Daily Current Affairs: February 6,7 & 8, 2021

Daily Current Affairs (February 6,7 & 8, 2021) like many other sections is inevitable and this also helps to score in the Banking awareness, Static GK, and Financial Awareness sections. Remember, Banking Awareness, and Static Awareness Questions are asked from the General Awareness section. This will also help you to ride your preparations for the forthcoming exams.

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Important Days

International Day of Zero Tolerance to Female Genital Mutilation – February 6

  • International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation is an annual awareness day sponsored by the United Nations that takes place on February 6 every year since 2003 to eradicate female genital mutilation (FGM).
  • Theme 2021: “No Time for Global Inaction, Unite, Fund, and Act to End Female Genital Mutilation.”

National News

Union Minister Prahlad Singh Patel virtually attends the 8th meeting of ASEAN-India Tourism Ministers’ meeting

  • The Union Minister of State for Culture & Tourism, Prahlad Singh Patel co-chaired the 8th Meeting of ASEAN-India Tourism Ministers meeting with the Minister of Tourism of Cambodia H.E. Dr. Thong Khon through video conferencing. 
  • The meeting was in conjunction with the 24th Meeting of ASEAN Tourism Ministers (M-ATM).

Assam CM Sarbananda Sonowal inaugurates the first heliport of Assam in Majuli district

  • Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal inaugurated the first heliport of the state in Majuli district. The heliport having facility for a simultaneous landing of three helicopters was constructed at an expenditure of Rs. 50 lakhs.
  • The heliport was built with an aim to boost tourism in Majuli, which has a distinct identity as the world’s largest river island. 

Assam

  • Capital: Dispur
  • Chief Minister: SarbanandaSonowal
  • Governor: Jagdish Mukhi
  • National Parks: Orang National Park, Manas National Park or Manas Wildlife Sanctuary, Dibru-Saikhowa National Park, Kaziranga National Park, Nameri National Park, Dehing Patkai Wls.

Assam Government to distribute Rs. 3000 each to nearly 7.5 lakh people under the Chah Bagicha Dhan Puraskar scheme

  • Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will attend the 3rd phase of the Chah Bagicha Dhan Puraskar Mela in Guwahati, Assam. Finance Minister Sitharaman will take part in the event as the Chief Guest. 
  • Assam Government will distribute financial assistance of Rs. 3000 each to nearly 7.5 lakh people belonging to tea garden areas under the Chah Bagicha Dhan Puraskar scheme.

Assam

  • Capital: Dispur
  • Chief Minister: SarbanandaSonowal
  • Governor: Jagdish Mukhi
  • National Parks: Orang National Park, Manas National Park or Manas Wildlife Sanctuary, Dibru-Saikhowa National Park, Kaziranga National Park, Nameri National Park, Dehing Patkai Wls.

Himachal Pradesh becomes the first state to implement e-cabinet

  • Himachal Pradesh has become the first state in India to make the end-to-end processing of the cabinet paperless by implementing an e-cabinet application. 
  • The new system will bring greater efficiency in the overall process of conducting a cabinet meeting by removing dependencies which arise due to the physical movement of cabinet memos.

Himachal Pradesh

  • Capital: Shimla (Summer), Dharamshala (Winter).
  • Chief Minister: Jai Ram Thakur
  • Governor: Bandaru Dattatreya
  • National Parks: Inderkila National Park, Simbalbara National Park, Great Himalayan National Park, Pin Valley National Park, Khirganga National Park.

Union Jal Shakti Ministry launches a portal on Gobardhan scheme

  • The Union Jal Shakti Ministry launched a unified portal on the ‘Gobardhan’ scheme, an initiative aimed at managing cattle and biodegradable waste and also help enhance farmers’ income. 
  • The Gobardhan scheme is being pursued as a priority programme under the Swachch Bharat Mission Grameen – Phase 2. 

Maharashtra Cabinet approves new scheme for water conservation

  • Maharashtra Cabinet approved the implementation of Chief Minister Water Conservation Programme, costing Rs. 1,340.75 crores. Under the programme, water sources would be repaired, which will enhance the State’s irrigation capacity.
  • The new scheme aims at restoring the irrigation capacity by fixing water sources. The plan will be implemented from April 2020 and will go on until March 2023.

Maharashtra

  • Capital: Mumbai.
  • Chief Minister: Uddhav Thackeray.
  • Governor: Bhagat Singh Koshyari.

