Daily Current Affairs: November 19 & 20, 2020

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Important Days

World COPD Day 2020- November 18:

  • World COPD Day is observed on the third Wednesday of November every year to raise awareness about Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) and improve COPD care throughout the world.
  • World COPD Day 2020 falls on 18 November 2020.

National Naturopathy Day- November 18:

  • National Naturopathy Day is observed in on November 18 every year, to promote positive mental and physical health through a drugless system of medicine, called as Naturopathy.
  • The 48-day program of webinars will continue till the third National Naturopathy Day.

World Toilet Day- November 19:

  • World Toilet Day (WTD) is observed every year on November 19 to inspire action to tackle the global sanitation crisis.
  • The day was established by the World Toilet Organization in 2001 and officially declared by UN General Assembly in 2013.
  • Theme: “Sustainable sanitation and climate change”

National News

Arunachal Pradesh records Best Female Sex Ratio in The Country while Manipur Worst:

 

  • The Northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh has recorded the best sex ratio in the country while Manipur has emerged the worst, according to the 2018 report on “Vital statistics of India based on the Civil Registration System”.

 

  • Arunachal Pradesh recorded 1,084 females born per thousand males, followed by Nagaland (965), Mizoram (964), Kerala (963), and Karnataka (957).

Arunachal Pradesh:

 

  • Capital: Itanagar

 

  • Chief Minister: Pema Khandu
  • Governor: B.D. Mishra.

 

 

Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan announces ‘Gau Cabinet’ for protection of cows:

  • Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has decided to set up a ‘Gau Cabinet’ for the protection, conservation and promotion of cows in the state. The Cabinet will comprise of the departments of animal husbandry, forests, panchayat and rural development, revenue, home and farmer’s welfare.

 

  • It is India’s first cow sanctuary which was set up by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Madhya Pradesh government in September 2017.

 

Madhya Pradesh:

 

  • Capital: Bhopal

 

  • Chief Minister: Shivraj Singh Chauhan 
  • Governor: Anandiben Patel (Additional Charge).

 

 

International News

Australia and Japan sign a landmark defense deal to counter China’s growing influence in the South China Sea:

  • Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga and his Australian counterpart Scott Morrison have signed a landmark defence deal in a bid to counter China’s growing influence in the South China Sea and over the Pacific island nations.
  • Reciprocal Access Agreement (RAA) comes weeks after foreign ministers of the Quad alliance, which includes the US and India, met in Tokyo.

Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Indore, Faridabad among 36 selected by WEF to pioneer roadmap for global smart cities:

 

  • Four Indian cities feature among the 36 others from across the globe that have been selected as a pioneer for adopting the new technology safely as a part of the G20 Global Smart Cities Alliance.

 

  • The four Indian cities Bengaluru, Faridabad, Indore and Hyderabad were selected by World Economic Forum (WEF). London, Moscow, Toronto, Brasilia, Dubai and Melbourne have figured in the list.

India and Kazakhstan hold 7th round of Foreign Office Consultations, review bilateral cooperation:

  • India and Kazakhstan hold the seventh round of Foreign Office Consultations (FoC) via digital video-conference and reviewed the entire gamut of bilateral cooperation within the framework of their Strategic Partnership stated by Ministry of External Affairs Ministry (MEA).
  • The two sides signed a MoU on “Indian Grant Assistance for Implementation of High Impact Community Development Projects in Kazakhstan”.

Kazakhstan:

  • Capital: Nur-Sultan

 

  • Currency: Kazakhstani Tenge. 

 

  • President: Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.

Banking and Economy

RBI places Lakshmi Vilas Bank under moratorium:

 

  • Reserve Bank of India has placed Lakshmi Vilas Bank under Moratorium, which means that there will be certain restrictions on the bank regarding making payments to its customers and making investments/loans.

 

  • The moratorium has been placed on LVB for 30 days. A customer who holds an account in LVB can withdraw a maximum of Rs 25,000 from his account till the time the bank is under moratorium.

