Daily Current Affairs and GK | 5 and 6 September 2021

Topic: Sports

1. Shooter Manish Narwal bagged India's third gold medal at Tokyo Paralympics.

• Shooter Manish Narwal has won the gold medal in the mixed 50m Pistol SH1 event and Singhraj Adhana won the silver medal.
• Manish Narwal shot a total of 218.2 while Singhraj Adhana shot a total of 216.7.
• Earlier, Singhraj Adhana had won the bronze in the P1 men’s 10m air pistol SH1 event at Tokyo Paralympics.
• Avani Lekhara is the first Indian to win more than one medal at the Tokyo Paralympics.
• Indian shooters have won a total of five medals in the ongoing Tokyo Paralympics.
• It is the third gold medal for India at the ongoing Paralympics.  So far, India has won 15 medals including 3 gold, 7 silver, and 5 bronze.

Topic: Defence

2. India and Singapore navies participated in maritime bilateral exercise ‘SIMBEX’.

• The 28th edition of Singapore-India Maritime Bilateral Exercise ‘SIMBEX’ concluded in the South China Sea.
• INS Ranvijay, ASW Corvette INS Kiltan and Guided Missile Corvette INS Kora participated in this exercise from the Indian side.
• RSS Steadfast, one Victory Class Missile Corvette, RSS Vigour, and one Archer Class Submarine have represented the Singapore Navy. Four F-16 fighter aircraft of Singapore also participated in this exercise.
• Anti-submarine, anti-air, and anti-surface warfare drills were part of the SIMBEX-2021 bilateral exercise.
• It is will help in strengthening the bilateral relations between both countries.
• India and Singapore have recently signed an agreement on mutual submarine rescue support and coordination.

Topic: Corporates/Companies

3. Coal India launched new software for assessment of coal resources.

• Coal India Limited has launched a new software named Spectral Enhancement SPE for the assessment of coal resources.
• It will help in identifying coal blocks under the earth’s crust and it uses seismic survey during the coal exploration process.
• The present seismic survey techniques cannot identify the thin coal seams under the earth. The new software is capable of identifying the delineation of the thinnest coal seams.
• This new software has been developed by Coal India Limited’s research and development arm Central Mine Planning and Design Institute in association with Gujarat Energy Research and Management Institute.
• It will support the mission of Atmanirbhar Bharat in coal production.

Topic: MoUs/Agreements

4. India and Nepal signed a memorandum of understanding for the reconstruction of projects damaged by 2015 earthquake.

• India and Nepal signed a pact to reconstruct 14 cultural heritage projects and 103 health projects damaged by the 2015 earthquake across the various districts in Nepal.
• These projects will be reconstructed at a cost of 420 crore Nepalese Rupees. The reconstruction projects will be implemented by Central Level Project Implementation Unit (Building).
• The MoU has been signed between authority the Indian Embassy and the Central Level Project Implementation Unit (Building) of the National Reconstruction Authority.
• India has allocated a grant of USD 250 million under the post-earthquake reconstruction package.
• The earthquake in 2015 had claimed more than 9000 lives and damaged more than 8 lakh houses and schools.

Topic: Sports

5. Paralympic games ended at the Olympic Stadium in Tokyo on 05 September.

• Paralympic Games 2020 ended with a closing ceremony at the Olympic Stadium in Tokyo on 05 September.
• “Harmonious Cacophony” and “Moving Forward” were concepts for the Closing Ceremony.
• During the closing ceremony, Japanese national flag was brought into the venue and the Japan’s national anthem was played. This was followed by an athlete parade led by flag bearers of different countries in Japanese alphabetic order.
• Shooter Avani Lekhara was the flag bearer of the Indian contingent. India has won 19 medals at Tokyo Paralympics.
• India surpassed its previous best tally of four at the 2016 Rio Games. This year, the Indian contingent won five gold, eight silver and six bronze medals.
• Lekhara won gold in R-2 women’s 10m Air Rifle Standing SH1 event and a bronze medal in 50 metre Rifle 3 Position SH1.
• Javelin thrower Sumit Antil, shuttlers Pramod Bhagat, Krishna Nagar and shooter Manish Narwal won a gold medal each.

(Source: News on AIR)

Topic: Awards and Prizes

6. Union Minister of Education confers AICTE- Visvesvaraya Best Teacher Award to 17 faculty members in Engineering and Technology.

