Glasgow climate summit 2021: PM Modi speech highlights
Addressing the COP26 Glasgow Climate Summit held in Scotland, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that India will reach net-zero carbon emission by 2070. PM Modi stressed on a five-point plan or ‘Panchamrit’ to fight the devastating effects of global warming and climate change. More than 120 world leaders were present at the COP26 Glasgow Climate Summit.
India is the last of the world’s major carbon polluters to announce a net-zero target. China has said that it would reach the net-zero carbon emission goal in 2060 while the United States and the European Union are aiming for reaching the goal by 2050.
Highlights from PM Modi’s speech
- India would increase its 2030 target for an installed capacity of ‘non-fossil energy’, mostly solar from 450 to 500 gigawatts.
- PM Modi said that India will fulfil 50% of its energy requirement through renewable energy by 2030.
- India is committed to reducing carbon emissions by 1 billion tonnes and a net 45% carbon reduction among the five-point plan.
- The number of goods produced per unit of energy would be reduced by 45% by 2030. The previous goal was 35%.
‘Vax’ named Oxford English Dictionary’s Word of the Year 2021
‘Vax’ has been chosen as the word of the year by the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) in 2021. Vax is derived from the Latin word Vacca, which means cow. Vax is used as a short form for vaccines and means a substance put into a person’s body to prevent them from getting a disease. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, words related to vaccines saw a surge in 2021, including terms like double-vaxxed, unvaxxed and anti-vaxxer.
G20 Summit ended with the adoption of Rome Declaration
The 2021 G20 (Group of Twenty) Summit was held in Rome, Italy on October 30 and 31, 2021. It was the 16th meeting of the G20 group. The meeting was held under the chairmanship of Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi. The summit concluded with the adoption of the Rome Declaration by G20 Leaders.
Agenda and Moto of the Summit:
- Moto: People, Planet, and Prosperity
- Agenda: climate change, economic recovery, the pandemic and the global minimum corporate tax rate.
The final document committed the G20 member’s nation leaders to the following:
- providing $100 billion every year from now until 2025 to counter climate change.
- to end international financing for all new coal plants by the end of 2021,
- take action to limit global warming at 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.
- strengthen the WHO on Emergency Use Authorisation (EUA) for Covid-19 vaccines.
- Prime Minister of India Shri Narendra Modi led the Indian delegation at the Summit.
- The Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal was India’s G20 sherpa or personal representative of the head of government.
5th edition of “Ganga Utsav 2021” begins
The 5th edition of the three-day-long Ganga Utsav has been organised from November 01 to 03, 2021 in virtual format. The “Ganga Utsav 2021 – The River Festival “ will not only celebrate the glory of the river Ganga but all the rivers of the country to promote the celebration of ‘Nadi Utsav’ (River Festival). The 2021 event has been organised under the leadership of the Union Minister for Jal Shakti, Shri Gajendra Singh Shekhawat.
About the event:
- The annual event is organised by the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) jointly with the Ministry of Jal Shakti to mark the anniversary of the announcement of River Ganga as the ‘National River’ on November 04, 2008..
- The 2021 celebrations will be part of the 75 years of Independence and Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav celebrations.
- On the first day of the festival, the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) got registered in the Guinness Book of World Records for the highest number of photos of handwritten notes uploaded on Facebook in an hour.
Edelgive Hurun India Philanthropy List 2021
Hurun India and EdelGive have jointly released the Edelgive Hurun India Philanthropy List 2021. The list was topped by Azim Premji, the founder chairman of Wipro, with a donation of Rs 9,713 crore during fiscal 2020-21 which is around Rs 27 crore a day. HCL’s Shiv Nadar once again retained the second spot on the list with an annual donation of Rs 1,263 crore, marking a 59 per cent rise. Mukesh Ambani, the chairman of Reliance Industries, and his family occupied the third spot on the philanthropy list with an annual donation of Rs 577 crore.
Here is the top 5 Philanthropist in the list:
| Rank | Person | Donation |
| 1 | Azim Premji | Rs 9,713 crore |
| 2 | Shiv Nadar | Rs 1,263 crore |
| 3 | Mukesh Ambani | Rs 577 crore |
| 4 | Kumar Mangalam Birla | Rs 377 crore |
Federal Bank and Aditya Birla Health Insurance tie-up for Bancassurance
The Federal Bank and Aditya Birla Health Insurance Co. Limited (ABHICL) entered into a Bancassurance Partnership. As a part of this alliance, Federal Bank will provide to its customer’s innovative health insurance solutions offered by ABHICL. Customers of Federal Bank will have facilities like Day 1 cover for asthma, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, coaching on nutrition etc.
Customers will have access to ABHICL’s industry-first innovative solutions such as, Day 1 cover for asthma, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes; wellness coaching on nutrition and fitness; counselling on mental health; incentivized wellness benefits of up to 100% Health Returns TM (health premiums) and chronic management program, etc. Consumers can avail of benefits of various retail and group affinity products through the Bank’s various distribution channels.