Karnataka Bank Launches Current and Savings Account campaign of FY 2020-21:

  • Karnataka Bank has launched CASA campaign of FY 2020-21, a nationwide savings and current account mobilization campaign starting from 17th November, 2020 to 04th March 2021. 
  • During this campaign Bank intends to mobilize more than 4,10,000 Current & Savings accounts with an accretion of Rs 650 Crores of business by active involvement of its work force above 8000 in all the 859 branches across India.

Yes Bank launches co-branded prepaid card “YES BANK Neokred Card” with Neokred for cashless payments:

  • Yes Bank has launched a co-branded prepaid card “YES BANK Neokred Card” in partnership with Neokred Technologies to facilitate cashless payments. The card offerings can be personalised to suit the requirements of corporates seeking salary cards or expense cards for their employees.
  • The prepaid card will be offered to the corporate partners of Neokred across various sectors. The card offerings can be personalized to suit the needs of companies looking for salary cards or expense cards for their employees.

RBL Bank selects Amazon Web Services to drive digital transformation:

  • RBL Bank has selected Amazon Web Services (AWS) as its preferred cloud service to drive digital transformation. At present, around 40 per cent of the bank’s mission-critical applications are on the cloud
  • The bank first migrated its corporate website to AWS cloud and with the experience gained initiated a 10-in-10 project (a complete migration of 10 applications in 10 days).

Acquisitions and Mergers

Indian School of Business inks MoU with Indian Council of World Affairs:

  • City-based premier B-School Indian School of Business (ISB) announced that it has inked a MoU with the Indian Council of World Affairs to work in the areas of diplomacy, culture, economy and trade, education, international relations, sciences, social sciences, communications and the media.
  • The MoU was inked by ISB dean Prof Rajendra Srivastava and ICWA director general TCA Raghavan.

Science and Technology

IIT Kharagpur researchers develop cellulose nano-crystals from cucumber peels for food packaging:

 

  • Researchers at IIT Kharagpur have developed cellulose nano-crystals from cucumber peels, raising the possibility to create environment-friendly food packaging materials in future. While single-use plastic is being mostly avoided by environmentally conscious consumers, but such type of polymers still remains in circulation as food packaging items.

 

  • The cellulose nano-material developed from raw cucumber waste by Professor Jayeeta Mitra and research scholar N Sai Prasanna at IIT Kharagpur.

Larsen & Toubro delivers India’s first launch hardware for human space programme:

 

  • Larsen & Toubro (L&T) has delivered the first hardware, a booster segment ‘S-200’ for the Gaganyaan Launch Vehicle to the Indian Space Research Organisation ahead of schedule, in a virtual flag-off ceremony presided by ISRO chairman K Sivan.

 

  • The Booster segment was produced at L&T’s Powai Aerospace Manufacturing Facility, Mumbai, Maharashtra.

Appointments

Virat Kohli named brand ambassador for sanitation brand Vize:

  • India captain Virat Kohli is currently on tour of Australia and his brand team has signed new brand endorsement deal for the Indian captain. Kohli was unveiled as the brand ambassador for Vize, a new healthcare and sanitation product.

Awards and Recognitions

Union Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal virtually launches AICTE’s Lilavati Award-2020:

  • Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal “Nishank” virtually launched Lilavati Award-2020. AICTE’s Innovative education program to empower women. With women empowerment as the theme, the objective of the award is to create awareness about issues like sanitation, hygiene, health, nutrition, literacy and employment among women.
  • Theme of the award is ‘women empowerment’ has always been the top priority of the government.

Books and Authors

A Book titled “Reporting India: My Seventy Year Journey as a Journalist” authored by Prem Prakash:

  • Veteran Journalist Prem Prakash’s new book titled “Reporting India: My Seventy Year Journey as a Journalist” has launched. The book was published by Penguin Random House India. The book accounts the life events of Prem Prakash, a pioneer in the field of Indian journalism.
  • Prem Prakash is currently serving as the Chairman of ANI (Asian News International), leading news agency of India.

