DAILY GK 16 SEPT. 2020

 

DAILY GK 16 SEPT. 2020

1. UN’S COMMISSION ON STATUS OF WOMEN

·        India & Afghanistan were elected as Members of the United Nations (UN) Commission on Status of Women, a body of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).

·        The Commission on the Status of Women is a UN organ promoting gender equality and the empowerment of women.

·        India (38 votes) and Afghanistan (39) won the ballot among the 54 members, India’s Permanent Representative to the UN, T S Tirumurti announced the election of India to the Committee. 

 

2. EUROMONEY’S LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD 2020

·        Euromoney, the global finance and banking magazine’s Awards for Excellence 2020 honoured Aditya Puri, Managing Director(MD) of HDFC Bank with a Lifetime Achievement Award 2020.

·        This is a first of its kind recognition for a corporate leader from India.

·        The award is conferred upon him to recognise his skills in building a world class Indian bank and his contribution in creating a trustworthy brand.

 

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DAILY GK 15 SEPT. 2020

 

DAILY GK 15 SEPT. 2020

1. TARGETS TO COVER 100 LAKH HA UNDER MICRO IRRIGATION

·        Narendra Singh Tomar, Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare announced that the Ministry has set target to cover 100 lakh Hectares(Ha) under micro irrigation in 5 years while addressing the webinar on Enhancing Water Use Efficiency and Coverage of Micro Irrigation in Indian Agriculture organised by the Department of Agriculture, Cooperation & Farmers Welfare (DAC&FW).

·        DAC&FW is implementing the Per Drop More Crop component of Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayi Yojana (PMKSY-PDMC) since 2015-16 to increase the efficiency of water usage in the agri sector and increase the farmer’s income.

·        The ministry with National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development(NABARD) created a dedicated Micro Irrigation Fund(MIF) of Rs.5000 crores to support the states to mobilize their resources to expand the micro irrigation coverage.

 

2. 900 CRORE WORTH PETROLEUM PROJECT IN BIHAR 

·        Prime Minister Narendra Modi Inaugurated 3 key projects of the petroleum sector worth more than Rs 900 crore in Bihar through video conference and dedicated it to the Nation.

·        The projects include the Durgapur-Banka section(about 200 km) of the Paradip-Haldia-Durgapur Pipeline Augmentation Project and 2 LPG(Liquefied Petroleum Gas) Bottling Plants. 

 

3. SCO FOREIGN MINISTERS IN MOSCOW

·        A days after Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh visited Moscow, Russia to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Defence Ministers Meeting, Click Here to Read, now Union Minister Dr. Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) had a four-days visit to Russia from September 8-11, 22 to attend the SCO-CFM (Council of Foreign Ministers) Meeting in Moscow.

·        Dr. S Jaishankar participated in the SCO-CFM meeting, held on September 9-10, 2020, which was hosted by Russia under the chairmanship of Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Viktorovich Lavrov.

 

4. ICICI LOMBARD INKS BANCASSURANCE TIE UP WITH YES BANK

·        ICICI (Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation of India) Lombard Insurance Company Ltd has entered into a Bancassurance tie-up with Yes Bank  to sell its insurance products.

·        Through this agreement, ICICI Lombard aims to offer innovative insurance solutions to Yes Bank’s Customers  across 28 States and 8 Union Territories.

·        Bancassurance is an arrangement between a Bank and an Insurance Company allowing the Insurance Company to sell its products to the Bank’s Client Base. 

5. COMMITTEE TO STUDY ANCIENT INDIAN CULTURE

·        Prahlad Singh Mulayam Singh Patel(in short- Prahlad Singh Patel) Minister of State (I/C- Independent Charge) of Culture and Tourism has informed that Government has formed a 16 member expert committee to conduct a study on the origin and evolution of Indian culture dating back to about 12,000 years ago and its interface with other cultures of the world.

 

6. SWAMI AGNIVESH, ARYA SAMAJ LEADER PASSED AWAY AT 80

·        Swami Agnivesh(Original Name- Vepa Shyam Rao), renowned social activist, scholar, former MLA(Member of the Legislative Assembly) and Cabinet Minister for Education of Haryana passed away at the age of 80 due to cardiac arrest at the Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences (ILBS) in New Delhi, India.

