Daily Current Affairs and GK | 6 March 2021

Topic: India and its Neighborhood

1. Bangladesh launched its national app portal.

• Bangladesh government has launched its national app portal bdapps.com.
• Bangladesh government has signed an agreement with the telecom company Robi. Under this agreement, the portal will act as the hub of the ICT division for application developers.
• Boot camps and software development events will be organised by the ICT division in association with bdapps.
• BDApps is the largest mobile application platform in Bangladesh. It is hosting around 23000 apps.
• The app portal has been launched by Zunaid Ahmed Palak. The portal can be used by any app developer for uploading their apps.
• Bangladesh:
  • It is located in the east of India on the Bay of Bengal.
  • Its capital is Dhaka, and the currency is Bangladeshi Taka.
  • Prime Minister: Shiekh Hasina

Topic: Appointments

2. Kuldiep Singh assumed additional charge of Director-General (DG) of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF).

• Kuldiep Singh has taken the additional charge of Director-General (DG)  of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF).
• He has assumed the charge after the retirement of A P Maheshwari.
• He is currently working as Director-General (DG) of the central zone of CRPF.
• Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF):
  • It was established on 27 July 1939. It is the largest Central Armed Police Force in India.
  • It functions under the authority of the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India.
  • It is headquartered in New Delhi and its motto is ‘Service and Loyalty’.

(Source: CRPF)

Topic: Science and Technology

3. AI-based face recognition system introduced by NHAI.

• Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based face recognition system has been introduced by NHAI for monitoring of field staff’s attendance.
• With the help of this technology, NHAI personnel can track the presence of personnel at the project site.
• The system of monitoring attendance is linked with Data Lake. Data Lake is NHAI’s unique cloud-based, and artificial intelligence powered Big Data Analytics platform.
• The term ‘Artificial Intelligence’ refers to intelligence shown by machines. John McCarthy, Alan Turing, Marvin Minsky, Allen Newell, and Herbert A. Simon are the founding fathers of AI.
• Herbert Simon and Allen Newell developed the first AI program in 1955. Alan Turing is widely known as the father of artificial intelligence.

Topic: International News

4. External Affairs Minister said that India welcomes Afghanistan and Uzbekistan’s interest to join INSTC.

• In his address on Chabahar Day, External Affairs Minister said that India welcomes the interest of Afghanistan and Uzbekistan to join the International North–South Transport Corridor (INSTC).
• As per the External Affairs Minister, India has also proposed that Chabahar should be included in International North–South Transport Corridor (INSTC) route.
• In his address on Chabahar Day at the virtual Maritime India Summit 2021, the Minister said that India is collaborating with 12 countries to develop an economic corridor as part of INSTC.
• Shipping Minister Mansukhlal Mandaviya said that the meeting of INSTC Coordination Council Meeting might be held through video-conferencing at earliest.
• INSTC is a multi-modal transport network between India, Iran, Afghanistan, Russia, other countries in the region and Europe.
• Shipping Minister Mansukhlal Mandaviya said that the port had handled total 13,752 TEUs (twenty feet equivalent unit) containers since the operations were started at Shahid Beheshti Port of Chabahar in December 2018.
• A subsidiary of India Ports Global Limited (IPGL) started operations at Shahid Beheshti Port in 2018. Chabahar Port is a joint initiative of Governments of India, Iran and Afghanistan. 

Topic: Committees/ Commissions/Taskforces

5. Government formed a National Committee to celebrate 75 years of India’s Independence.

• The government has set up a high-level national committee to commemorate the 75 years of India’s Independence in 2022.
• The national committee comprises 259 members, and it will be headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
• The committee will give the guidelines for the programs of celebration. The celebration will begin 75 weeks prior to August 15, 2022.
• The celebration of the 75^th year of Independence will begin on 12 March 2021. The 91^st anniversary of Salt Satyagraha will also be celebrated on the same day.
• The government will celebrate the 75^th year of Independence with ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’.
• On 15^th August 1947, India was declared independent from British colonialism.

Topic: Corporates/Companies

6. IMPCL, the PSU of AYUSH Ministry, to sell its products on Government e-Market (GeM) portal.

• The PSU of AYUSH Ministry, Indian Medicines Pharmaceutical Corporation Limited (IMPCL), will sell its products on Government e-Market (GeM) portal.
• IMPCL and GeM have signed a pact for the online selling of products on 3 March 2021. It will cover 311 medicines under 31 categories.
• The agreement will help government institutions in the quick procurement and distribution of Ayurvedic and Unani medicines. 
• It will also help in increasing the availability of Ayurvedic and Unani medicines in Ayush Hospitals.
• Indian Medicines Pharmaceutical Corporation Limited: It was established in 1978. It is involved in the manufacturing of Ayush medicines in the country. It is only CPSE under the Ministry of AYUSH.
• GeM is a public procurement portal (B2G) where common use Goods and Services can be purchased by the government departments/organisations.

