Robert Irwin wins Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2021
Robert Irwin, an Australian wildlife photographer, has won the first prize in the Wildlife Photographer of the Year People’s Choice Award Contest. Robert won the award for the image titled ‘bushfire’, which is the picture of the devastating Australian Bushfire in 2020, he captured using a drone, near the Steve Irwin Wildlife Reserve in Cape York, Queensland. The image shows a line of fire burning in between the bushes, dividing it into parts.
Irwin’s image was chosen from a shortlist of 25 finalists that received a total of 55,486 votes. The Wildlife Photographer of the Year is the largest wildlife photography competition in the world, organised by the Natural History Museum.
International Day of Women and Girls in Science
International Day of Women and Girls in Science is observed globally on 11 February. International Day of Women and Girls in Science to recognize the critical role of women and girls play in science and technology. In December 2015, the United Nations adopted a resolution to celebrate February 11 as the International Day of Women and Girls in Science. The Day is implemented by UNESCO and UN-Women in collaboration with institutions and civil society partners that aim to promote women and girls in science.
The 2021 theme of the Day is “Women Scientists at the forefront of the fight against COVID-19”.
In 2016 is the first time it was celebrated. The idea behind this day is to ensure equal participation and involvement of women and girls in the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM).
SBI revises India’s GDP estimates to -7.0 percent for FY21
The State Bank of India’s (SBI) Economic Research Department has revised GDP estimates of India for FY21 to contract 7.0%. Earlier this was estimated GDP at -7.4%. The SBI Research Report has retained its GDP forecast for FY22 at 11 per cent.
Vijayanagara officially declared as 31st District of Karnataka
The Karnataka government issued an official gazette notification to declare Vijayanagara as the 31st district of the state. The new district has been carved out of Ballari and named after the Vijayanagara empire that ruled from this region.
The Vijayanagara district will have six taluks and its headquarter will be at Hosapete. The other taluks in the new district are Kudligi, Hagaribommana Halli, Kotturu, Hoovina Hadagali, and Harapanahalli. The iconic cluster of monuments at Hampi or Hampe, a UNESCO world heritage site, will be part of the Vijaynagara.
Important takeaways for all competitive exams:
- Chief Minister of Karnataka: B.S. Yediyurappa; Governor: Vajubhai Vala.
PM Modi inaugurates World Sustainable Development Summit 2021
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has inaugurated the World Sustainable Development Summit 2021 through video conferencing. The theme of the Summit is ‘Redefining our common future: Safe and secure environment for all’. 2021 WSD Summit is the 20th edition of the flagship event organised by ‘The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI)’.
The Summit will bring together a wide number of governments, business leaders, academicians, climate scientists, youth, and the civil society in the fight against climate change. The Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy and Ministry of Earth Sciences are key partners of the Summit.
International Epilepsy Day 2021
The International Epilepsy Day is observed on the second Monday of February every year across the world. In 2021, the International Epilepsy Day was observed on February 08.
The day is organised jointly by the International Bureau for Epilepsy (IBE) and the International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE) to raise awareness about epilepsy and highlight the kinds of problems faced by victims, their friends and family. Epilepsy is a neurological disorder which makes a person go through sudden and recurrent episodes of sensory disturbances.
Bengaluru Airport Bags ACI World’s ‘Voice Of The Customer’ Award
The Bangalore International Airport Limited’s (BIAL) or Kempegowda International Airport Bengaluru has bagged global recognition from the Airports Council International World’s ‘Voice of the Customer’ award. The ‘Voice of the Customer’ recognises airports that continued to prioritise their customers and remained committed to ensuring that their voice was heard during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020.
BLR Airport has made significant efforts in gathering passenger feedback through ACI’s Airport Service Quality (ASQ) programme and this helped better understand the customers and demonstrate BIAL’s commitment towards delivering a superior customer experience under trying circumstances. Under the #WeAreHereForYou umbrella of BIAL, various campaigns were launched to spread the message and rebuild passenger confidence in air travel following the outbreak of Covid-19 in 2020.
UAE Hope Probe successfully enters Mars’ orbit
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has put a probe called Hope in the orbit around the MARS. UAE has become the fifth country to launch the spacecraft into the orbit of MARS after United States, Soviet Union, Europe and India. With the successful launch of spacecraft in orbit, UAE scientists can now study the planet’s atmosphere.
