DAILY GK 20 & 21 SEP 2020

DAILY GK 20 & 21 SEP 2020

1.  CENTRE AMENDED PUBLIC PROCUREMENT (PREFERENCE TO MAKE IN INDIA) ORDER 2017

·        In order to promote the “Make in India” initiative, the Central Government has amended the Public Procurement (Preference to Make in India) Order, 2017 .

·        This amendment will enable nodal Ministries/ Departments to notify higher minimum local content requirements for Class-I & Class-II local suppliers which was earlier fixed at 50% and 20% respectively.

·        This order is issued pursuant to Rule 153(iii) General Financial Rules 2017.

 

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DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS 19 SEPTEMBER 2020

 DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS 19 SEPTEMBER 2020

1.  KOSI RAIL MEGA BRIDGE AND 12 OTHER RAILWAY PROJECTS IN BIHAR

·        PM Narendra Modi inaugurated the historic Kosi Rail Mahasetu (mega bridge) and other projects including a new railway bridge on the Kiul River, two new railway lines, 5 Electrification projects, Bihar’s first Electric Locomotive Shed at Barauni and 3rd Line Project between Barh-Bakhtiyarpur in Bihar through video conference. 

 

2. INDIA’S FIRST TERMINAL AT DELHI AIRPORT

·        Hardeep Singh Puri, Ministry of Civil Aviation inaugurated India’s first General Aviation Terminal at Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport, Delhi to handle the flight operations and movement and processing of passengers flying through of private jets or chartered flights. 

·        This terminal can handle Code C type aircraft, which are 50-seater charter aircraft and the biggest in their category.

 

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DAILY GK 18 SEPT. 2020

 

DAILY GK 18 SEPT. 2020

1. INDIA JOINED DJIBOUTI CODE OF CONDUCT/ JEDDAH AMENDMENT

·        On the lines of the high level meeting of the Djibouti Code of Conduct/ Jeddah Amendment (DCOC/JA) held virtually on 26 August 2020, India has joined the DCOC/JA Amendment, as Observer in order to collaborate with DCOC/JA member states towards for enhancing maritime security in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR). 

·        With this, India joins Japan, Norway, the United Kingdom (UK) and the United States (US) as Observers to the DCOC/JA.

·        Adopted in January 2009, DCOC/JA is a grouping on maritime matters aiming to prevent piracy and armed robbery against ships in the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden, the East coast of Africa and Island countries in the IOR.

 

2. HUMAN CAPITAL INDEX 2020

·        The 2020 Human Capital Index (HCI) is a collaboration between the Human Development Practice Group and the Development Economics Group of the World Bank.

·        World Bank released the report titled “The Human Capital Index 2020 Update: Human Capital in the Time of COVID-19”on September 16, 2020.

·        India has been placed at the 116th position among 174 countries in the Human Capital Index 2020 with score increase to 0.49 from 0.44 in 2018 in comparison to 115 out of 157 countries.

 

3. YEAR SOVEREIGN SDG BOND WORTH $890M

·        Mexico became the first country in the world to inaugurate sustainable financing program for the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by issuing a seven-year Sovereign SDGs Bond worth USD 890 million under its new “SDG Sovereign Bond Framework” developed with investment bank Natixis, located in Paris, France.

·        This transaction allows Mexico to expand its investor base by accessing international funds working towards sustainable economic development.

 

4. 2020 ASIA GAME CHANGER AWARD FOR FEEDING MILLIONS

·        The Michelin Star Chef Vikas Khanna received the 2020 Asia Game Changer Award from Asia Society, a United States based non-profit organisation for feeding millions of people across India amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, by coordinating a food distribution drive from Manhattan.

·        He is the only Indian among the six awardees who were recognised by the Asia Society.

 

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DAILY GK 17 SEPTEMBER 2020

 

DAILY GK 17 SEPTEMBER 2020

1.    CABINET APPROVES ESTABLISHMENT OF NEW AIIMS AT DARBHANGA

·        Central Government has given its consent for the establishment of a new All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) under the Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana (PMSSY) at Darbhanga, Bihar with an outlay of Rs.1264 crore.

·        PM Narendra Modi has also given its approval to the Haryana Orbital Rail Corridor Project from Palwal to Sonipat via Sohna-Manesar-Kharkhauda, benefitting Haryana’s district of Palwal, Nuh, Gurugram, Jhajjar and Sonipat, at an estimated cost of Rs. 5,617 crore.

 

2.    GLOBAL AYURVEDA SUMMIT

·        4th edition of Global Ayurveda Summit was virtually inaugurated by Vice-President Muppavarapu Venkaiah Naidu on the theme “Emerging Opportunities for Ayurveda during Pandemic“.

·        It will culminate on October 14, 2020.  Due to COVID-19, it is being conducted as a web event for 30 days with virtual exhibition and conference on emerging opportunities for Ayurveda. 

·        It is being organized by the CII (Confederation of Indian Industry)-Kerala in partnership with Ministry of Ayush (Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy).

 

3.    MAGLEV TRAINS TO INDIA

·        Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) has signed a MoU with Swiss Rapide AG to Maglev Train (Magnetic Levitation) Projects in India.

·        The MoU will enable the Indigenous manufacturing of the State-of-the-art Maglev Trains.

 

4.    JAPAN’S NEW PRIME MINISTER

·        Yoshihide Suga was formally elected as Japan’s New Prime Minister.

