Important Days
Himalayan Day 2021: 09 September
The National Mission for Clean Ganga organized Himalayan Diwas on September 09, 2021, in association with Naula Foundation.
This year’s theme is ‘Contribution of the Himalayas and our responsibilities’. The event was part of the ongoing celebration of ‘Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav’.
Himalaya Diwas is celebrated every year on 9th September in the state of Uttarakhand. It is celebrated with the aim to conserve the Himalayan ecosystem and region. It was officially declared as Himalaya Day in 2015 by the then-Chief Minister.
Useful notes for all competitive exams:
- Uttarakhand Founded: 9 November 2000;
- Uttarakhand Governor: Lt Gen Gurmit Singh;
- Uttarakhand Chief minister: Pushkar Singh Dhami;
- Uttarakhand Capitals: Dehradun (Winter), Gairsain (Summer).
National
Vijay Rupani resigns as Gujarat Chief Minister
Vijay Rupani has resigned as the Chief Minister of Gujarat. He submitted his resignation to governor Acharya Devvrat.
The resignation comes following a flurry of developments in Gujarat following a meeting in Gandhinagar. He reached the Raj Bhavan shortly after PM Modi inaugurated Sardardham Bhavan in Gujarat’s Ahmedabad and performed ‘Bhoomi puja of Sardardham Phase-II Kanya Chhatralaya (girls’ hostel) through video conferencing.
International
China successfully launches new Earth observation satellite “Gaofen-5 02”
China successfully launched a new Earth observation satellite, Gaofen-5 02, into space, aboard a Long March-4C rocket, from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Centre in north China’s Shanxi Province.
The Gaofen-5 02 satellite is the 24th in the series of Gaofen Earth-observation satellites of China, to monitor environmental protection efforts and boost its natural resources surveillance.
Gaofen-5 02 is a hyperspectral satellite that will be used for comprehensive environmental monitoring, to improve the country’s hyperspectral observation capacity of the atmosphere, water, and land.
Useful notes for all competitive exams:
- China Capital: Beijing;
- China Currency: Renminbi;
- China President: Xi Jinping.
El Salvador becomes 1st country to adopt Bitcoin as National Currency
El Salvador has become the first country in the world to accept Bitcoin as legal tender. The government of El Salvador claimed that the move will give many citizens of the country access to bank services for the first time.
In addition, trading in cryptocurrency will help the country save around $400 million in fees that are levied by banks and financial institutions on the money sent home by ex-pats.
The acceptance of Bitcoin as a legal currency by El Salvador follows a law approved by the country’s parliament in June. At the time, the country allowed Bitcoin to be accepted as tender for all goods and services. The bill was approved within 24 hours of being presented to Congress by President Nayib Bukele.
Useful notes for all competitive exams:
- El Salvador Capital: San Salvador;
- El Salvador President: Nayib Bukele.
World’s largest plant capturing carbon from air opens in Iceland
The world’s largest plant designed to capture carbon dioxide out of the air began its operations in Iceland. The plant is named Orca, which means ‘Energy’ in Icelandic words. It will suck out up to 4,000 tons of CO2 per year.
The carbon dioxide captured directly from the air will be deposited underground at a depth of 1,000 meters, where it would be turned into rock.
The facility has been developed by Icelandic carbon storage firm Carbfix, in partnership with Swiss start-up Climeworks AG, which specializes in capturing carbon dioxide directly from the air.
The technology launched may become a major tool in the fight against climate change.
Useful notes for all competitive exams:
- Iceland Capital: Reykjavík;
- Iceland Currency: Icelandic króna;
- Iceland Continent: Europe.
Appointments
Iqbal Singh Lalpura named chairman of National Commission for Minorities
Former IPS officer Iqbal Singh Lalpura has been appointed chairman of the National Commission for Minorities. He hails from Punjab and has authored several books on Sikh philosophy.
He has also won several awards such as the president’s police medal, police medal for meritorious services, Shiromani Sikh Sahitkar Award and Sikh scholar award.
Lalpura, during his tenure as IPS officer, served as SSP Amritsar, SSP Tarantaran, and Additional inspector general CID Amritsar.
