Daily Current Affairs and GK | 7 July 2021

Topic: Appointments

1. President appoints new Governors for eight states.

• President Ram Nath Kovind has approved the appointments of new Governors in eight states.
• Social Justice and Empowerment Minister, Thaawarchand Gehlot, has been appointed as Governor of Karnataka.
• Under Article 155, the governor of a state is appointed by the President of India.
• Governor is the constitutional head of the state and holds office during the pleasure of the President.
• Article 153 to Article 162 of the Indian Constitution is associated with the appointment, removal, powers, etc. of the Governor.
• All the executive actions of the State government are taken under the name of a Governor.
• Newly Appointed Governors are:

Topic: Sports

2. Manpreet Singh and Mary Kom to be flag-bearers at Tokyo Olympics.

• MC Mary Kom and Manpreet Singh have been named as flag-bearers of the Indian contingent at the Tokyo Olympics.
• MC Mary Kom is the six-time world boxing champion and Manpreet Singh is the skipper of the men’s hockey team.
• Bajrang Punia will be the flag-bearer at the closing ceremony.
• More than 100 Indian athletes would take part in Tokyo Olympics. The Indian contingent has 56 percent male and 44 percent female athletes.
• The Tokyo Games are scheduled to be organized from July 23 to 8 August.
• Last year, International Olympic Committee (IOC) had made provisions for the flag-bearers from both genders at the opening ceremony.

Topic: Personality in News

3. Renowned Actor Dilip Kumar passes away at the age of 98.

• Famous actor Dilip Kumar passed away at the age of 98 due to prolonged illness.
• He was born in 1922. His original name was Mohammed Yusuf Khan.
• He made his first debut in 1944 in the film Jwar Bhata.
• Some of his hit films are Mughal-e-Azam’, ‘Naya Daur’, ‘Baabul’, ‘Deedar’, ‘Madhumati’, ‘Devdas’, ‘Ganga Jamuna’, ‘Ram Aur Shyam’, ‘Karma’.
• He was awarded Padma Bhushan in 1991, Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 1994 and Padma Vibhushan in 2015.
• He has also won the Filmfare award for Best Actor 8 times.

(Source: News on AIR)

Topic: Awards and Prizes

4. 2021 Airline of the Year awarded to Korean Air.

• Korean Air has won the Oscar in the aviation industry, “2021 Airline of the Year” award.
• The award will be presented in a ceremony to be held in Boston on 5 October 2021.
• Korean Air will be given this award for “Coping COVID-19 excellently”.
• Airline of the Year Award is given by Air Transport World (ATW). It was started in 1974.
• Air Transport World is an online and print publication that covers news related to the aviation industry.

Topic: Summits/ Conferences/ Meetings

5. Indo-Pacific Business Summit 2021 started on 6 July.

• Indo-Pacific Business Summit 2021 has started from 6 July till 8 July.
• The summit is being organized by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in partnership with the Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India.
• Indo-Pacific Business Summit 2021 is the first edition of the Indo-Pacific Business Summit.
• The summit comes in the wake of the Indo-Pacific Ocean Initiative (IPOI). PM Modi has announced IPOI during 14th East Asian Summit.
• Total 21 countries are participating in Indo-Pacific Business Summit 2021. Participating countries account for US$ 40.6 billion of GDP.
• The summit will focus on how India and the countries of Indo-Pacific region can boost their economic partnership, collaborate for sustainable use of maritime resources and future economic development.
• At least 38 countries are part of the Indo-Pacific region. Indo-Pacific region accounts for 44% of world surface area, 64% of the world population and 62% of global GDP.

(Source: News on AIR)

Topic: Miscellaneous

6. Environment, Forest and Climate Change Ministry and Tribal Affairs Ministry sign a joint communication to empower tribal communities.

• Environment, Forest and Climate Change Ministry and Tribal Affairs Ministry has signed a joint communication to empower tribal communities in managing forest resources.
• The joint communication is related to the more effective implementation of Forest Rights Act (FRA), 2006.
• Environment, Forest and Climate Change Minister Prakash Javadekar said that joint communication will empower tribal communities and help in the effective implementation of Forest Rights Act.
• He said that the tribal budget has been doubled and four lakh forest dwellers have benefitted from Van Dhan Scheme.
• Forest Rights Act (FRA), 2006 is also known as Scheduled Tribes And Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition Of Forest Rights) Act, 2006.
• It recognizes the rights of the forest dwelling tribal communities and other traditional forest dwellers to forest resources.

