DAILY GK 17 JULY 2020

DAILY GK 17 JULY 2020

1. INDIA-EU (VIRTUAL) SUMMIT HELD VIRTUALLY

·        15th summit between India and the European Union (EU) was held virtually where India was represented by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the EU was represented by Charles Michel, President of the European Council, and Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission.

·        India-EU endorsed “EU-India Strategic Partnership: A Roadmap to 2025” as a common roadmap to guide joint action and further strengthen the EU-India Strategic Partnership over the next five years.

·        There was signing of the Euratom-India Agreement between EURATOM and the Department of Atomic Energy of India on research and development cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy. 

·        The 27 nation EU is India’s largest trading partner for goods with trade exceeding 100 billion dollars, while India is the E.U.’s ninth biggest trading partner. 

·        There is an upcoming planned investment of €550 million in the Pune (Maharashtra) and Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh) Metro Rail Projects by European Investment Bank (EIB) in Luxembourg. 

2. GOVT TO INCREASE PUBLIC HEALTH EXPENDITURE TO 2.5% OF GDP BY 2025

·        In a meeting with the 15th Finance Commission the Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan highlighted that the government aims to gradually increase the public health expenditure to 2.5% of Gross Domestic Product(GDP) by 2025.

·        The government under the Aayushman Bharat programme proposes to establish 1.5 lakh health and wellness centres by 2022. Of this about 19,000 have been already established. 

·        Government has announced 4% health and education cess on personal income tax and corporation tax. Earlier it was 3%.

3. INDIA & BHUTAN OPENS NEW TRADE ROUTE

·        India and Bhutan opened a new trade route between Jaigaon in West Bengal and Ahlay, Pasakha in Bhutan to establish easy connectivity and to increase trade between India and Bhutan amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

·        The movement of industrial raw materials and goods from India to Pasakha Industrial Estate increases the traffic in the Jaigaon-Phuentsholing route.Bhutan’s largest trading partner is India and the bilateral trade stood at Rs.9227 crores in 2018.

4. 2020 INTERNATIONAL PRESS FREEDOM AWARDEES

·        The Committee to Protect Journalists(CPJ) has announced that 4 Journalists, Shahidul Alam from Bangladesh, Mohammad Mosaed from Iran, Dapo Olorunyomi from Nigeria and Svetlana Prokopyeva from Russia will be honoured with the 2020 International Press Freedom Awards for their courageous act.

·        In addition to them lawyer Amal Clooney will be honoured with the Gwen Ifill Press Freedom Award 2020.

5. SURINAME ELECTS ‘CHAN’ SANTOKHI AS PRESIDENT

·        Chandrikapersad “Chan” Santokhi (61), an Indian-origin former police chief has been elected as the president of Suriname, a country in South America. Santokhi leads the Progressive Reform Party of the country.

·        Santokhi will be sworn in as the President from 16, July 2020.

·        Suriname is a former Dutch colony consisting of the largest ethnic group of Indian descent people about 27.4% of the total population of 587,000.

6. “COROSURE” – WORLD’S MOST AFFORDABLE COVID-19 DIAGNOSTIC KIT

·        Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’, the Union Minister of Human Resource Development (MoHRD) E-launched the world’s most affordable Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) based COVID-19 diagnostic kit, “Corosure Kit”.

·        It is developed by the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi(IIT-D) approved by Indian Council of Medical Research(ICMR) and Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI).

·        The base price of the kit is Rs.399 and after including the RNA isolation and laboratory charges the price will be comparatively cheaper than the available kits.

7. WORLD’S 1ST FULLY AUTOMATIC ELECTRIC FERRIES

·        India’s largest commercial shipbuilder Cochin Shipyard Ltd (CSL) has signed a contract to build the world’s first fully automatic electric vessel for ASKO Maritime, Norway.

·        In this regard, CSL will construct and supply two autonomous electric ferries to ASKO Maritime, with an option to build two more identical vessels.

·        The project, partially funded by the Norwegian Government, aimed at emission-free transport of goods across the Oslofjord, inlet in Norway