• Pankaj Kumar Singh (1988-batch IPS officer from Rajasthan cadre) took over as the Director General (DG) of Border Security Force.
• He is considered as the architect of police reforms in India.
• He replaced SS Deswal, who was holding the DG post since Rakesh Asthana moved to Delhi Police.
• Apart from him, Sanjay Arora assumed charge of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP).
• BSF is India's Primary border guarding organization on its border with Pakistan and Bangladesh.

• Chief Justice of India N V Ramana administered the oath of nine new judges, including 3 women judges, took oath as Supreme Court judges.
• With the swearing-in of the nine new judges, total strength of Supreme Court has increased to 33, including the CJI.
• Total sanctioned strength Supreme Court: 34.
• The nine new judges are: Abhay Shreeniwas Oka, Vikram Nath, Jitendra Kumar Maheshwari, Hima Kohli, B V Nagarathna, C T Ravikumar, M M Sundresh, Bela M Trivedi, P S Narasimha.

• Netherlands-based Prosus NV has announced to acquire the Indian digital payments provider BillDesk and merge it with its own fintech service business PayU for $4.7 billion.
• This acquisition will make the combined entity of PayU and BillDesk as the leading online payment providers globally and in India by total payment volume.
• Transaction is subject to approval from Competition Commission of India (CCI).
• It will also raise Prosus’s investement into India to $10 billion.

• IIT Madras is developing an innovative digital model to address the problem of e-waste (electronic wastes).
• This e-waste digital platform will be named as ‘e-Source’.
• It will act as an exchange platform to serve as an online marketplace for Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE).
• It will link various stakeholders (buyers and sellers) of used and waste electronic equipment and components.
• The initiative is being led by Indo-German Centre for Sustainability (IGCS).

• Union Minister of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry, and Dairying, Parshottam Rupala has launched E-GOPALA web version to aid dairy farmers.
• It has been developed by National Dairy Development Board (NDDB).
• Along with this, i-MAP web portal has also been launched that provides real-time information to dairy farmers for better productivity of dairy animals.
• This portal will facilitate real time checking of coverage and progress of various projects and government schemes.

• INS Tabar is participating in the Maiden Maritime Partnership Exercise with Algerian Navy, off the Algerian coast, in the Mediterranean Sea.
• Algerian Naval Ship ANS Ezzadjer participated in this exercise.
• Aim: to enhance interoperability, understand the concept of operations and open the possibility of increasing interaction and collaboration between the two navies in the future.
• INS Tabar is a Talwar-class stealth Frigate built in Russia for the Indian Navy.

• Amul has dropped two places to rank 18th in Rabobank’s 2021 Global Top 20 Dairy Companies list with an annual turnover of $5.3 billion.
• Amul was placed at 16th spot in 2020.
• French-based dairy company Lactalis has topped the list as the world’s largest dairy company with turnover of US $23.0 billion, followed by Nestle.
• Rabobank’s Global Diary Top 20 Report is released annually to rank the dairy industry upon their sales data and financial statements.

• Ladakh based Dorje Angchuk has been inducted as an Honorary Member of the International Astronomical Union (IAU).
• He is an Engineer in charge at the Indian Astronomical Observatory of the Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA) at Hanle in Ladakh region.
• He is the first and only Indian to be inducted in IAU, among 10 members around the world.
• He has been selected for ‘his passionate promotion of astronomy in the Ladakh region, through his excellent astrophotography’.

• India’s Sumit Antil (23 years) has won Gold Medal in men’s javelin throw F64 final event at 2020 Tokyo Paralympics.
• She set a new world record throw of 68.55m, winning second gold medal for India at Tokyo Paralympics Games.
• Michal Burian of Australia won the silver medal (66.29m), while Sri Lanka’s Dulan Kodithuwakku won bronze medal.
• Now, total medal tally of India has reached 7.
• Bronze medal won by Vinod Kumar in the discus throw F56 final was declared as ineligible.

• Former Indian cricketer and renowned coach, Vasudeo Paranjape (82 years) passed away in Mumbai, Maharashtra due to age related illness.
• He played a crucial role in shaping the careers of numerous Indian cricket players.
• He was popularly known as Vasoo.
• He had played in 29 first-class matches for Mumbai and Baroda cricket team, with 785 runs.
• He was the father of Jatin Paranjape, former national selector and cricketer.

Download Daily GK PDF of 01 September 2021