Daily GK Update: 25th October 2021

 Sports

1. Viktor Axelsen and Akane Yamaguchi wins 2021 Denmark Open

• Danish Olympic champion Viktor Axelsen won the Mens' single 2021 Denmark Open Badminton held at the Odense Sports Park, Denmark.
• He defeated world number 1 Momota Kento of Japan.
• Akane Yamaguchi of Japan won her second title in women’s category defeating An Se-young (South Korea).
• Men’s double – Takuro Hoki, and Yugo Kobayashi (Japan)
• Women’s double – Huang Dongping and Zheng Yu (China)
• Mixed double – Yuta Watanabe and Arisa Higashino (Japan).

 Sports

2. Fabio Quartararo wins maiden MotoGP title for France

• Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo became the 1st Frenchman to won the MotoGP world championship after finishing 4th at the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix.
• Pole Bagnaya led the Ducati home race when he crashed 5 laps to go, losing the race to Marc Marquez of Honda and the world title Quartararo.
• Cuartararo’s victory ended nearly a decade of Spanish domination after Marquez, Yamaha’s Jorge Lorenzo and Juan Mir of Suzuki (2020) won their last nine titles.

 Schemes

3. PM Modi to launch ‘Atmanirbhar Swasth Bharat Yojana’

• PM Narendra Modi will launch the ambitious Pradhan Mantri Atmanirbhar Swasth Bharat Yojana (PMASBY) at a function organised in Varanasi.
• PMASBY will be one of the largest pan-India schemes for strengthening healthcare infrastructure across the country.
• It will be in addition to the National Health Mission.
• Objective of PMASBY is to fill critical gaps in public health infrastructure, especially in critical care facilities and primary care in both urban and rural areas.

 Defense

4. India's 1st Indigenous Aircraft Carrier begins 2nd phase of sea trials

• India's 1st indigenous aircraft carrier INS Vikrant begun its 2nd phase of sea trials
• INS Vikrant to be inducted into the Indian Navy by August next year (2022).
• The 40,000-tonne aircraft carrier, the largest and most complex warship to be built in India, successfully completed a five-day maiden sea voyage in August.
• The warship will operate MiG-29K fighter jets, Kamov-31 helicopters, MH-60R multi-role helicopters.
• The warship has been built by Cochin Shipyard Ltd. 

 International Affairs

5. Saudi Arabia to use $110 billion gas project for blue hydrogen

• Saudi Arabia will use one of the world’s biggest natural-gas projects to make blue hydrogen.
• The kingdom is steps up its efforts to export a fuel seen as crucial to the green-energy transition.
• A large portion of gas from the $110 billion Jafurah development will be used for blue hydrogen
• It is made by converting natural gas and capturing the carbon dioxide emissions.
• The kingdom also plans to sell green hydrogen in a process that creates no carbon emissions.

 Sports

6. Max Verstappen wins F1 U.S. Grand prix 2021

• Denmark’s formula one racing driver Max Verstappen won the 2021 U.S. Grand Prix title.
• This is his eighth title of the season.
• Verstappen and Red Bull won on a track where Hamilton and Mercedes have been dominant for years.
• The victory doubled Verstappen's lead over Hamilton to 12 points in the standings with five races remaining and could prove to be a pivotal win in this classic championship battle.

 National Affairs

7. India's first ‘test tube’ Banni buffalo calf born in Gujarat

• The first IVF calf of 'Banni' breed of buffaloes, found primarily in Gujarat's Kutch region, was born in Gir Somnath district.
• The process was carried out to enhance the number of genetically superior buffaloes to increase milk production
• Producing calves by deploying ART will pave the way for rapid multiplication of superior animals at a much faster pace.
• India has more than 109 million buffaloes that are 56 per cent of the world's buffalo population.

 Summits & Conferences

8. National Inter-Religious Conference held in Nagpur

• National Inter-religious Conference was organised by the Lokmat media group in Nagpur. 
• Theme of the conference was 'Global Challenges to Communal Harmony and Role of India'.
• It is a forum for bringing together the views of different religions and sects.
• Sri Sri Ravishankar, Swami Ramdev, Acharya Lokesh Muni, Archbishop of Mumbai Cardinal Oswald Gracias, Haji Syed Salman Chishti, Bhikkhu Sanghasena and many other religious leaders participated in this Conference.

 Banking & Finance

9. Azadi Amrut Chai in Orthodox, Elaichi, Adrakh and Masala flavors launched

• M/s Andrew Yule & Co Ltd, a CPS in Tea Sector under Ministry of Heavy Industries has come out with a series of Azadi Amrut Chai in Orthodox, Elaichi, Adrakh and Masala flavors. 
• It was launched by the Union Heavy Industries Minister, MN Pandey.
• It is a 158 yrs old company, has 15 Tea Gardens spread over Assam and West Bengal having 14000 employees.
• All its gardens are more than 100 years old producing 110 Lac Kgs of high quality, CTC, Orthodox, Green and White Tea.

 State Affairs

10. Goa becomes the 1st state to achieve ODF and Electricity for each household

• Goa has achieved Open Defecation Free (ODF) and Electricity for every household.
• Goa has also become the first state to provide tap water to every household under the “Har Ghar Jal Mission”.
• Apart from that, Goa achieved 100 per cent target to provide free ration to the poor and needy.
• It has also completed 100 per cent first dose of covid-19 vaccination.
• For that Information and Broadcasting Minister, Anurag Thakur praised Goa govt.
• Goa CM: Pramod Sawant 

 Important Dates

11. Global Media and Information Literacy Week 2021: 24-31st October

• Global Media and Information Literacy (MIL) Week 2021 is being celebrated between 24^th to 31^st October 2021.
• This year will mark the 11th annual observance of the event.
• The host for 2021 Global Media and Information Literacy Week will be South Africa.
• UNESCO will co-organize the event.
• The MIL is celebrated through the organization of various relevant activities or events.
• This year’s MIL theme is Media and Information Literacy for the Public Good.

 International Affairs

12. G7 countries reach breakthrough on digital trade and data

• The Group of Seven (G7) wealthy nations agreed on a joint set of principles to govern cross-border data use and digital trade.
• The principles named ‘G7 Digital Trade Principles’, were adopted by the respective Trade Ministers of G7 during the G7 Trade Summit, held at Mansion House, in London.
• G7 countries have introduced a Global Minimum Corporate Tax rate of at least 15% on Multinational Companies(MNCs).
• Members US, UK, France, Germany, Italy, Canada, and Japan and EU. 

 Banking & Finance

13. AU Small Finance Bank launches sound box for payment alerts

• AU Small Finance Bank unveiled a sound box that will provide instant voice-based payment alerts to merchant partners.
• The QR Code Sound Box is aimed at enhancing the bank’s reach in digital payments.
• The sound box is a portable speaker that is equipped with a dedicated SIM slot for data connectivity, which gives voice notification.
• It will be made available in five languages - Hindi, English, Punjabi, Guajarati and Marathi.
• Hq: : Jaipur
• Tagline: Badlaav Humse Hai

 Banking & Finance

14. Razorpay launches card tokenisation solution

• Fintech platform Razorpay launched ‘Razorpay TokenHQ’ solution for  businesses in India to enable their end-customers to continue experiencing the convenience of saved card transactions
• Now it is available with added security and in compliance with RBI guidelines.
• It is a multi-network Card-on-File (CoF) Tokenisation solution.
• It will work across all major card networks including Mastercard, RuPay, and Visa.
• Headquarters: Bengaluru
  CEO: Harshil Mathur