DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS : November 14, 2019

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Daily Current Affairs (November 14, 2019) 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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NATIONAL NEWS

39th India International Trade Fair begins in New Delhi

39th India International Trade Fair will begin at Pragati Maidan in New Delhi.
The theme for this edition of the fair is ‘Ease of Doing Business’. The fair will be inaugurated by Union Minister of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Nitin Gadkari.
First five days will be reserved for business and the Fair will be open to the general public from the 19th of this month.
This year the status of ‘Partner Country’ has been accorded to Afghanistan and South Korea will be the Focus Country. Bihar and Jharkhand will be the focus states.

PM Modi holds bilateral meetings with Presidents of Russia, Brazil and China

Prime Minister held bilateral meetings with top leaders from Russia, Brazil and China last night on the sidelines of BRICS summit in Brasilia.
This is the 4th time the two leaders have met this year.
The two leaders noted with satisfaction that the 25 billion US Dollar target of bilateral trade by 2025 has already been achieved.
During the meeting between Prime Minister Modi and Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, the two leaders spoke about diversifying cooperation for the benefit of their people. Both leaders agreed that on this occasion the two countries can comprehensively enhance our strategic partnership.

Chief Justice of India’s office under RTI Act, but conditions apply: Supreme Court in landmark judgment

The Supreme Court has held that office of the Chief Justice of India is a public authority under the transparency law, the Right to Information Act.
“Transparency doesn’t undermine judicial independence,” the Supreme Court said in a unanimous verdict as it upheld the Delhi High Court judgment which ruled that office of the Chief Justice comes under the purview of RTI.
The five-judge constitution bench, headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi who retires on November 17, also dismissed the three appeals filed by secretary general of the SC and the Central Public Information officer of the apex court.
Other members of the bench included Justices NV Ramana, DY Chandrachud, Deepak Gupta and Sanjiv Khanna.

Suranga Bawadi on World Monument Watch list along with 24 other monuments

A New York-based NGO has included Suranga Bawadi in the World Monument Watch list for 2020 along with 24 other monuments from across the world.
Suranga Bawadi is an integral part of the ancient Karez system of supplying water through subterranean tunnels built during Adil Shahi era in Karnataka.
The Adil Shahis built the Karez underground water system in the 16th century to supply water to Vijayapura in Karnataka.
The monument has been selected under the “Ancient Water System of the Deccan Plateau” by the World Monuments Fund (A New York-based NGO), which monitors restoration of ancient monuments across the globe.
With this, the Suranga Bawadi is expected to get funds for restoration within the next two years.

Goa to ban pet bottles below 500ml, sachets from January 2020

Goa to impose complete ban on use of all plastics below 50 microns. The state will also ban all items sold in small quantities in plastic packaging.
This will include sachets, water, soft drinks and other drinks sold in pet bottles of volumes below 500ml.
The move aims to eliminate the practice of smaller packaging. The first move of the policy will ban smaller packaging and pet bottles.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

India, Switzerland hold bilateral meeting to discuss fight against tax evasion

India and Switzerland held Secretary-level bilateral meeting in New Delhi and discussed enhanced cooperation in the fight against tax evasion.
Welcoming the first transmission of financial account information on automatic basis between the two countries in September 2019, the Secretaries reiterated their countries’ commitment to global tax transparency for tackling offshore tax evasion.
This automatic exchange of financial account information will usher a new era of financial transparency as Indian tax administration will now know the details of all bank accounts held by Indians in Switzerland.

Facebook removes 5.4 billion fake accounts so far this year

FRANCE-INTERNET-COMPANY-STOCKS-FACEBOOK : News Photo

Facebook says it has stopped 5.4 billion fake accounts so far this year, in a sign of a persistent battle on social media against manipulation and disinformation.
In its latest transparency report, the Internet firm said it has improved its ability to detect and block attempts to create fake and abusive accounts.
The detailed report also showed that government demands for user information hit a new high led by the US Overall, requests by governments for Facebook user data rose 16 per cent to 128,617 in the first half of this year.

Rajnath Singh to attend Maitree Diwas celebrations in Arunachal Pradesh

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will visit Arunachal Pradesh to attend the Maitree Diwas celebrations at Tawang. Maitree Diwas (Civil-Military Friendship) will be celebrated for two days at Gyalwa Tsangyang Gyatso High Altitude Stadium Tawang.
This will be the 11th edition of Maitree Diwas which celebrates civil-military bonhomie in the area. Rajnath Singh will also inaugurate Sisseri River Bridge and National Highway-52 in East Siang District.

BANKING AND BUSINESS ECONOMY

Domestic Growth Expected To Fall To 4.2% by SBI’s Ecowrap

State Bank of India’s economic research team, in the latest edition of ‘EcoWrap’ has sharply cut India’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) forecast for FY2020 to 5% from 6.1%.

