1.Economy
Rajiv Singh becomes new chairman of DLF
Rajiv Singh has been appointed as the new chairman of Delhi Land & Finance Limited
He will be taking over from Kushal Pal Singh , who has been in the business for more than 60 years
Kushal Pal Singh is now chairman emeritus of DLF.
2.Environment
India lost 750 tigers in last 8 years: NTCA
National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) has reported:
- A loss of 750 tigers between 2012-2019
- Highest casualties in Madhya Pradesh
- Natural causes being responsible for around half of the cases, followed by poaching
Quick Fact: NTCA is a statutory body.
3.Miscellaneous
Gairsain declared Summer Capital of Uttarakhand
Gairsain has been declared as the Summer Capital of Uttarakhand by Uttarakhand Governor
The region falling between Kumaon and Garhwal was selected as state capital by activists when Uttarakhand was formed.
As summer capital, Gairsain will have an e-vidhan Sabha
Quick Fact: Dehradun is the winter state capital of Uttarakhand
4.International Affairs
8 Democracies form Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China
The alliance is an international group of legislators working on a reformed approach towards China at a time of doubts regarding the origin of COVID-19 and diluted autonomy of Hong Kong
The Alliance consists of Japan, United Kingdom, Australia, Germany, Lithuania, Norway, Netherlands and USA
5.Person in News
Javed Akhtar becomes first Indian to receive Richard Dawkins Award
The award is for distinguished individuals from scholarship, science, education or environment and proclaim values of rationalism, secularism upholding scientific truth.
He has received the award for raising his voice regarding public policy, citizenship, opening of liquor shops, etc.
The award is presented by an NGO called Atheist Alliance of America
Quick Fact: Richard Dawkins is an ethologist, author, and an evolutionary biologist
6.Science and Technology
ISRO signs MoU with ARIES
The MoU is based on cooperation in the field of Space Situational Awareness and Astrophysics
The main aim of the MoU is to protect the Indian space assets from space debris, along with R&D of Astrophysics and space environment
Under the Space Situational Awareness, focus will be on debris tracking, collision avoidance, satellite anomaly detection, asteroid and meteorite threat prediction, etc.
Quick Fact: ARIES, or Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Science, is located in Nainital
7.Science and Technology
UK Archaeologists use LiDAR data for research
LiDAR is a remote sensing method which uses light to measure the distance between objects
The UK team is using LiDAR to conduct explorations during Coronavirus lockdowns
Their team has found 2 Roman roads and 30 prehistoric large embanked settlements using this technology
Quick Fact: LiDAR stands for Light Detection and Ranging
8.Environment
CSE releases State of India’s Environment Report
As per the report:
- 19 major extreme weather events claimed 1357 lives last year
- India faced the highest internal displacement last year, of 50 lakh people, due to disasters
- India’s SDG ranking slipped from 115 in 2018 to 114 in 2019
- The national average on the governance of the environment was below average at 5.16/10
