International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking
International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking is observed globally on 26th June every year. The day is observed by the United Nations as an expression of its determination to strengthen action and cooperation to achieve the goal of an international society free of drug abuse.
The theme of International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking 2021 is “Share Facts On Drugs, Save Lives”.
International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking: History
On 7 December 1987, the United Nations General Assembly decided to observe 26 June as the International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking as an expression of its determination to strengthen action and cooperation to achieve the goal of an international society free of drug abuse by passing a resolution 42/112.
Important takeaways for all competitive exams:
- United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime Headquarters: Vienna, Austria.
- United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime Founded: 1997.
Centre releases full list of Smart Cities Awards 2020 winners
The Central government has declared Smart City awards 2020 in which Indore (Madhya Pradesh) and Surat (Gujarat) won the award jointly for their overall development. Whereas Uttar Pradesh emerged on the top among all states, followed by Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu under the Smart City award, 2020. The Smart City awards were given across the themes of Social Aspects, Governance, Culture, Urban Environment, Sanitation, Economy, Built Environment, Water, Urban Mobility.
According to the Centre, of the total, proposed projects under the Smart Cities Mission, 5,924 projects (115% by number) worth ₹1,78,500 crore have been tendered so far. Whereas work orders have been issued for 5,236 projects (101% by number) worth ₹1,46,125 crore.
List of winning Smart Cities under the different categories:
1. Social Aspects
- Tirupati: Health Benchmark for Municipal Schools
- Bhubaneshwar: Socially Smart Bhubaneswar
- Tumakuru: Digital Library Solution
2. Governance
- Vadodara: GIS
- Thane: Digi Thane
- Bhubaneswar: ME app
3. Culture
- Indore: Conservation of Heritage
- Chandigarh: Capitol Complex, Heritage Project
- Gwalior: Digital Museum
4. Urban Environment
- Bhopal: Clean energy
- Chennai: Restoration of water bodies
- Tirupati: Renewable Energy Generation
5. Sanitation
- Tirupati: Bioremediation & Bio-Mining
- Indore: Municipal Waste Management System
- Surat: Conservation through Treated Wastewater
6. Economy
- Indore: Carbon Credit Financing Mechanism
- Tirupati: Boost Local Identity & Economy through Design Studio
- Agra: Micro Skill Development Centre
7. Built Environment
- Indore: Chappan Dukan
- Surat: Canal Corridor
8. Water
- Dehradun: Smart Water Metering Water ATM
- Varanasi: Eco-Restoration of Assi River
- Surat: Integrated and Sustainable Water Supply System
9. Urban Mobility
- Aurangabad: Majhi Smart Buses
- Surat: Dynamic Scheduling Buses
- Ahmedabad: Man-less parking system and automatic ticket dispensing machines AMDA Park
10. Innovative Idea Award
- Indore: Carbon Credit Financing Mechanism
- Chandigarh: For Union Territories
11. Covid Innovation Award
- Kalyan-Dombivali and Varanasi
Other Awards in different categories:
- Surat, Indore, Ahmedabad, Pune, Vijayawada, Rajkot, Visakhapatnam, Pimpri-Chinchwad, and Vadodara were awarded 4-star rating under Climate-Smart Cities Assessment Framework.
- According to the ministry, Ahmedabad bagged the ‘Smart Cities Leadership Award’, followed by Varanasi and Ranchi in the second and third spots respectively.
India’s first Indigenous Aircraft Carrier to be commissioned in 2022
The Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has informed that India’s first Indigenous Aircraft Carrier (IAC-I), is planned to be commissioned by 2022. Once commissioned, the carrier will be rechristened as INS Vikrant, in memory of India’s first aircraft carrier.
About the IAC-I:
- The IAC-1 carrier is being built at the Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL), Kochi, Kerala, under a public-private partnership.
- It comprises nearly 75 per cent of indigenous content from design, to steel used in construction, to key weapons and sensors.
- The IAC-1 will undergo a series of sea trials before it gets inducted into the Navy.
- Vikrant is 262 metres (860 ft) long and 62 metres (203 ft) wide, and displaces about 40,000 metric tons (39,000 long tons).
Microsoft Officially Launches ‘Windows 11’
Microsoft officially launched its new Windows operating system ‘Windows 11’. It is being called as the “next generation” of Windows. The release comes nearly six year after the current latest Windows Operating System ‘Windows 10’ was launched in July 2015. Windows 11 is special because it focuses on a new user interface, a new Windows Store, and improvements to performance, including a centre-aligned Taskbar and Start button.
Key features of Windows 11:
- One of the unique features of Windows 11 is that it will support Android apps via Amazon’s app store. It will work better in touch mode as well.
- Windows 11 operating system (OS) will be available as a free upgrade for Windows 10 users in late 2021, as long as the user has a compatible PC that meets the requirements of Microsoft’s new operating system.
- Windows 11 OS will work on PCs having a processor that has two or more cores and a clock speed of 1GHz or higher.
- PCs having Intel’s sixth and seventh-generation processors will not be eligible to use Windows 11.
Important takeaways for all competitive exams:
- Microsoft CEO and Chairman: Satya Nadella;
- Microsoft Headquarters: Redmond, Washington, United States.
