GK Update 8Th July 2020

th F DAILY GK UPDATE 6 July

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Vice President Venkahiah Naidu Launches India’s First Social Media Super App ‘Elyments’: Honorable Vice President of India, Shri M Venkaiah Naidu, launched an indigenous social media app ‘Elyments’ on 5th July 2020, through video conferencing. Elyments is a first Made-in-India social media super-app, developed by Bengaluru-based software company, Sumeru Software Solutions Pvt Ltd, in close competition with similar platforms like Facebook, Whatsapp and Instagram. India has more than 500 million social media users, but most of these social media platforms are owned by companies outside India, which creates doubt regarding the privacy of data and data ownership. The initiative is a step forward towards becoming Aatma Nirbhar Bharat and also boosting the economy of the country. Key Features of Elyments: (1) The app combine the features of popular social media apps and present it on a single unified app. (2) Social media Terms such as – contacts, friends, followers– have all been brought together in Elyments. (3) With end-to-end encryption, Elyments ensures that users data remains safe from prying eyes. All the servers are hosted in India, thus providing a fast and breezy experience. (4) It will provide basic facilities like: Audio/Video conference calls; Private/ Group chats; Secure payments via Elyments Pay; Public profiles that users can Follow/Subscribe; Curated commerce platform to promote Indian brands; Regional voice commands. Elyments is available in more than eight Indian languages. It can be downloaded from all app stores and Google Play Stores across the world. The app has already seen downloads of over 200,000 times.

2. Delhi govt to launch “Paudhelagao, ParyavaranBachao” campaign: Delhi government will launch a mega tree plantation drive under the ‘Paudhelagao, ParyavaranBachao’ campaign. The campaign aims to reduce air pollution by increasing green cover in the national capital. It has been planned that during the campaign, in 17 days, 31 lakh of tree saplings will be planted under the campaign. Out of the 31 lakh saplings, 20 lakh saplings will be of big trees and the remaining 11 lakh saplings will be of shrubs that will be planted on both sides of the road. Note: Governor of Delhi: Anil Baijal; Chief Minister of Delhi: Arvind Kejriwal; Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai.

3. CBSE partners with Facebook to launch free virtual training program for teachers and students: The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has partnered with social media giant Facebook to launch free and comprehensive training program in virtual mode for teachers and students of its affiliated schools. The first phase of the training program is scheduled from August 2020 to November 2020. The registration process for the first phase of the training program will be held from 6th to 20th July 2020. Schools have to online nominate their teachers and students for the training programs. The participants will also receive a joint e- certificate from CBSE and Facebook on successful completion of the course. In the second phase, CBSE will introduce the training program on digital safety and augmented reality for 30 thousand students in each category.

Note: CBSE chairman: Manoj Ahuja; Headquarters of CBSE: New Delhi.

4. India’s Largest COVID-19 facility ‘Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel COVID19 Hospital in Delhi becomes operational: On 5th July 2020, Delhi Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal inaugurated the 1000-bedded Sardar Patel Covid Care Centre and Hospital (SPCCCH) at Radha Soami Satsang Beas in Chhatarpur area, located at Air Force land near airport in Delhi. It is the largest COVID- 19 facility in India and has been developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) in a record time of 12 days. The hospital will operated by medical team of doctors, nurses and support staff from Armed Forces Medical Services. The facility has 250 intensive care units (ICU) beds and the capacity to house and treat 10,000 coronavirus patients at the same time. Apart from this, DRDO has decided to name all the different wards of new Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel COVID-19 Hospital in Delhi after the Indian Army troops who lost their lives in the Galwan valley clash last month.

5. Odisha Govt Launches ‘Balaram Yojana’ to Provide Agricultural Loan To Landless Farmers: Odisha government has launched ‘BalaramYojana’ to provide crop loans to landless farmers. Under the new scheme, the landless cultivators will get loans through joint liability groups (JLGs). Under this scheme, the government has set a target to provide farm loans to 7 lakh landless farmers in the next two years. The Institute on Management of Agricultural Extension (IMAGE) will coordinate to implement the scheme at the state level, the Agricultural Technology Management Agency (ATMA) will coordinate at the district level. The scheme was designed in collaboration with the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD). Note: Odisha Capital: Bhubaneswar; Governor: Ganeshi Lal; Chief Minister: Naveen Patnaik

6. Former RBI governor Urjit Patel pens book on dealing with NPA issue titled ‘Overdraft: Saving the Indian Saver’: Former RBI Governor, Urjit Patel, has written a book titled ‘Overdraft: Saving the Indian Saver’ which focuses on the non-performing assets (NPAs) issue that has afflicted Indian banking in recent years, its causes and Patel’s efforts as the RBI Governor in dealing with it. The book is likely to be released on 31 July 2020. It has been published by HarperCollins India.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Russian President Vladimir Putin records victory in Presidential polls: President of Russia, Vladimir Putin has recorded a victory in the recently held Presidential polls. With a victory, he is set to stay in power until the middle of the next decade i.e. until 2036. Russians citizens went to the polls to cast ballots in a nationwide referendum on Constitutional Amendments. A preliminary tally of results was released by the Central Election Commission of Russia after processing 50% of ballot, and stated that 76.24% of the citizens voted in support of the amendments.

