DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS : October 20 & 21, 2019

Daily Current Affairs (October 20 & 21, 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

DNA Technology Regulation Bill referred to parliamentary standing committee

The DNA Technology Regulation Bill that seeks to control the use of DNA technology for establishing the identity of a person, has been referred to a Parliamentary Standing Committee for examination.

The bill has been referred to the Standing Committee on Science and Technology, Environment and Forests by Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkiah Naidu.

The bill that seeks to control the use and application of the DNA technology for establishing the identity of certain categories of persons, including offenders, victims, suspects and under-trials, was passed by the Lok Sabha in July this year. The bill provides for the establishment of DNA data banks at the national and regional levels.

Amit Shah pays tribute to martyred police personnel on Police Commemoration Day

Home Minister Amit Shah said the country is moving ahead on the path of progress as police personnel are doing their duty with responsibility.
He said, be it border security, fighting against terrorism and Naxalism, the police have a pivotal role in maintaining peace and law and order in the country, after paying tribute to martyred police personnel, on the occasion of Police Commemoration Day at National Police Memorial.
The Police Commemoration Day is observed on this day every year in memory of the policemen martyred at Hot Springs in Ladakh by Chinese troops on 21st October, 1959.

AYUSH Minister inaugurated Ayurveda Palliative Care Unit at base Hospital

Minister of State (Independent Charge) for AYUSH and Defence Shri Shripad Yesso Naik today inaugurated Ayurveda Palliative Care Unit at Palliative Care Centre, base Hospital, Delhi Cantt, New Delhi.
On this occasion, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was also signed between Ministry of AYUSH and Ministry of Defence for the Integration of AYUSH under the health establishments of Directorate General of Armed Forces Medical Services (DGAFMS).

EC appoints Vinod Zutshi as Special Observer for Haryana Assembly elections

Election Commission has appointed Vinod Zutshi, former Deputy Election Commissioner as Special Observer for the ensuing elections to Assandh Assembly Constituency in Karnal District of Haryana.
Mr Zutshi has been asked to take necessary corrective action and ensure a free, fair and peaceful election.

Dr Harsh Vardhan shares PM Modi’s vision for inclusive health at G20 Okayama Health Ministers’ Conference

India has highlighted Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of ‘Sab Ka Saath – Sab Ka Vikas – Sab Ka Vishwas’ for inclusive health along with scheme — Ayushman Bharat, at the on-going two-day G20 Okayama Health Ministers’ Conference in Japan.

Health and Family Welfare Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan, who represented India at the conference in Okayama City, also highlighted Mr Modi’s vision of FIT India Movement and Eat Right campaigns.

The deliberations of the G20 Health Ministers focused on four major global health issues like the achievement of Universal Health Coverage, response to population ageing, management of health risks and health security management including Anti-Microbial Resistance and its containment.
Dr Vardhan said that New Delhi is on the path to Universal Health Coverage and will contribute effectively in sustaining UHC at the global level.

On Response to population ageing, Dr. Vardhan, during his intervention, shared India’s vision for its projected 20 per cent elderly population by 2050.

M Venkaiah Naidu presents Most Eminent Senior Citizen Award to K Parasaran

Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu presented Most Eminent Senior Citizen Award to legal luminary and former Attorney General K. Parasaran at a function in New Delhi.

Mr Parasaran was honoured with the award on the occasion of the Elder’s Day celebration of Age Care India, an organization working for the welfare of the elderly.

Vice President said that the Award is a fitting recognition of Mr Parasaran’s exceptional contribution to the field of law and justice as well as his extraordinary personality.

Smriti Irani visits Amethi, participates in ‘Gandhi Sankalp Padyatra’

Union Minister for Textiles and Women & Child Development Smriti Jubin Irani took part in various programmes including ‘Gandhi Sankalp Padyatra’ in Amethi, Uttar Pradesh.
Ms Irani participated in programmes on cleanliness, plantation and maintaining a healthy environment. Benefits of government’s welfare schemes including Ayushmaan Bharat, Swachh Bharat Mission, Kisaan Samman Yojana are reaching to the people.

