Daily Current Affairs and GK | 7 and 8 March 2021

Topic: Geography

1. Forest fire in Simlipal is a matter of Concern.

• Simlipal forest witness another incident of forest fire in February. Forest incidents are very common in the Simlipal forest.
• The Forest department of Odisha has finally brought the fire under control after a week. About one-third area of the biosphere reserve in the Mayurbhanj district was destroyed due to fire.
• Simlipal forest is famous for ‘Simul’ (silk cotton) tree. Simlipal forest adjoining areas were declared as a biosphere in 1994.
• Causes of fire in Simlipal forest:
  • Due to lightning and thunderstorm, forest fire incidents occur.
  • Dried leaves are more vulnerable to fire and even a spark leads to a raging fire.
  • Cleaning of dry leaves on the ground with the help of fire by villagers.
• Methods to control forest fire:
  • By regularly monitoring the forest areas.
  • By generating awareness among the villagers living around forest areas.
  • By stopping the poachers.
• Simlipal National Park:
  • It is spread in 2,750 sq. km.
  • It is a national park in Odisha.
  • It is famous for the population of tigers and Elephants.
  • It is the 7^th largest national park in India.

Topic: Important Days

2. International Women’s Day is celebrated annually on 8 March. 

• The day celebrates the economic, social, political and cultural achievements of women worldwide. 
• The day also marks a call to action for accelerating women’s equality.
• Important facts related to Women:
  • Nearly 60% of women around the world work in the informal economy, earning less, saving less, and at greater risk of falling into poverty.
  • Women earn 23% less than men globally.
  • Women occupy only 24% of parliamentary seats worldwide.
  • 1 in 3 have experienced physical or sexual violence and 200 million of girls-women have suffered genital mutilation.
• International Women’s Day 2021 Theme: “Women in leadership: Achieving an equal future in a COVID-19 world”
• SDG 5: Gender Equality 

(Source: UN Women)

Topic: India and its neighbourhood

3. PM Modi to inaugurate ‘Maitri Setu’ between India and Bangladesh.

• Indian PM Narendra Modi will today inaugurate ‘Maitri Setu’ between India and Bangladesh. 
• With the launch of this bridge, Tripura will become the Gateway of North East with access to Chittagong Port of Bangladesh. 
• PM Modi will also lay the foundation stone for developing an Integrated Check Post at Sabroom (Tripura), which will ease the movement of goods and passengers between India and Bangladesh.
• The Land Ports Authority of India has taken up this project. 
• Maitri Setu:
  • It is built over the Feni river, flows between Tripura and Bangladesh. 
  • The name signifies the friendly relations between India and Bangladesh. 
  • National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL) has constructed this bridge.
  • It is a 1.9 km long bridge that joins Sabroom in India with Ramgarh in Bangladesh. 

Topic: National News

4. PM Modi to inaugurate and lay foundation stone of various projects in Tripura.

• Prime Minister Modi will inaugurate State Highways and other district roads, developed by the Tripura government to provide all-weather connectivity to the people of the State.
• He will also inaugurate 40,978 houses constructed under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban). 
• He will also inaugurate the Integrated Command and Control Centre built under Agartala Smart City Mission.
• Under this mission, the existing road from Lichubagan to the airport will be widened from two lanes to four lanes, for which the foundation stone would be laid.
• Apart from this, PM will lay the foundation stone for the development of Multi-Level Car Parking and Commercial Complex at Old Motor Stand.
• Tripura:
  • It is a state in the northeastern region of India that shares its border with Bangladesh, Assam and Mizoram.
  • It became a state of India on 21 January 1972.
  • The state is connected by only one major highway- NH 8- with other parts of the country.
  • Capital of Tripura: Agartala
  • Chief Minister of Tripura: Biplab Kumar Deb
  • Governor of Tripura: Ramesh Bias
  • Hoza Giri dance of the Reang tribe is one of the famous folk dance of Tripura.
  • Garia dance and Dhamail are the other folk dances.

Topic: Sports

5. Bajrang Punia won Gold in Matteo Pellicon World ranking series in Rome.

• Wrestler Bajrang Punia has won a gold medal in Matteo Pellicon World ranking series in Rome 
• He defeated Tulga Tumur Ochir of Mongolia 2-2 by criteria in the final of the 65kg freestyle. 
• This is Bajrang Punia’s second consecutive gold medal at the Matteo Pellicone event.
• Bajrang Punia: 
  • Bajrang Punia, from Haryana, is a freestyle wrestler of India. He competes in the 65 kg weight category.
  • He has won three medals at the World Wrestling Championships- One silver and two bronze.
  • He has also won gold at the 2018 Asian Games held in Jakarta.
  • Awards:
    • Arjuna Award 2015
    • Padma Shri Award 2019
    • Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award 2019
    • FICCI India Sports Award 2020

Topic: Sports

6. PV Sindhu won silver medal in Swiss Open 2021.

• PV Sindhu won a silver medal in the Swiss Open 2021. She was defeated by Olympic champion Carolina Marin by 12-21, 5-21 in the finals.
• She has reached the semifinal of a BWF tournament after 19 months. She defeated Mia Blichfeldt in the semifinal.
• Swiss Open is an annual badminton tournament held in Switzerland since 1955.
• PV Sindhu: She is an Indian professional badminton player. She is the first Indian to win the Badminton World Championship. She is also the first Indian woman to win an Olympic silver medal in Badminton.

