DAILY GK: 29, 30 NOV 2020

 DAILY GK: 29, 30 NOV 2020

1. COMMEMORATIVE COIN TO MARK FOUNDATION DAY

•      PM Narendra Modi, unveiled the University of Lucknow’s centennial commemorative coin of Rs.100 over a virtual platform.

•      He also released the commemorative stamp issued by the India Post and its cover at the event organised for the celebration of the 100th Foundation day of the University of Lucknow.

 

2. INDIA- VIETNAM VIRTUAL DEFENCE BILATERAL TALKS

•      India and Vietnam hold virtual Defence Ministers bilateral talks where India was represented by Union Minister Rajnath Singh.

•      In order to further deepen bilateral cooperation, both sides signed an implementing arrangement for cooperation in the field of Hydrography.

•      It was signed between Dehradun (Uttarakhand) based National Hydrographic Office, India and Vietnam Hydrographic Office in the presence of the two Ministers.

 

3. FIRST ARAB COUNTRY TO GENERATE ELECTRICITY FROM COAL

•      The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is all set to become the first Arab Gulf country, and probably the last, to generate electricity from coal, as; the Acwa Power of Saudi Arabia is developing a $3.4 billion Hassyan coal plant in Dubai.

•      In this regard, the company has already inked a long time agreement with Japan’s Jera Co under which the latter will supply coal.

 

4. APEC ECONOMIC LEADERS’ SUMMIT 2020

•      The 27th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders’ summit 2020 was virtually hosted by Malaysia from Kuala Lumpur on Nov. 20, 2020.

•      It was chaired by Malaysia’s Prime Minister Muhyiddin bin Haji Muhammad Yassin under the 2020 APEC Malaysia theme of “Optimising Human Potential towards a Resilient Future of Shared Prosperity.

•      Pivot. Prioritise. Progress”. It was the first virtual APEC meeting amid COVID-19.

 

5. LVB TO WRITE OFF TIER-2 BONDS

•      RBI advised Lakshmi Vilas Bank(LVB) to fully write off  the Series VIII, Series IX and Series X Basel-III complaint tier -2 bonds worth Rs 318.20 crore,

•      Before its amalgamation with DBS Bank India Ltd. comes into effect from the appointed date.

•      It is to be noted that it is the 1st time a Tier II bond is being written off and so RBI has set a priority to the proposed write off.

 

6. INDIAN NAVY INDUCTS TWO ‘MQ-9B SEA GUARDIAN’

•      Indian Navy inducted two MQ-9B Sea Guardian unarmed drones procured from the United States (U.S.) on lease.

•      MQ-9B Sea Guardian became the first defence hardware to be procured on lease under the new Defence Acquisition Procedure (DAP) 2020.

•      The drones have been leased from an American firm, General Atomics for a period of 1 year for surveillance in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR).

 

7. TEMPORARY GROUND STATION FOR GAGANYAAN MISSION

•      Australian Space Agency (ASA) & Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) are working together to set up Temporary ground station tracking facilities in Australia for ISRO’s Gaganyaan Mission. 

•      Gaganyaan Mission is an ambitious plan of ISRO to put an Indian in space by 2022.

 

8. 11TH NATIONAL ORGAN DONATION DAY

•      National Organ Donation Day is annually observed across India on 27th November to recognize the selfless contribution made by deceased donors to healthcare and mankind re-instill our faith in humanity.

•      27th November 2020 marks the 11th National Organ Donation Day.

•      ROTTO West was awarded as the Best ROTTO in India and for the 6th consecutive year Tamil Nadu SOTTO has been awarded the Best State SOTTO in India.

 

9. LARGEST SOLAR POWER PROJECT AT A HIGHEST ALTITUDE

•      Leh, in the Union Territory(UT) of Ladakh gets the largest Solar Power Project at a highest altitude.

•      The project has been established at the Leh Indian Air Force(IAF) Station.

•      The Rs.122 crores worth Project named “Provision of Solar Photo Voltaic Powerplant 1.5 MW” was conceptualised under the Make in India initiative of the Government of India.

 

10. ORDINANCE ON “UNLAWFUL CONVERSIONS”

•      Uttar Pradesh Governor Anandiben Patel gave assent to “Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Ordinance, 2020” (Uttar Pradesh Vidhi Viruddh Dharm Samparivartan Pratishedh Adhyadesh 2020) which aims to curb forcible or “dishonest” religious conversion including those for the sake of marriage.

 

11. CYCLONE NIVAR TO HIT THE NORTH INDIAN OCEAN

•      Nivar Cyclone made a landfall near Puducherry, south of Chennai with a wind speed of 85 to 95 kmph.

•      The Nivar is the 4th Cyclone to hit the North Indian Ocean Region in 2020.

•      The storm was named “Nivar” based on the guidelines of the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO).

•      Nivar was selected from the names suggested by Iran.

 

12. HDFC BANK’S M-CAP CROSSES INR 8 TRILLION

•      The Market Capitalization (m-cap) of HDFC Bank crossed INR 8 Trillion for the first time. It became India’s third company and the first bank to achieve this milestone.

•      Tata Consultancy Services Ltd (TCS) and Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) are the only two companies to have achieved the landmark.

•      RIL is India’s most valued company having a market value of INR 13.17 Trillion followed by TCS at INR 10.13 Trillion.

•      Hindustan Unilever is Fourth with INR 5.08 Trillion m-cap followed by Infosys with INR 4.83 m-cap.