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Top 20 Current Affairs of 16 December 2020
NATIONAL AFFAIRS
NITI Aayog released ‘Vision 2035: Public Health Surveillance in India’, a White Paper
ii.The white paper was co-developed by NITI Aayog and University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada. Both organizations inked a Letter of Agreement (LoA) for the same in 2020.
iii.It lays out India’s vision 2035 for public health surveillance through the integration of the three-tiered public health system into Ayushman Bharat.
About National Institution for Transforming India (NITI) Aayog:
Chairman–Prime Minister (Narendra Damodardas Modi)
Headquarter– New Delhi
<<Read Full News>>
9th Sustainable Mountain Development Summit 2020 organized by IMI held virtually in Dehradun
i.Theme for 2020 SMDS IX – ‘Emerging Pathways for Building a Resilient Post COVID-19 Mountain Economy, Adaptation, Innovation & Acceleration’.
ii.Trivendra Singh Rawat, Chief Minister of Uttarakhand was the Chief Guest of the event, and Conrad K. Sanga, Chief Minister of Meghalaya was the Guest of Honour of the event.
iii.SMDS is an Annual summit organised by IMI to discuss issues regarding Mountains and Hills.
iv.Ajay Rawat, Scholar and Environmental Activist was conferred Dr R.S. Tolia Memorial Award 2020 by IMI for his efforts in forest conservation in the Indian Himalayan Region (IHR).
About Integrated Mountain Initiative (IMI):
President – Prem Das Rai
Headquarters – New Delhi
<<Read Full News>>
FICCI’s Annual Convention & 93rd Annual General Meeting held Virtually; Inaugurated by PM Narendra Modi
ii.It was inaugurated by Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi on December 12, 2020 and his inaugural address highlighted the success of financial inclusion through the trinity of J-A-M (JanDhan, Aadhar and Mobile).
iii.On December 11, 2020 he inaugurated the year-long FICCI Annual Expo 2020 (FAE 2020), a one-of-its-kind virtual event in India focusing on manufacturing and services sectors.
iv.During his address at the AGM, Piyush Vedprakash Goyal stated that the Government has identified another 24 sectors on which work is going on by industry leaders to add nearly Rs 200 lakh crores worth of manufacturing in India in the next 10 years.He highlighted that Startups will become the backbone of India.
About Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI):
Establishment- 1927
Headquarter- New Delhi
<<Read Full News>>
INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS
1st TWG Meeting between India, Iran, Uzbekistan on Joint use of Chabahar Port in Iran held virtually
i.Uzbekistan & Iran supported India’s proposal of holding “Chabahar Day” on the sidelines of the International Maritime Summit, which will be hosted by India in January 2021.
ii.Chabahar Port is located in the Southeastern part of Iran on the Gulf of Oman and is being developed by India.
iii.It is essential for India as it provides a way for India to bypass Pakistan goods to Afghanistan and other countries via sea route.
About Iran:
President – Hassan Rouhani
Capital – Tehran
Currency – Iranian Rial
About Uzbekistan:
President – Shavkat Mirziyoyev
Capital – Tashkent
Currency – Uzbekistani soʻm
<<Read Full News>>
Prime Minister Narendra Modi Virtually addressed Climate Ambition Summit 2020
ii.It was co-hosted by the United Kingdom (UK), the United Nations (UN) and France, in partnership with Chile and Italy.
iii.The date also marked the 5th anniversary of the Paris Agreement.
iv.This summit also regarded as a “sprint to Glasgow” as the 26th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 26) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is scheduled to take place from 1–12 November 2021 in Glasgow, Scotland,UK.
v.From India, Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi addressed the summit.
About United Nations (UN):
Secretary General– Antonio Manuel de Oliveira Guterres
Headquarters– New York, United States (US)
About United Kingdom (UK):
Capital– London
Currency– Pound sterling
Prime Minister– Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson
<<Read Full News>>
Global electricity demand in 2020 expected to fall by 2% due to Pandemic – Electricity Market Report 2020
i.The report has also stated that the global electricity demand will grow by 3 % in 2021 and it will be driven by China and India.
ii.The report compares 2020 trends and 2021 forecasts of electricity demand, supply, capacity and emissions at Global and country level.
iii.China is the only major economy to see higher electricity demand in 2020, India saw 2% decline in Electricity demand in 2020.
About International Energy Agency (IAE):
Executive Director – Fatih Birol
Headquarters – Paris, France
<<Read Full News>>
BANKING & FINANCE
Edelweiss General Insurance launches a first of its Kind, Open API Gateway
On December 14, 2020 Edelweiss General Insurance Company Limited launched a first of its kind, Open Application Programming Interface(API) Gateway to enable full digital collaboration with its business partners. The authorised partners of Edelweiss General Insurance , with this gateway can integrate their systems with the technology platform of the company.
Other Aims of Open API Gateway
- To facilitate API consumption in a self-assisted manner.
- To reduce the integration cost and recover the information like product premium, policy details etc., in real-time.
