Daily Current Affairs for State Exams: 19.04.2021

Daily Current Affairs: 19.04.2021

1. Eatsmart Cities Challenge and Transport 4 All Challenge launched 

• Shri Hardeep S Puri, MoS (I/C), Housing and Urban Affairs launched the EatSmart Cities Challenge and Transport 4 All Challenge.
• About EatSmart Cities Challenge: EatSmart Cities Challenge was organized in association with Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) under the aegis of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
• The EatSmart Cities Challenge aims to motivate Smart Cities to develop a plan that supports a healthy, safe and sustainable food environment.
• The EatSmart Cities Challenge is envisioned as a competition among cities to recognize their efforts in adopting and scaling up various initiatives under Eat Right India.
• The challenge is open to all Smart Cities, capital cities of States /UTs, and cities with a population of more than 5 lakh. At the end of the first phase of the challenge, 11 cities will be selected for deeper engagement for an extended period to implement their vision.
• About Transport 4 All (T4All) Challenge: The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs launched the Transport 4 All challenge in collaboration with the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP).
• The Transport4All Digital Innovation Challenge aims to develop digital solutions that will make public transport safe, affordable, comfortable, and reliable for all.
• All the Smart Cities Mission cities, capitals of states and union territories, and all cities with a population of over 5 lakhs are eligible for the Challenge. 

1. Gender Samvaad event launched 

• Gender Samvaad event, a joint attempt between DAY-NRLM and the Initiative for What Works to Advance Women and Girls in the Economy (IWWAGE), was launched by Nagendra Nath Sinha, Secretary, Ministry of Rural Development.
• The attempt is to generate greater awareness on gender-related interventions under DAY-NRLM across the country and best practices, with a focus on hearing voices from the states and the field.
• Note: With over 60 million women mobilised to be part of one of India’s largest livelihoods programme, DAY-NRLM holds great promise for advancing women’s socio-economic empowerment by organising them into self-help groups (SHGs) and federations of the rural poor.
• About DAY-NRLM (Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana - National Rural Livelihoods Mission): The DAY-NRLM is the flagship program of Govt. of India for promoting poverty reduction through building strong institutions of the poor, particularly women, and enabling these institutions to access a range of financial services and livelihoods. 
• Aajeevika - National Rural Livelihoods Mission (NRLM) was launched by the Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India in June 2011. 
• In November 2015, the program was renamed Deendayal Antayodaya Yojana (DAY-NRLM). 

1. Three new initiatives/services of National Internet Exchange of India (NIXI) launched 

• Shri Ajay Prakash Sawhney, Secretary, Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MeitY) & Chairman NIXI launched three path breaking initiatives for National Internet Exchange of India (NIXI).
• With this launch, NIXI has announced to play a supporting role for the IPv6 (Internet Protocol version 6) awareness and adoption in the country along with the Department of Telecommunications (DOT) & MeitY.
• The details of the three new initiatives are as below:

• IPv6 Expert Panel (IP Guru): IP Guru has been launched to extend technical support to Indian Entities in adoption of IPv6. 
• NIXI Academy: NIXI Academy to be created to educate technical/non-technical people in India about technologies like IPv6 which will lead to better management of Internet resources in country.

• NIXI-IP-INDEX: NIXI-IP-INDEX portal has been launched to showcase IPv6 adoption rate in India and across the world.
• About National Internet Exchange of India (NIXI): It is a not-for-profit organization (section 8 of the Companies Act 2013) working since 2003 for spreading the internet infrastructure to the citizens of India. 

1. Inclusive Internet Index 2021: India ranks 49^th 

• About the Inclusive Internet Index: The Inclusive Internet Index by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) in collaboration with Facebook, benchmarks countries on the internet’s availability, affordability, relevance and the readiness of people to use it.
• Now in its fifth year, the Index covers 120 countries, representing 96% of the world’s population and 98% of global GDP.