He joined BJP in 2012 after retirement. Lalpura has written nearly 14 books on Sikh philosophy and history, such as ‘Japji Sahib ek vichaar’, Gurbaani ek vichaar’, and ‘Raj Karega Khalsa’.
Useful notes for all competitive exams:
- Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi is the Hon’ble Union Cabinet Minister for Minority Affairs.
CAG GC Murmu gets elected as ASOSAI chairman
The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India, GC Murmu was elected as the chairman of the assembly of the Asian Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions (ASOSAI) for a period of three years from 2024 to 2027.
Murmu was elected by the 56th governing board of ASOSAI and approval for the same was conveyed by the 15th assembly of ASOSAI. India will host the 16th assembly of ASOSAI in 2024.
The ASOSAI is one of the regional groups of the International Organisation of Supreme Audit Institutions (INTOSAI) which aims to promote understanding and cooperation among member institutions through the exchange of ideas and experiences in the field of public audit.
Established in 1979 with 11 members, the membership of the ASOSAI consists of charter members, members and associate members. The membership has since grown to 47 SAIs. The assembly consists of all members of the organization and meets once in three years.
Summits and Conferences
PM Narendra Modi chaired 13th BRICS Summit
Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi has chaired the 13th BRICS Summit, through video conferencing. The theme of the India-led Summit was “BRICS@15: Intra-BRICS Cooperation for Continuity, Consolidation, and Consensus.”
The theme chosen by India reflects the fifteenth anniversary of BRICS, being observed in 2021. PM Modi called for enhanced BRICS cooperation under the motto of ‘Build-back Resiliently, Innovatively, Credibly and Sustainably’.
The Summit concluded with the adoption of the ‘New Delhi Declaration.
This was the third time that India hosted the BRICS Summit. Prior to this India held the Presidency of the BRICS in 2012 and 2016. Also, this is the second time that Prime Minister Modi has chaired the BRICS Summit. He had previously chaired the Goa Summit in 2016.
Business
NPCI and Fiserv launch ‘nFiNi’ program
National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) in partnership with Fiserv Inc. to launch the plug-and-play RuPay credit card stack, ‘nFiNi’.
nFiNi is a ready stack of services required for fintechs and banks to issue RuPay credit cards and will enable fintech to co-create bank-sponsored credit cards. It is a BaaS (banking-as-a-service) program.
The nFiNi platform will power RuPay cards (including National Common Mobility Card) by offering access to needed services through the NPCI network combined with FirstVisionTM cloud-based open API integrations from Fiserv.
This will bring significant efficiencies for banking and fintech institutions at various levels in terms of operations and customer management. The program will further enable these institutions to expand their market base to new-to-credit customers.
Useful notes for all competitive exams:
- National Payments Corporation of India MD & CEO: Dilip Asbe.
- National Payments Corporation of India Headquarters: Mumbai.
- National Payments Corporation of India Founded: 2008.
Books and Authors
A book “Bullets Over Bombay: Satya and the Hindi Film Gangster” by Uday Bhatia
A new book has titled “Bullets Over Bombay: Satya and the Hindi Film Gangster” authored by Uday Bhatia. The Book deals with the testimonies from Ram Gopal Varma, Anurag Kashyap, Manoj Bajpayee, Vishal Bhardwaj, Saurabh Shukla.
Uday Bhatia is a film critic with Mint Lounge in Delhi. He has previously worked with Time Out Delhi and The Sunday Guardian. His writing has appeared in The Caravan, GQ, The Indian Quarterly, The Indian Express, and The Hindu Business Line.
Manohar Lal Khattar releases book titled “Haryana Environment and Pollution Code“
Haryana Chief Minister, Manohar Lal released the book ‘Haryana Environment and Pollution Code’ compiled by former IAS officer and famous poet Smt. Dheera Khandelwal.
The book will prove useful to the entrepreneurs, who were deprived of complete knowledge of laws and regulations related to the environment for setting up new ventures. Students, law researchers, and practitioners will also benefit from this book.