issues like climate change, urban and rural development, heritage, and education.
- He will be remembered for his contribution in the field of journalism and politics.
(Source: News on AIR)
Topic: Indian Economy
12. IMF allocated 12.57 billion SDRs to India.
- The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has increased India’s special drawing rights (SDR) quota to 12.57 billion which is equivalent to $17.86 billion.
- The total special drawing rights (SDR) holdings of India now stand at SDR 13.66 billion, which is 2.75 percent of the SDR quota.
- India is continuously trying to increase its vote share in the IMF. At present, India holds 2.63 percent of the votes share in the IMF.
- On 2nd August, the IMF board of governors had approved a general allocation of about SDR 456 billion.
- IMF allocate special drawing rights (SDR) to its member in proportion to their existing quotas in the IMF.
Special Drawing Rights (SDR):
It is an international monetary reserve currency created by IMF in 1969. It can be exchanged among the countries.
Its value is calculated from a weighted basket of major currencies, including the U.S. Dollar, Chinese Renminbi, Japanese Yen, the Euro, and British Pound.
It is one of the major components of the foreign exchange reserves (FER) of a country.
2 September 2021 Current Affairs 
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