Union Environment Ministry approves Lakhwar Electricity Project on Yamuna river in Uttarakhand

  • Union Environment Ministry approved the Lakhwar Electricity Project on Yamuna river. Six states will get irrigation and pure drinking water from this project. Its construction will provide 330 metric cusec meters of additional water.
  • Under this project, Uttarakhand will get 572.54 million units of electricity every year.

Uttarakhand

  • Capital: Gairsain (summer capital), Dehradun (winter capital).
  • Chief Minister: Trivendra Singh Rawat
  • Governor: Baby Rani Maurya.
  • National Parks- Corbett NP, Gangotri NP, Govind PashuVihar NP, Nanda Devi NP, Rajaji NP, Valley of Flowers NP.

Ministry of Corporate Affairs revises threshold for paid-up capital and turnover for small companies

  • The Corporate Affairs Ministry has revised the definition of small companies under the Companies Act by increasing their thresholds for paid-up capital from “not exceeding Rs. 50 lakh” to “not exceeding Rs. two crores” and turnover from “not exceeding Rs. two crores” to “not exceeding Rs. 20 crores”.

3rd Bangladesh Film Festival 2021 opens in Kolkata, West Bengal

  • The 3rd Bangladesh Film Festival 2021 opened in Kolkata, West Bengal. The 5-day long festival was inaugurated by Information Minister of Bangladesh Hasan Mahmud. The Minister for Science and Technology, Government of West Bengal Bratya Basu and Indian Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla joined the festival as the Guest of Honour.
  • A film on the life of Prime Minister of Bangladesh ‘Hasina — A Daughter’s Tale’ was the inaugural film of the festival.

West Bengal

  • Capital: Kolkata
  • Chief Minister: Mamata Banerjee
  • Governor: Jagdeep Dhankhar
  • National Park (NP): Buxa NP, Gorumara NP, Neora Valley NP, Jaldapara NP, Singalila NP, Sundarbans NP.

International News

Denmark to build the world’s first energy island in the North Sea

  • Denmark has agreed to build an island in the North Sea that would gather and distribute electricity from wind power farms. The artificial island will be the size of 18 football pitches, will produce and store enough green energy to cover the electricity needs of 3 million European households. 
  • The €28 billion construction project is the biggest of its kind in Danish history. It will also provide clean power for use in shipping, aviation, industry, and heavy transport. Denmark aims to reach carbon neutrality by 2050.

Denmark:

  • Capital: Copenhagen
  • Currency: Danish krone.

GRSE signs contract with Seychelles to deliver fast patrol vessel “Zoroaster”

  • Defence PSU Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers Ltd (GRSE) has signed a contract to deliver “Zoroaster”, a fast patrol vessel (FPV) to Seychelles. 
  • The Seychelles Coast Guard ship ”Zoroaster” will be a powerful, fuel-efficient platform designed to perform multipurpose operations, such as patrolling, anti-smuggling, anti-poaching, and search & rescue.

Banking and Economy

Bharti Axa General Insurance launches ‘Salute to Caregivers – Ek Naya Nazariya campaign’, to support cancer survivors

  • Bharti AXA General Insurance, a joint venture between Bharti Enterprises launched its unique campaign ‘Caregivers’ to support cancer survivors in the battle against the killer disease.
  • Commemorating World Cancer Day, a global uniting initiative by the Union for International Cancer Control to raise worldwide attention and inspire action for a cancer-free future, Bharti AXA General Insurance believes that all caregivers – friends, family, and others – play a significant role to win the battle against cancer.

Acquisitions and Mergers

IIT Kharagpur and NIUA join hands to develop a framework for universal city planning

  • IIT Kharagpur has inked an MoU with the National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA) for ‘Building Accessible Safe and Inclusive Indian Cities (BASIIC).
  • The collaboration is aimed towards developing a framework for universal city planning which would be more accessible and inclusive for various sections of the community with age-friendly disabled-friendly measures.

BEL enters into Offset Contract with JSC Rosoboronexport

  • At the 6th India-Russia Military Industrial Conference, held in Bengaluru, Navratna Defence PSU Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) entered into an Offset Contract under invest in kind with Joint Stock Company Rosoboronexport, Russia.
  • The contract is to set up industrial facilities for the manufacture of a wide range of aviation hoses at BEL Optronic Devices Limited, Pune, a subsidiary of BEL.