Rankings

London tops list of World’s Best Cities 2021, Delhi ranked 62; Resonance Consultancy Ltd report

  • London has topped a new list of best cities around the world by Vancouver-based Resonance Consultancy annual report. According to a tweet by the company, the top 10 cities for 2021 in the world are 1. London, 2. New York, 3. Paris, 4. Moscow, 5. Tokyo, 6. Dubai, 7. Singapore, 8. Barcelona, 9. Los Angeles, and 10. Madrid.
  • Delhi is the only Indian city listed in the ranking at 62 which was ranked 81st in previous year ranking.

Obituary News

First woman Governor of Goa Mridula Sinha passes away at 77:

  • Former Goa Governor and BJP leader Mridula Sinha died Delhi. She was also a renowned Hindi writer. Mridula has served as the head of the BJP’s women’s wing and Chairperson of Central Social Welfare Board in the Ministry of Human Resource Development.

Former Navy Officer Vice Admiral John Thomas Goslin Pereira passed away at 97:

  • Vice Admiral John Thomas Goslin Pereira Indian Navy’s former Chief of Materials, passed away after a brief illness. He was among the last surviving naval officers who served during the Second World War.
  • John was also awarded the Param Vishisht Seva Medal (PVSM) for distinguished service during the war.

Sports News:

Indian cricketer Sudeep Tyagi announces retirement from all forms of cricket:

  • The 33-year-old Sudeep Tyagi has announced his retirement from all forms of the Cricket. He had played for the Indian national cricket team in four ODIs and a lone T20I as a fast bowler.
  • The right-arm medium-fast bowler had also featured in 14 games in the Indian Premier League (IPL) for Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH).

Italian teenager Jannik Sinner Clinches Maiden ATP Tour Title in Sofia:

  • The 19-year-old Jannik Sinner captured his maiden ATP Tour trophy at the Sofia Open in Bulgaria. He battled past experienced Canadian Vasek Pospisil to become the youngest Italian in the Open Era to win an ATP Tour title.
  • The last player to have lifted a tour-level trophy at a younger age than Sinner was Kei Nishikori who had earned his maiden ATP Tour title as an 18-year-old at the 2008 Delray Beach Open.

BCCI ropes in MPL Sports as Official Kit Sponsor for Team India:

  • Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has announced its partnership with MPL Sports, the athleisure wear and sports merchandise brand from Mobile Premier League as the new kit sponsor and official merchandise partner for the Indian Cricket Team.
  • The deal was cleared by the Board’s apex council. Nike had a five-year deal during which they paid 370 crore from 2016 to 2020. The senior men and women and the Under-19 teams are also a part of the deal for the new kits.

Argentina and Barcelona star Javier Mascherano announces retirement:

  • 36-year-old Former Barcelona and Argentina great Javier Mascherano announced his retirement from football, drawing curtains on his illustrious career spanning 17 years. Mascherano won one Argentine league title and one Brazilian league title, as well as many trophies with Barcelona.

Important Days

International Men’s Day- November 19:

  • International Men’s Day is observed every year on November 19. The day celebrates the achievements and contributions of men and boys to the nation, society, community, family, marriage, and childcare. It aims to promote basic humanitarian values.

 

  • Theme: “Better health for men and boys”

 

World Philosophy Day- November 19:

 

  • World Philosophy Day is an international day proclaimed by UNESCO to be celebrated every 3rd Thursday of November. It was first celebrated on 21 November 2002. Philosophy comes from the Greek word phílosophía which means ‘The Love of Wisdom’.

 

Women’s Entrepreneurship Day- November 19:

  • Women’s Entrepreneurship Day (WED) is annually observed across the globe on November 19. The day is to celebrate, empower and support the Women Entrepreneurs in business across the globe. It highlights the achievements of Women Entrepreneurs and focuses on the challenges they face. The WED was first observed in 2013.

