DAILY GK: 6, 7 DEC 2020

 DAILY GK: 6, 7 DEC 2020

1.  ‘SMUGGLING IN INDIA REPORT 2019-20’

•      63rd Founding Day of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) was observed virtually which was attended by Union Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) and Ministry of Finance.

•      DRI is the apex anti-smuggling intelligence and investigation agency functioning under the aegis of the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC).

•      During  the occasion Nirmala Sitharaman unveiled “Smuggling in India Report 2019-20”which analysed organised smuggling trends on Gold & Foreign Currency, Narcotic Drugs, Security, Environment, Commercial Frauds.

 

2. ILO REPORT 2020-21

•      According to “Global Wage Report 2020-21: Wages and minimum wages in the time of COVID-19” released by International Labour Organization (ILO), Women and Lower-paid workers were impacted the most due to decrease in wages because of reduced working hours during the COVID-19 crisis.

•      Global Wage Growth changed between 1.6% and 2.2% during the four years (2016-19) before the pandemic.

 

3. 6TH BI- MONTHLY MONETARY POLICY

•      The 6-member Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting of RBI was headed by RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das.

•      The members of the committee are Dr. Shashanka Bhide, Dr. Ashima Goyal, Professor Jayanth R. Varma, Dr. Mridul K. Saggar, and Dr. Michael Debabrata Patra.

•      It was the 6th Bi- Monthly MPC meeting.

•      During the meeting it was projected that the real GDP (Gross Domestic Product) growth will contract at 7.5% in FY21.

•      It is an upgrade in comparison to -9.5% in October MPC review.

 

4. PEN HESSELL-TILTMAN PRIZE 2020

•      The book titled ‘The Patient Assassin: A True Tale of Massacre, Revenge and the Raj’ authored by Journalist Anita Anand, a British Indian wins £2,000 annual PEN Hessell-Tiltman Prize 2020.

•      Note- PEN stands for Poets, Playwrights, Editors, Essayists, Novelists

•      The book is based on the life of Indian revolutionary Udham Singh.

 

5. FORTUNE’S BUSINESSPERSON OF THE YEAR 2020

•      The Fortune ranked Shantanu Narayen, Chief Executive Officer(CEO) of Adobe in 8th position and Ajay Banga, CEO of Mastercard in 9th position in its list of Businessperson of the Year 2020.

•      The list is topped by Elon Musk, co-founder & CEO of Tesla.

•      He is also CEO of Space Exploration Technologies Corp.(SpaceX).

•      He tops the list for the second time.

•      Lisa Su, CEO of AMD has been ranked in 2nd spot followed by Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia in the 3rd spot.

 

6. NEW PRESIDENT OF FICCI

•      The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) elected Uday Shankar as its President for the year 2020-21.

•      He will succeed Sangita Reddy.

•      Mr. Shankar is the first person from the media and entertainment industry to lead a national industry chamber like FICCI.

 

7. INDIA’S 1ST PRIVATE REMOTE-SENSING SATELLITE

•      Pixxel, a satellite-imaging startup has signed a one-of-its-kind agreement with NewSpace India Limited (NSIL) to launch India’s 1st Private remote-sensing satellite on ISRO’s PSLV (Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle) rocket in early 2021.

•      Pixxel’s agreement with NSIL is one of the first since the setting up of IN-SPACe.

•      The satellite will provide global coverage every 24 hours once fully deployed and will help in solving issues of environmental and agricultural issues.

 

8. COREY ANDERSON RETIRES FROM INTERNATIONAL CRICKET

•      New Zealand all-rounder Corey Anderson announced retirement from International Cricket and signed a 3-year deal with USA’s Major League Cricket (MLC).

•      Corey Anderson once holded the record for fastest ODI century for his 36 ball hundred against West Indies in 2013.

 

9. FIFA CLUB WORLD CUP IN 2021

•      FIFA (Federation Internationale de Football Association) announced that Japan will host the existing Seven-Team format of FIFA Club World Cup in December, 2021.

•      It will be the 18th Edition of FIFA Club World Cup.

•      The year 2021 will witness 2 FIFA Club World Cup Tournaments – The 2020 Edition FIFA Club World Cup (17th Edition) will be held in Qatar from February 1-11,2021 and the 2021 Edition of FIFA Club World Cup will take place in Japan in December, 2021.

 

10. LAKSHADWEEP ADMINISTRATOR PASSES AWAY

•      Dineshwar Sharma, the administrator of the UT of Lakshadweep and the former chief of Intelligence Bureau(IB) passed away at the age of 66 in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, due to lung ailments.

•      He was a retired IPS officer of Kerala Cadre who was serving as the Administrator of Lakshadweep since October 2019.

 

11. WORLD SOIL DAY 2020 – DECEMBER 5

•      The FAO has launched a campaign “Keep soil alive, protect soil biodiversity” with an aim to raise awareness among the public about the importance of sustaining healthy ecosystems and human well-being.

 

12.  “INTERNATIONAL DAY OF BANKS” OBSERVED

•      The United Nations (UN)’s celebrates the first ever International Day of Banks across the globe on 4th December 2020.

•      The day is observed to recognise the important potential of multilateral development banks and other international development banks in financing sustainable development.

 

13. LIBRA ASSOCIATION RENAMED ITSELF AS DIEM

•      Libra Association, a Facebook-backed digital payment group has renamed itself as ‘Diem’.

•      It’s currency name has also been changed from Libra currency to Diem.

•      Diem will be backed by government currency.

•      Diem, which means “day” in Latin, now aims to initially launch a single dollar-backed digital coin.