Science and Technology

SpearUAV inks pact with Paras Aerospace to launch “Ninox 40” system in India

  • SpearUAV, developers and suppliers of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) solutions for defence and Homeland Security applications from Israel, has signed an MoU with Paras Aerospace to introduce encapsulated Ninox 40 system to the Indian market.
  • Ninox 40 is a micro-tactical, cost-effective drone system, featuring an encapsulated drone and control unit.

Books and Authors

US President Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden’s memoir ‘Beautiful Things’ to be published in April

  • United States President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, is publishing his memoir titled “Beautiful Things”. The book will centre on the younger Biden’s well-publicized struggles with substance abuse.
  • The book is scheduled to be published in the United States on April 6 by Gallery Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster.

A new book titled ‘1857 – The Sword of Mastaan’ was authored by Vineet Bajpai

  • A new book titled ‘1857 —The Sword of Mastaan’ has been authored by Vineet Bajpai. It is published by TreeShade Books. This is author Vineet Bajpai’s fifth fiction novel and eighth book overall. The book has been launched simultaneously across online and offline stores all over India.

Pulitzer Prize-winning Jhumpa Lahiri’s new book ‘Whereabouts’ to be released in April

  • Pulitzer Prize-winning Jhumpa Lahiri will be coming out with a new novel in April. The book will be published by Penguin India. The new book, titled ‘Whereabouts’, follows Lahiri’s 2013 novel ‘The Lowland’ and 2006’s ‘The Namesake’.
  • Written in Italian and translated into English by Lahiri, ‘Whereabouts’ is the story of a woman protagonist and her journey through life.

Obituary News

US actress Cicely Tyson passed away at 96

  • Pioneering Hollywood actress Cicely Tyson who was known for portraying strong African-American characters died at the age of 96. Tyson won two Emmys for her performance in the 1974 civil rights-era film The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman.

Noted cinematographer Nivas passes away at 73

  • Cinematographer-director PS Nivas passed away. He was known for his work in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, and Hindi cinema. He won the National Film Award for Best Cinematography for Malayalam film Mohiniyaattam (1976). 

National News

Piyush Goyal co-chairs first India-European high-level dialogue on trade and investment

  • The first India-European High-Level Dialogue (HLD) was co-chaired by the Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal and the European Union Executive Vice-President and Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis.
  • They also agreed to meet within the next three months, to reach consensus on a host of bilateral trade & investment cooperation issues like bilateral regulatory dialogue.

PM Narendra Modi launches ‘Asom Mala’ and laid the foundation stone of two hospitals in Assam

  • Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone of two hospitals and launched ‘Asom Mala’, a programme for state highways and major district roads, at Dhekiajuli in Sonitpur District, Assam.
  • The Chief Minister of Assam Sarbananda Sonowal, Union Minister Rameswar Teli, Ministers from the Assam Government and the Chief of Bodoland Territorial Region Pramod Boro were present on the occasion.

Assam

  • Capital: Dispur
  • Chief Minister: SarbanandaSonowal
  • Governor: Jagdish Mukhi
  • National Parks: Orang National Park, Manas National Park or Manas Wildlife Sanctuary, Dibru-Saikhowa National Park, Kaziranga National Park, Nameri National Park, Dehing Patkai Wls.

President Ramnath Kovind inaugurates museum dedicated to the pride of General Thimayya in Madikeri, Karnataka

  • President Ramnath Kovind inaugurated a museum dedicated to former Army Chief General Kodandera Subayya Thimayya in Kodagu, Karnataka. 
  • The museum has been built at Sunnyside, the former residence of General KS Thimayya. The war diary preserved inside the museum narrates the stories of various wars fought by the Indian military.

Karnataka

  • Capital: Bengaluru
  • Chief Minister: B. S. Yeddyurappa
  • Governor: VajubhaiVala
  • National Park: Anshi NP, Kudremukh NP, Bandipur NP, Bannerghatta NP, Rajiv Gandhi (Nagarahole) NP.

Kerala’s first human milk bank set up at Ernakulam General Hospital 

  • The first human milk bank in the state has started functioning at the Ernakulam General Hospital. Health Minister of Kerala KK Shailaja inaugurated the scheme called ‘nectar of life’ via video conferencing.
  • The milk bank, set up with the support of the Rotary Club of Cochin Global, would help to save the lives of many children. It will be provided free of cost to only the babies admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit of the hospital.