·        He will succeed Shinzo Abe, who was Japan’s Longest serving Prime Minister and stepped down due to health problems. 

·        Yoshihide’s party Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) holds a majority in the Japan Parliament. 

 

5.    WORLD OZONE DAY 2020 – SEPTEMBER 16

·        The first International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer was observed on 16th September 1995.
The theme for the 2020 is “Ozone for life: 35 years of ozone layer protection”.

·        The 2020 International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer or World Ozone Day marks the celebration of 35 years of the Vienna Convention and 35 years of Global ozone layer protection.

 

6.    INDIA TO BE SELF-RELIANT IN FERTILIZERS PRODUCTION BY 2023

·        The Union Minister of Chemical and Fertilizers D.V. Sadananda Gowda announced that India will be self-reliant in fertilizer production by 2023 while addressing a webinar on Self-Reliant India and Sustainable Agriculture Organized by cooperative Indian Farmers Fertilizer Cooperative Limited (IFFCO) for farmers of Karnataka.

·        Currently, the fertilizer production of the country is 42-45 million tonnes, and imports are at around 18 million tonnes.

 

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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 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 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 8 SEP 2020

 

DAILY GK 8 SEP 2020

1. ANDHRA PRADESH RETAINS TOP SPOT IN EODB 2019

·          Nirmala Sitharaman has virtually announced the 4th edition of State Business Reform Action Plan (BRAP) Ranking for 2018-19 which was released by Department of Industrial Promotion and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Ministry of commerce and industry.

·          In accordance with that, Andhra Pradesh (AP) topped the Ease of Doing Business (EODB) ranking 2019, followed by Uttar Pradesh (UP) and Telangana at 2nd & 3rd place respectively.

·          Among Union Territories (UTs), Delhi bagged the top spot.

·          The state of UP improved to reach the 2nd spot from 12th spot in the 2018 ranking while Telangana slipped from 2nd to 3rd position.

·          It should be noted that EODB is a joint initiative by the DPIIT and the World Bank (WB) to improve the overall business environment in the States.

 

2. INDRA NAVY-20- MARITIME EXERCISE

·          The 11th Edition of bi-annual, bilateral Maritime Exercise INDRA NAVY – 20 between Indian Navy and Russian Navy was conducted successfully from September 4 to 5.

·          The Exercise was conducted in Bay of Bengal, close to the Strategic point of Strait of Malacca.

·          Due to the Pandemic, INDRA NAVY-20 was undertaken in a ‘non-contact, at sea only’ format.

 

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CURRENT AFFAIRS 5 SEPT 2020

 CURRENT AFFAIRS 5 SEPT 2020

1)    12TH MEKONG GANGA COOPERATION SENIOR OFFICIALS’

·       12th Mekong Ganga Cooperation (MGC) Senior Officials Meeting took place virtually, The key areas of cooperation tourism, culture, education, transport and communications were discussed and reviewed during the meeting.

·       The meeting was attended by Senior Officials from all 6 MGC Member States (India, Cambodia, Lao PDR (People’s Democratic Republic), Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam).

 

2)    RBI ANNOUNCED ADDITIONAL OMO OF RS 20,000 CR

·       RBI announced measures in order to ensure orderly market conditions and congenial financial conditions.

·       In this regard Reserve Bank will conduct additional special open market operations (OMO) involving the simultaneous purchase and sale of Government securities (G-secs) for Rs 20,000 crore in two tranches of  Rs 10,000 crore each on September 10, 2020 and September 17, 2020.

·       The apex bank also announced term repo operations of Rs 100,000 crore (1 trillion) to infuse liquidity into the market.

·       Reserve Bank also increased the held to maturity limit (HTM) or the amount that banks invest in G-secs from 19.5% to 22%. 

·       RBI reviewed the Priority Sector Lending (PSL) Guidelines to align it with emerging national priorities amid COVID-19 impact.

·       In this regard, new categories are included under priority sector for financing viz. start-ups (up to Rs 50 crore); loans to farmers for installation of solar power plants for solarisation of grid connected agriculture pumps and loans for setting up Compressed Bio Gas (CBG) plants.

 

3)    LIGO AND VIRGO DETECTED MAMMOTH COLLISION OF ‘IMPOSSIBLE’ BLACK HOLES FOR 1ST TIME

·       For the 1st time, The Collision of ‘Impossible’ Black Holes was detected and directly observed by the Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Laboratory (LIGO) Scientific Collaboration and the Virgo Collaboration also known as LVC (LIGO Scientific Collaboration and Virgo Collaboration), which includes scientists from the Australian National University (ANU). 

·       They Initially found 2 black holes of 66 and 85 solar masses, which generated a final black hole of 142 solar masses, till now it is the largest black hole ever observed through gravitational-wave observations.

 

4)    PUNJAB GOVERNMENT LAUNCHES ‘I RAKHWALI’ APP

·       Punjab State Minister for Department of Forest & WildLife & Preservation Sadhu Singh Dharmsot launched ‘I Rakhwali’ application.

·       The app was launched to safeguard the forest areas in the state by making common citizens as stakeholders in the process.

·       It will help citizens to become ‘Greenery Saviours’.

·       The main aim is to inspire people to plant more trees and this app will help people come forward and contribute towards environment protection.

 

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