Daily GK Update: 26th October 2021

 Honours & Awards

1. Rajinikanth conferred with 51st Dada Saheb Phalke Award

• Actor Rajinikanth has been conferred with the 51st Dadasaheb Phalke Award (2019 edition) for his stupendous contribution to Indian cinema at 67th National Film Awards ceremony.
• Dadasaheb Phalke Award for 2019 was to be announced last year but was postponed due to Covid-19 pandemic.
• It is awarded for excellence in cinematic achievement and is the highest honour in film, awarded by the government.
• The recipient of the 2018 Dadasaheb award was Amitabh Bachchan

 National & International Appointments

2. Invest India elected as President of WAIPA for 2021-2023

• Invest India has been unanimously elected as the President of World Association of Investment Promotion Agencies (WAIPA) for 2021-2023.
• Other Members of WAIPA Steering Committee:
  • Two Vice Presidents: Egypt and Switzerland
  • Nine Regional Directors: Brazil, South Korea, Finland, Kuwait, Costa Rica, Cyprus, Azerbaijan, Ghana, Samoa.
• Invest India: National Investment Promotion and Facilitation Agency to help investors with investment opportunities and options in India.

 Schemes

3. PM Modi launches ‘Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission’

• PM Narendra Modi has launched ‘Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission (ABHIM)’ from his parliamentary constituency Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh
• Total outlay: Rs 5,000 crore
• Aim: to address gaps in public health infrastructure with focus on critical care facilities and primary care in urban and rural areas.
• Under this, 17,788 rural health and wellness centres in 10 high focus states will get support
• 11,024 urban health and wellness centres will be established.

 Books & Authors

4. NITI Aayog launches “Innovations for You” Digi-Book

• NITI Aayog’s Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) has launched Digi-book titled as "Innovations for You’ with special focus on Healthcare".
• The book is a compilation of 45 health tech startups, incubated at Atal Incubation Centres spread across the country.
• It is an initiative of Niti Aayog to share success stories of Atal Innovation Mission’s Startups in different domains.

 Sports

5. Ahmedabad, Lucknow are the two new teams of Indian Premier League (IPL)

• Ahmedabad and Lucknow are the two new teams of Indian Premier League (IPL) from 2022.
• After this, total number of teams in the competition has been increased to 10.
• RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group (RPSG) is the owner of the Lucknow team while CVC Capital Partners is the owner of Ahmedabad team.
• RPSG group has won the bid for Lucknow at Rs. 7090 crores, while CVC Capitals has won the bid for Ahmedabad at Rs. 5625 crores.
• IPL’s first season was played in 2008.

 Honours & Awards

6. M Venkaiah Naidu confers 67th National Film Awards

• Vice President, M Venkaiah Naidu has conferred 67th National Film Awards for 2019 in various categories, along with the prestigious Dada Saheb Phalke Award.
• Winner of 67th National Film Awards were announced on 22 March 2021 in New Delhi to honour best of Indian cinema in 2019
• List of winners:
  • Most Film Friendly State: Sikkim
  • Award for Best Book on Cinema: A Gandhian Affair: India’s Curious Portrayal of Love in Cinema
  • Best Feature Film: Marakkar (Malayalam)

 Summits & Conferences

7. UIDAI to conduct ‘Aadhaar Hackathon-2021’ from 28th October

• UIDAI is conducting ‘Aadhaar Hackathon 2021’ from 28th October, 2021 to 31st October, 2021 to promote culture of innovation among Indian Youth
• Hackathon consists of multiple problem statements categorized under 2 broad themes: Enrolment and Authentication
• As of now, UIDAI has received more than 2700+ registrations from the Engineering Students, which in itself explains the inclination of the young minds in solving real-life challenges being faced by the Residents.

 Honours & Awards

8. Rajiv Nigam selected for 2022 Joseph A. Cushman Award

• Former Chief Scientist at CSIR-National Institute of Oceanography (NIO), Goa, Rajiv Nigam has been selected for 2022 Joseph A. Cushman Award for Excellence in Foraminiferal Research.
• He is the first Indian Citizen to be selected for the prestigious award.
• He has been chosen for his outstanding lifetime contributions to the field of foraminifera (microfossil) research.
• The award was established by USA based Cushman foundation for foraminiferal Research in 1979.

 National Affairs

9. Govt sets up National Steering Committee for NIPUN Bharat Mission

• Dept of School Education and Literacy has constituted National Steering Committee (NSC) for implementation of the NIPUN Bharat Mission.
• Focus: To achieve the goal of universal proficiency in foundational literacy and numeracy for every child by end of Class 3 by 2026-27.
• Chairperson of NSC: Dharmendra Pradhan.
• Vice Chairperson of NSC: Annpurna Devi
• It seeks to develop methodology of assessment to analyses the progress of education and provide feedback to States/UTs.

 National & International Organizations

10. India, UK, and Australia to jointly launch IRIS initiative at COP26

• India, Australia, and UK in collaboration with small island developing states (SIDS), have planned to launch ‘Infrastructure for Resilient Island States (IRIS)’, on the sidelines of Conference of Parties (COP26)
• It aims at creating an infrastructure that can withstand disasters and lessen economic losses in island nations
• It will be launched with an initial funding of $10 million from Australia, India, UK
• 2021 COP26 is scheduled to take place from Oct 31 to Nov 12, 2021

 Schemes

11. Union Minister inaugurates phase-II of Mahatma Gandhi National Fellowship

• Union Education Minister, Dharmendra Pradhan has launched phase-II of Mahatma Gandhi National Fellowship
• It is a 2-year long fellowship providing opportunity for young, dynamic individuals for enhancing skill development
• It seeks to combine classroom sessions by academic partner IIMs with intensive field immersion at district level 
• MGNF Phase-I (Pilot): launched with IIM Bangalore as Academic Partner and 69 Fellows currently deployed in 69 districts across 6 States.

 National Affairs

12. Union Minister launches the Green Day Ahead Market (GDAM)

• Union Minister, R K Singh has launched new market segment, Green Day Ahead Market (GDAM).
• Under this, any interested party can setup renewable energy capacity and sell it to Discoms / industries sell renewable energy.
• Open access will be granted within 15 days and large industries can go green.
• It will help in enabling this energy transition and will deepen the green market and will provide competitive price signals and to trade in green energy

 Science & Technology

13. South Korea flight tests first homegrown space rocket “Nuri”

• South Korea has recently launched its first indigenously developed rocket, titled as ‘Korean Satellite Launch Vehicle II’ or ‘Nuri’.
• The launch vehicle lifted off from Naro Space Center, in Goheung, built on an island nearly 300 miles (500 kilometers) south of Seoul.
• Nuri rocket is 47.2 metres long and weighs 200 tones. 
• It is a three-stage rocket and is fitted with 6 liquid-fuelled engines.
• It has been built at an estimated cost of 2 trillion won (£1.23bn or $1.6bn)