20TH JULY
Contents
SAUDI ARABIA ENDS MALE GUARDIAN REQUIREMENT
PRESTIGIOUS UNDP EQUATOR PRIZE 2021
BANK OF MAHARASHTRA SIGNS MOU WITH NABARD
PAYAL KAPADIA WINS BEST DOCUMENTARY AT CANNES 2021
HARYANA GOVT. ‘ONE BLOCK ONE PRODUCT’ SCHEME
INTERNATIONAL CHESS DAY: JULY 20TH
SCIENCE EXPLORATION DAY: MOON DAY
SAUDI ARABIA ENDS MALE GUARDIAN REQUIREMENT
- According to the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah, Saudi Arabia, women can now register for the annual Hajj pilgrimage without a male guardian (marham).
- In registration guidelines of Hajj for domestic pilgrims, the ministry highlights, women do not need to require a male guardian to register and could do registration along with other women. Women wishing to perform Hajj will have to register individually.
- India had announced the same rule in 2017 when the Modi government declared that women could go on Hajj without a male companion. Muslim women were exempted from mahram and also from the lottery system.
- What is Hajj: It is an annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, which is considered as holiest city for Muslims. Hajj is a mandatory religious duty for Muslims which is must to carry at least once in their lifetime by all adult Muslims.
- Saudi Arabia Capital: Riyadh.
- Saudi Arabia Currency: Saudi riyal.
(SOURCE: LIVE MINT)
PRESTIGIOUS UNDP EQUATOR PRIZE 2021
- Aadhimalai Pazhangudiyinar Producer Company Limited and Snehakunja Trust are among the 10 awardees of the prestigious Equator Prize 2021 for their work in the field of conservation and biodiversity.
- The UNDP gives a biennial award to recognize community efforts to reduce poverty through the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity.
- About the Aadhimalai Pazhangudiyinar Producer Company Limited: Aadhimalai Pazhangudiyinar Producer Company Limited is a 1,700-member cooperative, managed and run entirely by indigenous people from the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve in Tamil Nadu.
- It works in the past eight years has improved livelihood across 147 villages by processing and marketing a diverse range of forest produce and crops.
- About the Snehakunja Trust: Snehakunja Trust has protected sensitive wetland and coastal ecosystems in the Western Ghats and the Karnataka coast for 45 years with a focus on community-based restoration and conservation.
(SOURCE: HINDUSTAN TIMES)
BANK OF MAHARASHTRA SIGNS MOU WITH NABARD
- Bank of Maharashtra has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with National Bank for Agriculture & Rural Development (NABARD) to boost ongoing developmental initiatives linked to priority sector lending in Maharashtra.
- It is on a collaborative approach to enhance rural prosperity through the convergence of institutional lending & ongoing development initiatives.
- The MoU envisages joint initiatives for the benefit of farmers, farmer producer organisations, joint liability groups, self-help groups, rural artisans, weavers, Agri-preneurs, Agri start-ups, micro, small and medium enterprises in the State.
- Maharashtra Bank Headquarters: Pune
- Chairman of NABARD: G R Chintala
- NABARD Founded: 12 July 1982
- NABARD Headquarters: Mumbai
(SOURCE: THE HINDU)
PAYAL KAPADIA WINS BEST DOCUMENTARY AT CANNES 2021
- Director Payal Kapadia’s, “A Night of Knowing Nothing” won the Oeil d’or (Golden Eye) award for best documentary at the 74th Cannes Film Festival.
- The Mumbai-based filmmaker’s first feature bagged the prestigious prize in a formidable field made up of 28 documentaries presented across various sections of the festival.
- A Night of Knowing Nothing screened as part of the Directors’ Fortnight, a section that runs parallel to the festival.
- About the award: The award was instituted in 2015 by LaScam (the French-Speaking Writers’ Society) and Bertuccelli in collaboration with the Cannes Film Festival and its general delegate Thierry Fremaux.
- About Payal Kapadia: Kapadia, an alumna of the Film & Television Institute of India (FTII), also has films such as the documentary And What is the Summer Saying (2018) and Last Mango Before the Monsoon, 2015 short, to her credit.
(SOURCE: THE ECONOMIC TIMES)
HARYANA GOVT. ‘ONE BLOCK ONE PRODUCT’ SCHEME
- The Haryana government will soon introduce the ‘One Block, One Product’ scheme, to encourage and promote small industries in the rural areas.
- Under the scheme, the state government plans to connect every block of the state with some industrial vision and the government is working expeditiously on this scheme.
- Arrangements for common services, lab testing, packaging, transportation, accountancy will be set up in the cluster itself. Haryana’s ‘One District, One Product’ Scheme which is being implemented under MSME, has come up as a model across the country.
- Haryana Governor: Bandaru Dattatraya.
- Haryana Chief Minister: Manohar Lal Khattar.
(SOURCE: INDIAN EXPRESS)
INTERNATIONAL CHESS DAY: JULY 20TH
- The International Chess Day is celebrated annually on July 20, since 1966, to celebrate one of the most ancient and most popular games in history that promote fairness, equality, mutual respect and understanding among nations.
- It was on this day that the International Chess Federation (FIDE) was founded, in 1924. The idea to celebrate the day as the international chess day was proposed by UNESCO.
- This day has been celebrated in as many as 178 countries, and a resolution officially recognizing it was signed by the United Nations in 2019.
- About the chess: Invented in India in the fifth century, this board game was originally named “Chaturanga”. Chess is likely one of the oldest games of this era. After the development of the game in India, it eventually spread to Persia.
- The first modern chess tournament was held in London in 1851 and won by German Adolf Anderssen. On July 20, 1924, at the eighth summer Olympic games in Paris, France, the FIDE (World Chess Federation) was founded.
- World Chess Federation Headquarters: Lausanne, Switzerland.
- World Chess Federation Founded: 20 July 1924, Paris, France.
- World Chess Federation CEO: Geoffrey D. Borg.
(SOURCE: FIRSTPOST)
SCIENCE EXPLORATION DAY: MOON DAY
- Science Exploration Day (also called Moon Day) is marked every year on 20 July. It was on this day in 1969 that Neil Armstrong and Edwin ‘Buzz’ Aldrin became the first humans to land on the Moon’s surface.
- The origins of Space Exploration Day date back to man first walking on the moon, with the day itself first observed to commemorate this historic event during events held in the early 1970s.
- Neil Armstrong was the first man to set foot on the moon’s surface. The Armstrong- Aldrin duo spent 21.5 hours on the surface of the moon out of which they spent 2.5 hours outside of their capsules.
- To commemorate their achievement, the day was declared a holiday in 1984 by the then President of the United States, Ronald Reagan.
(SOURCE: JAGRAN JOSH)