(Source: News on AIR)

Topic: Art and Culture

7. Shri Prakash Javadekar inaugurates virtual India Pavilion at 74^th Cannes Film Festival.

• Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting Shri Prakash Javadekar inaugurated the virtual ‘India Pavilion, at the 74^th Cannes Film Festival.
• The virtual inauguration of ‘India Pavilion’ during the 74^th Cannes Film Festival, was organized by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Govt of India, jointly with FICCI.
• Shri Prakash Javadekar said that India has opened up a facilitation office for International film makers and all approvals will be given in one go.
• This is the second year when the pavilions are being virtually organized.

Topic: National News

8. India’s first FASTag/UPI-based cashless parking launched by DMRC at Kashmere Gate metro station.

• India’s first FASTag/UPI-based cashless parking facility was launched by DMRC at Kashmere Gate metro station.
• Dr. Mangu Singh, MD, DMRC launched India’s first FASTag/UPI-based cashless parking facility in the presence of senior officials of DMRC and National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI).
• Dedicated Intermediate Public Transport (IPT) lanes for Auto, Taxi and E-Rickshaws were also inaugurated at Kashmere Gate metro station as part of Multi-Model Integration (MMI) initiative.
• Only the vehicles with FASTag will be allowed to park in the parking facility. The parking fee can also be paid by UPI apps by scanning the QR Code.
• The facility at Kashmere Gate metro station is a pilot project of DMRC. Further, DMRC is planning to set up similar systems at other stations also.
• In the second phase of MMI, a Food Court will be established and a Bus-Terminal will be constructed. Second phase of MMI is under construction.

Topic: Sports

9. New venues for AFC Women’s Asian Cup India 2022 confirmed.

• Mumbai Football Arena – Andheri Sports Complex, Mumbai, and the Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex in Balewadi, Pune have been confirmed as new venues for AFC Women’s Asian Cup India 2022.
• The venues have been confirmed by Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and the AFC Women’s Asian Cup India 2022 Local Organising Committee (LOC) on 06 July.
• D.Y. Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai will remain as one of the three stadiums that will stage the AFC Women’s Asian Cup India 2022.
• AFC Women’s Asian Cup India 2022 is on schedule to take place from January 20 to February 6, 2022.

Topic: Corporates/Companies

10. PhonePe partners with Flipkart to digitize cash-on-delivery payments.

• PhonePe has partnered with Flipkart to digitize cash-on-delivery payments and launch a contactless ‘Scan and Pay’ feature for Flipkart’s pay-on-delivery orders.
• The partnership would reduce personal contact. With this facility, customers will scan PhonePe QR code to make contactless payments for deliveries from Flipkart.

Topic: Miscellaneous

11. Minister for Road Transport and Highways & MSME Shri Nitin Gadkari becomes “Brand Ambassador” of Khadi Prakritik Paint.

• Minister for Road Transport and Highways & MSME Shri Nitin Gadkari has declared himself “Brand Ambassador” of Khadi Prakritik Paint.
• He would promote Khadi Prakritik Paint across the country to encourage young entrepreneurs to take up the manufacturing of cow dung paint.
• He virtually inaugurated the new automated manufacturing unit of Khadi Prakritik Paint, India's first and only paint made from cow dung, in Jaipur.
• The new plant has been set up on the campus of Kumarappa National Handmade Paper Institute (KNHPI), Jaipur.
• Kumarappa National Handmade Paper Institute is a unit of the Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC).

(Source: PIB)

Topic: Environment and Ecology

12. King Cobra sighted at Maharashtra’s Tillari conservation reserve.

• World’s longest venomous snake King Cobra (Ophiophagus hannah) was sighted at Maharashtra’s Tillari conservation reserve.
• Tillari was recently declared a conservation reserve. It is located in Maharashtra’s Sindhudurg district.