Current Affairs Quiz 27th and 28th November 2021 : Daily GK Update Quiz

Exp. Cherry Blossom Festival 2021 celebrated in Shillong, Meghalaya

The three-day Shillong Cherry Blossom Festival 2021 was inaugurated by Chief Minister of Meghalaya, Conrad K Sangma and Ambassador of Japan to India, Satoshi Suzuki.

It was celebrated from November 25 to 27. The festival wass held in two venues, Ward’s Lake and Polo Grounds in Meghalaya.

The annual festival coincides with the actual blooming of the cherry blossom flowers. It is also known as the Prunus Cerasoides, these flowers underline the Himalayas and cover the east and west Khasi hills.

Exp. Madhya Pradesh CM launched “Urja Saksharta Abhiyan” & 3 solar power projects of 1500-MW capacity

Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chauhan launched ‘Urja Saksharta Abhiyan’ to make all the citizens aware about energy saving, according to a time bound action plan.

The schools, colleges and general public of the state will be connected under this campaign. With this launch, MP has become the first state in India to run a energy literacy campaign on big scale.

Shivraj Singh Chauhan has also laid the foundation stones for setting up three solar power plants of 1500-megawatt capacity in Shajapur, Agar and Neemuch. Total outlay of the project: Rs 5,250 crore.

Exp. UNICEF & Odisha Water Resource Department signed LoA for Water Management

Department of Water Resources (DoWR), Odisha and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) signed a letter of agreement (LoA) to collaborate on communication and policy initiatives of the department.

Aim: To develop high impact communication materials and water policy that helps to ensure change in behavior of children and women on sustainable water use and conservation.

‘Youth4Water’ website has been launched for water conservation through greater community engagement in matters of water governance, water conservation and keeping water clean.

Exp. National Apprenticeship Training Scheme (NATS) extended for 5 years

Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given its approval for continuation of National Apprenticeship Training Scheme for next five years.

Cabinet gave approval for stipendiary support of 3 thousand 54 crore rupees to apprentices who undergo apprenticeship training under National Apprenticeship Training Scheme. Approval was given for the period from 2021-22 to 2025-26.

Under it, industry & commercial organisations will train approximately nine lakhs’ apprentices.

Exp. NITI Aayog’s Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) 2021: Bihar, Jharkhand, UP poorest states in India

Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and Meghalaya have emerged as the poorest states in India, according to NITI Aayog’s Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI).

Kerala (0.71 per cent), Goa (3.76 per cent), Sikkim (3.82 per cent), Tamil Nadu (4.89 per cent) and Punjab (5.59 per cent) have registered the lowest poverty across India and are at the bottom of the index.

India’s first ever national MPI measure is based on the reference period of 2015-16 of the National Family Health Survey (NFHS). Multidimensional Poverty Index measure has been constructed by utilising 12 key components which cover areas such as health and nutrition, education and standard of living.

Exp. Rajnath Singh inaugurated 5th World Congress on Disaster Management

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has virtually inaugurated 5th World Congress on Disaster Management (WCDM). It is an initiative of Disaster Management Initiatives and Convergence Society (DMICS), Hyderabad.

The event has been organized between 24th to 27th November 2021 at the campus of IIT Delhi. The first WCDM was held in 2008 in Hyderabad and inaugurated by Dr A P J Abdul Kalam.

Theme of the 5th WCDM: ‘Technology, Finance and Capacity for Building Resilience to Disasters in the context of COVID-19’.

Exp. Kantar’s BrandZ India report 2021: Amazon, Asian Paints, Tata Tea topped India’s Most Purposeful Brand Rankings

According to Kantar’s BrandZ India 2021 report, Amazon, Tata Tea and Asian Paints emerged as the most purposeful brands in India across technology, FMCG and in non-FMCG categories respectively.

In technology ranking Amazon leads the index followed by Zomato, YouTube, and Google and Swiggy jointly in 4th place.

While Asian Paints topped the non-FMCG rankings, Samsung and Jio ranked jointly in the 2nd position, followed by MRF. The FMCG category rankings saw Tata Tea topping the chart, Surf Excel in 2nd position.

Exp. Government formed ‘Central Vista Oversight Committee’ to expedite pace of project; headed by Ratan P Watal

The Union government formed a high-level ‘Central Vista Oversight Committee’ for 2 years to monitor and expedite the pace of the project.

The committee will be headed by former finance secretary Ratan P Watal. It includes P K Tiwari, Shailendar Roy, Professor Mausam and member and a Joint Secretary MoHUA as the convener.

The committee will ensure a multi-agency, multi-stakeholder coordination for seamless integration of different project works.

Exp. Germany announced 1.2 billion Euro to aid India’s fight against climate change

Germany has announced new development commitments of around Euro 1.2 billion aid to India, in support of India’s fight against climate change. This fund will also be used for cooperation on clean energy.

Under its commitments, Germany allotted €713 million for energy, €409 million for urban development, and €90 million for agroecology & natural resources. These projects will support India’s targets to expand solar power generation.

Exp. Sheikh Sabah Al-Khalid reappointed as Prime Minister of Kuwait

Kuwait reappointed Sheikh Sabah Al-Khalid Al-Sabah as the Prime Minister of the country, he has already been the PM since 2019.