The Union Minister also planted a sapling at Jagdishpur and led a sanitation campaign at railway station Nihalgarh on Lucknow -Varanasi route.

Prahlad Singh Patel to inaugurate CCRT e-portal and YouTube Channel

Union Minister of state for Culture and Tourism Prahlad Singh Patel will inaugurate e-portal of Centre for Cultural Resources and Training and YouTube Channel in New Delhi with an aim to take India to a newer digital pinnacle and to promote Indian culture.

He will attend the “Digital Bharat – Digital Sanskriti” program organised by Rashtriya Centre for Cultural Resources and Training, CCRT of the Ministry of Culture. In order to explore & understand the unknown aspects of India’s lesser known places and their rural and semi-urban culture, CCRT has started publishing books from the series “Untold Tales of India’s Cities”.

Rajnath Singh to inaugurate Col. Chewang Rinchen Setu in Ladakh

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh left for Ladakh .He will attend the inaugural ceremony of Col. Chewang Rinchen Setu which has been constructed at an altitude of 14,650 feet in the forward area of Ladakh region. This bridge has been built by the Border Roads Organisation (BRO).
This Bridge is built on the strategically important road Durbuk Shyok Daulat Beg Oldie in sub sector north in eastern Ladakh.
The Bridge , which is 1400 feet span, is constructed by the Border Road Organization.
Chewang Rinchan who was one of the highly decorated officer in the Indian Army from Ladakh and he was awarded the Maha Vir Chakara twice.

PM Modi congratulates Indonesia’s Prez on commencement of his 2nd term in office

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has congratulated Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo on the commencement of his second term in office.
Mr Modi said he is confident that under Joko Widodo’s dynamic leadership, India-Indonesia friendship and comprehensive strategic partnership will deepen further.

Govt Attempt to Build the World’s Biggest Facial Recognition System Sparks Privacy Fears

In an ambitious plan to curb soaring crime rates, the government is in the works of building the world’s largest facial recognition system – a centralized database – accessible to police across all states of the country that would match images from the network of CCTV cameras against a database encompassing criminal records.
Authorities in many states, including Andhra Pradesh and Punjab, had adopted the facial recognition technology in 2018 to fight crime.
This new facial recognition pattern will play a “very vital role in improving outcomes” of solving crime cases and help in “detect crime patterns” while also aid in crime prevention, will also enable the police to initiate searches based on photos uploaded from newspapers, images in the public domain and even give access to artist sketches of suspects.
It would recognize faces on closed-circuit cameras and “generate alerts if a blacklist match is found,”.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Sri Lanka removed from FATF’s Grey List

Sri Lanka has been removed from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) list of countries at risk for money laundering.
Minister of Finance Mangala Samaraweera said in a statement that FATF in Paris informed the removal of Sri Lanka’s name from the blacklist commending the new measures taken by the country on financial security.
Sri Lanka was first included in the blacklist in 2011. By 2012, Sri Lanka was listed in the list as a dangerous country with no commitment to the financial security plan.
The government together with the Central Bank and other financial institutions, has taken several measures since 2016 to ensure the financial security of the country. As a result, Sri Lanka has declared a cooperating state in 2016 and the FATF put Sri Lanka on a grey list from November 2017.

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY

MMTC offers discount on India Gold Coin to mark 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi

The Public sector Metals and Minerals Trading Corporation of India (MMTC) is offering a three per cent discount on the India Gold Coin to mark the celebrations of the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.
MMTC Chairman Ved Prakash said that despite the global slowdown, MMTC witnessed a record selling of gold. MMTC is geared up to cater to the city’s festive season demand of gold and silver with a brand new edition of its festival of Gold Exhibition-cum-sale.

FPIs pour in Rs 5,072 crore in Indian Capital markets

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs), have infused a net sum of 5,072 crore rupees into the Indian capital markets this month so far amid the government’s efforts to revive domestic demand.
As per the latest depositories data, foreign investors put in a net sum of 4,970 crore rupees in the equities and a net 102 crore rupees in the debt market during 1st to 18th of this month.
In the preceding month, FPIs had invested about 6,558 crore rupees in the domestic capital markets (both equity and debt).

