Friday 22 January 2021
GK Update of sixteenth January 2021 masking the next information headlines: Republic Day, Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana 3.0, UN Rights Body, Telecom Equipment and Services Export Promotion Council.
National News
1. No international chief as chief visitor on Republic Day this yr
- According to External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Anurag Srivastava, because of the international COVID-19 scenario, it has been determined that this yr there won’t be a international Head of State or Head of Government because the Chief Guest for the Republic Day occasion. President Ramnath Kovind will take the salute on the parade this time.
- This would be the first time in over 5 a long time that India won’t have a chief visitor on the Republic Day parade.
- This comes days after United Kingdom (UK) Prime Minister Boris Johnson cancelled his go to to India. Boris Jonhson was scheduled to be the chief visitor at India’s Republic Day parade on January 26.
2. Centre launches Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana 3.0
- The Government of India launched the third section of Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana on 15 January 2021.
- The scheme has been rolled out for the present monetary yr, ending March 2021, and might be applied by the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship.
- Under the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana-3.0, abilities coaching could be offered in 600 districts throughout all states, (besides 4 states together with Himachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and West Bengal) to 8 lakh candidates over subsequent three months with an outlay of Rs 948.90 crore with a deal with Covid-related abilities.
- The coaching might be imparted via 729 Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Kendras (PMKKs), empanelled non-PMKK coaching centres and greater than 200 industrial coaching institutes (ITIs).
- Further, a five-year PMKVY might be launched in 2021-22 with an enhanced goal of skilling 1.5 crore youth.
Important takeaways for all aggressive exams:
- Minister of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship: Mahendra Nath Pandey.
International News
3. Indian-American Garima Verma named digital director in Office of the First Lady
- Incoming First Lady, Jill Biden has named Indian-American Garima Verma as her digital director and Michael LaRosa press secretary, the Biden transition workforce has introduced.
- She served as viewers improvement and content material strategist on the Biden-Harris marketing campaign.
- Before becoming a member of the marketing campaign, Verma was a volunteer with the content material workforce, designing graphics for distribution to Biden-Harris volunteers throughout the nation.
4. UN Rights Body elects Fiji in First-Ever Presidential Vote
- The UN Human Rights Council elected Fiji’s ambassador as its 2021 president in an unprecedented secret poll after a diplomatic stand-off blocked the same old consensus choice.
- Fiji’s ambassador in Geneva, Nazhat Shameem Khan, who served because the council’s vp in 2020 and is taken into account a rights champion, gained with 29 out of 47 votes.
- She ran in opposition to two different candidates from the UN’s Asia-Pacific regional group of nations: Bahrain’s ambassador Yusuf Abdulkarim Bucheeri and his counterpart from Uzbekistan, Ulugbek Lapasov, who acquired 14 and 4 votes respectively.
Important takeaways for all aggressive exams:
- UN Human Rights Council Founded: 15 March 2006.
- UN Human Rights Council Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland.
Appointments News
5. TEPC appoints Sandeep Aggarwal as new Chairman
- The Telecom Equipment and Services Export Promotion Council (TEPC) has appointed Sandeep Aggarwal as the brand new Chairman. Aggarwal, the Managing Director and Promoter of Delhi-based Paramount Communications, will take over from Shyamal Ghosh, ex-Telecom Secretary.
- TEPC is an impartial physique arrange by the federal government to advertise and develop the export of telecom tools and companies.
Agreements News
6. India and Japan inks MoU to reinforce cooperation in ICT
- India and Japan have signed an MoU to reinforce cooperation within the area of Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) through videoconferencing.
- The MoU was signed between Union Minister for Communications, Electronics and IT Ravi Shankar Prasad and the Japanese Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications Takeda Ryota.
- Both international locations will improve mutual cooperation within the area of 5G applied sciences, telecom safety, submarine optical fibre cable system to islands of India, spectrum administration, sensible cities, excessive altitude platform for broadband in unconnected areas, catastrophe administration and public security and so forth.
Important takeaways for all aggressive exams:
- Japan Capital: Tokyo.
- Japan Currency: Japanese yen.