Kerala

  • Capital: Thiruvananthapuram
  • Chief Minister: Pinarayi Vijayan
  • Governor: Arif Mohammed Khan.

India’s first geothermal power project to be established at Puga village, Eastern Ladakh

  • India’s first geothermal power project will be established at Puga village of Eastern Ladakh. Puga has been identified as the hotspot of geothermal energy in the country by the scientists.
  • In the 1st phase of this project, 1 MW power generation capacity will be generated. The Geothermal Field Development Project is planned to commission by the end of 2022.

Ladakh

  • Capital: Leh, Kargil.
  • Lieutenant Governor: Radha Krishna Mathur.

Madhya Pradesh government launches ‘SAANS’ campaign to reduce infant mortality

  • The health department of Madhya Pradesh has launched Social Awareness and Action to Neutralise Pneumonia Successfully (SAANS) campaign with the aim of reducing infant mortality due to pneumonia. 
  • To reduce the death rate due to pneumonia among infants a strategy is being chalked out under the social awareness campaign. Around 4,000 health and wellness centres have been set for this purpose.

Madhya Pradesh

  • Capital: Bhopal
  • Chief Minister: Shivraj Singh Chauhan 
  • Governor: Anandiben Patel (Additional Charge).

PM Narendra Modi inaugurates 348-km Dobhi-Durgapur natural gas pipeline in Haldia, West Bengal

  • Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone of the 2nd Catalytic Dewaxing Unit at Haldia Refinery of IOC Ltd. The unit is estimated to be built with Rs. 1,019 crores and to be completed by April 2023. 
  • He will be dedicating a 348-kilometre long Dobhi – Durgapur Natural Gas Pipeline built with an investment of Rs. 2,400 crore as a part of the Pradhan Mantri Urja Ganga project towards achieving ‘One Nation, One Gas Grid’.
  • PM Modi also inaugurated 3 more projects — BPCL’s LPG Import Terminal at Haldia, GAIL’s Dobhi-Durgapur natural gas pipeline and NHAI’s 4-lane ROB cum flyover at Ranichak.

West Bengal

  • Capital: Kolkata
  • Chief Minister: Mamata Banerjee
  • Governor: Jagdeep Dhankhar
  • National Park (NP): Buxa NP, Gorumara NP, Neora Valley NP, Jaldapara NP, Singalila NP, Sundarbans NP.

International News

South Korea unveils $ 43 billion plan for the world’s largest offshore wind farm

  • South Korea unveiled a 48.5 trillion won ($ 43.2 billion) plan to build the world’s largest wind power plant by 2030 as part of its effort to foster an environmentally friendly recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. It will have a maximum capacity of 8.2 gigawatts.
  • The project is a major component of President Moon Jae-in’s Green New Deal, initiated last year to curb reliance on fossil fuels in Asia’s fourth-largest economy and make it carbon neutral by 2050.

South Korea: 

  • Capital: Seoul.
  • Currency: South Korean Won.
  • Prime Minister: Chung Sye-Kyun
  • President:  Moon Jae-In

Banking and Economy

RBI to set up a 24×7 helpline for digital payment services

  • RBI has announced certain measures of protection of common bank account holders in its monetary policy statement. It includes setting up of a 24×7 helpline for digital payment services, integrated ombudsman scheme and CTS (Cheque Truncation System) across all bank branches and allowing retail investors to open Gilt accounts with RBI. 

Japan’s MUFG Bank inks MoU with ICICI Bank to support Japanese firms

  • Major Japanese commercial bank MUFG Bank has signed an MoU with ICICI Bank to cooperate with the leading Indian bank in supporting Japanese companies operating in the South Asian country. 
  • Under the MoU, MUFG will introduce Japanese firms to ICICI in line with their needs so that they can use the Indian bank’s financial services, including the opening of personal accounts and the use of automated teller machines. 
  • The Japanese bank will also offer corporate customers information on local industries, hold business-matching events for companies of the two countries and organize business meetings, taking advantage of ICICI’s network of clients and more than 5,200 branches. 

PayPal to shut down its domestic payment business in India from April 1

  • The California-based global digital payment platform PayPal has announced that the company has decided to wind down its domestic payment services in India with effect from April 01, 2021.
  • The company will instead focus on enabling more international sales for Indian businesses. It had processed $ 1.4 billion worth of international sales for over 3.6 lakh merchants in India last year.

