Daily Current Affairs: December 3, 2020

Daily Current Affairs (December 3, 2020) like many other sections is inevitable and this also helps to score in the Banking awareness, Static GK, and Financial Awareness sections. Remember, Banking Awareness, and Static Awareness Questions are asked from the General Awareness section. This will also help you to ride your preparations for the forthcoming exams.

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Important Days:

International Day of Persons with Disabilities- December 3:

• The International Day of Persons with Disabilities is observed annually on December 3. It is an international observance promoted by the United Nations since 1992. The aim is to raise awareness on challenges faced by people with disabilities during periods of crisis. 
• Theme: “Building Back Better: toward a disability-inclusive, accessible and sustainable post-COVID-19 World”

National News:

Assam CM Sarbananda Sonowal launches Orunodoi scheme:

• Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal launched ‘Orunodoi‘ scheme, the biggest Direct Benefit Transfer scheme of the State at a programme held at Numali Jalah Parade Ground in Amingaon, Assam.
• The scheme has been rolled out with 17 lakh odd families as beneficiaries at present as the government would transfer Rs. 830 per month to the account of one of the female members of the family under the scheme.
• Women with family income less than 2 lakhs per annum can avail the benefits of this scheme.

Assam:    

• Capital: Dispur
• Chief Minister: SarbanandaSonowal
• Governor: Jagdish Mukhi
• National Parks: Orang National Park, Manas National Park or Manas Wildlife Sanctuary, Dibru-Saikhowa National Park, Kaziranga National Park, Nameri National Park, Dehing Patkai Wls.

Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan launches India’s first indigenously developed 100 Octane premium petrol:

• Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas and Steel Dharmendra Pradhan launched India’s first indigenously developed 100 Octane premium petrol. 
• The high-octane premium grade petrol being marketed under the brand ‘XP-100’ developed by Indian Oil Corporation Limited will be made available in 10 cities across the country including the national capital in the first phase.

Goa CM Pramod Sawant Launches One-Time Power Bill Settlement Scheme 2020:

• Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant launched a One-Time Settlement Scheme (OTS) a state welfare scheme of the Department of Electricity to provide waivers for the pending electricity bill payments.
• Waivers to the Late Payment fees are applied to the customers based on the initial amount paid or by the minimum time period of repayment.

Goa:

• Capital: Panaji.
• Chief Minister: Pramod Sawant.
• Governor: Bhagat Singh Koshyari (Additional Charge).

Karnataka CM B S Yediyurappa laid the foundation stone for an 11.5-megawatt power plant run on municipal waste at Bidadi:

• Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa laid the foundation stone for an 11.5-megawatt power plant based on municipal waste in Bidadi, a town in Bengaluru. 
• It is first of its kind power plant in the state being set up by the Karnataka Power Corporation Limited (KPCL) and will help in converting 600 tonnes of municipal waste into 11.5-megawatt energy.
• This power plant will add 80.59 million units of power to the existing power grid. The power plant project is being constructed at a cost of Rs. 260 crore and is likely to be operational by 2022.

Karnataka:               

• Capital: Bengaluru
• Chief Minister: S. Yeddyurappa
• Governor: VajubhaiVala
• National Park: Anshi NP, Kudremukh NP, Bandipur NP, Bannerghatta NP, Rajiv Gandhi (Nagarahole) NP.

Maharashtra’s first child-friendly police station ‘Balsnehi’ inaugurated in Pune:

• In a first-of-its-kind initiative in Maharashtra, Pune City Police started the ‘Balsnehi (child-friendly) police station’ on the premises of the Lashkar police station in Pune Camp. 
• This will benefit even those children who have committed offences and ensure that repeated offenders and children from nearby communities are not engaged in criminal activities and, on the contrary, support police in the prevention of crime.

Maharashtra:

• Capital: Mumbai.
• Chief Minister: Uddhav Thackeray.
• Governor: Bhagat Singh Koshyari.

Union Minister Prakash Javadekar virtually participates in Industry Transition Leadership Summit:

• Union Environment, Forest & Climate Change, Information & Broadcasting and Heavy Industries and Public Enterprise Minister Prakash Javadekar virtually participate in the Industry Transition Leadership Summit (LeadIT) in New Delhi.
• The main aim is to enhance Charging infrastructure to support energy efficiency in transport and electrification of heavy good transport. The Meeting was held ahead of the 5th Anniversary of the signing of the 2015 Paris Agreement.

