Daily Current Affairs: December 6 & 7, 2020

Daily Current Affairs (December 6 & 7, 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 Civil Aviation Day- December 7:

• In 1996 the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed that 7 December was to be the International Civil Aviation Day. The day has been celebrated by the International Civil Aviation Organization since 7 December 1994. ICAO Headquartered at Montreal, Canada.
• The council has decided to keep the same theme until the year 2023 is “Advancing Innovation for Global Aviation Development”.

Armed Forces Flag Day- December 7:

• The Armed Forces Flag Day or the Flag Day of India is observed annually on December 7. It has been observed annually in India since 1949. The day dedicated to India towards the collection of funds from people of India for the welfare of the Indian Armed Forces personnel.
• The three branches of the Armed Forces of India, namely, the Indian Army, the Indian Air Force and the Indian Navy are remembered on this day.

National News:

Andhra Pradesh government Achieve the target to provide safe drinking water to all by 2024: 

• Andhra Pradesh Governor Biswa Bhusan Harichandan participated as Chief Guest at the “Hygiene Matters” seventh WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) Conclave organised by UNICEF and the National Institute of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj (NIRDPR).
• Biswa Bhusan stated that “It should be ensured to achieve the target to provide access to and use of safe and adequate drinking water to all households within premises by 2024.”

Andhra Pradesh:

• Capital: Amaravati
• Chief Minister: S. Jaganmohan Reddy
• Governor: Biswa Bhushan Harichandan
• Folk dances: Kuchipudi, Vilasini Natyam, Bhamakalpam, Veeranatyam.
• National Park: Sri Venkateswara National Park, Rajiv Gandhi National Park, Papikonda National Park.

Ministry of Commerce and Industry and Ministry of AYUSH decides to set up an AYUSH Export Promotion Council:

• Ministries of Commerce and Industry and AYUSH have decided to work together to set up an Export Promotion Council to boost AYUSH exports. This decision was taken in a joint review of AYUSH trade and industry by Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal and AYUSH Minister Shripad Yesso Naik.
• More than 2000 stakeholders of the AYUSH Sector also attended the e-event through live streaming on virtual platforms.

NHPC to commission 2,000 MW hydropower project on Subansiri, Assam by March 2022:

• Public Sector Unit major NHPC (National Hydroelectric Power Corporation) said the 2,000 MW Subansiri hydropower project, which was stalled for nearly 8 years will be commissioned by March 2022.
• Construction work of the ambitious project at Gerukamukh along the Assam-Arunachal Pradesh border on Subansiri river was halted from December 2011 to October 2019. The cost of the mega project, which was scheduled to be commissioned in December 2012, had escalated to around ₹20,000 crores.

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.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi virtually Inaugurates Construction Work of Agra Metro Project:

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the construction of the Agra Metro Project via videoconferencing. This project is spread across two corridors and will boost ‘Ease of Living’ for the people of Agra as well as benefit tourists who visit this vibrant city.
• The estimated cost of the project will be Rs 8,379.62 cr which will be completed in 5 years. The Agra Metro project comprises two corridors with a total length of 29.4 km.

ADB approves $190 million loans for the upgrade of the Bengaluru power distribution system:

• Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a USD 190 million (over Rs 1,400 crore) loan for modernisation and up-gradation of the power distribution system in Karnataka’s capital city of Bengaluru.
• The funding for the Bengaluru Smart Energy Efficient Power Distribution Project by ADB includes a USD 100 million sovereign loans and a USD 90 million without sovereign guarantee loan to Bangalore Electricity Supply Company Limited (BESCOM). BESCOM is one of five state-owned distribution utilities and the largest in Karnataka.

Karnataka:               

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

Ministry of AYUSH to develop Nisarg Gram campus at Pune as the 21st Century abode of Naturopathy:

• Union Ministry of Ayush has announced that the upcoming new campus of the National Institute of Naturopathy (NIN), Pune will be named as Nisarg Gram.
• To start with, the new institute’s curricula will be prepared in light of National Education Policy, 2020. The curricula will be rationalised to bring about a qualitative, pedagogical understanding of naturopathy and allied disciplines at the Under-Graduate (UG) and Post-Graduate (PG) levels.

West Bengal government expands ‘Swasthya Sathi’ health scheme to include all:

• West Bengal government had decided to enrol at least 7.5 crore people but with the expansion, every family in West Bengal will be included in the “Swasthya Sathi Health” Scheme. The annual expense of Swasthya Sathi health scheme is Rs. 2,000 crores.
• Chief Minister of West Bengal Mamata Banerjee also informed that the decision of expanding the health scheme will be applicable from December 1, 2020.