(Source: News on AIR)

Topic: Sports

7. Manish Kaushik clinched gold medal in Boxam International Tournament.

• Indian boxer Manish Kaushik (63kg) won a gold medal in the 35^th Boxam International Tournament in Castellon, Spain.
• He defeated Denmark’s Nikolai Terteryan in the finals.
• Mohammed Hussamuddin (57kg) and Vikas Krishan (69kg) won silver medals in their respective category.
• In the women’s category, Simranjit Kaur (60kg), Pooja Rani (75kg) and Jasmine (57kg) won silver medals. M C Mary Kom (51kg) has won the bronze medal.
• Indian Boxers won 10 medals in the Boxam International Tournament.
• Boxam International Tournament: It is an international boxing tournament. The first edition of the Boxam Tournament was held in Almeria in 1976.

Topic: National News

8. India’s biggest Kidney Dialysis Hospital opened at Balasahib Gurudwara.

• The Delhi Sikh Gurudwara Management Committee (DSGMC) inaugurated India’s biggest Kidney Dialysis Hospital at Balasahib Gurudwara in Delhi.
• Guru Harkishan Institute of Medical Sciences and Research Kidney Dialysis Hospital will provide a dialysis facility free of cost to the patients. It is a 100 bedded hospital which can cater around 500 patients daily.
• It is equipped with all modern facilities and its capacity will be increased to 1000 beds in future.
• Dialysis is a treatment for kidney failure that removes unwanted toxins, waste products and excess fluids from the body.

Topic: State News/ Uttar Pradesh

9. For the first time, Gur Mahotsav was celebrated in Lucknow.

• The two-day Gur Mahotsav or jaggery festival was celebrated in Lucknow. It was inaugurated by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.
• It was celebrated to support farmers associated with jaggery production and for creating awareness about the benefits of jaggery.
• In this two-day festival, different types of jaggery products were exhibited to promote high-quality jaggery production.
• The medicinal properties of jaggery were also discussed during this Gur Mahotsav.
• India is the largest producer of jaggery. Uttar Pradesh is the major producer state of sugarcane and jaggery in India.
• Jaggery is a sweetener that is made from sugarcane. It is also known as unrefined sugar. It is very helpful in increasing the immunity of the body.

Topic: Banking System

10. LIC will disinvest its stake in IDBI Bank.

• Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) will reduce its stake in IDBI Bank to boost strategic disinvestment.
• However, LIC has not yet decided how much stake it will reduce from the IDBI bank.
• From January 2019, RBI had categorized IDBI Bank as a Private Sector Bank for regulatory purposes. LIC owns a majority stake in IDBI Bank.
• The government had announced a disinvestment target of ₹2.10-lakh crore for 2020-21. Out of this, ₹90,000 crores will come from the sale of government stakes in public sector banks and financial institutions.
• At present, the government holds 47.11 percent and LIC holds 51 percent stake in IDBI Bank.

Topic: Banking System

11. NPCI and SBI Payments joined hands to launch ‘RuPay SoftPoS’ solution.

• National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has partnered with SBI Payments to launch ‘RuPay SoftPoS ’.
• It will transform an NFC-enabled smartphone into merchant Point of Sale (PoS) terminals for the merchants.
• It will enable merchants to perform transactions of up to Rs 5,000 through their smartphones.
• It will provide a cost-effective infrastructure for merchants to promote contactless digital transactions.
• Merchants have to just download a supporting app to convert their smartphones into a payment terminal.
• This facility can be used for only NCMC cards and RuPay Tokenized Card.

Topic: Space and IT

12. SpaceX launched a Starship SN10 rocket.

• SpaceX successfully launched the Starship SN10 prototype rocket.
• SpaceX has been developing the next-generation Starship rocket for going to Mars.
• The Starship SN10 prototype rocket was launched from Boca Chica in Texas.
• The main objective of the launch is to gather information on how the flaps work to control the rocket when it is horizontal.
• SpaceX:
  • It is an American aerospace manufacturer and space transportation services company founded by Elon Musk in 2002.
  • It is known for its reusable rockets and astronaut capsules.
  • Its headquarters is located in California.
  • CEO of SpaceX is Elon Musk.