·        He served as the president (2004–2014) of the World Council of Arya Samaj, which is the highest international body of the Arya Samaj.

·        He was born on 21st September,  1939 in Srikakulam, Andhra Pradesh.

 

7. HINDI DIWAS 2020 – SEPTEMBER 14

·        Hindi Diwas is celebrated annually on 14th of September across India to promote Hindi and to create awareness about the language.

·        This day is celebrated to mark the anniversary of the adoption of Hindi (the Devanagari Script) as one of the official languages of the Republic of India.

·        It is one of the 22 scheduled languages of India.

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DAILY GK 13- 14 SEPT. 2020

 

DAILY GK 13- 14 SEPT. 2020

1. MOHUA LAUNCHED CLIMATE SMART CITIES ASSESSMENT FRAMEWORK 2.0

·     Hardeep Singh Puri for Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) launched the Climate Smart Cities Assessment Framework (CSCAF) 2.0, along with the “Streets for People Challenge” in a virtual event organised by the Smart Cities Mission from New Delhi.

·     The objective of CSCAF is to provide a roadmap for cities for combating Climate Change while planning and implementing their actions.

·     In order to make cities more pedestrian friendly, MoHUA has initiated Streets for People Challenge to develop a unified vision of streets, in consultation with stakeholders and citizens, through quick, innovative, and low-cost measures.

·     This challenge is open to all cities under the Smart Cities Mission, capital cities of States/UT’s and cities with a population of over 5 lakh.

 

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DAILY GK 12 SEPT. 2020

 

DAILY GK 12 SEPT. 2020

1. INDIA POST LAUNCHES FIVE STAR VILLAGES SCHEME

·          Postman and Postal Department are a vital part of the ordinary citizen’s life.

·          India post is doing exceptional work in the implementation of Government schemes .

·          Now, in order to ensure universal coverage of flagship postal schemes in rural areas, Union Minister of State for Communications, Sanjay Shamrao Dhotre has launched a scheme namely “Five Star Villages” along with Department of Post.

 

2. NEW FDI POLICY IN DEFENCE SECTOR

·          Union Cabinet led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved the new Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) policy in Defence Sector, thereby allowing FDI through automatic approval to be increased from 49% to 74%.

·          The new policy has a ‘National Security’ clause as a condition, wherein any Foreign Investment in Defence Sector shall be subject to scrutiny on grounds of National Security.

·          The FDI policy will also attract foreign manufacturers to set up manufacturing units in India.

 

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DAILY GK 11 SEPT. 2020

 DAILY GK 11 SEPT. 2020

1.         AATMANIRBHAR BHARAT ARISE-ANIC INITIATIVE 

·             Atal Innovation Mission (AIM), NITI Aayog launched Aatmanirbhar Bharat ANIC-ARISE Challenges (Atal New India Challenges in Applied Research and Innovation for medium and Small Enterprises) to stimulate applied research and innovation in Indian Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) and startups. 

·             The ARISE–ANIC programme will support applied research–based innovations by providing funding support of up to Rs 50 lakh for speedy development of the proposed technology solution or the product.

 

2.         MHA APPROVED TO RENAME HUBBALI RAILWAY STATION

·             The Ministry of Home Affairs approved the long pending demand to rename the Hubbali Railway Station as Shree Siddharoodha Swamiji Railway Station, Hubbali in Karnataka after Sri Siddharoodha Swami.

·             The government of Karnataka has to formally issue a Gazette notification for the proposed name change with the spelling of the new name in Devnagri (Hindi), Roman (English) and Regional language.

 

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DAILY GK 9 SEP 2020

 

DAILY GK 9 SEP 2020

1. KERALA TOPS LITERACY RATE CHART

·        In accordance with the report on “Household Social Consumption: Education in India as part of 75th round of National Sample Survey (NSS) – from July 2017 to June 2018″ conducted by National Statistical Office (NSO), Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI), Kerala again emerged as the most literate state in the country with 96.2% literacy followed by Delhi (88.7%), Uttarakhand ( 87.6%), Himachal Pradesh (86.6%) and Assam (85.9%).