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.

International News:

Bangladesh Signs First-Ever Preferential Trade Agreement with Bhutan:

• Bangladesh has signed first ever Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) with Bhutan to boost bilateral trade between the two countries. This is the first PTA signed by Bangladesh with any country in the world since its independence in 1971.
• Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her Bhutanese counterpart Lotay Tshering witnessed the signing ceremony by joining the event virtually from their official residences in Dhaka and Thimphu, respectively.

MoS for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai Virtually addressed 4th South Asia Forum on SDGs 2020:

• 4th South Asian Forum of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 2020 virtually organized by UNESCAP (United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific) South Asia and Pacific and Government of Maldives.
• Minister of State (MoS) for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai virtually addressed the forum from the Indian side. The main objective is to identify the opportunities to overcome the challenges of disaster and public health risk management.

Banking and Economy:

RTGS system to be available on 24X7 basis from December 14, 2020:

• Reserve Bank of India has announced that the Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) system will be made available from December 14, 2020. Currently, the RTGS system is available for customers between 7:00 AM and 6:00 PM. 
• RBI also decided to increase the limit for Contactless Card Transactions to Rs 5,000 from Rs 2,000 at Point of Sale (PoS) terminals from January 1, 2021
• RTGS shall be available for customer and inter-bank transactions round the clock, except for the interval between ‘end-of-day’ and ‘start-of-day’ processes, whose timings would be duly broadcasted through the RTGS system.

RBI allows RRBs to access LAF, MSF windows along with calls in the money market:

• Reserve Bank of India (RBI) allowed regional rural banks (RRBs) to access the Liquidity Adjustment Facility (LAF), Marginal Standing Facility (MSF) and call or notice money market, aimed at facilitating better liquidity management for these lenders.
• At present Public sector banks and Non-Banking Financial Company (NBFC) are permitted, while RRBs are not permitted to access the liquidity windows of the RBI as well as the call or notice market.

RBI advises banks not to make any dividend payouts from profits pertaining to the FY ended March 2020:

• Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has advised banks not to make any dividend payouts from profits pertaining to the financial year ended March 2020.
• RBI has said that conserving such payment will further strengthen banks’ balance sheets while supporting lending to the real economy. In view of the COVID-19 pandemic, RBI had asked to withhold payment of dividends until September 2020.

Reserve Bank of India (RBI):

• Headquarters: Mumbai, Maharashtra
• Formation: 1 April 1935
• Governor: Shaktikanta Das
• Deputy Governors: 4 (Bibhu Prasad Kanungo, Mahesh Kumar Jain, Michael Debabrata Patra, Rajeshwar Rao)
• Subsidiaries: Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation (DICGC), Bharatiya Reserve Bank Note Mudran (BRBNM).

Karnataka Vikas Grameen Bank Launches ‘Kirishi OD’ facility for Farmers:

• The Dharwad-headquartered regional rural bank, Karnataka Vikas Grameen Bank (KVGB), has launched “Kirishi OD (overdraft)” facility for farmers. The limit is capped to a maximum of Rs 1.5 lakh per acre to irrigated lands and Rs 1 lakh per acre to dry land.
• The scheme was launched by Chief General Manager of NABARD Neeraja Kumara Verma in Dharwad, Karnataka.

Science and Technology:

China Becomes 2nd Country to Unfurl Its Flag on Moon, as Chang’e-5 Probe Takes Off for Earth:

• China has become the second country to plant it national flag on the moon’s surface. Before China’s Chang’e-5 probe took off from the moon to return to earth, a Chinese national flag unfurled from the lander-ascender combination.
• Earlier this feat was achieved only by the USA. The country planted its flag on the Moon during the Apollo mission in 1969.

Spacetech startup Pixxel partners with NSIL to launch a remote-sensing satellite on ISRO rocket in 2021:

• India’s first private satellite-imaging company, Pixxel has entered into an agreement with NewSpace India Limited (NSIL) and Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to launch Pixxel’s first remote-sensing satellite on an ISRO Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) rocket in early 2021.
• This first-of-a-kind private earth-observation mission will help provide solutions to many pressing environmental and agricultural issues. Pixxel aims to put a constellation of 30 earth observation micro-satellites into a sun-synchronous orbit by mid-2023.

Appointments:

Uday Shankar becomes first M&E executive to be elected as FICCI president:

• Uday Shankar, the outgoing chairman of Star & Disney India and president of The Walt Disney Company, Asia Pacific, is the newly elected president of Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) for the year 2020-21. He will succeed Sangita Reddy, current president of FICCI and joint MD, Apollo Hospitals Group during FICCI’s 93rd AGM.
• A former journalist, Shankar has been the President of the Indian Broadcasting Basis (IBF) and the Chairman of FICCI’s Media and Leisure Committee.