It also noted that it expects Q2 GDP growth at 4.2%. The acceleration rate for 33 leading indicators at 85% in October 2018 is down to just 17% in September 2019, with such decline gaining traction from March 2019. The bank expects growth rate to pick up pace in FY21 to 6.2%.

GOVERNMENT SCHEMES

UP govt launches e-Ganna app, for sugarcane farmers of the state

Uttar Pradesh government has launched a dedicated web portal and a mobile application, e-Ganna App, for sugarcane farmers of the state. Cane supply slip will now be issued to the farmers by sugar mills online.
Lucknow Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said his government is relentlessly pursuing the goal set by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to double farmers’ income.
The portal and the App will ensure transparency in the process of getting slips, and facilitate sugarcane supply by farmers to mills and check irregularities.

Sishu Suraksha APP to be launched in Assam to empower citizens

The Assam State Commission for Protection of Child Rights is going to launch a mobile app “Sishu Suraksha” on the occasion of Children’s Day.
The purpose of the app is to empower citizens to take moral responsibility of protecting future generations. The app can be used by anyone in the state to lodge a complaint which will be directly registered at Commission.

AGREEMENTS AND MOUS

FICCI signs Fintech MoU with Singapore to boost financial technology

Industry body FICCI signed an agreement with Singapore Fintech Association (SFA) to boost cooperation for development of financial technology industry in India and the southeast Asian country.
Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) signed a memorandum of understanding with SFA as part of the growing Singapore-India fintech eco-systems.
A lot of Singapore fintech companies have counterparts in India, said Indian High Commissioner to Singapore, Jawed Ashraf.

A soft launch is scheduled of the acceptance of BHIM-UPI QR based payments in Singapore with a live transaction at a merchant terminal at the festival. QR based payment system will allow anyone with a BHIM app to make payments at NETS terminals in Singapore.

AWARDS AND RECOGNITION

Indian wins ‘BRICS-Young Innovator Prize’ for indigenous milk chilling unit

Ravi Prakash, an Indian PhD scholar who hails from Bihar has won the USD 25,000 BRICS-Young Innovator Prize for inventing an affordable indigenous milk chilling unit for smaller and marginal rural dairy farmers.
Prakash, PhD scholar of ICAR-National Dairy Research Institute (NDRI), Bangalore, was a part of 21-member delegation sent to Brazil by the Department of Science and Technology for the 4th BRICS-Young Scientist Forum (YSF), 2019. India won the first prize, carrying USD 25,000, in the forum.

APPOINTMENTS

Prakash Javadekar takes charge as Union Minister of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises

Union Minister Prakash Javadekar took charge as the Minister of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises.

Mr Javadekar also holds Information and Broadcasting and Environment, Forest and Climate Change portfolios. Secretary, Department of Heavy Industry, Asha Ram Sihag, Secretary, Department of Public Enterprises, Sailesh and senior officers were present on the occasion.

Justice Muhammad Raffiq takes oath as Chief Justice of Meghalaya HC

Justice Muhammad Raffiq took oath as Chief Justice of Meghalaya High Court. Meghalaya Governor Tathagata Roy administered the oath of office and secrecy at Raj Bhavan in Shillong.
Mr. Raffiq succeeds Ajay Kumar Mittal who is now the Chief Justice of Madhya Pradesh High Court. He will be the eighth Chief Justice of the Meghalaya High Court. Justice Rafiq started his law practice in 1984. He practised exclusively in Rajasthan High Court in almost all branches of law.

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

Japanese spacecraft starts year-long journey home from asteroid

After departing from a distant asteroid, Japan’s Hayabusa2 spacecraft started its year-long journey home after successfully completing its mission to bring back soil samples and data that could provide clues to the origins of the solar system.
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency says the spacecraft left its orbit around the asteroid Ryugu, about 300 million kilometres from Earth.
Hayabusa2 made two touchdowns on the asteroid and successfully collected data and samples during its 1½-year mission since arriving there in June 2018.
The spacecraft is expected to return to Earth in late 2020 and drop a capsule containing the precious samples in the Australian desert. Scientists hope the samples contain carbon and organic matter that could explain how they are related to Earth.

IMPORTANT DAYS

Nation remembers Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru on his birth anniversary

Nehru Speaks : News Photo

The nation remembers the first Prime Minister, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru on his birth anniversary.
The day is also celebrated as Children’s Day. Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid tributes to Jawaharlal Nehru.
Political leaders and eminent persons will pay tributes to him at his Samadhi, Shanti Vana in New Delhi.

NOVEMBER 14 – World Diabetes Day

To create awareness about diabetes among the common people, World Diabetes Day (WDD) was created in 1991 by International Diabetes Federation (IDF) and the World Health Organization.
The day is marked on November 14 every year.
It also marks the birth anniversary of Sir Frederick Banting, who co-discovered insulin along with Charles Best in 1922.
The theme for diabetes awareness month and World Diabetes Day 2019 is Family and Diabetes.