Indian Army celebrates 240th Corps of Engineers Day- November 18:

  • Indian Army celebrated the 240th Corps of Engineers Day.  In a solemn ceremony organized at ‘National War Memorial’, Lt Gen SK Shrivastava, Engineer-in-Chief along with other serving officers, laid wreaths and paid homage to the brave soldiers who sacrificed their lives for the country.

National News

Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan virtually addresses 33rd Stop TB Partnership Board meet in New Delhi:

  • Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan addressed the 33rd Stop TB Partnership Board meet in New Delhi through Video Conference.
  • India’s TB Harega, Desh Jeetega campaign targets to achieve the Sustainable Development Goal target of TB by 2025, five years ahead of global target of 2030. There was a 29% decline in number of TB cases in 2020 from 2019.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurates Bengaluru Tech Summit 2020:

  • Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated Tech Summit in Bengaluru via video conference during which he highlighted that work from anywhere has become the norm and is going to stay. Theme of the summit is ‘Next is Now’.
  • The summit will deliberate on challenges emerging in the post-pandemic world. It will focus on the impact of innovations in the domains of IT & Electronics and Biotechnology. It will see participation of 4000 delegates & 270 speakers in 75 panel discussions

Cabinet approves Vijayanagara as 31st District of Karnataka:

  • Karnataka Government has approved to carve out Vijayanagara as new district of the state. Vijayanagara will be the 31st district of the State. The new district would be carved out of Ballari and named after the Vijayanagara empire that ruled from this region.

Karnataka:

  • Capital: Bengaluru
  • Chief Minister: B. S. Yeddyurappa
  • Governor: VajubhaiVala

 

  • National Park: Anshi NP, Kudremukh NP, Bandipur NP, Bannerghatta NP, Rajiv Gandhi (Nagarahole) NP.

 

Delhi Airport becomes the first airport in Asia-Pacific region to get Level 4+ carbon accreditation:

  • Delhi Airport achieved a new height in Asia Pacific region for Carbon Accreditation as the Indira Gandhi International Airport or Delhi International Airport Limited has become Asia Pacific’s first Level 4+ (Transition) accredited airport under ACI’s Airport Carbon Accreditation program stated GMR Group.
  • The announcement was made by the Airports Council International(ACI) during the ACI Europe Annual Assembly and congress.

Himachal Pradesh CM Jai Ram Thakur flags off Medical Mobile Unit Jeevan Dhara:

 

  • Himachal Pradesh government flagged off Medical Mobile Unit Jeevan Dhara in Shimla to provide complete range of health care services for people living in remote & inaccessible areas of the state. The van would facilitate as a Mobile Primary Health Centre.

 

  • Free medical consultancy and screening would be provided to the patients through Jeevan Dhara Mobile Health and Wellness Centre.

 

 

Himachal Pradesh:

  • Capital: Shimla (Summer), Dharamshala (Winter).
  • Chief Minister: Jai Ram Thakur
  • Governor: Bandaru Dattatreya

 

  • National Parks: Inderkila National Park, Simbalbara National Park, Great Himalayan National Park, Pin Valley National Park, Khirganga National Park.

 

Mumbai becomes the first Indian city with designated infrastructure for women:

  • Mumbai has become the first city in India to design a plan for the development of designated spaces for women’s needs. The city has designed an urban plan with a gender-focus on reserving physical and social infrastructure for women.
  • The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has added a chapter titled ‘Gender, Special Groups and Social Equity’ under the Revised Draft Development Plan (RDDP) 2034.

Maharashtra:

  • Capital: Mumbai.

 

  • Chief Minister: Uddhav Thackeray.

 

  • Governor: Bhagat Singh Koshyari.

