Daily Current Affairs and GK | 4 September 2020

1. S Gopakumar, first Malayali to win Baburao Mhatre Gold Medal for 2020.

• S Gopakumar has become the first Malayali to win Baburao Mhatre Gold Medal for 2020.
• The award was presented by the Indian Institute of Architects (IIA) for his outstanding contribution to Indian architecture.
• Some of the landmark buildings and projects designed by him are the HDFC building Kochi, the Kerala History Museum, Kochi, the KSRTC bus station Thiruvananthapuram, etc.
• One of the key projects included the setting up of temporary accommodation for the victims of earthquake in Gujarat.
• He was given the Lalit Kala Akademi Award in 1970.
• Indian Institute of Architects (IIA) was established in 1917. It is headquartered in Mumbai. It is the national body of Architects in India.

2. Usha Padhee, first woman DG of Bureau of Civil Aviation Secretary.

• Usha Padhee has been given the additional charge as the Director General of the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS).
• Earlier, Rakesh Asthana was given the charge of the BCAS but now he has been appointed as the Director General of BSF.
• She is currently the joint secretary in the Ministry of Civil Aviation.
• She is playing a major role in handling regional connectivity scheme.
• She became the first woman and third IAS officer to hold this post.
• Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS):
  • It is the regulatory authority for civil aviation security in India.
  • It was established in 1978 on the recommendation of Pande committee.
  • It works under the aegis of the Ministry of Civil Aviation.

(Source: ANI)

3. Prince Harry and Meghan sign multiyear production deal with Netflix Inc.

• Prince Harry and his wife Meghan have signed production deal with Netflix Inc.
• Under the deal, they will produce films and series. Although the value of the deal has not been disclosed.
• In 2018, a similar deal was signed between Netflix and former US President Barack Obama and his wife.
• Harry was earlier associated with Apple TV+ streaming service to make a documentary with Oprah Winfrey regarding mental health.
• Netflix is an American technology and media services provider and production company. Its headquarters are located in Los Gatos, California. Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph founded it in 1997. It is a member of the Motion Picture Association.

4. Dadabhai Naoroji birth anniversary: 4 September

• Born on 4 September 1825, Dadabhai Naoroji was the first person who estimated the national income of India in 1867.
• He was a moderate leader and the first Asian to become a British MP.
• He was one of the founding members of the Indian National Congress.
• He presided over three sessions of Congress. They are the Calcutta session in 1886, the Lahore session in 1893, and the Calcutta session in 1906.
• He proposed the theory of economic drain. He is also known as ‘Grand Old Man of India’ and ‘official Ambassador of India’.
• He wrote Poverty and Unbritish Rule in India (published in 1901) to divert attention towards the drain of Indian wealth into Britain.
• He also started an Anglo Gujarati newspaper named Rast Goftar in 1854.
• Other Famous books written by him are:
  • The European and Asiatic races
  • The wants and means of India
  • Condition of India
  • Poverty of India

5. Scientists discover a black hole with 142 times the mass of Sun.

• Scientists have discovered GW190521, a black hole with mass 142 times the mass of Sun.
• Till now, scientists have not found black holes with mass 100 to 1000 times the mass of Sun. So, GW190521 is the first discovered black hole in this mass range.
• Usually, Black holes in the range 60 to 120 solar masses cannot be formed by the gravitational collapse of a star. This is because at the size range of 60 to 120 solar masses, stars undergo supernova explosion and get completely destroyed.  
• Rainer Weiss, Barry Barish and Kip Thorne measured gravitational waves for the first time in 2015 and won the 2017 Nobel Prize in physics for measuring gravitational waves the first time.
• Black holes are objects with strong gravitational pull. The strong gravitational pull of Black holes does not allow particles or electromagnetic radiations such as light to pass through them.

6. DPIIT forwards application of CMA Terminals to other ministries.

• Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) has forwarded the application of CMA Terminals to transfer its stake in ACMTPL to China Merchants Group (CMG) to other ministries.
• France’s CMA Terminals has submitted an application to transfer its stake in Adani CMA Mundra Terminal Private Limited (ACMTPL) to CMG on 21 May 2020.
• CMA Terminals is a unit of CMA CGM group, third-largest shipping company in the world. CMA CGM group is the joint venture partner of Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Limited (APSEZ). It operates and maintains terminal CT-4 at Mundra Port.
• Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Limited (APSEZ) is India’s largest private port operator.
• Mundra Port: It is India’s largest private port. It is located in Kutch District Gujarat and is owned by Adani Group.