About Open API Gateway:
i.It enables the distributors of Edelweiss General Insurance to integrate the available and new products and services in a speed manner.
- More choices are created for the consumers by the integration.
- The integration also provides a better experience regarding the policy purchase, post issuance needs such as policy information updates, and claims.
ii.It allows the partners to access the documents of open APIs, leverage code samples, easily conduct testing in staging and on the environment.
iii.It helps to further strengthen the linkages of Edelweiss General Insurance with customers and partners.
About Edelweiss General Insurance:
It is India’s first cloud-native insurer.
Executive Director(ED) & CEO – Shanai Ghosh
Headquarters– Mumbai, Maharashtra
Canara Bank Launches ‘FX 4 U’, a Tech product for Forex Remittance through Internet Banking
ii.This product helps the users of its Internet Banking(IB) to handle forex transactions.
iii.Currently, the outward remittance module is being activated, the remaining modules will be activated shortly.
About Canara Bank:
Syndicate Bank was amalgamated into Canara Bank on April 2020
Founded– July 1906 by Shri Ammembal Subba Rao Pai.
Tagline– Together We Can
Managing Director(MD) & Chief Executive Officer(CEO)– L V Prabhakar
Headquarters– Bangalore, Karnataka
<<Read Full News>>
Ewire Softtech in Partnership with YES Bank Launched ‘EWIRE – YES BANK Prepaid Card’
ii.The co-branded prepaid card was launched on a PAN-India basis through its RuPay prepaid cards platform and Ewire app along with providing Loans, Insurance and Current Account Savings Account(CASA) account through its channel partners.
About Ewire Softtech Pvt Ltd:
Commenced operations– 2018
Co-Founder and MD– Udayabhanu Damodaran
Headquarters– Kochi, Kerala
About YES Bank:
Headquarters– Mumbai, Maharashtra
Tagline– Experience our expertise
Managing Director (MD) & Chief Executive Officer (CEO)– Prashant Kumar
Incepted– 2004
<<Read Full News>>
ECONOMY & BUSINESS
CRISIL Revised India’s GDP for FY21 to -7.7% against -9% Predicted in September 2020
ii.The key reason behind this upward revision is faster-than-expected recovery in the Q2FY21 (July-September 2020)
iii.For FY22, CRISIL projected a GDP growth of 10% due to weak base and global ‘rising tide’ effect.
iv.There will be permanent loss of 12% in real GDP terms due to COVID-19 pandemic.
About CRISIL:
Managing Director (MD) & Chief Executive Officer(CEO)– Ashu Suyash
Headquarter– Mumbai, Maharashtra
Parent Company– Standard & Poor’s (S&P)
<<Read Full News>>
S&P Revises India’s Real GDP Forecast for FY21 to -7.7% from -9%
On December 15, 2020 Standard & Poors(S&P) Global Ratings has revised India’s real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) FY21 rate upwards to -7.7%(contract by 7%) from -9% projected earlier on rising demand and falling COVID infection rates.
Rebound in FY22– The growth of India will rebound to 10% in FY22
Note
The revision of S&P reflects a fast recovery than expected in the quarter through September.
Key Info:
i.In FY21 India’s GDP contracted by 7.5% (-7.5%)in the July-September quarter and in April-June quarter contracted by 23.9%(-23.9%).
ii.In October 2020, the manufacturing output was about 3.5%, compared to the year-ago period. The output of consumer durables increased by about 18%.
Recent India’s GDP Revisions made by Other Ratings
i.Fitch upgraded India’s GDP forecast to – 9.4% in FY21 from a previously projected contraction of 10.5%(-10.5%).
ii.ADB Revised India’s GDP Forecast for FY21 to -8% from -9%
iii.The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) revised India’s GDP rate upwards to -9.9% from -10.2%.
About Standard & Poors(S&P) Global Ratings:
President– John Berisford
Headquarters– New York, United States
AWARDS & RECOGNITIONS
UNEP announces 6 Recipients for 2020 Champions of the Earth Award
They are given to recognize the contributions of outstanding environmental leaders from public & private sectors and also from civil society.
Awards:
Recipient | Category | Contribution |
---|---|---|
Frank Bainimarama,
Prime Minister of Fiji |
Policy Leadership | for global climate action work, and commitment to climate-responsive national development |
Dr Fabian Leendertz, (Germany) |
Science & Innovation | Discovery in Zoonotics & work in One Health |
Mindy Lubber (United States of India) | Entrepreneurial Vision | for commitment to convert capital markets green by mobilizing top investors and companies |
Nemonte Nenquimo (Ecuador) | Inspiration & Action | Leadership and unifying work with indigenous communities to halt drilling in Ecuador’s Amazon rainforest |
Yacouba Sawadogo (Burkina Faso) |
Inspiration & Action | for teaching traditional nature-based solution to farmers for regeneration of soil to turn barren land into arable land in Africa |
Professor Robert D. Bullard (United States of America) | Earth Lifetime Achievement Award | For commitment and service to environmental justice |
About United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP):
Executive Director– Inger Andersen
Headquarter– Nairobi, Kenya
<<Read Full News>>
APPOINTMENTS & RESIGNATIONS
RBI Approves Re-appointment of Uday Kotak as MD & CEO of Kotak Mahindra Bank
Other Approval
RBI also granted approval for reappointing Prakash Apte as Part –time Chairman and Dipak Gupta as joint MD for 3 years period with effect from January 1, 2021.