 

 

Bharat Financial Inclusion Ltd ties up with the Maharashtra government to provide livestock care:

  • IndusInd Bank’s subsidiary firm Bharat Financial Inclusion Ltd (BFIL) has signed a pact with Maharashtra government to enhance doorstep delivery of livestock care to farmers in the state.
  • The joint initiative ‘Maha Pashudhan Sanjeevani’ to be implemented under the Mukhyamantri Pashu Swasthya Yojana will also ensure all veterinary services available for farmers at just a phone call and the toll-free number 1962 will be operational from January 2021.

A first direct flight from Kalaburagi to Hindon Airport flagged off under UDAN scheme:

  • First direct flight operations from Kalaburagi, Karnataka to Hindon Airport, Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh were flagged off under the Regional Connectivity Scheme Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik (RCS-UDAN). The officials of the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) and Airport Authority of India (AAI) were present at the launch.

 

  • Presently 295 routes & 53 airports were operationalized under this. UDAN Scheme was launched on April 27, 2017.

 

Bhubaneswar Becomes 1st City to Get ISO Certification for FSSM Services:

  • ‘Smart City’ Bhubaneswar became the first city in the country to receive the ISO 9001:2015 certification for effective Faecal Sludge & Septage Management (FSSM) services.
  • The National Policy on Faecal Sludge and Septage Management (FSSM) was launched by the Ministry of Urban Development in 2017.

Odisha:

  • Capital: Bhubaneswar
  • Chief Minister: Naveen Patnaik
  • Governor: Ganeshi Lal
  • Festivals: Dhanu Yatra, Budi Thakurani Yatra, Magha Saptami, Chhau, Dola Purnima.

 

  • Folk Dances: Chhau, Gotipua, Ghumura, Ranappa, Chaiti Ghoda, Sambalpuri.

 

Puducherry launches morning meal scheme in schools named after former DMK Chief M Karunanidhi:

  • Puducherry government launched a free breakfast scheme for school students named after M Karunanidhi. It will benefit more than 80,000 students in 419 government and government-aided schools. The government has earmarked Rs 12 crores in the budget to implement the scheme.
  • Chief Minister of Puducherry V. Narayanasamy inaugurated the scheme at Jeevanandam Government Higher Secondary School, Puducherry.

Union Minister Narendra Singh inaugurates capacity building component of the PM-FME Scheme:

  • Union Minister for Food Processing Industries Shri Narendra Singh Tomar virtually inaugurated the capacity building component of the Pradhan Mantri Formalisation of Micro food processing Enterprises scheme (PM-FME Scheme). He also launched the GIS One District One Product (ODOP) digital map of India.

 

  • PM-FME Scheme has been launched with an outlay of Rs 10,000 crore for a period of five years from 2020-21 to 2024-25.

 

Punjab Cabinet approves ‘Punjab Divyangjan Shaktikaran Yojana’ to Empower Persons with disabilities:

  • Punjab Cabinet approved a new scheme “Punjab Divyangjan Shaktikaran Yojna (PDSY)” to empower persons with disabilities across the state.
  • Phase-I will strengthen the existing programmes to ensure that benefits reach people with disabilities. Phase-II will introduce 13 new interventions proposed to be undertaken for empowerment of such persons.

Punjab:

  • Capital: Chandigarh
  • Chief Minister: Captain Amarinder Singh
  • Governor: V P Singh Badnore.

International News:

PM Narendra Modi holds virtual summit with Luxembourg PM Xavier Bettel:

  • Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi and his counterpart Mr. Xavier Bettel attends the first-ever India-Luxembourg Virtual Summit. During the Summit Three MoUs were signed as a part of the Summit. 
  • Both Countries agreed for enhanced cooperation in areas of trade, finance, steel, space, ICT, innovation, manufacturing, automotive, sustainable development, including through renewable energy, and the fight against climate change.