7. First manned test flight of Japan’s Flying car completed.

• Japanese company SkyDrive has completed its first manned test flight of a single-seater SD-03 car model.
• The pilot operated the flight with the assistance of a computer control system.
• The car has been designed as the world’s smallest electric Vertical Take-Off and Landing (eVTOL) model.
• The car has eight electric motors that rotate eight rotors in opposite directions. The rotors are in a group of two.

(Source: The Hindu)

8. Eight immunity boosting products launched under PMBJP.

• Eight immunity-boosting products have been launched under Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana.
• The products will be sold through Janaushadhi Kendras across country.
• Eight new immunity-boosting products (nutraceuticals) are cheaper than the market price.
• Through Janaushadhi Kendras, the products will reach to a large number of people.
• Nutraceuticals are food products or food-like products with health or medical benefits. They can also prevent or treat diseases.
• Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana (PMBJP):
  • The government has renamed ‘Jan Aushadhi Scheme’ as Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Priyojana (PMBJP) in 2016.
  • Department of Pharmaceuticals, Ministry of Chemicals & Fertilizers had launched ‘Jan Aushadhi Scheme’ in November 2008. 
  • Bureau of Pharma PSUs of India (BPPI), a registered society under the Department of Pharmaceuticals, is implementing PMBJP. PMBJP covers both medicines and surgical.

9. A low-cost, on-demand printing technique developed by replacing nozzles of inkjet printers.

• A low-cost, on-demand printing technique has been developed by replacing nozzles of inkjet printers with a mesh-covered with chemically treated nanowires.
• The technique has been developed by researchers at the Centre for Nano Science and Engineering in the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru.
• The technique lowers the chances of clogging of the small pore of the nozzle currently used in printers to eject droplets.
• The mesh used in the technique can be easily cleaned. It is reusable. The technique lowers the operational cost of the printer and has the capability to print a wide range of droplet sizes.

10. Nagaland is taking part in IDCP from 1^st to 14^th September.

• Nagaland has been taking part in Intensified Diarrhoea Control Fortnight Programme (IDCP) from 1^st to 14^th September.
• During the fortnight, ORS will be provided to all households having children under 5 years of age for free.
• ORS and Zinc tablets will be provided to all households having children under 5 years with cases of diarrhea.
• Intensified Diarrhoea Control Fortnight Programme (IDCP) is a yearly activity observed all over the country. IDCP 2019 was observed from 28 May to 8 June. It is being observed every year since 2014.
• Diarrhoea is usually caused by a virus or contaminated food. It annually causes death of one lakh children in India. IDCP is aimed at reducing the number of diarrheal death to zero.

11. Tata Motors and Hyundai Motor India to supply 250 Electric Vehicles to EESL.

• Tata Motors and Hyundai Motor India will supply 250 Electric Vehicles to Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL).
• EESL will procure Nexon electric compact SUVs from TATA Motors and Kona electric premium SUVs from Hyundai Motor India.
• EESL will procure these vehicles by using 5 Million USD from the grant it recently received from the Asian Development Bank (ADB).
• Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL):
  • It is 100% owned by the Government of India.
  • It is a joint venture of NTPC Limited, Power Finance Corporation, REC Limited and POWERGRID.
  • It comes under the Ministry of Power.

12.  Team from NTPC Vallur, Tamil Nadu wins AIMA - Chanakya (Business Simulation Game) National Management Games 2020.

• A team from NTPC Vallur, Tamil Nadu, has won AIMA - Chanakya (Business Simulation Game) National Management Games 2020.
• NTPC has won National Management Games for the first time in five years. Earlier, NTPC has won AIMA Chanakya NMG 2015.
• The competition was held between 112 organisations from different parts of India.
• AIMA Chanakya NMG is an online Business Stimulation Game. It is conducted annually by conducted by AIMA (All India Management Association).
• National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC):
  • NTPC was formed in 1975. It is headquartered in New Delhi.
  • NTPC deals in energy generation, sale, gas exploration and coal mining. Gurdeep Singh is its chairman and MD.
  • NTPC comes under the Ministry of Power.