The space mission will carry the study on daily and seasonal weather cycles and weather events such as dust storm in the lower atmosphere. It will study how the weather varies in different regions on the MARS.
About the mission:
- The spacecraft had left the Earth seven months ago.
- The spacecraft carries three instruments with it to observe how neutral atoms of Oxygen and Hydrogen leak into space. The hydrogen and oxygen came into the MARS’ atmosphere are the remnants from Mars’ once abundant water.
- The Hope spacecraft will bring the spectacular, high-resolution, full-disk images of MARS.
- The spacecraft also seeks to study why the planet is losing the hydrogen and oxygen into space.
Important takeaways for all competitive exams:
- President of UAE: Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
- Capital of UAE: Abu Dhabi; Currency: United Arab Emirates dirham.
RBI to conduct bond purchases for Rs 20,000 crore
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has announced that it will purchase four government securities (G-Secs) that amount to ₹20,000 crores. The central bank will purchase it on February 10, 2021, under the open market operations (OMOs). This move was announced in aftermath of the yields that were moving up to touch the intra-day high of 6.1634 per cent recently. The RBI was concerned about the higher government borrowing.
After the announcement of the OMO purchase was made, the yield on the benchmark 10-year G-Sec slowed down by 3-4 basis points. It now carries a coupon rate of 5.77 per cent as opposed to its previous closing yield of 6.1283 per cent.
What is the Open Market Operation?
Open Market Operations are the purchase and sale of the Government securities (G-Secs) by RBI from and to the market. The Open Market Operations are conducted with the objective of adjusting the rupee liquidity conditions in the economy. In such operations, when RBI sells the government security in the market banks use to purchase them. When the banks purchase the Government securities, their ability to lend money to the industries, households and other commercial sector gets reduced. Following the reduced surplus cash, the liquidity of the rupee also contracts. This results in contraction of the credit creation or the credit supply. On the other hand, when the RBI purchases the securities, commercial banks find gets surplus cash and this in turn creates more credit in the system.
What are government securities or G-Sec?
- Government securities are the debt instruments which are issued by the government to borrow money. It is divided into two categories namely,
- Treasury bills are short-term instruments. They get mature in 91 days, 182 days, or 364 days.
- Dated securities which are the long-term instruments. They get mature in between 5 years to 40 years.
Important takeaways for all competitive exams:
- RBI 25th Governor: Shaktikant Das; Headquarters: Mumbai; Founded: 1 April 1935, Kolkata.
PhonePe partners with Axis Bank on UPI multi-bank model
Digital payments platform, PhonePe has announced that it has partnered with Axis Bank on a Unified Payments Interface (UPI) multi-bank model. The partnership will provide PhonePe users with the option to create and use multiple UPI IDs with Axis Bank’s “@axl” handle.
This collaboration with PhonePe strengthens our commitment towards digitisation of the Indian payment ecosystem. It will help expand our reach to customers and the merchant community while offering secure and seamless payment experiences.
PhonePe had emerged as the top UPI app in January, processing 968.72 million transactions worth ₹1.92 trillion, according to data by National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI). PhonePe will also start acquiring merchants with Axis Bank in addition to its partnership with YES Bank. It will help expand our reach to customers and the merchant community while offering secure and seamless payment experiences.
Important takeaways for all competitive exams:
- CEO of Phonepe: Sameer Nigam
- Headquarters location of Phonepe: Bengaluru, Karnataka.
India Ratings: India will grow 10.4% in FY22
India’s growth would bounce back to 10.4% in the upcoming fiscal according to India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra). FY22 would broadly be covering the lost ground of FY21. Regarding this reduced allocation to the rural employment guarantee scheme. The rating agency expects GDP growth to turn positive at 0.3 per cent in the January-March quarter of FY21 after shrinking in the first nine months of the year.
When the crisis is largely under control, not completely taken care of, but the Covid-19 situation is under control, with the economy opening up, the requirement for fiscal stimulus will reduce, and that is what is being reflected in the budget.
Important takeaways for all competitive exams:
- MD & CEO of India Ratings and Research: Rohit Karan Sawhney.
- India Ratings and Research Headquarters: Mumbai, Maharashtra.