Topic: Defence

7. DRDO successfully tested solid fuel ducted ramjet (SFDR) technology for missiles.

• India successfully conducted a flight test of Solid Fuel Ducted Ramjet (SFDR) technology from Integrated Test Range (ITR) Chandipur.
• SFDR technology will enable the DRDO to develop long-range air-to-air missiles. In the world, only a few countries have developed this technology.
• SFDR technology was tested for the first time in 2018. The second test of SFDR technology was earlier conducted in February 2019.

(Source: News on AIR)

Topic: Miscellaneous

8. Education Minister inaugurated New Delhi World Book Fair 2021.

• Union Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ has inaugurated the 29^th New Delhi World Book Fair on 5 March 2021.
• The theme of the New Delhi World Book Fair 2021 is ‘National Education Policy-2020’.
• It is being organised by the National Book Trust from March 6 to 12 in a virtual mode.
• The government had passed the new National Education Policy in 2020. It proposes several significant changes in the existing education policy. It is a visionary document for the education system of India.

Topic: Summits/ Conferences/ Meetings

9. First Strategic and Counter-Terrorism Dialogue between India and Nigeria concluded on 5 March.

• The first Strategic and Counter-Terrorism Dialogue between India and Nigeria at the National Security Advisor level was held between March 4-5, 2021.
• Both sides discussed many issues such as threats and challenges faced by democratic societies from terrorism, extremism, and radicalization.
• India and Nigeria also agreed on cooperation in the fight against all forms of terrorism. They also agreed on cooperation at the international level against terrorism.
• Ajit Doval is the current National Security Advisor of India and Babagana Monguno is the National Security Advisor of Nigeria.
• Nigeria:
  • It is located in Western Africa.
  • It shares its borders with Niger, Chad, Cameroon and Benin.
  • Its capital is Abuja and the currency is Naira.
  • Muhammadu Buhari is the current President of Nigeria.

Topic: Miscellaneous

10. Indian Army launched its first community Radio Station in North Kashmir.

• Indian Army has started its community Radio Station “Radio Chinar 90.4, Har Dil Ki Dhadkan” in Sopore of Baramulla district.
• It was inaugurated by Lt Gen BS Raju on 4 March 2021.
• Its service will be available for the Bandipora and Baramulla districts of North Kashmir.
• The main objective of this Community Radio Station is to bridge the gap between the Indian Army and local youth. It is a unique way to get connected with different segments of the community.
• It will act as an effective platform for community dialogue and for sharing information. It will also help in finding the hidden talent of North Kashmir.
• Indian Army:
  • It is the largest standing army in the world.
  • Chief of Defence Staff: General Bipin Rawat
  • Chief of Army Staff: General Manoj Mukund Naravane

(Source: News on AIR)

Topic: Space and IT

11. Scientists discovered a “space hurricane” over the North Pole.

• Scientists have discovered a “space hurricane” in the upper atmosphere over the North Pole for the first time.
• It is observed by the Chinese scientists during a retrospective analysis of the satellite data. The space hurricane has been observed in the satellite data of 20 August 2014, and details of the observation were published in ‘Nature communication’ in February 2021.
• A group of scientists from China, the UK, the US and Norway has developed an image of the space hurricane.
• According to scientists, “space hurricane” contains plasma with multiple spiral arms. It spins in the anticlockwise direction.
• The study of space hurricanes will help scientists in understanding the important weather phenomenon in Space.
• Space hurricane:
  • It is different from Earth’s hurricanes. It rains electrons into the ionosphere.
  • Space storms are made up of plasmas, which contain extremely hot ionized gases moving at extremely high speeds.

Topic: Reports and Indices/Rankings

12. 10^th edition of Hurun Global Rich List released.

• 10^th edition of Hurun Global Rich List has been released and as per the list, China has maximum number of billionaires.
• As per the Hurun Global Rich List 2021, US and India follow China in number of billionaires. The list has been released by Hurun Report on 2 March.
• As per the list, Elon Musk has become world’s richest man for the first time. He was ranked second in December 2020 Hurun global rich list.    
• Amazon’s Jeff Bezos is ranked second in 2021 list. Bernard Arnault is ranked at third place. Bernard Arnault is chief executive of LVMH Moët Hennessy – Louis Vuitton SE. It is the largest luxury-goods company in the world.
• As per the 2021 list, Alice Walton of Walmart is world’s richest woman. Youngest Indians in the list are Apoorva Mehta of Instacart and Nikhil Kamath of Zerodha.
• In the 2021 list, Mukesh Ambani is the richest in India, second richest in Asia and the eighth richest in the World. Zhong Shanshan overtook Mukesh Ambani and became richest Asian.  Tiktok founder Zhang Yiming entered into the top 30 in the 2021 list.