DAILY GK 2 FEB 2020

DAILY GK 2 FEB 2020

1.    India’s first ‘fruit train’ with bananas

ü Fruit train was launched from Tadipatri Railway Station of Andhra Pradesh. This is the first time an entire train carrying a load of  980 metric tonnes of locally grown bananas which has been sent to the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNP). Those bananas will be exported to Iran.The bananas will be exported under the brand name ‘Happy Bananas’. 

2.    Global Go To Think Tank Index Report

ü The index ranked top think tanks from around the world.As per the report India’s Observer Research Foundation (ORF) was ranked at 27th place among 176 global think tanks. The report was topped by Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (CEIP) of US.

3.    Ajay Bisaria  appointed as Next High Commissioner of India to Canada.

4.    New CEO for IBM

ü Indian origin technology executive Arvind Krishna has been elected as Chief Executive Officer of American IT giant International Business Machines Corp (IBM) after a “world-class succession process”.

5.    Dalip Kaur Tiwana passed away

ü Renowned Punjabi novelist, Dalip Kaur Tiwana passed away at the age of 84 due to old age ailments. She was well known for novels ‘Teeli da Nishaan’ and ‘Sooraj te Samandar’.

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DAILY GK 1 FEB 2020

DAILY GK 1 FEB 2020

1.    SAMPRITI-IX

ü 9th edition of the joint Indo-Bangladesh military exercise named SAMPRITI-IX will be conducted at Umroi, Meghalaya from February 03-16, 2020. Both nations will work together in a counter terrorism environment under the United Nations (UN) charter.

2.    Best performing state in sustainable growth

ü As per the UNDP India, India’s youngest state Telangana has emergered as Number 1 state in the ‘Decent work and economic growth’ category with the score of 82 on Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) India index in 2019.

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DAILY GK 31 JAN 2020

DAILY GK 31 JAN 2020

1.    NITI Aayog’s Aspirational district ranking 2019

ü The ranking is based on the progress made in 5 development areas in 112 aspirational districts across India in December 2019. The rankings focus on progress in Health and nutrition, education, agriculture and water resources, financial inclusion& skill development and Basic infrastructure

Top 3 states in Aspirational Districts ranking:

S.No.	State	District	Score (December-2019)
1	Uttar Pradesh	Chandauli	57.6
2	Odisha	Balangir	53.9
3	Andhra Pradesh	Y.S.R.	65.2

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DAILY GK 30 JAN 2020

DAILY GK 30 JAN 2020

1.    Indian Navy launched ‘Operation Vanilla’

ü The Indian Navy(IN) launched ‘Operation Vanilla’. The purpose of this operation is to support and provide assistance to Tropical Cyclone Ava & flood-hit Madagascar.  The Indian Navy Ship(INS) Airavat has been deployed to this mission. 

ü The assistance has been provided in consonance with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Security and Growth for all in the Region (SAGAR)’. It is also to be noted that Madagascar is a member of the inter-governmental organisation Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA).

2.    10 more wetlands declared as Ramsar sites

ü Ramsar Convention has declared 10 more wetland sites from India as sites of national importance. Ramsar sites are those which are declared under the Ramsar Convention signed in 1971 to preserve wetlands of national importance. Thus India now has a total of 37 Ramsar sites.

3.    World’s largest meditation centre

ü World’s largest meditation centre was inaugurated at Kanha Shanti Vanam in Hyderabad, Telangana to mark the 75th anniversary of the formation of Shri Ram Chandra Mission (SRCM) and Heartfulness Institute. It can accommodate 1 lakh practitioners at a time.

4.    Tyler Prize 2020

ü The Indian environmentalist and Goodwill Ambassador of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Pavan Sukhdev won Tyler Prize 2020 for Environmental Achievement for his groundbreaking “green economy” work along with conservation biologist Gretchen C. Daily from United States (US).

5.    India’s Ambassador to US

ü
Diplomat Taranjit Singh Sandhu has been appointed as India’s Ambassador to the United States of America (USA). He succeeded Harsh Vardhan Shringla who will take charge as the next foreign secretary.

6.    New PM of Qatar

ü Tamim bin Hamad AI Thani, Emir of Qatar appointed Sheikh Khalid bin Khalifa bin Abdulaziz Al Thani as new Prime Minister (PM) of Qatar, Doha.

7.    International Boxing tournament Strandja 2020

ü The 71^st edition of International Boxing Tournament “Strandja”2020 was held in Sofia, Bulgaria. India ranked 9^th in the medal tally with 3 medals (1 Silver, 2 Bronze). The list was topped by Ukraine with 10 medals.

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DAILY GK 29 JAN 2020

DAILY GK 29 JAN 2020

1.     ‘Kolkata metro’ to be opened by March 2022 

ü Kolkata Metro Rail Corporation (KMRC) is set to complete its East-West Project, which runs partly under the Hooghly river, West Bengal, by March 2022. It will be India’s first underwater metro. The new metro rail is expected to carry about 900,000 people daily & will take less than a minute to cross a 520-meter underwater tunnel.

ü 74% of the East-West metro project is owned by India’s Railway & remaining 26% by the nation’s Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs.