Important takeaways for all competitive exams:
- Federal Bank Founded: 23 April 1931;
- Federal Bank Headquarters: Aluva, Kerala;
- Federal Bank MD & CEO: Shyam Srinivasan;
- Federal Bank Tagline: Your Perfect Banking Partner.
Yes Bank and BankBazaar launched ‘FinBooster’ Credit Card
Yes Bank and BankBazaar.com together launched a Co-Branded credit card named FinBooster to measure the Creditworthiness of the customers. FinBooster is built around a credit fitness tracker. FinBooster uses the CreditStrong app Subscription (credit fitness report) which helps customers to track creditworthiness that improves the Credit score.
The tracking of a credit scores will be done through an intuitive CreditStrong app subscription (credit fitness report), which is complimentary for the cardholder for the first year. The credit card offers never expiring rewards points with no capping on the accrual. Customers can earn accelerated rewards points on online dining, grocery and apparel purchases which can be easily redeemed for more than 250 catalogue products.
Important takeaways for all competitive exams:
- Yes Bank Founded: 2004;
- Yes Bank Headquarters: Mumbai, Maharashtra;
- Yes Bank CEO: Prashant Kumar;
- Yes Bank Tagline: Experience Our Expertise.
Harbhajan Singh & Javagal Srinath awarded MCC life membership
The Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) has released the list of 18 Cricketers who were selected for the MCC awards Honorary Life Membership of the Club. The list witnessed the names of 2 former Indian cricketers – Harbhajan Singh and Javagal Srinath. This year’s list saw the names of 18 players, including 16 Male & 2 Female players (Sarah Taylor & Sara McGlashan).
MCC awards Honorary Life Membership Complete List:
| England | Alastair Cook, Ian Bell, Marcus Trescothick, Sarah Taylor |
| South Africa | Hashim Amla, Herschelle Gibbs, Jacques Kallis & Morne Morkel |
| West Indies | Ian Bishop, Shivnarine Chanderpaul & Ramnaresh Sarwan |
| Australia | Alex Blackwell & Damien Martyn |
| India | Harbhajan Singh & Javagal Srinath |
| Sri Lanka | Rangana Herath |
| New Zealand | Sara McGlashan |
| Zimbabwe | Grant Flower |
Important takeaways for all competitive exams:
- Melbourne Cricket Club Founded: 1838;
- Melbourne Cricket Club Location: Melbourne, Australia;
- Melbourne Cricket Club President: Clare Connor (1st Female President of MCC).
A book on Rani Laxmibai’s lawyer John Lang authored by Amit Ranjan
Amit Ranjan authored a book titled “John Lang: Wanderer of Hindoostan, Slanderer of Hindoostanee, Lawyer for the Ranee”. The book is about John Lang’s life, his exploits, and literary works. He was an Australian journalist and lawyer who settled in India in the 19th century. He fought many cases against the British and also represented Rani Laxmibai in her legal battle against the annexation of her kingdom of Jhansi by the East India Company (EIC).
Former PM of Afghanistan Ahmad Shah Ahmadzai passes away
Ahmad Shah Ahmadzai, the former Prime Minister (PM) of Afghanistan and a renowned jihadi leader passed away at the age of 77 in Kabul, Afghanistan. Ahmad Shah Ahmadzai has served as the acting PM of Afghanistan under President Burhanuddin Rabbani during 1995-1996 prior to the 1996 Taliban Takeover.
J&K team clinch 1st position in World Deaf Judo Championship
The Jammu & Kashmir team for deaf clinched 1st position in World Deaf Judo Championship held at Paris Versailles, France. Rakshanda Mehak who is part of the Indian team for the deaf clinched the bronze medal by defeating the South Korean team in the semifinal. The championship was held at Versailles, France. The championship is organised by the International Committee of Sports for the Deaf.
Important takeaways for all competitive exams:
- International Committee of Sports for the Deaf Founded: 1924;
- International Committee of Sports for the Deaf President: Rebecca Adam.
Indian Navy stealth frigate Tushil launched in Russia
The seventh Indian Navy frigate of the P1135.6 class was launched at the Yantar Shipyard at Kaliningrad in Russia. The ship has been formally named as Tushil, a Sanskrit word that means protector shield. Tushil will be commissioned into the Indian Navy in mid-2023 followed by its sister ship by the end of 2023.
About the ship:
- The ship has been developed under the Inter-Governmental Agreement (IGA) between India and Russia in 2016 for the construction of four additional P1135.6 class ships for Indian Navy.
- Out of the four ships, two ships of Project 1135.6 ships were to be constructed in Russia and two ships in India at M/s Goa Shipyard Limited (GSL).
- The Project 1135.6 class is also called Talwar class and the Talwar class frigates are built by Russia for Indian Navy.