• Union Minister of Education has conferred AICTE- Visvesvaraya Best Teacher Award to 17 faculty members in Engineering and Technology.
• Three faculty members were awarded the AICTE-Dr. Pritam Singh Best Teacher Award in Management Education.
• Chhatra Vishwakarma Award and Clean and Smart Campus Award, 2020 were also conferred by Minister.
• Along with Union Minister of Education Dharmendra Pradhan, Minister of State for Education, Dr. Rajkumar Ranjan Singh also graced the occasion. Minister Dharmendra Pradhan congratulated AICTE for instituting these 4 awards.
• AICTE Visvesvaraya awards aim to honour meritorious faculties. Dr. Pritam Singh Best Teacher Award was introduced this year only.
• This award is conferred on the faculty members for demonstrating teaching excellence and institutional leadership in management education.
• Chhatra Vishwakarma Award provides a platform for our students to look at societal challenges to provide innovative and low-cost solutions. This year, the council announced the Chhatra Vishwakarma Award 2020.
• Clean and Smart Campus Award, 2020 has also been conferred to selected technical institutes.

(Source: News on AIR)

Topic: Personality in News

7. Former Union Health Secretary Keshav Desiraju passes away.

• Former Union Health Secretary Keshav Desiraju passed away at the age of 66 years.
• He was a humanist and a dedicated social worker for the cause of the differently abled.
• He has authored many books including, a biography of legendary singer MS Subbulakshmi. He had co-edited “Healers or Predators? Healthcare Corruption in India” with Samiran Nundy and Sanjay Nagra.
• He retired as the Union Secretary in the Department of Consumer Affairs and worked on various positions in the Government of India and State Government.
• He was the grandson of former President of India Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan.

(Source: News on AIR)

Topic: National News

8. Government signed historic Karbi Anglong Agreement to end decades old crisis.

• The government of India signed Karbi Anglong Agreement to end the decades-old crisis of Assam’s territorial integrity.
• The agreement has been signed between the Government and representatives of Karbi Longri North Cachar Hills Liberation Front (KLNLF), the People’s Democratic Council of Karbi Longri (PDCK), United People’s Liberation Army (UPLA), and Karbi People’s Liberation Tigers (KPLT) factions.
• The agreement will bring peace and prosperity to the area and help in the overall development of the Northeast.
• Karbi Anglong leaders are demanding to declare the hill districts of Karbi Anglong, West Karbi Anglong, and Dima Hasao as ‘autonomous states’ under the provision of Article-244 (A) of the Constitution.
• Salient features of the Agreement:
  • Under this agreement, 1000 armed cadres have abjured violence and joined the mainstream of society.
  • The government has announced Special Development Package of Rs 1000 crores for the development of Karbi areas.
  • More autonomy will be provided to the Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council for identity, language, culture, etc.
  • The government will set up a Karbi Welfare Council for the development of Karbi people.

(Source: News on AIR)

Topic: Defence

9. Indian Army to procure 100 'skystrikers'.

• Indian Army has signed a contract to procure more than 100 explosive-laden drones or 'SkyStrikers'.
• These explosive-laden drones will be manufactured in Bengaluru. It has a range of around 100km.
• Alpha Design-led joint venture (JV) along with Israeli firm Elbit Security Systems (ELSEC) would make and supply SkyStrikers.
• Skystrikers is also referred as a 'suicide drone’. It can detect and strike targets with up to 5 kg of explosives.
• Alpha-Elbit JV has already exported 100 such drones. It has also signed two contracts with the Indian Air force.
• India Army will use these drones for the Balakot types of missions.

Topic: Reports and Indices

10. University of Oxford remain on top in Times World University Rankings 2022.

• The University of Oxford in the United Kingdom has been ranked first in the Times World University Rankings 2022. It has topped the ranking for the sixth consecutive year.
• California Institute of Technology, Harvard University, and Stanford University have been ranked second, third and fourth respectively in the Times World University Rankings 2022.
• It has ranked 1600 universities across 99 countries based on 13 indicators. Teaching, research, knowledge transfer and international outlook are the four broader indicators of this ranking.
• The universities in the top 200 are mostly from United States, United Kingdom, Germany, and Australia. The United States has the highest number of universities in the top 200.
• Peking University and Tsinghua University of China are in the top 20. Ten Chinese universities have found places in the top 200.
• IISc Bengaluru continues to be the highest-ranked Indian institution in the top 350.
• IIT Ropar has been ranked in the 351-400 category and IIT Indore is in the top 600. IIT Ropar is ahead of all IITs in research quality.

Topic: Important Days

11. International Day of Charity: 5 September

• International Day of Charity is observed every year on 5 September.
• It is observed to mark the death of Mother Teresa. She got Nobel Prize in 1979 for her work on poverty.
• United Nations General Assembly adopted 5 September as International Day of Charity in 2012. It was started by the Hungarian Civil society initiative in 2011.
• Mother Teresa had dedicated her life to charitable works.  She is also known as a living saint. She founded the Missionaries of Charity in 1950.
• On 12^th August 2021, the United Nations had issued a commemorative stamp in honour of Mother Teresa.
• The Charity helps in removing the worst effects of humanitarian crises and helps in providing education, housing, and protection of the Poor.