GK & CA
Collection of weekly GK & CA since year 2016.
October, 2021
5221
Metaverse
The term was coined in Neal Stephenson's 1992 science fiction novel Snow Crash, where humans, as avatars, interact with each other and software agents, in a three-dimensional virtual space that uses the metaphor of the real world. Stephenson used the term to describe a virtual reality-based successor to the Internet (Source: Wikipedia)
Sun, 31 Oct, 20215220
G20 leaders pledge carbon neutrality by mid-century
On the final day of the G20 summit on Sunday, leaders made a commitment to reach carbon neutrality “by or around mid-century”. In a final communique, they also called for “meaningful and effective” action to limit global warming at 1.5 degrees Celsius. (Source: The Indian Express)
Sun, 31 Oct, 20215219
Otto Wichterle
Otto Wichterle was a Czech chemist, best known for his invention of modern soft contact lenses. Wichterle is the author or co-author of approximately 180 patents and over 200 publications. (Source: Wikipedia)
Sun, 31 Oct, 20215218
Heo Hwang-ok Memorial Park in Ayodhya
Ram Katha Park, situated on the banks of the Sarayu river, is going through a beautification process and will be soon known as Queen Heo Hwang-ok Memorial Park. A Korean queen, who lived centuries ago in a different country with different cultures, is revered at Ayodhya. (Source: news9live)
5217
Trigonopterus corona
A beetle species named after coronavirus - On the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, museum scientists have discovered 28 new species of beetles. One of them has been named Trigonopterus corona. (Source: The Indian Express)
Sun, 31 Oct, 20215215
Satyajit Ray Lifetime Achievement Award
Scorsese, Szabó to be honoured with Satyajit Ray Lifetime Achievement Award. Scorsese has directed Oscar-winning movies such as Taxi Driver and Goodfellas. Szabo, a Hungarian film director, is best known for directing Mephisto, which won an Academy Award (Source: The Hindustan Times)
Sun, 24 Oct, 20215214
Koozhangal
Tamil film Koozhangal is India's official entry for the 2022 Academy Awards. The film, directed by PS Vinothraj, showcases the story of a young boy and how his equation with his violent and alcoholic father leads him on a quest to fetch back his mother. (Source: The NDTV)
Sun, 24 Oct, 20215213
City with most sustainable transport system
Kerala wins award for city with most sustainable transport system - The formation of the Kochi Open Mobility Network, which digitized and integrated various transport facilities, helped to win the award. (Source: The Indian Express)
5212
Pig kidney transplant in human patient
US surgeons successfully test pig kidney transplant in human patient - The procedure done at NYU Langone Health in New York City involved use of a pig whose genes had been altered so that its tissues no longer contained a molecule known to trigger almost immediate rejection. (Source: The Indian Express)
Sun, 24 Oct, 20215210
Nasa's Lucy mission
A spacecraft has launched from Cape Canaveral on a mission to uncover "the fossils" of the Solar System.
The Lucy probe will head out to the orbit of Jupiter to study two groups of asteroids that run in swarms ahead of, and behind, the gas giant. (Source: bbc.com)
5209
International Hockey Federation (IFH) hockey awards
Gurjit Kaur was named as the best woman player while Harmanpreet Singh was the best male. Savita Punia and PR Sreejesh were chosen as the best goalkeepers in the world while Sharmila Devi and Vivek Sagar Prasad were elected as the best rising stars. (Source: The Indian Express)
Sun, 17 Oct, 20215208
David Julius and Ardem Patapoutian
Joint winners of the 2021 Nobel Prize in Physiology ~ discoveries in the late to figure out the touch detectors in our body and the mechanism through which they communicate with the nervous system to identify and respond to a particular touch (Source: The Indian Epxress)
Sun, 17 Oct, 20215207
Indian Space Association
Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Indian Space Association (ISpA), an industry body consisting of various stakeholders of the Indian space domain. The members of the organisation include ISRO and private telecom companies such as Bharti Airtel’s One Web, Tata Group’s Nelcom, L&T, MapMyIndia, and others. (Source: The Indian Express)
Sun, 17 Oct, 20215205
Maria Ressa and Dmitry Muratov
Journalists from the Philippines and Russia, whose works focused on exposing governments’ wrongdoing and corruption, have been awarded this year’s (2021) Nobel Peace Prize (Source: The Hindu)
Sun, 10 Oct, 20215204
Benjamin List and David MacMillan
Benjamin List and David MacMillan share the award for developing cheap, environmentally friendly organic catalysts. They developed a new type of catalysis - The technique — called asymmetric organocatalysis — is widely used today for the production of drugs and other chemicals. (Source: nature.com)
Sun, 10 Oct, 20215203
Welcome back, Air India
Tata Sons wins bid for national carrier, Chairman Emeritus Ratan Tata tweeted a photograph of the company's former chairman JRD Tata getting down from an Air India flight. Air India was founded by the Tata Group in 1932 and was nationalised in 1953. (Source: The Indian Express)
5202
Abdulrazak Gurnah
Abdulrazak Gurnah is a novelist and academic who is based in the United Kingdom, awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2021 for his uncompromising and compassionate penetration of the effects of colonialism and the fates of the refugee. He is Emeritus Professor of English and Postcolonial Literatures at the University of Kent (Source: Wikipedia)
Sun, 10 Oct, 20215201
Gandhiji’s 152nd birth anniversary
The UAE’s iconic Burj Khalifa in Dubai was illuminated with images of Mahatma Gandhi on the occasion of his birth anniversary on October 2.
The skyscraper was lit with colorful LED display that honoured Gandhiji’s journey and commemorated his 152nd birth anniversary. (Source: news18)
5199
Bitcoin Law
The Bitcoin Law was passed by the Legislative Assembly of El Salvador on 8 June 2021, giving the cryptocurrency bitcoin the status of legal tender within El Salvador after 7 September 2021. It was proposed by President Nayib Bukele. (Source: Wikipedia)
Sun, 03 Oct, 20215198
Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) closed for ever
Four decades after its creation, the Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) ceased to exist on Friday. Its 41 ordnance factories—the first of which is more than 300 years old—became part of the seven new defence public sector undertakings (DPSUs) created by the government. (Source: The Indian Express)
Sun, 03 Oct, 20215197
Chacha Chaudhary - mascot for Namami Gange programme
With an aim of bringing behavioural change among children towards the Ganga and other rivers, the Centre on Friday (October 1, 2021) declared Indian comic book character Chacha Chaudhary as the mascot of the government's Namami Gange Programme. (Source: Zee News)
5196
Zojila tunnel
India’s longest road tunnel, and Asia’s longest bi-directional tunnel - The Zojila tunnel, under construction in Jammu and Kashmir, is a 14.15 km long tunnel located at an altitude of about 3,000 m. The tunnel is situated under the Zojila Pass on NH-1. (Source: The Quint)
5195
Fumio Kishida
Japan’s former foreign minister Fumio Kishida is set to replace Yoshihide Suga as prime minister after he won the ruling Liberal Democratic Party’s leadership vote on Wednesday. (Source: The Indian Express)
Sun, 03 Oct, 2021