• 1^st Rank: Sweden
• 2nd Rank:  United States
• 3rd Rank: Spain
• 49^th Rank: India

• Note: India is tied with Thailand in 49th place this year. 

1. Shri Piyush Goyal chairs the first meeting of National Startup Advisory Council 

• Minister of Railways, Commerce & Industry, Consumer Affairs and Food & Public Distribution Shri Piyush Goyal chaired the first meeting of National Startup Advisory Council (NSAC). 
• In his inaugural address, Shri Goyal said that this council shall act as the guiding light for many budding startup entrepreneurs in India.
• The Minister said that it is our collective responsibility to realise the objectives of ‘Startup India: The Way Ahead’, which was launched by the Prime Minister in January 2021.
• About National Startup Advisory Council: The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) had constituted the National Startup Advisory Council to advise the Government on measures needed to build a strong ecosystem for nurturing innovation and startups in the country to drive sustainable economic growth and generate large scale employment opportunities. 

1. Virat Kohli named Wisden Almanack's ODI cricketer of the 2010s 

• To commemorate the 50th anniversary of the first One-Day International, five ODI cricketers of the decade have been named in the 2021 edition of the Wisden Cricketers' Almanack, the reference book, often described as the Bible of Cricket.
• One cricketer has been named for each of the decades between 1971 and 2021.
• List of Winners:
• India captain Virat Kohli was named Wisden Almanack's ODI cricketer of the 2010s.
• Former Indian cricketer Kapil Dev was named the ODI Cricketer of the 1980s.
• Legendary Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar was named the ODI Cricketer of the 1990s.
• England all-rounder Ben Stokes was declared the 'Cricketer of the Year' for a second successive time.
• Australia women cricketer Beth Mooney was awarded the leading women cricketer in the World.
• West Indies all-rounder Kieron Pollard was named the leading T20I cricketer in the world.
• Jason Holder, Mohammad Rizwan, Dom Sibley, Zak Crawley, and Darren Stevens were named Wisden Cricketers of the Year.  

1. Noted Tamil actor Vivek passes away 

• An incredible comedian, Vivek had entertained people of Tamil Nadu for over three decades through his 200 plus films.
• A disciple of former President Abdul Kalam, Vivek was involved in afforestation and other social welfare activities.  
• He was awarded the Padma Shri in 2009. 

1. Noted radiologist Dr. Kakarla Subba Rao passes away 

• Kakarla Subba Rao was a radiologist who served as the first director of Nizam's Institute of Medical Sciences, Hyderabad.
• For his contributions to the field of medicine, Rao was conferred Padma Shri in 2000.
• It is also widely known that he had returned to India from the USA following a request by the then Chief Minister, Shri N T Rama Rao and served the motherland with dedication.
• Rao was the founder president of Telugu Association of North America (TANA). 

1. April 17, World Hemophilia Day

    

• World Hemophilia Day is celebrated to raise the awareness and understanding of hemophilia and other bleeding disorders.
• The theme of this year is “Adapting to change: sustaining care in a new world”.
• World Haemophilia Day was started in 1989 by the World Federation of Hemophilia. April 17th was selected as World Haemophilia Day to commemorate the birthday of Frank Schnabel, who founded the World Federation of Hemophilia. 

1. April 18, World Heritage Day 

• The World Heritage Day is also known as the International Day for Monuments and Sites. 
• The World Heritage Day was proposed by the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) on 18 April 1982 and approved by the General Assembly of UNESCO in 1983.
• World Heritage Day 2021 theme this year is “Complex Pasts: Diverse Futures”.
• Note: Presently, there are 38 World Heritage Sites located in India. India has the sixth largest number of sites in the world. Among these 38 UNESCO Heritage sites of India, the list includes 30 cultural sites, 7 natural sites, and 1 mixed site.
• As of June 2020, a total of 1,121 World Heritage Sites(869 cultural, 213 natural, and 39 mixed) exist across 167 countries. With 55 selected areas, China and Italy are the countries with the most sites on the list. 

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