Note: Russia Capital: Moscow; Currency: Russian Rouble; Prime Minister: Mikhail Vladimirovich Mishustin

2. India-Afghanistan inked 5 MoUs for development of educational infrastructure in Afghanistan: In order to strengthen the bilateral development partnership, the Government of India has inked 5 Memoranda of understanding (MoUs) with Afghanistan under the former’s high impact community development projects (HICDP) programme. The objective behind these MoUs is the development of educational infrastructure in four Afghan provinces namely Nooristan, Farah, Badakhshan and Kapisa. The projects to be taken up under the five MoUs include the construction of classrooms, a higher education building and a road within the campus of Albironi University. Note: Afghanistan Capital: Kabul; Currency: Afghan afghani; President: Ashraf Ghani

3. World Zoonoses Day: 6th July: World Zoonoses Day is held every year on July 6 to raise awareness for the risk of zoonotic diseases. Zoonoses are infectious diseases (virus, bacteria and parasites) that can spread from animals to humans, and vice versa, either with direct contact with animals or indirectly, vector-borne or food-borne. It was on July 6, 1885, when Louis Pasteur successfully administered the first vaccine against Rabies virus, which is a zoonotic disease. The day emphasizes about Zoonotic disease and problems caused by them. It urges people to take the right action. The day aims to show how this disease can be prevented after taking precautionary measures.

OTHER UPDATES:

SPORTS

1. Chess Player Akash becomes India’s 66th Grandmaster: The 23 year-old G. Akash from Chennai, Tamil Nadu (TN) becomes the country’s 66th Grandmaster with rating of 2495. Akash got his third GM norm in the National senior chess championship in Majhitar (Sikkim) last year, but his rating fell short of the required Elo mark of 2500. He played another five tournaments across the world to reach that rating. The title was confirmed at the recent meeting of International Chess Federation (FIDE) Council. He has won the national title in 2012. Note: FIDE Headquarters: Lausanne, Switzerland; President: Arkady Vladimirovich Dvorkovich

2. Quinton de Kock named men’s Cricketer of the Year in CSA’s virtual awards: White-ball skipper Quinton de Kock was named the men’s ‘cricketer of the year’ at Cricket South Africa’s (CSA) annual awards ceremony, held virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The 27-year-old also bagged the Test cricketer of the year. The complete list of awards: Men’s Cricketer of the Year: Quinton de Kock Women’s Cricketer of the Year: Laura Wolvaardt Test Cricketer of the Year: Quinton de Kock

Women’s ODI Cricketer of the year: Laura Wolvaardt Men’s ODI and T20 Player of the Year: Lungi Ngidi Women’s T20 Player of the Year: Shabnim Ismail Fans’ Favourite Player of the Year: David Miller International Men’s Newcomer of the Year: Anrich Nortje Women’s Newcomer of the Near: Nonkululeko Mlaba

BANKING AND FINANCE

1. V Suryanarayanan appointed new MD of Chola MS General Insurance: Cholamandalam MS General Insurance Company has announced the appointment of V Suryanarayanan as its new managing director. Suryanarayanan succeeds S S Gopalarathnam, who retired after serving the company for over 41 years. Cholamandalam MS General Insurance is a Joint Venture between diversified conglomerate Murugappa Group and Japan- based Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Company Ltd.

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY

1. WhatsApp Launches its 10-week long brand campaign ”It’s Between You” in India: Facebook-owned messaging platform WhatsApp has launched its brand campaign titled ”It’s Between You” in India on 4th July 2020, highlighting the core belief that when privacy is deeply felt people can communicate as their ‘true selves using Whatsapp.’ (1) 60-second ads: Under the campaign, two 60-second ads have been created, showcasing stories about how Indians are using Whatsapp to communicate in a secure manner with their closest relationships. Both the short films highlight how the features of Whatsapp like texts, video calls or even a voice message (which is end-to-end encrypted) help replicate in-person conversations. WhatsApp collaborated with Indian Bollywood director Gauri Shinde and advertising agency BBDO India to create the two sixty seconds ads. (2) 10 weeks long campaign: The campaign will run for 10 weeks in India on a number of national and regional television channels and digital platforms. These films will be available in English and seven regional languages that include Hindi, Bengali, Assamese, Oriya, Gujarati, Marathi and Kannada.

AWARDS AND HONOURS

1. India’s Freya Thakral wins “The Diana Award 2020”: A 13-year-old student of the British School New Delhi, Freya Thakral has received the 2020 Diana Award for her “Recycler App”. She developed this App to connect users with waste-handlers as a measure to help the ragpickers of Delhi. Recycler App is a web-based mobile application which connects the users with waste handlers. The service through the app is provided in the south Delhi region with plans to extend to the other parts with an aim to transform the lives of the ragpicker community.

Note: Diana Award: The Diana award was established in 1999 in memory of Princess Diana, to recognise the social works and humanitarian efforts of youngsters across the United Kingdom (UK) and around the world. The award is given on July 1st to commemorate the birth anniversary of Princess Diana and it is supported by Prince Willam and Prince Harry. Note: United Kingdom Prime Minister: Boris Johnson; Capital: London; Currency: Pound sterling

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