Daily Current Affairs and GK | 9 February 2021

Topic: Appointments

1. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala of Nigeria set to become next Director General of WTO.

• Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala of Nigeria is set to become next Director General of World Trade Organisation (WTO).
• Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala would be the first female leader and first African national to become Director General of WTO.
• On 5 February 2021, US administration under Biden has announced support for Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.
• In October 2020, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala of Nigeria and Yoo Myung-hee of South Korea were selected from list of eight candidates for post.
• In October 2020, Dr. Okonjo-Iweala had largest support. However, US President Trump did not support Dr. Okonjo-Iweala.
• Final selection of Director General of WTO requires consensus from all its members (164). The post of Director General of WTO is currently vacant.
• Roberto Azevedo of Brazil served as Director General of WTO from 2013 to 2020. Peter Sutherland was first Director General of WTO.

Topic: Defence

2. Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL) launches Dishani and Garudastra during Aero India- 2021.

• Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL) launched Dishani and Garudastra during Aero India- 2021.
• The Chairman and Managing Director of BDL provided a model of Dishani and Garudastra to Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on 06 February 2021.
• While Garudastra is an advanced anti-submarine self-guided homing torpedo, Dishani is an expendable air-deployed ASW sonobuoy system.

• Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL):
  • It was established in 1970. Year 2020 is Golden Jubilee Year of BDL.  
  • It is headquartered in Hyderabad. Commodore Siddharth Mishra (Retd) is its Chairman and Managing Director. 
  • In June 2019, it won Governance Now PSU Award - 2018 for Consistent Growth (Miniratna - I Category).

Topic: State News/ Bihar

3. Bihar CM Nitish Kumar will expand his cabinet.

• Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar will expand his cabinet. The new ministers will take an oath of on 9^th February.
• At present, there are 14 ministers along with Chief Minister in the Bihar government.
• The council of ministers of state is collectively responsible to the legislative assembly of state and individually responsible to the Governor.
• According to the 91^st Amendment Act 2003, the total number of ministers in the council of ministers in the state shall not exceed 15% of the total strength of the legislative assembly.
• The Bihar Legislative Assembly has a strength of 243 members. The maximum number of ministers could be 36.
• Article related to the council of ministers in state:

Topic: Summits/ Conferences/ Meetings

4. PM Modi will inaugurate World Sustainable Development Summit 2021.

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the World Sustainable Development Summit 2021 on 10 February in virtual mode.
• The theme of this year’s summit is “Redefining our common future: Safe and secure environment for all”.
• It will be the 20^th edition of the World Sustainable Development Summit. It is scheduled to be held from 10-12 February. 
• The World Sustainable Development Summit is organised by The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) annually. The summit is being organized in collaboration with Ministry of Forest and Environment, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy and Ministry of Earth Sciences.
• The main objective of this summit is to bring governments, business leaders, academicians, climate scientists on a common platform to discuss the issues related to climate change.
• Many topics will be discussed during the summit including adaptation and resilience, nature-based solutions, climate finance, circular economy, clean oceans, air pollution, etc.
• Sustainable Development Goals: These are a collection of 17 goals designed to achieve a better and more sustainable future. It was launched in 2015 by the UNDP and these have to be achieved by 2030.

Topic: Personality in News

5. President paid homage to Dr. Zakir Hussain on his birth anniversary.

• President Ram Nath Kovind paid tribute to former President Zakir Hussain on the occasion of his birth anniversary.
• Dr. Zakir Hussain:
  • He was born on 8 February 1897.
  • He was the third President of India. He served as President from 13 May 1967 to 3 May 1969.
  • He was the co-founder of Jamia Milia Islamia.
  • He was the first Muslim President of India and he is the first President to die in office.
  • He received Bharat Ratna in 1963.

(Source: News on AIR)

Topic: Summits/ Conferences/ Meetings

6. First India-EU High Level Dialogue on Trade and Investment concluded.

• India and EU first High-Level Dialogue on Trade and Investment concluded on 5 February.
• In this dialogue, both countries agreed to further deepen ties on bilateral trade and investment.
• Both sides agreed to discuss the bilateral investment cooperation issues through bilateral Regulatory Dialogue and an India-EU Multilateral Dialogue in the next three months.
• It has been co-chaired by the Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal and the European Union Executive Vice-President and Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis.
• This High-Level Dialogue was established during the fifteenth India-EU Summit in 2020.
• European Union:
  • It is a political and economic union of 27 member states which are mainly located in Europe.
  • It was founded on 1 November 1993.
  • It is headquartered in Brussels, Belgium.