2.    President Bolsonaro’s 4-day Visit to India

ü The president Brazil, Jair Messias Bolsonaro paid a 4-day official visit to India.

ü The bilateral trade and work target of $15 billion between India and Brazil was set to be achieved by 2022.

3.    Global risk of Noval Coronavirus (2019-nCoV)

ü The World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared the global risk of Noval Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) that cause serious illnesses ranging from the common cold to Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS-CoV) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS-CoV).

4.    International Children’s Film Festival

ü 13th edition of International Children’s Film Festival was inaugurated in Dhaka, Bangladesh. The theme of International Children’s Film Festival 2020 is ‘Under The World’.

5.    GOI has decided to sell 100 per cent stake of Air India

ü Hardeep Singh Puri has expressed the Indian Government’s decision to sell its 100 per cent stake of Air India (AI).It includes its 100 per cent stake in low-cost airline Air India Express and 50 per cent shareholding in joint venture AISATS Airport Services Private Limited.

6.    Best tableaux awards

ü Defence Minister Rajnath Singh distributed the awards for best tableaux which was conducted on January 26, 2020 in Republic Day event. There were a total of 22 tableaux including 16 from various states and union territories and remaining 6 from various ministries and departments.

ü Best Tableaux Award -Assam’s tableaux displayed with the theme ‘Land of Unique Craftsmanship and Culture’, had showcased the Xattriya tradition in the form of Bhortal Nritya was chosen as the best tableaux.
National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) won best tableaux for Ministry for showcasing the cutting-edge technology and instruments used by the force to carry out daring rescue operations in flood-hit and disaster hit areas.

ü Jal Shakti Mission won best tableaux among departments for government’s new initiative, ‘Jal Jeevan Mission’, which aims at providing functional tap connection to every rural household by 2024.

7.    Autobiography by Yashwant Sinha

ü Former president of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee released the autobiography of former Finance Minister Shri Yashwant Sinha titled “Relentless” at the India International Centre in New Delhi.

8.    SIPRI report

ü As per the report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) has suggested that China is the world’s second largest producer of munitions  behind the United States and ahead of Russia. The data which covered the period from 2015 to 2017.

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DAILY GK 28 JAN 2020

DAILY GK 28 JAN 2020

1.    Ganga-Volga Dialogue of civilizations 2020

ü The 1^st edition of Ganga-Volga Dialogue of Civilizations 2020 based on the theme “Connectivity”, between India & Russia was held in New Delhi.

ü The event was inaugurated by India’s Minister of State for External Affairs V. Muraleedharan.

ü The dialogue aims to provide a platform for enhancing the special and privileged bilateral partnership between India & Russia.

2.    Padma awards 2020

ü On the eve of 71^st Republic Day, announced the names of Padma awardees for 2020, which is the highest civilian Awards in the country. The Padma Awards are conferred under 3 categorized viz- Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri.

ü This time (2020) a total of list had 141 awards – 7 celebrities have been chosen for Padma Vibhushan, 16 celebrities for Padma Bhushan and 118 personalities for Padma Shri.

ü Former Union ministers Arun Jaitley (posthumously), Sushma Swaraj (posthumously), George Fernandes (posthumously) and World champion boxer Mary Kom were awarded the Padma Vibhushan, the India’s 2^nd highest civilian honour while, India’s number one badminton player PV Sindhu has been selected for the Padma Bhushan.

3.    Annual Grammy Awards 2019

ü 62nd edition of the Annual Grammy Awards 2019 was held at the Staples Center in Los Angeles city of California in the United States(US). The awards were given in recognition for the best recordings, compositions, and artists. The awards were presented in 84 categories.

ü Former United States(US) first lady Michelle Obama was honoured with the best spoken word album of the year award at the Grammy awards for the book “Becoming”. Singer Lizzo wins 3 grammy awards and dedicated to Basketball star Kobe Bryant who along with his daughter, was killed in a helicopter crash.

4.    Sunil Mehta appointed as CEO of IBA

ü Sunil Mehta, took over as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Indian Banks’ Association (IBA).
Mehta will replace VG Kannan, who resigned from office as chief executive of IBA on December 31, 2019.

5.    Kobe Bryant dies in a helicopter crash

ü American basketball legend Kobe Bryant has died along with his 13-years-old daughter Gianna in a Sikorsky S-76 helicopter crash near Calabasas in Southern California. He was 41. 

6.    International Customs Day-January 26, 2020

ü Theme “Customs fostering Sustainability for People, Prosperity and the Planet”. 

7.    India’s 71st Republic Day

ü The day honours the date on which the Constitution of India came into effect i.e. on 26 January 1950.

ü Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro attended as chief guest.

ü A total of 16 states and Union Territories(UTs) and 6 central ministers participated in the Republic Day Parade at Rajpath in New Delhi. Jammu & Kashmir participated in the parade for the 1st time as a union territory.

ü 4th generation army officer Captain Tania Shergill who became the 1st woman officer as Parade Adjutant on Army Day Parade, led the corps of signals under the motto ‘Teevra Chaukas’ (swift and alert).

ü Dhanush gun system Army Air Defence marching contingent took part for 1st time.

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