Daily Current Affair - UPSC/KAS Exams - 17th Nov 2021
KARNATAKA RATNA AWARD
NEWS
Puneeth Rajkumar to get Karnataka Ratna award posthumously For his contributions to cinema and social service
ABOUT KARNATAKA RATNA
- Highest civilian honour of the State of Karnataka
- Awarded to a person for his extraordinary contribution in any field
- Constituted in the year 1992
ECONOMY
NATIONAL MINERAL DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION
News
National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC), a public enterprise under Ministry of Steel celebrated its 64th Formation Day
About
- India’s largest exporter & producer of iron ore
- Produces about 30 million tonnes of iron ore from its Chhattisgarh & Karnataka mines
- Maintains the nation’s sole diamond mine at Patna in MP, with an annual output of one lakh carats
- Established in 1958
- Head office - Hyderbad
- Main objectives of NMDC
- Meeting the rising demands of the domestic and foreign markets by increasing its mineral processing operations
- To meet international value-added, cost-effective and per capita income requirements
- Rising iron ore output to 50 MTPA by 2018-19 & 67 MTPA by 2021-22
- To set up the Nagarnar Steel Plant.
ENVIRONMENT & GEOGRAPHY
INDIAN STAR TORTOISES
NEWS
380 endangered Indian star tortoises seized in Karnataka
INDIAN STAR TORTOISES
- Found across the Indian sub-continent, more specifically, in the Central and Southern parts of India, in West Pakistan and in Sri Lanka.
- Protected under
- Schedule IV of Wild Life Protection Act, 1972
- Vulnerable under IUCN
- CITES Appendix I
- Threats: loss of habitat to agriculture and illegal harvesting for the pet trade.
- Single most confiscated species of freshwater tortoise in the world, according to wildlife-trade watchdog TRAFFIC.
- Trading require registration and special permits.
DEFENCE
VISHAKAPATTANAM
News
Visakhapatnam, a P15B stealth guided missile destroyer named after the port city of Andhra Pradesh on the East coast, is to be commissioned into the Indian Navy
ABOUT THE SHIP
- Indigenously designed by the Indian Navy’s in-house organisation Directorate of Naval Design and constructed by Mazagon Dock Limited, Mumbai
- Measures 163 metres in length, 17 metres in breadth, with a displacement of 7400 tonnes
- Regarded as one of the most potent warships to have been constructed in India
- Propelled by four powerful gas turbines, in a Combined Gas and Gas (COGAG) configuration
- Capable of achieving speeds in excess of 30 knots
- Has enhanced stealth features resulting in a reduced Radar Cross Section (RCS)
- Packed with sophisticated ‘state of the art’ weapons and sensors such as Surface to Surface Missile and Surface to Air Missiles
- Fitted with a modern Surveillance Radar which provides target data to the gunnery weapon systems of the ship
- Anti-Submarine Warfare capabilities are provided by the indigenously developed Rocket Launchers, Torpedo Launchers and ASW helicopters
- Equipped to fight under Nuclear, Biological and Chemical (NBC) warfare conditions.
POCHAMPALLY
NEWS
Pochampally village in Telangana is set to be named as one of the best Tourism Villages by the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO)
ABOUT THE AWARD
- Aims to honour the villages which set outstanding examples as rural tourism destinations and to support these villages to enhance their tourism potential through training and access to opportunities for further improvement.
- Award will be handed over at the 24th session of the UNWTO General Assembly scheduled to be organised in the Spanish capital city of Madrid on December 2.
POCHAMPALLY
- Referred to as the Silk City of India for the exquisite saris that are woven in a unique style called Pochampally Ikat
- Received a Geographical Indicator (GI Status) in 2004
- Also known as Bhoodan Pochampally as the Bhoodan Movement was launched by Acharya Vinobha Bhave from this village on April 18, 1951.
SNIPPETS
- Karnataka promulgated an Ordinance for the amendment of the Karnataka Municipal Corporations Act, 1976, and the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) Act, 2020. This amendment will allow the civic body to collect ground rent, licence fee, building plan approval fee, scrutiny fee, and security deposit.
- West Bengal launched an ambitious “Duare Ration” scheme for providing foodgrains under the public distribution system at the doorstep for the entire population.
- Prime Minister inaugurated the 341 km long six-lane Purvanchal Expressway. The Purvanchal Expressway connects Lucknow-Sultanpur road (NH-731) and National Highway No. 31, 18 km east of UP-Bihar border and can be expanded to eight-lane in the future.
- The ‘India@75 BRO Motorcycle Expedition’ has successfully completed the third leg covering 2,450 kilometres in less than 11 days and reached Doom Dooma, Assam on November 14, 2021 after being flagged off from Siliguri on November 05, 2021.
- Country’s first-of-its kind, dedicated business incubator to be known as LINAC- NCDC Fisheries Business Incubation Centre (LlFlC) was inaugrated in Haryana’s Gurugram.National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC), an implementing agency for the LIFIC
- The 52nd International Film Festival of India (IFFI) is paying a special tribute to Sir Sean Connery, the first actor to portray the most famous fictional British spy, James Bond on the big screen.