ADB approves $430 million financing facility to improve power supply in Uttar Pradesh:

• Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a $430 million multi-tranche financing facility (MFF) to improve the quality and reliability of electricity supply in Uttar Pradesh.
• Uttar Pradesh Power Distribution Network Rehabilitation Project will improve the efficiency and sustainability of power supply in the state. The project is estimated to benefit 70 million people in 46,000 rural villages.

Uttar Pradesh:                 

• Capital: Lucknow
• Chief Minister: Yogi Adityanath
• Governor: Anandiben Patel
• National Park: Dudhwa National Park (Tiger Reserve)
• Zoological park: Shaheed Ashfaq Ullah Khan Prani Udyan (Gorakhpur), Kanpur Zoological Park, Nawab Wajid Ali Shah Zoological Garden.

ADB sign $50 million loan agreement to boost digital platforms in West Bengal:

• The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Government of India have inked $50 million policy-based loan agreement to improve financial management procedures and operational efficiencies in West Bengal.
• The project ‘West Bengal Public Finance Management Investment Programme’ will help to achieve more fiscal savings, promote informed decision making, and improve service delivery in the state. 
• Development projects could be better tracked and monitored with the help of a new module within the Integrated Financial Management System (IFMS) leading to improved project management.

Kolkata’s Majerhat Bridge Named “Jai Hind” To Mark Subhas Chandra Bose’s 125th Birth Anniversary:

• Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee inaugurates the newly built Majerhat bridge (650-metre) in Kolkata as “Jai Hind” bridge to commemorate the 125th birth anniversary of Subhas Chandra Bose.

West Bengal:   

• Capital: Kolkata
• Chief Minister: Mamata Banerjee
• Governor: Jagdeep Dhankhar
• National Park (NP): Buxa NP, Gorumara NP, Neora Valley NP, Jaldapara NP, Singalila NP, Sundarbans NP.

Power Minister R K Singh launches ‘Green Charcoal Hackathon’ to deal with farm fires and residue:

• Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Power and New and Renewable Energy R K Singh launched the Green Charcoal Hackathon, which would focus on deliberating on technology to convert farm residue into green charcoal. It aims to create a conducive environment by reducing carbon emissions and nurture technology solutions in India.
• The Hackathon has been organised by state-owned Energy Efficiency Service Ltd (EESL) and NVVN (NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam), a wholly-owned subsidiary of state-owned power giant NTPC Ltd.

International News:

Britain becomes the first country in the world to approve the coronavirus vaccine “Pfizer-BioNTech”:

• Britain has become the first country in the world to approve the “Pfizer-BioNTech” coronavirus vaccine. They have said that the vaccine will be rolled out from next week onwards.
• The British government has accepted the recommendation from the Independent Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) to approve Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine for use.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman Participates at the inauguration of the Sri Lanka Economic Summit 2020:

• Union Minister for Finance & Corporate Affairs Nirmala Sitharaman delivered a Keynote Address at the inauguration of the 20th Edition of Sri Lanka Economic Summit (SLES) 2020 in a virtual format. The summit was organized by the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce (CCC).
• The Finance Minister highlighted that India’s ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan’ and Sri Lanka’s vision of ‘Self Reliant Sri Lanka’ can be used as a bridge for strengthening economic cooperation between the two countries. 
• The theme for this year’s event is “Roadmap for Take-off: Driving a People-Centric Economic Revival”.

India and Suriname Hold 7th Joint Commission Meet to Review Bilateral Ties:

• The 7th India-Suriname Joint Commission Meeting Co-Chaired by the Minister of State for External Affairs V. Muraleedharan and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, International Business, and International Cooperation of the Republic of Suriname Ambassador Albert R. Ramdin.
• The partnership with Suriname covers a wide range of sectors including the power generation and transmission network, general supply, and water supply.

Suriname:

• Capital: Paramaribo
• Currency: Suriname Dollar
• President: Chandrikapersad Santokhi.