Science and Technology

NASA selects Elon Musk’s SpaceX to launch astrophysics mission “SPHEREx”

  • NASA has selected tech billionaire Elon Musk’s private aerospace company SpaceX to provide launch services for an astrophysics mission to survey the sky in the near-infrared light.
  • The planned two-year mission is called “SPHEREx”, short for Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization, and Ices Explorer.

Square Kilometre Array Observatory to set up world’s largest radio telescope mission

  • The first council meeting of the Square Kilometre Array Observatory (SKAO) has action plans that will lead to the biggest telescope on Earth being assembled over the coming decade.
  • At present, ten countries are a part of the SKAO, which include Australia, Canada, China, India, Italy, New Zealand, South Africa, Sweden, the Netherlands, and the UK.

Square Kilometre Array Observatory (SKAO)

  • Headquarters: United Kingdom

Appointments

Google Cloud appoints Bikram Singh Bedi as the Managing Director for India 

  • Google Cloud has announced the appointment of Bikram Singh Bedi as the Managing Director for its Indian business. He will succeed Karan Bajwa, who was recently elevated as the Vice President of Google’s Asia Pacific Cloud.
  • He also set up AWS business in India and was the company’s head of India and South Asia for six years. He has earlier held leadership positions at IBM and Oracle.  

Nigerian economist Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala set to become the first female leader of WTO

  • Nigeria’s Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala is all set to become the first woman and the first African to lead the World Trade Organization after South Korea’s candidate pulled out of the race for the job. 
  • The former finance minister of Nigeria Okonjo-Iweala will succeed Roberto Azevedo, who stepped down in August 2020.

Zoho founder Sridhar Vembu appointed to Ajit Doval led National Security Advisory Board

  • Tech entrepreneur and Zoho founder, Sridhar Vembu has been appointed to the reconstituted National Security Advisory Board (NSAB) led by National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval. He was recently conferred the Padma Shri. 
  • Along with Vembu, the other new members of the NSAB include former ISRO Chairman K Radhakrishnan, IIM Bangalore faculty Anshuman Tripathy, and former ambassador to France and the United States Arun K Singh.

United Nations reappointed Mike Bloomberg as its special envoy for climate change

  • The United Nations has reappointed former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg as a special envoy for climate change ahead of the UN climate summit in Scotland later this year.
  • UN Secretary-General António Guterres confirmed Bloomberg as his special envoy for climate ambition and solutions. Bloomberg was first appointed UN special envoy on cities and climate change in 2014 by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

Books and Authors

VP Naidu releases book ‘Parliamentary Messenger in Rajasthan’ authored by Dr K N Bhandari

  • Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu released a book titled “Parliamentary Messenger in Rajasthan” authored by Dr K N Bhandari. The book focusses on the health & education initiatives launched via MPLADS on the recommendation of Dr. Abhishek Singhvi.
  • Vice President also urged parliamentarians to use MPLADS funds for Saansad Adarsh Gram Yojna to develop villages as model villages.

Obituary News

‘The Sound of Music’ star and Oscar winner Christopher Plummer passes away at 91

  • Christopher Plummel, known for his popular role as Captain von Trapp in The Sound of Music, has passed away at the age of 91. He is the only Canadian and one of the few performers globally to have received the Triple Crown of Acting — Academy Award, Emmy Award, and Tony Award.

India tennis legend Akhtar Ali passes away at 83

  • Akhtar Ali, a former Davis Cup coach and a legendary figure in Indian tennis, died due to multiple health issues. He is a member of India’s Davis Cup teams from the late 1950s to mid-1960s.

Sports News

Drass Red win 13th CEC Cup Ice Hockey Championship 2021

  • Drass Red has won the 13th CEC Cup Ice Hockey Championship beating Hockey Club Chiktan team in the final match held in Kargil, Ladakh.
  • The 1st Women CEC Ice Hockey Cup 2021 was lifted by Shakar Chiktan team defeating Wakha Mulbekh team. 32 men teams and 5 women teams participated in the tournament which was organized by the District Youth Services & Sports.

Can you score 20/20 in Today’s Current Affairs Quiz? Attempt the Current Affairs Quiz of  February 6, 7 & 8, 2021, now from the link given below. 

Daily Current Affairs Quiz – February 6, 7 & 8, 2021

 

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