13. G20 Foreign Ministers’ Extraordinary virtual meeting held.

• Recently, India’s External Affairs Minister Dr. S Jaishankar participated in the G20 Foreign Ministers’ virtual meeting.
• The current G20 chair, Saudi Arabia, convened the meeting.
• Dr S. Jaishankar proposed development of voluntary ‘G20 Principles on Coordinated Cross-Border Movement of People’.
• These principles will be based on three elements:
  • Standardisation of testing procedures and universal acceptability of test results
  • Standardisation of ‘Quarantine procedures’
  • Standardisation of ‘movement and transit’ protocols
• India has taken various steps like creation of travel bubbles and Vande Bharat Mission to protect foreign citizens stranded in India and Indians stranded abroad.
• G-20:
  • It is the global forum for the governments and central bank governors that was founded in 1999.
  • G20 or group of twenty includes 19 countries and European Union.
  • There is no permanent secretariat of G20.
  • G20 2020 summit will be held in Saudi Arabia. India will host the G-20 summit in 2022.
  • Current Chairman: King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud (King of Saudi Arabia)

14. Sonamura-Daudkandi inland waterways route to become operational soon.

• External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said that the 93 km long Sonamura - Daudkandi inland waterways route will become operational soon.
• This route connects Tripura to the National Waterways of India via Bangladesh.
• This initiative will boost connectivity with the northeast region of India and bilateral trade with Bangladesh.
• Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority has given permission for a trial run from Daudkandi (Bangladesh) to Sonamura in Tripura via River Gomati.
• River Gomati is a seasonal river and flows through Tripura and Bangladesh. Therefore, the route can remain open for only 3-4 months in a year.
• The Protocol on Inland Water Trade and Transit was signed between India and Bangladesh in 1972.
• Under this protocol, nearly 3.5 million metric tonnes of cargo has been transported between the two countries via different protocol routes in the year 2019-20.
• Currently, the protocol routes have gone up to 10 after the signing of second addendum to the protocol.

15. A panel appointed to draft new Constitution of Sri Lanka.

• A panel to draft a new Constitution of Sri Lanka has been set up by the Sri Lankan cabinet.
• The move is a poll pledge of the Rajapaksa brothers to abolish the 19^th Amendment. The 19^th Amendment was introduced in 2015 to strengthen Parliament and independent institution, but it also diluted some of the executive powers of the President.
• The 19^th Amendment had put a two-term limit on the Presidency, i.e., a person can only become President twice. The term for President and Parliament was reduced from 6 years to 5 years.
• The government approved to replace the 19^th Amendment with the 20^th Amendment.
• Sri Lanka:
  • It is an island nation in South Asia.
  • It is separated from the Indian subcontinent by Palk Strait and Gulf of Mannar.
  • Executive and Judicial Capital: Colombo, Legislative Capital: Sri Jayewardenepura Kotte
  • Currency: Sri Lankan Rupee
  • President: Gotabaya Rajapaksa
  • Prime Minister: Mahinda Rajapaksa

(Source: The Hindu)

16. Qatar to play in Gold Cup in 2021 in US.

• 2022 FIFA World Cup host Qatar will play in the Gold Cup in 2021 in US.
• Qatar has accepted an invitation from football’s governing body for North and Central America and the Caribbean.
• Under a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed in Bahrain in 2017, the Asian Cup champion will participate as a guest in the 2021 and 2023 Gold Cup tournaments.
• Qatar is the second team from Asia to participate in the Gold Cup. Earlier, South Korea played in the 2000 and 2002 Gold Cup before co-hosting the World Cup with Japan.
• In 2019, Qatar won its first Asian Cup title by defeating Japan.
• In the FIFA World rankings, the Qatar team is at No.55 while in Asia, it is the fifth highest-ranked team.
• CONCACAF Gold Cup:
  • It is the leading association football competition of the men’s football teams which is held every two years.
  • It was previously known as CONCACAF Championship.
  • It was founded in 1963.

(Source: News on AIR)