LIC introduces Technology Platform ‘e-PGS’
Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) has launched a centralized web-based workflow-based IT platform called “e-PGS”. The new technology platform, e-PGS, has been designed to provide a centralized collection and payment accounting with a high level of bank integration. It has been designed to provide very innovative features of seamless and integrated banking with automatic reconciliations.
This system is capable of providing comprehensive self-servicing capabilities through the customer portal. On this portal, corporate customers will be able to view their data, initiate actionable processes and lodge & track claims.
Important takeaways for all competitive exams:
- Chairman of LIC: MR Kumar;
- LIC Headquarters: Mumbai;
- LIC Founded: 1 September 1956.
Delhi Govt launched Mukhyamantri Covid-19 Pariwar Aarthik Sahayata Yojana
Delhi government has launched “Mukhyamantri COVID-19 Pariwar Aarthik Sahayata Yojana” to provide financial assistance to the families who lost a member due to the Covid-19 pandemic. According to notification by Social Welfare Department, Rs 50,000 ex-gratia will be provided to every family that has lost a member amid a pandemic. A pension of Rs 2,500 per month would also be given to those families that lost the sole breadwinner to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Children who lost their both parents or single parent to COVID-19 will also be provided ₹2,500 per month till they achieve 25 years of age. The Delhi government will also provide free education to them.
Important takeaways for all competitive exams:
- Chief Minister of Delhi: Arvind Kejriwal; Lieutenant Governor of Delhi: Anil Baijal.
India’s bank credit-to-GDP ratio grows 56% in 2020
Notwithstanding incremental credit growth plunging to a 59-year low at 5.56 per cent in FY21, the bank credit-to-GDP ratio rose to a five-year high of a little over 56 per cent in 2020, according to the latest data from the Bank for International Settlements (BIS).
At a 56.075 per cent credit-to-GDP ratio, total outstanding bank credit stood at USD 1.52 trillion in the country in 2020, according to the BIS data for the year, but this is still the second-lowest among all its Asian peers. And when it comes to the emerging market peers, it is 135.5 per cent and at 88.7 per cent in advanced economies. Bank credit growth is a key indicator of economic growth & credit-GDP ratio of 100% ideal
NSDC And WhatsApp Launch “Digital Skill Champions Program”
The National Skill Development Corporation and WhatsApp announced an alliance to launch the Digital Skill Champions Program that aims to train India’s youth on digital skills, in order to make them employment ready. The partnership identifies two broad areas of collaboration viz., WhatsApp Digital Skills Academy and Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Kendra (PMKK) and WhatsApp Business App Training sessions.
Through this program, school and university students would be coached to imbibe digital and online skills that would culminate with WhatsApp and NSDC awarding ‘Digital Skill Champions’ certification. The course is based on a module format, is comprehensive and intensive in imparting knowledge about important aspects of the online ecosystem, equipping students with technology-based learning on campuses across tier 3 and 4 towns and cities throughout the country.
Important takeaways for all competitive exams:
- WhatsApp Founded: 2009;
- WhatsApp CEO: Will Cathcart (Mar 2019–);
- WhatsApp Headquarters: Menlo Park, California, United States;
- WhatsApp Acquisition date: 19 February 2014;
- WhatsApp Founders: Jan Koum, Brian Acton;
- WhatsApp Parent organization: Facebook.
Jio and Google Cloud to Collaborate on 5G Technology
Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited and Google Cloud are embarking on a comprehensive, long-term strategic relationship with a goal of powering 5G in enterprise and consumer segments nationwide. In addition, Reliance will also take advantage of Google Cloud’s scalable infrastructure thereby enabling its retail business to achieve better operational efficiency, modernize and scale for growth, and deliver better performance and experiences to customers.
As part of the partnership, Reliance will also augment its compute workload for retail business taking advantage of Google’s AI/ML, e-commerce, and demand forecasting offerings. This will help Reliance to rapidly grow its new commerce business to leverage Google Cloud with increased reliability and performance, as well as scale up as needed to respond to customer demand. Jio will also adopt Google Cloud’s scalable, serverless data analytics platform to advance its data-led innovation strategy.
Important takeaways for all competitive exams:
- Reliance Jio President Infocomm: Mathew Oommen;
- Reliance Jio Founder: Mukesh Ambani;
- Reliance Jio Founded: 2007;
- Reliance Jio Headquarters: Mumbai.
- Google CEO: Sundar Pichai.
- Google Founded: 4 September 1998, California, United States.
- Google Founders: Larry Page, Sergey Brin.
India-Bhutan: Tax Inspectors Without Borders Initiative
India and Bhutan have jointly launched the “Tax Inspectors Without Borders (TIWB)”. It has been launched for strengthening the tax administration of Bhutan. It will focus on International Taxation and Transfer Pricing. TIWB programme aims to strengthen tax administrations among developing countries by transferring technical know-how and skills to their tax auditors and by sharing general audit practices & dissemination of knowledge products with them. This programme is another milestone in the relationship between India and Bhutan. It will be completed in 24 months’ duration.
About the Tax Inspectors Without Borders:
- Tax Inspectors Without Borders (TIWB) initiative was launched in 2015.
- Its main aim is to strengthen developing countries’ auditing capacity.
- It is a joint initiative of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
- TIWB initiative has completed 80 programmes in 45 countries.
Important takeaways for all competitive exams:
- Bhutan Capital: Thimphu;
- Bhutan Prime minister: Lotay Tshering;
- Bhutan Currency: Bhutanese ngultrum.