Banking and Economy:

SBI partners NPCI and JCB to launch ‘SBI RuPay JCB Platinum Contactless Debit Card’:

• State Bank of India has partnered with National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) and Japan’s JCB International Co for unveiling new ‘SBI RuPay JCB Platinum Contactless Debit Card’.
• The newly launched card is loaded with a unique dual interface feature that enables the customers to use it for both contact and contactless transaction. This Card has been launched on the RuPay network by SBI in association with JCB.

Punjab National Bank Launches loan management solution ‘LenS-The Lending Solution’ to speed up delivery:

• Punjab National Bank (PNB) launched a tech-based loan management solution called ‘LenS-The Lending Solution’ to speed up and maintain accuracy in online loan processing and sanctioning of credit proposals.
• The main purpose behind this is to standardise the system, process, and appraisal formats for loan processing, speed up the process of credit sanctions and auto-generate loan documents, among others.
• PNB also launched OTP based withdrawal of Rs 10,000 and above from PNB ATMs effective from 1st December 2020.

SBM Bank India joins hands with Finin to launch smart banking platform:

• SBM Bank India announced the launch of Smart Banking platform in partnership with Finin. SBM Bank India issues a Savings Account that can be opened instantly and comes with a VISA powered Debit Card equipped with smart card management features.

Acquisitions and Mergers:

Facebook buys Customer for USD 1 billion to Improve Services for Businesses:

• The Mark Zuckerberg-led social media Tech-giant acquired New York-based Customer, was to give businesses access to tools that deliver excellent service and support.
• It would continue to own the data that is generated from interactions with customers, but Facebook eventually expects to host the data.

Science and Technology:

Kaspersky partners with Indian CERT-In to create secure cyberspace:

• Cybersecurity firm Kaspersky signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) at the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY).
• The partnership would create mechanisms to detect latest Cyber Security Threats that can adversely affect the information assets and privacy of the general users in the country and devise appropriate security measures to enable such users to secure their systems.

Appointments:

Lt Gen Rajeev Chaudhry assumes the charge as Director General of Border Roads Organisation:

• Lieutenant General Rajeev Chaudhary took charge as the Director-General of Border Roads Organisation (BRO). Chaudhary is the 27th Director-General of the Border Roads. 
• He was commissioned into the Corps of Engineers from Indian Military Academy, Dehradun in 1983 and has attended all prestigious courses of the Indian Army including staff Course at Defence Service Staff College, Wellington, Higher Command Course at Army War College, Mhow and the National Defence College, New Delhi.

Awards and Recognitions:

Amul becomes 8th largest dairy in the world; IFCN Germany report:

• Dairy giant Amul has ranked 8th among the top 20 global dairy processors as assessed by the international dairy research body IFCN (International Farm Comparison Network) Dairy Research Network.
• Amul, a brand of dairy cooperative major Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd (GCMMF), was ranked 12th in a similar ranking in 2012.

Merriam-Webster and Dictionary.com named “Pandemic” as the word of the year:

• For the first time, two dictionary companies Merriam-Webster and Dictionary.com have declared the same word “Pandemic” as word of the Year. Pandemic is a word having roots in Latin and Greek, where “pan” denotes “for all” and “demos” indicating “people or population” sometimes roots to “democracy”.

Books and Authors:

A New Kids Book titled “Vahana Masterclass” Launched by Italian Writer Alfredo Covelli:

• Italian Writer Alfredo Covelli launched his new kids book titled “Vahana Masterclass” illustrating the Indian Mythology and Culture. Indian mythology and culture are very popular among other countries, they admire the way we worship our god and goddesses. The book was published by Scholastic India.

Obituary News:

Rajya Sabha MP Abhay Bhardwaj passes away at 56:

• Rajya Sabha MP from Gujarat Abhay Bhardwaj died due to Covid19. Abhay Bhardwaj was born on April 2, 1954, in Uganda. He was a renowned lawyer in Rajkot but was more known for his public welfare work in the Saurashtra capital.

Sports News:

Indian Football Team climbs up to 104th position in latest FIFA Ranking:

• Indian national team has moved up a spot to 104 in the latest FIFA Rankings. The Indian team were ranked 108th in the October 2020 rankings. India has climbed 4 spots from 108.
• Belgium remains Top Position followed by France, Brazil, England, Portugal, and Spain. Argentina is seventh, having interchanged spots with eighth-placed Uruguay.

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Daily Current Affairs Quiz – December 3, 2020

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