He was reappointed by an Emiri order (Head of the State) issued by Crown Prince Sheikh Mishal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah.

Kuwait is an emirate; the Emir is the head of state and the Al Sabah is the ruling family which dominates the country’s political system.

Exp. RBI imposed monetary penalty of Rs. 1 crore on State Bank of India

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has imposed a monetary penalty of Rs one crore on country’s largest lender, State Bank of India (SBI) for holding shares in the borrower companies of an amount exceeding 30 per cent of the paid-up share capital of those companies.

The RBI imposed the penalty for the contravention of sub-section (2) of section 19 of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949, according to its statement on November 26.

Exp. YES Bank partnered With Amazon Pay, AWS for UPI services

Yes Bank has collaborated with Amazon Pay and Amazon Web Services (AWS) to offer customers an instant real-time payment system through a Unified Payment Interface (UPI) transaction facility.

The integration enables Amazon Pay to issue UPI IDs with the @yapl handle, allowing customers to make secure, fast, and convenient payments.

Based on a multi-bank model, this collaboration allows Yes Bank to acquire merchants through the Amazon Pay platform.

Exp. Bajaj Allianz General Insurance tied up with TropoGo for Drone Insurance

Bajaj Allianz General Insurance announced its partnership with deep-tech startup TropoGo for the distribution of a drone Insurance product.

With this Bajaj Allianz General Insurance becomes the 4th insurer to offer drone cover. HDFC Ergo was the first insurer to launch a drone insurance cover in June 2020, followed by ICICI Lombard in August 2021, and Tata AIG last month.

The drone insurance product will cover Damage to the Drone and Payload it carries, Third Party Liability, BVLOS (Beyond Visual Line of Sight) Endorsement and Night Flying Endorsement.

Exp. Praveen Sinha elected as delegate for Asia on the executive committee of the INTERPOL

Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) special director Praveen Sinha was elected the delegate for Asia in the executive committee of the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) following a tough contest involving China.

In the election, four contestants were China, Singapore, South Korea and Jordan. India’s National Central Bureau (NCB-India) reached out to its counterparts around the world to campaign for this election. The elections were held in Istanbul, Turkey during the ongoing 89 INTERPOL General Assembly.

Exp. Rajnish Kumar appointed as an Independent non-executive Director on the Board of Hero MotoCorp

Two-wheeler major Hero MotoCorp announced the appointment of former chairman of State Bank of India (SBI) Rajnish Kumar as an independent non-executive director on the board of the company.

Kumar completed his three-year term as chairman of SBI in October 2020.  He is currently serving as an Independent Director on the Boards of many other companies including HSBC, Asia Pacific, L&T Infotech and is also the Non-Executive Chairman of Resilient Innovations (BharatPe).

Exp. Skyroot Aerospace test-fired India’s 1st Privately Built Cryogenic Rocket Engine “Dhawan-1”

Skyroot Aerospace, a space technology startup based in Hyderabad, has successfully test-fired Dhawan-1, India’s first privately developed fully cryogenic rocket engine.

This will power the upper stages of its upcoming Vikram-2 orbital launch vehicle. The rocket engine Dhawan-1 is named after Satish Dhawan, an Indian rocket scientist.

Dhawan-1 is a completely ‘Made-in-India’ cryogenic engine, developed using 3D printing with a superalloy. The engine is fuelled by liquefied natural gas and liquid oxygen—a high-performance, low-cost and clean rocket fuel.

Exp. A book titled “Bangladesh Liberation@50 Years: ‘Bijoy’ with Synergy, India-Pakistan War 1971” released

General MM Naravane released a book ‘Bangladesh Liberation @ 50 years: ‘Bijoy’ with Synergy, India-Pakistan war 1971’, a compilation of personal accounts of the war by veterans from India and Pakistan.

The book is an amalgamation of historical and anecdotal accounts of the 1971 War and comprises authors from both India and Bangladesh. Mostly who fought the war.

The event was organised by the Centre for Land Warfare Studies (CLAWS) at the India International Centre (IIC), Delhi to commemorate 50 Years of India-Bangladesh Friendship as well as the decisive victory in the India- Pakistan War 1971.

Exp. IAF commissioned 2 Mirage 2000 Fighters from France at Gwalior Air Base

The Indian Air Force (IAF) received 2-second hand combat aircrafts Mirage 2000 from France at Gwalior air base as a major boost to the fighter jet fleet of IAF amid border tensions with China and Pakistan.

With this inclusion, there are a total of 50 Mirage 2000 Fighters in India. The IAF had acquired around 51 Mirages in different batches and they form three squadrons which are all based in the Gwalior Air Force station under the Mirage upgrade deal. The Mirage aircrafts are made by Dassault Aviation, France.

Exp. 27 November: National Organ Donation Day

In India, the ‘National Organ Donation Day’ is observed every year on 27 November since past 10 years. The day aims to promote awareness and recognize the selfless contribution made by deceased donors to healthcare and mankind re-instill our faith in humanity.

2021 marks the 12th National Organ Donation Day. It is organised by the National Organ & Tissue Transplant Organization (NOTTO) under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.