Banking and Economy

Moody’s revises India’s 2020-21 GDP contraction to 10.6%:

 

  • Moody’s Investors Service has revised its GDP projection for India in 2020-21 to a 10.6% contraction compared to a 11.5% drop it had estimated.
  • The rating agency has also marginally elevated its forecast for 2021-22 GDP growth from 10.6% to 10.8%.

 

Oxford Economics revises downwards its India growth forecast at average 4.5% for 2020-25:

  • Global forecasting firm Oxford Economics revised downwards its India growth forecast over the medium term to an average 4.5% over 2020-25, from its pre-pandemic projection of 6.5%.
  • Oxford Economics stated that despite having one of the most stringent lockdowns globally, India’s direct fiscal response to COVID-19 so far amounts to just 2.5 per cent of GDP, with the lion’s share of the USD 230-billion fiscal package earmarked for liquidity and financing support schemes.

Barclays Projects India’s GDP at -6.4% in FY21 & 8.5% in FY22:

 

  • Barclays has revised down its GDP forecast for India in the current fiscal year 2020-21 (FY21) to -6.4% from its earlier estimate of -6%. Barclays has raised its FY22 (2021-22) growth forecast to 8.5 percent from 7 percent.

 

Acquisitions and Mergers

Poonawalla Finance partners with ICSI to offer special loans to company secretaries:

  • Poonawalla Finance, the financial services arm of the Cyrus Poonawalla Group that owns the world’s largest vaccines producer Serum Institute of India, is eyeing Rs 500 crore loan sales to company secretaries over the next one year under a special arrangement.
  • The special term loan scheme carries zero processing fees for loans up to 36 months, attractive interest rate, zero prepayment charges, zero collateral and 100 per cent digital processing with minimum documentation. It also comes with an option to take-over existing loans with higher interest rates.

Appointments

Francisco Sagasti Sworn as President of Peru:

  • Francisco Sagasti, a legislator from the centrist Purple Party, sworn-in as the interim President of Peru. Sagasti will lead the country as the interim president until the 2021 General election. 
  • The Congress of the Republic of Peru voted Francisco Sagasti as the interim president to stabilise the protests in the country following the departure of 2 presidents in a week. Sagasti succeeds Manuel Merino. 

Oriental Insurance Chief SN Rajeswari appointed as whole-time member of IRDAI:

  • Oriental Insurance Company Limited’s (OICL) Chairperson & Managing Director SN Rajeswari has been appointed as Whole-Time Member (Distribution) of the insurance regulator Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI).

 

  • She is appointed for a period of 3 years or till attaining the age of 62. She served as the General Manager of New India Assurance Company limited.

 

Awards and Recognitions

National Fisheries Development Board (NFDB) Confers Four Awards to Assam for Success in Fishery Sector:

 

  • National Fisheries Development Board (NFDB) has conferred four awards to Assam for the success in the fishery sector. Assam has got the best state award under the category of best hilly and North Eastern state.

 

  • Assam Apex Cooperative Fish Marketing and Processing Federation Limited (FISHFED) has been selected under the category of best hilly and North eastern government organization. Odisha has been named as the best marine state category.

Param Siddhi bags 63rd rank in list of most powerful supercomputers in world:

  • PARAM-Siddhi AI supercomputer was established under the National Supercomputing Mission (NSM), has achieved 63rd rank in the list of 500 most powerful supercomputers in the world, the Department of Science and Technology (DST).
  • The Top 500 project tracks the most powerful supercomputers in the world and is published twice a year. Pratyush was ranked 78th.

Rankings

India ranks 77 in global bribery risk matrix 2020:

  • India is ranked 77th in the global list of trade bribery risks of 2020 with 45 points. Trade bribery risk is included in 194 countries, regions and autonomous and semi-autonomous regions in the list of anti-bribery standard setting organization TRACE. India’s rank stood 78 position in 2019.
  • North Korea, Turkmenistan, South Sudan, Venezuela and Eritrea had the highest commercial bribery risk. While Denmark, Norway, Finland, Sweden and New Zealand showed the lowest bribery risk.

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