Daily GK 17 Oct 2020

 

1.  ASIA’S LONGEST BI-DIRECTIONAL ROAD TUNNEL “ZOJILA TUNNEL” IN J&K

•    Nitin Jairam Gadkari of Ministry of Road Transport & Highways (MoRTH) & Ministry of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MoMSME) initiated the first blasting process for the construction of one of the longest bi-directional road in Asia i.e. 14.15 Km Zojila Tunnel in Jammu & Kashmir (J&K) to provide all-weather connectivity between Srinagar valley and Leh (Ladakh plateau) on National Highway (NH)-1.

•    This geo-strategically sensitive project involves the construction at an altitude of 11578 feet under Zojila pass (presently motorable only for 6 months in a year) on NH-1 connecting Srinagar and Leh through Dras&Kargil.

 

2. MYANMAR TO GET 1ST SUBMARINE “INS SINDHUVIR”

•    The Myanmar Navy is all set to receive its first submarine namely “Indian Naval Ship (INS) Sindhuvir”, a Kilo class submarine which will be handed over by India under its vision of SAGAR (Security and Growth for All in the Region) to provide guaranteed security for all maritime partners.

•    Myanmar Navy will initially use INS Sindhuvir for training and orientation purposes for its Navy personnel as it has a capacity of staying underwater for almost 45 days.

 

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DAILY GK 16 OCT 2020

 DAILY GK 16 OCT 2020

1. “THALASSEMIA BAL SEWAYOJNA”

•    Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare, Dr Harsh Vardhan virtually launched the Second Phase of “Thalassemia Bal Sewa Yojana” from Nirman Bhawan, New Delhi.

•    It will benefit underprivileged patients.

•    The beneficiaries are Underprivileged Thalassemia Patients who are eligible for Bone Marrow Transplantation but lack financial support.

 

2. INDIA PROVIDES USD 1 MILLION TO UNRWA

•    Government of India contributed USD 1 Million (Approximately INR 7.3 Crores) to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency in Near East (UNRWA) for Palestine refugees.

•    It will help in improving the lives of Palestine refugees suffering due to the pandemic.

 

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DAILY GK 15 OCT 2020

 DAILY GK 15 OCT 2020

 

1. RS.100 COIN TO HONOUR RAJMATA VIJAYARAJESCINDIA

•    PM Narendra Modi released the new coin of Rs.100 denominations to honour the legacy of Rajmata VijayarajeScindia on the occasion of her birth centenary over a virtual event. She was born on 12th October 1919.

•    Prahlad Singh Patel, Union Minister of Culture and the family members of Vijayaraje Scindia participated in the event.

•    She penned her autobiography “The last Maharani of Gwalior” with the support of author Manohar Malgonkar.

              

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Daily GK 14 Oct. 2020

 

1. NITI AAYOG ANNOUNCED GOVERNING STRUCTURE OF INDIA ENERGY MODELLING FORUM (IEMF)

·      NITI (National Institution for Transforming India) Aayog and United States Agency for International Development (USAID) jointly launched the India Energy Modelling Forum (IEMF) under the US–India Strategic Energy Partnership (SEP).

·      Now, for its constitution, on October 8, 2020 NITI Aayog announced its governing structure consisting of an inter-ministerial and a steering committee.

 

2. RS 73,000 CR STIMULUS TO BOOST CONSUMER SPENDING AMID COVID-19 SLOWDOWN

·      Union Minister for Finance & Corporate Affairs Nirmala Sitharaman announced measures of Rs 73,000 crore to stimulate consumer spending before the end of this Financial Year (FY21) to fight the COVID-19 lockdown induced slowdown, during a press conference in New Delhi.

·      The allocation was made under the two heads- Consumer Spending and Capital Expenditure.

·      Consumer Spending

·      Leave Travel Concession (LTC) Cash Voucher Scheme

·      Special Festival Advance Scheme (SFAS)

·      Capital Expenditure

·      Special Assistance to the states; interest-free 50-year loan to States of Rs. 12,000 crore Capital Expenditure (CAPEX)

·      Enhanced Budget Provisions of Rs. 25,000 crore

 

3. PRESIDENT RAM NATH KOVIND GIVES ASSENT TO DISTURBED AREAS (AMENDMENT) BILL IN GUJARAT

·      President Ram Nath Kovind has given Assent to the Gujarat Disturbed Area  (Amendment) Bill, 2019.

·      The Act will prohibit transfer of Assets (Immovable Property) in disturbed areas and protects tenants from vacating the properties.

·      The main aim of the act is to stop polarisation and to check attempts to cause “Demographic Imbalance”.

·      Gujarat Disturbed Area (Amendment) Bill, 2019 has amended “The Gujarat Prohibition of Transfer of Immovable Property and Provision for Protection of Tenants from Eviction from Premises in Disturbed Areas Act”, 1991 commonly referred to as Disturbed Areas Act.

