Daily GK Update: 7th April 2021

Important Dates

World Health Day is observed every year on April 7 to create awareness of a specific health theme to highlight a priority area of concern for World Health Organization.
Theme 2021: Building a fairer, healthier world for everyone
WHO organised 1st World Health Assembly in 1948 and called for the creation of World Health Day
It was 1st introduced in 1950
It is marked by activities which extend beyond the day itself and serves as an opportunity to focus on global health

National & International Appointments

Central Govt has approved the appointment of Tarun Bajaj (1988 batch Haryana-cadre IAS officer) as new Revenue Secretary under the Ministry of Finance.
Prior to this, he was serving as Economic Affairs Secretary since April 30, 2020.
He was handling additional charge of revenue department after Ajay Bhushan Pandey retired.
Apart from him, Ajay Seth (1987 batch Karnataka-cadre IAS officer) has been appointed as new Economic Affairs Secretary.

National & International Appointments

Chintan Vaishnav has been appointed as the mission director of govt flagship initiative under NITI Aayog, Atal Innovation Mission (AIM)
He will succeed Ramanathan Ramanan to take over as the second Mission Director of AIM.
He is presently serving as researcher and teacher at Massachusetts Institute of Technology
He has founded multiple organizations and has been actively advising startups, corporations and govt on tackling tech, development, public policy challenges

Banking & Finance

International Monetary Fund (IMF) in its latest World Economic Outlook report, has upgraded its growth projection for India to 12.5% for Financial Year 2021-22
The growth has been raised by 100 basis points
India’s GDP growth for FY23 is pegged at 6.9%
As per the report, world economy will grow by 6% in 2021, up from its 5.5% forecast in January.
For advanced economies, the IMF estimated growth of 5.1%, with United States set to expand by 6.4%
IMF HQs: Washington. D.C.

Honours & Awards

IIT Kharagpur's Professor Suman Chakraborty has been selected for GD Birla Award for Scientific Research 2021 for his outstanding contribution to engineering science and developing technologies for affordable healthcare
The award was instituted in 1991 and recognizes eminent Indian scientists below the age of 50 for their original and outstanding contributions to any branch of science or technology.
It carries a cash prize of ₹5 lakh.

Honours & Awards

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has topped 2021 Forbes’ annual world’s billionaires list (35 edition) for the fourth consecutive year
India’s Mukesh Ambani has been ranked 10th place with total net worth of USD 84.5 billion.
Top ten billionaires in the list:
- Jeff Bezos
- Elon Musk
- Bernard Arnault
- Bill Gates
- Mark Zuckerberg
- Warren Buffett
- Larry Ellison
- Larry Page
- Sergey Brin
- Mukesh Ambani
2021 ranking features a record 1,975 self-made billionaires and total 2,755 billionaires

National & International Appointments

Bengaluru-based non-life insurance company ‘Digit Insurance’ has appointed veteran cricketer Virat Kohli as its brand ambassador.
With this association, Digital Insurance aims to carry the message of ‘making insurance simple’ through the cricketer.
Insurance tech start-up Digit Insurance became India’s first unicorn of 2021 with valuation of $1.9 billion in January 2021
Chairman of Digit Insurance: Kamesh Goyal.

National & International Appointments

Former Gujarat DGP Shabir Hussein Shekhadam Khandwawala (1973 batch IPS officer) has been appointed as the head of Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) Anti-Corruption Unit.
He succeeded Ajit Singh (former DGP of Rajasthan), whose tenure ended on March 31.
He was an advisor to Essar Group for 10 years and has also been a part of Lokpal Search Committee, which was mandated to appoint Lokpal
BCCI Chairman: Sourav Ganguly.

National Affairs

Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan has approved National Policy for Rare Diseases 2021 to lower the high cost of treatment for rare diseases, with greater focus on indigenous research and local medicines production
Govt has proposed a provision for financial support up to Rs 20 lakh for the treatment of those rare diseases that require a one-time treatment
This financial support is proposed under Rastriya Arogya Nidhi (RAN) scheme and not under Ayushman Bharat PMJAY

State Affairs

Jammu and Kashmir Lt Governor Manoj Sinha has inaugurated Famous tulip festival in Asia’s largest Tulip Garden in J&K
It has been organised by J&K Tourism department in collaboration with J&K Tourism Development Corporation and Department of Floriculture
Tulip garden presents a wide range of colours with over 15 lakh fully bloomed flowers of more than 64 varieties planted over 30 hectares in the foothills of Zabarwan Range with an overview of Dal Lake

Obituaries

Veteran Congress leader, Digvijaysinh Zala (88 years) passed away, following a brief illness.
He was MLA from Wankaner in Gujarat from 1962 to 1967 and as a member of the Swatantra Party from 1967-71.
He became the first Environment Minister of India under Prime Minister Indira Gandhi from 1982 to 1984
He was the head of erstwhile princely state of Wankaner in Saurashtra
He also represented India in the United Nations on more than one occasion