- Japan Prime minister: Yoshihide Suga.
Banking News
7. YES Bank launches wellness themed bank card
- Yes Bank has introduced its partnership with Aditya Birla Wellness Private Limited to launch the ‘YES BANK Wellness’ and ‘YES BANK Wellness Plus’ Credit Cards – aimed on the holistic well being, self-care and wellness of customers.
- This is an progressive step to encourage and promote self-care, psychological and bodily well-being.
- Consumers can now benefit from the bouquet of complementary well being advantages by merely registering on the Aditya Birla Multiply App.
- Benefits embrace reward factors, eating regimen plans, consultations and so forth
- The cellular app permits customers to avail complimentary advantages similar to annual well being check-up, around the clock physician or counsellor helpline, in-studio or home-based exercise periods, customized eating regimen plans, amongst others, proper at their fingertips.
Important takeaways for all aggressive exams:
- YES financial institution HQ: Mumbai, Maharashtra.
- YES financial institution MD & CEO: Prashant Kumar.
8. ICICI Bank ties up with fintech Niyo to difficulty pay as you go playing cards to MSMEs
- ICICI Bank, a number one Indian personal sector financial institution, and Niyo, a brand new age fintech firm introduced a tie-up to difficulty pay as you go playing cards to Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) employees.
- MSMEs will now have the ability to get ‘ICICI Bank Niyo Bharat Payroll Card’ powered by Visa, for his or her blue-collar employees.
- With this, MSMEs can add the salaries of their employees on the cardboard, which the employees can then utilise as per their want seamlessly.
- These employees are largely under-banked and are disadvantaged of banking services.
- The ‘ICICI Bank Niyo Bharat Payroll Card’ permits a person to obtain funds as much as Rs 1 lakh into the cardboard account. It affords comfort and security of digital banking to the blue-collar workforce whereas offering a state-of-the-art wage disbursement answer to the employers.
- Any MSME can tie-up with Niyo to avail of the pay as you go card. After the tie-up, playing cards are issued to the employees at their office itself whereas their KYC verification is completed concurrently utilizing a biometric gadget.
- Once activated, employees can use the cardboard to withdraw funds at ATMs, make on-line transactions on e-commerce portals and make fee by swiping the cardboard at Point of Sale (PoS) machines.
Important takeaways for all aggressive exams:
- ICICI Bank Headquarters: Mumbai, Maharashtra.
- ICICI Bank MD & CEO: Sandeep Bakhshi.
- ICICI Bank Tagline: Hum Hai Na, Khayal Apka.
Summits and Conferences News
9. Piyush Goyal inaugurates the ‘Prarambh: Startup India International Summit’
- The Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, Consumer Affairs and Food and Public Distribution, Piyush Goyal has inaugurated the two-day ‘Prarambh’, Startup India International Summit in New Delhi on 15 January 2021.
- The Summit has been organized by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), underneath M/o Commerce & Industry.
- The inaugural occasion was participated by the members of BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation) international locations.
- The ‘Prarambh’ Summit will present a platform to the startups and younger minds from around the globe to come back collectively and collaborate to work collectively to come back with new concepts, innovation and invention.
- The focus of the Summit might be on enhancing multilateral cooperation and engagement with international locations from across the globe to collectively develop and strengthen the startup ecosystems.
- The Summit marks the fifth anniversary of the Startup India initiative, launched by the Prime Minister on 16 January 2016.
Miscellaneous
10. Rajnath Singh unveils India’s 1st indigenously developed driverless metro automobile
- Union Defence Minister, Rajnath Singh has unveiled India’s first ‘Driverless Metro Car’ on 15 January 2021 throughout a operate held at BEML’s Bangalore Complex.
- The indigenously designed & developed state-of-the-art Driverless Metro trains are being manufactured at BEML Bangaluru manufacturing facility, for Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA).
- BEML just lately opened its Depot workplace at Charkop Metro Depot, MMRDA, Mumbai for commissioning, testing and round the clock companies for Driverless Metro vehicles.
- BEML bagged a complete order of 576 vehicles for Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA)’s MRS1 undertaking and the availability is scheduled progressively as much as January 2024.