(Source: News on AIR)

Topic: National News

7. 1^st Tibetan Village ‘Dungti’ has been electrified by Global Himalayan Expedition.

• Global Himalayan Expedition (GHE) has electrified the first Tibetan Village, ‘Dungti’ near Line of Actual Control in Ladakh.
• GHE team of Engineers has electrified the 51 households of this village by providing Solar based DC electricity.
• Some Tibetan families are settled in the Dungti village of Ladakh. The peoples of this village are dependent only on the income from selling Pashmina.
• Global Himalayan Expedition (GHE) has electrified more than 100 hamlets in Ladakh.
• Global Himalayan Expedition is one of the world’s first organizations using tourism and technology to bring solar energy to remote communities. It is one of the winners of the UN Global Climate Action Award 2020.

(Source: News on AIR)

Topic: International News

8. United States will re-engage with the United Nations Human Rights Council.

• The US government has announced to re-engage with the United Nations human rights council (UNHRC).
• The US had left the United Nations Human Rights Council in 2018.
• The UN Secretary-General António Guterres has welcomed the US decision of re-engagement with the United Nations Human Rights Council.
• The United States will start its re-engagement as an observer of the United Nations Human Rights Council.
• United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC):
  • It was founded on 15 March 2006.
  • It is a body of the United Nations.
  • It aims to promote and protect human rights worldwide.
  • It has 47 members elected for a three-year term.
  • It is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland.

Topic: Personality in News

9. Renowned Indian tennis player Akhtar Ali passed away.

• India tennis legend Akhtar Ali passed away at the age of 83 in Kolkata.
• He represented India in the eight Davis cup between 1958 to 1964. He had also served as coach of the Indian Davis Cup team.
• He was the winner of the Asian mixed doubles championship and played his last match in 1974.
• He received Arjuna Award in 2000 for his contribution to Indian Tennis.
• Davis Cup is an international tennis tournament of men’s tennis.

Topic: Sports

10. Joe Root becomes the first batsman to score a double century in his 100th Test.

• Joe Root, the England captain, has become the first player in history to score a double century in his 100th Test match.
• He has a scored double century in the first test match of India- England test series.
• He has also equaled Graeme Smith and Rahul Dravid’s record of five double centuries in Test cricket.
• He also became the first England batsman to score a double century with a six.

Topic: Miscellaneous

11. Yuvraj Singh appointed brand ambassador of Howzat. 

• Famous cricketer Yuvraj Singh has been appointed as the brand ambassador of Howzat.
• Howzat is the fantasy sports app and website by Junglee Games. 
• Yuvraj Singh is also the brand ambassador of Akash Education services limited and nutrition brand ‘wellversed’.
• Redmi India has appointed Sonu Sood as its brand ambassador for smartphones. 

Topic: Sports

12. Byju’s to remain a global partner of ICC until 2023.

• Byju’s will remain a global partner of the International Cricket Council (ICC) from 2021 to 2023.
• Byju’s will be seen as a partner of ICC in major upcoming events, including ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in India and the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup in New Zealand.
• In August 2019, Byju’s became the official jersey partners of the Indian cricket team.
• Byju’s is a Bengaluru based ed-tech company.

Topic: Space and IT

13. Skyroot Aerospace and Bellatrix Aerospace signed an MoU to launch space taxis. 

• Skyroot Aerospace and Bellatrix Aerospace have signed an MoU to use Orbital Transfer Vehicle (OTV) in the upper stage of Vikram series of launch vehicles.
• OTV is a spacecraft that can perform different in-orbit operations through which a launch vehicle can deliver satellites to more orbits.
• OTV is being developed by Bellatrix and Vikram launchers are being developed by Skyroot.
• The first mission of Vikram launcher with OTV i.e., space taxi, is planned by 2023.
• This is the first contract between Indian space startups after ISRO and the union government decided to support private space companies through the formation of IN-SPACe.
• IN-SPACe is an independent nodal agency under Department of Space for allowing space activities and usage of DOS owned facilities by NGPEs as well as to prioritize the launch manifest.