·          On the other hand, Andhra Pradesh (AP) is the worst performer at 66.4% followed by Rajasthan at 69.7%, Bihar (70.9%), Telangana (72.8%), Uttar Pradesh (73%) and Madhya Pradesh (73.7%).

·          The survey provided state-wise detail of literacy rate among the persons aged seven years and above. 

·          The overall literacy rate in India is pegged at 77.7% where rural areas have 73.5% literacy rate and urban areas has 87.7%.

 

2. NITI AAYOG CONSTITUTES MPICC

·        As the nodal agency for Multidimensional Poverty Index Coordination Committee (MPICC), NITI Aayog constituted a Multidimensional Poverty Index Coordination Committee (MPICC) which will be chaired by Ms Sanyukta Samaddar, Adviser (Sustainable Development Goals).

·        These Ministries have been mapped to the ten parameters of the Global Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI).

·        Experts from Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI) and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) are onboard for technical expertise. 

·        According to Global MPI, India is 62nd among 107 countries with an MPI score of 0.123 and 27.91% headcount ratio based on National Family Health Survey (NFHS) 4 (2015/16) data.

 

3. PATRIKA GATE IN JAIPUR 

·        PM Narendra Modi inaugurated the Patrika Gate in Jaipur, Rajasthan over a virtual platform.

·        The Patrika Gate was built by the Patrika group of Newspapers on the Jawaharlal Nehru Marg in Jaipur.

·        He also launched 2 books Samvad Upanishad and Akshar Yatra, authored by Gulab Kothari, Editor in Chief of Rajasthan Patrika Group and Chairman of Patrika Group of Newspaper.

 

4. RBI ACCEPTED KAMATH PANEL RECOMMENDATIONS

·        RBI specified five financial ratios and sector-specific thresholds for resolution of COVID-19-related stressed assets in 26 sectors on the basis of the recommendations of an expert committee under the chairmanship Kundapur Vaman Kamath, which was formulated by RBI in August 2020 to set a parameters and benchmarks for stressed assets that need rescuing.

·          These five ratios are: Total outside liabilities/adjusted tangible net worth (TOL/ATNW), total debt/EBITDA, current ratio, debt service coverage ratio (DSCR), average debt service coverage ratio (ADSCR).

·          In respect of other sectors where certain ratios have not been specified, the lenders shall make their own assessment keeping in view the “Resolution Framework for COVID-19-related Stress”.

 

5. GOVIND SWARUP PASSED AWAY AT 91

·        Govind Swarup, Father of India’s Radio Astronomy passed away at the age of 91 due to age related complications in Ruby Hall Clinic, Pune Maharashtra. 

·        He was the founding director of National Centre for Radio Astrophysics of Tata Institute of Fundamental Research.

·        He is the recipient of Padma Shri (1973).

·        He was born on March 23rd, 1929 in Thakurdwara, United Provinces, British India (Now in Uttar Pradesh).

·          He is well known for his many important research contributions in several areas of astronomy and astrophysics.

 

6. INTERNATIONAL LITERACY DAY 2020 – SEPTEMBER 8

·        United Nations(UN)’s International Literacy Day is annually celebrated on 8th September to promote the importance of literacy as a matter of dignity and human rights among the general public and to work towards a more literate and sustainable society.

·        The theme of International Literacy Day 2020 is “Literacy teaching and learning in the COVID-19 crisis and beyond” which particularly focuses on the role of educators and the method of teaching.

 

7. 1ST EVER CANNABIS MEDICINE PROJECT

·        Jitendra Singh informed that 1st ever cannabis medicine project will be shortly set up with the collaboration of Canada at Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR)-Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine (IIIM) in Jammu.

·        The progress of the construction of North India’s 1st biotech industrial park in Kathua, Jammu & Kashmir was also reviewed by Jitendra Singh

Note– Through the CSIR, Union Ministry of Science and Technology few other projects are also being set up in Jammu.

 

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