 

4. FIVE EYES ALLIANCE DEMAND ACCESS TO END-TO-END ENCRYPTED CHATS FROM TECH COMPANIES

·      Members of the Five Eyes Intelligence Alliance (United States of America, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.)  Along with India, Japan has asked Big Tech Companies to find a solution for Law Enforcement Agencies to access end-to-end encrypted chats.

·      The Countries highlighted that encryption has become a tool for terrorists and child traffickers, and poses risk to thousands of innocent lives.

·      India, Japan are not members of the Intelligence Alliance.

 

5. HIGH-SPEED SATELLITE CONNECTIVITY TO 5,000 REMOTE GRAM PANCHAYATS

·      Hughes Communications India Private Limited (Hughes India), a subsidiary of Hughes Network Systems, LLC (HUGHES) has been selected by Bharat Broadband Nigam Limited (BBNL) and Telecommunications Consultants India Ltd.(TCIL)

·      To provide high-speed satellite connectivity to 5,000 remote gram panchayats 15 states and UTs(including border and Naxal-affected areas) of India including Ladakh, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram & Tripura among others by August 2021.

·      Hughes India will provide internet service to the gram panchayats using the capacity from ISRO’s communications satellites, GSAT-19 and GSAT-11.

 

6. INTERNATIONAL DAY FOR DISASTER RISK REDUCTION 2020 – OCTOBER 13

·      The first International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction was observed in 1989.

·      The theme of International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction 2020 is “it’s all about governance” which is associated with the Target E of Sendai Framework.

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Daily GK 13 Oct. 2020

 

1. PROPERTY CARDS UNDER THE SVAMITVA SCHEME

•    PM Narendra Modi launched a physical distribution of property cards, a legal document of owning their houses under the Survey of Villages and Mapping with Improvised Technology in Village Areas(SVAMITVA) scheme over a virtual platform.

•    This will support to make rural India self-sufficient.         

•    The property cards, the legal papers of the houses have been handed over to the more than 1 lakh beneficiaries from 763 villages across Haryana, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh.

 

2. NECHIPHU TUNNEL IN ARUNACHAL PRADESH

•    Rajnath Singh, Union Defence Minister virtually inaugurated 44 bridges, built by Border Roads Organisation (BRO) across 7 States/UTs(Union Territories) in border areas.

•    Most of these bridges are in strategically important areas and will help armed forces to ensure quick movement of troops and weapons.

•    He also laid the Foundation Stone for 450 meters long, ‘Nechiphu Tunnel’, a bi-lane tunnel, on the road to Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh.

 

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Daily GK 11, 12 Oct. 2020

 

1. INDIA’S 1ST ‘HAR GHAR JAL’ STATE

•    Goa has become the first ‘Har Ghar Jal’ state in the country under Centre Governments Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) by providing 100% tap water connections in Functional Household Tap Connections (FHTCs) covering 2.30 lakh households.

•    T he state has achieved the target before time i.e. by 2021.

•    There are 1 lakh 65 thousand rural households in North Goa and 98,000 rural households in South Goa in 191 Gram Panchayats.

 

2. WORLD’S 2ND SMOG TOWER AT CONNAUGHT PLACE

•    Delhi has become the first state in the country to have the ‘Tree Transplantation Policy’ for the preservation of trees which was approved by the state’s cabinet on October 9, 2020.

•    Under this, a minimum of 80% of trees affected by a development or construction project will be transplanted.

•    Apart from above, the state cabinet also gave its nod for the installation of the second smog tower in the world after China and 1st in Delhi worth Rs 20 crore at Connaught Place within ten months.

•    Both Approvals are a part of Delhi’s movement of “Yuddh, PradushanKeViruddh” against the air pollution levels.

 

3. HIGHLIGHTS OF BI- MONTHLY MPC 2020-21

•    The 6-member 25th Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting of RBI was headed by RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das.

•    Notably for this meeting, the MPC got three new members replacing earlier ones (Ravindra Dholakia, PamiDua and Chetan Ghate) as their four-year tenure ended in September 2020.

•    The new members are:Dr. Ashima Goyal, Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM) member, ShashankaBhide, Senior Advisor, National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER), Professor Jayanth Varma, Indian Institute of Management (IIM)-Ahmedabad (Gujarat).

 

4. WORLD MIGRATORY BIRD DAY 2020

•    World Migratory Bird Day (WMBD) is celebrated bi-annually on the second Saturday in May and in October.

•    WMBD 2020, in October falls on October 10.The UN(United Nations) led awareness-raising campaign highlights the need to conserve the migratory birds and their habitats, as they face threats.

•    The day also aims to spotlights their ecological importance and calls for their global conservation through international cooperation.

•    Theme of World Migratory Bird Day 2020- “Birds Connect Our World”.

 

 

 

 

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