AFI appoints Radhakrishnan Nair as chief coach of Indian athletics:

• The Athletics Federation of India appointed Radhakrishnan Nair as its full-time chief coach, filling the post left vacant after the resignation of Bahadur Singh in July.
• The 62-year-old Nair is also a certified Technical Official and World Athletics Level-5 coach has been instrumental in enhancing the coach’s education. He is the first Indian to have an International Coaching Enrichment Programme Certificate of the International Olympic Committee.

Awards and Recognitions:

Myanmar indigenous activist Paul Sein Twa wins ‘Green Nobel Prize’ 2020 from Asia:

• An indigenous Karen activist who spearheaded establishing a sprawling conservation zone in eastern Myanmar has been awarded Goldman Environmental Prize 2020. Paul Sein Twa led his people in setting up a peace park & conservation effort in the Salween basin.
• Sein Twa received the prestigious prize along with five other grassroots environmental activists from the Bahamas, Ghana, Ecuador, Mexico, and France.

Anita Anand Wins PEN Hessell-Tiltman Prize 2020 for story on Jallianwala Bagh:

• British Indian journalist and author Anita Anand’s book that tells the story of a young man caught up in the 1919 Jallianwala Bagh massacre in Amritsar has won a prestigious history-literary prize in the UK.
• ‘The Patient Assassin: A True Tale of Massacre, Revenge and the Raj’ beat six other titles for the PEN Hessell-Tiltman Prize for History 2020, awarded annually for a non-fiction book of specific historical content.

Shantanu Narayen and Ajay Banga named among top 10 Fortune Businessperson of the Year 2020; Elon Musk Topped:

• Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen and Mastercard CEO Ajay Banga have been ranked 8th and 9th position respectively by Fortune Businessperson of the Year 2020.
• The list was topped by CEO of Tesla and SpaceX Elon Musk for a second time. CEO of Advanced Micro Devices Lisa Su has been ranked in 2nd spot followed by Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia in the 3rd spot.

Obituary News:

Veteran Bengali actor Manu Mukherjee passed away at 90:

• Veteran Bengali actor Manu Mukherjee has passed away after a cardiac arrest. He had started his film career with Mrinal Sen’s Nil Akasher Niche (1958). The actor is best remembered for his roles in Satyajit Ray’s Joy Baba Felunath and Ganashatru.

Father of Fibre Optics Narinder Singh Kapany passed away at 94:

• Narinder Singh Kapany, also known as the father of fibre optics, passed away. The India-born American physicist was named as one of the seven “Unsung Heroes” by Fortune in their ‘Businessmen of the Century’ issue of November 22, 1999.

Veteran Marathi actor Ravi Patwardhan passes away at 84:

• Veteran actor Ravi Patwardhan, known for his Marathi TV show Aggabai Sasubai passed away due to a heart attack. He was last seen in Tejashree Pradha, Nivedita Joshi-Saraf, Girish Oak, and Ashutosh Patki, among others.

Veteran Hindi writer Madhukar Gangadhar passed away at 88:

• Veteran Hindi writer Madhukar Gangadhar died. Shri Gangadhar was the lead storyteller of the new story movement. He was an associate of Renuji in Patna Akashvani, director of All India Radio in Allahabad & Deputy Director General at Delhi AIR.

Sports News:

New Zealand all-rounder Corey Anderson retires from international cricket:

• The 29-year-old New Zealand all-rounder Corey Anderson has announced his retirement from international cricket. He once held the record for fastest ODI hundred in 36-ball against West Indies in January 2014.
• Corey has played 13 Tests, 49 ODIs and 31 T20Is for New Zealand, He also signed a three-year deal with USA’s Major League Cricket (MLC).

Japan to host seven-team FIFA Club World Cup in 2021:

• Japan will host the 18th Edition of FIFA Club World Cup in its existing format in late 2021, FIFA (Federation Internationale de Football Association) President Gianni Infantino announced with his expanded version of the tournament still on hold for now after being postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
• It is an International Men’s Association Football competition which will be played with 7 teams – 6 continental federation champions and the host nation’s domestic league winner.

FIFA (Federation Internationale de Football Association):

• President: Gianni Infantino.
• Headquarters: Zürich, Switzerland.
• Motto: For the Game. For the World.

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Daily Current Affairs Quiz – December 6 & 7, 2020

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