Daily Current Affairs and GK | 7 August 2021

Topic: Awards and Prizes

1. Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award renamed as Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award.

• The government has renamed the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award as Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award.
• Major Dhyan Chand, a field hockey player, played international hockey from 1926 to 1949. He was part of the Olympic team that has won gold medals in 1928, 1932, and 1936.
• Major Dhyan Chand's birthday, 29 August, is celebrated as National Sports Day.
• The National Stadium in New Delhi was also renamed as the Dhyan Chand National Stadium in 2002.

Topic: Appointments

2. Dhriti Banerjee appointed as 1^st women chief of Zoological Survey of India (ZSI).

• Dhriti Banerjee has been appointed as the first woman chief of the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI).
• Dhriti Banerjee is an eminent scientist conducting research in zoogeography, taxonomy, morphology.
• Since 2012, she has been the coordinator of ZSI's Digital Sequence Information Project.
• The appointments committee of the Cabinet has approved the appointment of Dhriti Banerjee as director of the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI).
• Banerjee had co-authored the document titled "The Glorious 100 women's Scientific Contribution in ZSI”. She was also part of the team that has traced the grave of ZSI's first director-general Thomas Nelson Annandale.

Topic: Important Days

3. Ministry of Textile is celebrating 7^th National Handloom Day on August 07, 2021.

• Ministry of Textile is celebrating 7^th National Handloom Day on August 07, 2021.
• The handloom weaving community is honoured on this day. Handloom sector's contribution to the country's socio-economic development is highlighted on this day.
• On the occasion of 7^th National Handloom Day, the inauguration of the Design Resource Centre (DRC) at Kancheepuram, Tamil Nadu is planned.
• Virtual Buyer Seller Meet by National Handloom Development Corporation (NHDC) and Inauguration of building of Weavers’ Service Centre (WSCs) at Raigarh, Chhattisgarh, are other events planned on the occasion.  
• Ministry of Textile is setting up Handloom Craft Villages at Kovalam, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, Mohpara Village, District Golaghat, Assam and Kanihama, Budgam, Srinagar.
• During the freedom struggle, Swadeshi Movement was launched on 7^th August 1905. The movement encouraged swadeshi industries and swadeshi spirit, including handloom weavers.
• In 2015, the Government decided to designate the 7^th August every year as the National Handloom Day (NHD). The first NHD was inaugurated on August 07, 2015.

Topic: Awards and Prizes

4. West Bengal government wins five Skoch Awards 2021.

• West Bengal government has won five Skoch Awards 2021 (platinum, a gold and three silver awards) in four categories of governance.
• Four out of five awards were won by MSME & textile department. The department’s single-window system Silpasathi won the award in the highest category, platinum.
• Auto-renewal of certificate of enlistment through the online system for urban areas has won the gold award.  The winners of three silver awards are given next.
  • Online issuance of trade licences in rural areas
  • E-Nathikaran: the online system for registration, preparation and submission of deeds
  • West Bengal State Electricity Distribution Company Limited for sustainable performance as the second-largest power utility with substantial IT transformation.
• Skoch Foundation organizes Smart Governance Award to recognize top-performing government organisations and organisations working with the government.

Topic: Government Schemes and Initiatives

5. Indian railway launches RailMadad.

• Indian railway has launched RailMadad, an integrated & innovative one-stop solution for customer grievance, enquiry, suggestion and assistance.
• Indian railway has provided passengers the choice to access RailMadad through multiple channels, namely, Web, App, SMS, Social Media and Helpline number (139) during the journey for expeditious resolution of their complaints.
• Different helplines that previously existed on the Railways have been merged into one helpline i.e. 139.
• 139 helpline facility can be used for all enquiry needs and for complaint making. It is available round the clock in 12 languages.

Topic: MoUs/Agreements

6. MoU signed between Himachal Pradesh State Handicrafts & Handloom Corporation and Flipkart.

• An MoU has been signed between Himachal Pradesh State Handicrafts & Handloom Corporation and Flipkart.
• The MoU has been signed for online sale and promotion of the products made by local artisans and craftsmen to customers across the globe.
• The MoU was signed between the two in the presence of Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur.
• MoU would provide an e-Commerce platform for over 20,000 artisans associated with handloom and handicrafts in the State.
• Flipkart is an e-commerce company. It is headquartered in Bangalore. Walmart owns it. Myntra and PhonePe are its subsidiaries.