International Monetary and Financial Committee urges resolving trade tensions

The International Monetary and Financial Committee (IMFC), the policy-setting body of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), called on countries to resolve trade tensions and support the necessary reform of the World Trade Organization at the 40th meeting of the IMFC.
The committee said growth outlook is “highly uncertain and subject to elevated downside risks,” including trade tensions, policy uncertainty, and geopolitical risks, against a backdrop of limited policy space, high and rising debt levels, and heightened financial vulnerabilities.
Lesetja Kganyago, the IMFC chairman and governor of the Reserve Bank of South Africa, said that trade tensions have adversely impacted global trade and the global economy. “There cannot be winners in a trade war. In the end, the biggest loser is going to be the global economy.”
IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said that what the IMFC meeting did was to clearly build the “cost consequence chain” from trade tensions to uncertainty, to the slowing down of investment, to a reduction of growth, to a potential erosion of jobs, and to an erosion of consumer confidence.

GOVERNMENT SCHEMES

NCERT course to be implemented in Class ninth and tenth in all govt schools in MP

In Madhya Pradesh, NCERT course will be implemented in Class ninth and tenth standard in all government schools of the state from the next academic session.
School Education Minister Dr Prabhuram Chaudhary said that in order to improve the standard of education in government schools, Parents-Teachers Association meetings will be held once in every three months, in which parents and teachers will have an open discussion on students’ education and their problems.
Dr. Chaudhary said that Madhya Pradesh is the first state in the country, where the tradition of transfer of teachers as per their convenience has been started online.

AGREEMENTS AND MOUS

Dr Harsh Vardhan co-chairs 1st Joint Committee Meeting under 2nd Memorandum of Cooperation signed on healthcare, in Tokyo

Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare co-chaired the 1st Joint Committee Meeting (JCM) in Tokyo along with Dr. Hiroto Izumi, Special Advisor to Prime Minister under the 2nd Memorandum of Cooperation (MOC) signed on Healthcare and Wellness in October 2018 during the visit of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi to Japan in context of Ayushman Bharat of India and Asia Health and Well-Being Initiative (AHWIN) of Japan.
The Joint Committee reviewed the status of ongoing activities under the MOC and noted with satisfaction the progress on these activities which are meant to promote mutual benefit for the peoples of both the countries.

APPOINTMENTS

Anup Kumar Singh appointed as Director-General of NSG

Senior IPS officer of Gujarat cadre Anup Kumar Singh has been appointed as Director-General of the National Security Guard (NSG).

The appointment of Mr Singh, who is a 1985-batch IPS officer, was approved by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet. His appointment will be from the date of joining the post and up to 30th of September, 2020.

BOOKS AND AUTHORS

PM Modi releases book titled ‘Bridgital Nation’

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that positivity, creativity and constructive mindset can lead to solutions of the problems. Releasing a book titled ‘Bridgital Nation’ in New Delhi.

Mr Modi said that positivity, optimism and faith in talent and resources is the thought of New India. The book has been authored by Chairman, Tata Sons, N Chandrasekaran and Roopa Purushothaman. Eminent industrialist and philanthropist Ratan Tata was present on the occasion among others.

IMPORTANT DAYS

WORLD STATISTICS DAY CELEBRATED ON 20TH OCTOBER

The World Statistics Day was celebrated for the first time in 2010. It was declared by the United Nations Statistical Commission. It is celebrated once in 5 years.
India celebrates Statistics Day on 29th June, on the birthday of the legend statistician Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis.
The next World Statistics Day is to be celebrated on October 20, 2020. On October 15, 2015 the second World Statistics Day was celebrated under the Theme: Better Data, Better Lives.

SPORTS NEWS

Ayonika Paul won silver in the 10m air rifle at the All India Railway Rifle Shooting Championship at Balewadi stadium

Commonwealth Games’ silver medalist, Ayonika Paul, representing Central Railway, shot to the second position in the individual 10m Air Rifle event at the 54th All India Railway Rifle Shooting Championship at the Balewadi Sports Complex .Born and brought up in Mumbai; Ayonika has trained under Austrian coach, Thomas Farnik, in Delhi and Pune.