Topic: Government Schemes and Initiatives

7. Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science & Technology said that DST is implementing SATYAM Programme since 2015-16.

• Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science & Technology said that Department of Science and Technology (DST) is implementing the ‘Science and Technology of Yoga and Meditation (SATYAM)’ Programme since 2015-16.
• Minister said that SATYAM Programme is being implemented to promote scientific research in the field of yoga and meditation in order to understand its role in human wellbeing.
• As per the Minister, the aim of the SATYAM programme is to explore the effect of yoga and meditation on physical and mental health.
• During the year 2020-21, the Department had announced a special call under SATYAM programme to combat Covid-19 and related viruses in order to explore the effect of yoga and meditation as add-on therapy.
• Department has received 478 proposals under this call and finally supported 52 projects under three broad thematic areas viz. immunity, respiratory system and stress, anxiety & depression.

Topic: Government Schemes and Initiatives

8. Union Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment launches ‘PM-DAKSH’ Portal and ‘PM-DAKSH’ Mobile App.

• Union Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment Dr. Virendra Kumar has launched ‘PM-DAKSH’ Portal and ‘PM-DAKSH’ Mobile App.
• The portal and app have been developed by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, in collaboration with National e-Governance Division (NeGD).
• The portal and app have been developed to make the skill development schemes accessible to the target groups of Backward Classes, Scheduled Castes and Safai Karamcharis.
• Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment is implementing Pradhan Mantri Dakshta Aur Kushalta Sampann Hitgrahi (PM-DAKSH) Yojana from the year 2020-21.
• Under this Yojana, the eligible target group is being provided skill development training programmes on Up-skilling/Re-skilling, Short Term Training Programme, Long Term Training Programme and Entrepreneurship Development Program (EDP).

Topic: International News

9. India, Sri Lanka and Maldives agree to work on four pillars of security cooperation.

• India, Sri Lanka and Maldives have agreed to work on four pillars of security cooperation.
• Four pillars of security cooperation will cover areas of marine security, human trafficking, counter-terrorism, and cyber security.
• The agreement was reached at a recent virtual meeting between top security officials of the three countries.
• On 4 August, Sri Lanka hosted a Deputy National Security Adviser-level meeting online.
• Pankaj Saran, Deputy National Security Adviser of India participated in the meeting.

Topic: National News

10. First Heart Failure Bio-bank of India unveiled at Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and technology.

• India's first National Heart Failure Biobank (NHFB) has been launched at the Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology (SCTIMST).
• It will help to collect blood, biopsies, and clinical data as a guide to future therapies.
• India did not have such a heart failure biobank. This biobank will provide benefits to patients those who are suffering from heart failure.
• This facility will be very useful to get insights into heart diseases and heart failure among Indian children and adults.
• The biobank will provide facilities for research and treatment of post-covid heart failure.

Topic: States/ Ladakh

11. Ladakh has launched a month-long Campaign ‘Pani Maah’.

• A month-long campaign- ‘Pani Maah’ (Water Month) has been launched by the Union Territory of Ladakh.
• The aim of the campaign is:
  • To provide the pace of implementation of Jal Jeevan Mission in the UT.
  • To give information and provide awareness in village communities on the importance of clean water.
• The campaign will run in two phases at Block and Panchayat levels. Phase one will run from 1^st to 14^th August and phase two will run from 16^th to 30^th August 2021.
• ‘Pani Maah’ campaign will be based on three major phases-
  • Focussing on water quality testing
  • Planning and strategizing water supply
  • Seamless functioning of Pani Sabha in villages
• The first 5 ‘Har Ghar Jal’ villages of each district in UT will be awarded Rs. 5 lakh per village and the first ‘Har Ghar Jal’ block in each district will be awarded Rs. 25 lakh.
• On Republic Day 2022, Outstanding PRI members, BDOs, AEEs and other concerned stakeholders will be awarded for their outstanding work towards making villages, blocks and districts, ‘Har Ghar Jal’.