Note
The board and the shareholders of the bank had approved these reappointments, subject to RBI’s approval at their respective meetings.
About Uday Kotak:
Career in KMB
i.Uday Kotak is the founder and promoter of KMB
ii.He had served for the past 17 years as the head of KMB
Other Post Held
i.He is currently serving as the president of Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) for 2020-21.
ii.He is a member of many boards and committees including International Advisory Board of GIC Private Limited and Board of Governors of Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER) among others.
iii.Among others, he served as the chairman of the panel of Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) on corporate governance.
Points to be Noted
Kotak Mahindra Bank becomes the 1st bank in India to introduce a video-Know your customer (KYC) facility for its customers opening savings accounts (SA).
About Kotak Mahindra Bank(KMB):
In 2003, Kotak Mahindra Finance Ltd.-KMFL(launched in 1985) was converted into a commercial bank, i.e., as KMB. KMFL is India’s 1st Non-Banking Finance Company(NBFC) to be converted into a commercial bank.
Headquarters– Mumbai, Maharashtra
Tagline– Let’s make money simple
MD & CEO- Uday Kotak
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
INS Himgiri, 2nd Project 17A Stealth Frigate, Launched at GRSE Yard in Kolkata
ii.The chief guest of the launch ceremony was General Bipin Rawat, Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) while the INS was launched by spouse of CDS, Smt Madhulika Rawat as a part of the naval traditions.
iii.It should be noted that it is the 1st ship built by GRSE as a part of Rs 19,294 crore contract for construction of the three stealth frigates by August 2023 under Project 17A. Also, the P17A ships are the first gas turbine propulsion and largest combat platforms ever built at GRSE.
About Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers (GRSE):
Establishment– 1934
Chairman and Managing Director (CMD)- Rear Admiral V K Saxena
Headquarter– Kolkata, West Bengal
<<Read Full News>>
Russia Test Launches ‘Angara A5’ Heavy Lift Space Rocket from Plesetsk Cosmodrome
i.Angara A5 will replace Proton M Rocket to carry Russia’s heaviest payloads into orbit.
ii.The Angara Rocket series is developed & manufactured by Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Centre.
Key Points:
i.Roscosmos State Corporation for Space Activities (Roscosmos) stated that Angara rockets are fuelled by oxygen & Kerosene rather than heptyl which makes it more environment friendly.
ii.Angara A5 is capable of placing up to 24.5 metric tons into a 120-mile (200- kilometres)-high orbit.
iii.“Angara” is named after a siberian river flowing out of Lake Baikal.
About Roscosmos State Corporation for Space Activities (Roscosmos):
Director General – Dmitry Olegovich Rogozin
Headquarters – Moscow, Russia
<<Read Full News>>
Indian Coast Guard’s OPV ‘Sujeet’ commissioned in Goa;Manufactured by GSL
The 1st ship in series – ICGS Sachet was commissioned by Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh in May, 2020.
i.The ship is 105 metres long and weighs 2400 tonnes.
ii.Equipped with features like Integrated Bridge System, Integrated platform management system, power management system and high power external fire-fighting.
iii.The ship will be based at Goa and will be deployed extensively for EEZ (Exclusive Economic Zone) surveillance and other duties.
iv.The 1st ship in series – ICGS Sachet was commissioned by Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh in May, 2020.
About Indian Coast Guard (ICG):
Director General of ICG (DG ICG) – Krishnaswamy Natarajan
Headquarters – New Delhi
<<Read Full News>>
SpaceX’s 1st Super Heavy-lift Starship exploded during Return- landing attempt
SpaceX’s first super heavy-lift Starship Prototype “SN8 rocket” explodes during a return-landing attempt after it was launched from the company’s rocket facility in Boca Chica, Texas. Elon Musk’s private space company plans to carry humans and 100 tons of cargo on future missions to the moon and Mars through SN8 rockets. Propelled by three of SpaceX’s newly developed Raptor engines the flight reached an altitude of 41,000 feet, But the self-guided rocket blew up as it touched down on a landing pad.
SPORTS
Ankita Raina ITF doubles title in the 23rd Al Habtoor Tennis Challenge held in Dubai
Indian tennis player Ankita Raina and Georgia’s Ekaterine Gorgodze clinched the ITF (International Tennis Federation) Doubles title at the 23rd Al Habtoor Challenge 2020 held in Dubai by defeating Aliona Bolsova Zadoinov (Spain) and Kaja Juvan (Slovakia). This is Ankita Raina’s 3rd Doubles Title of the 2020 season. The al Habtoor Challenge is a hard court event. Ankita Ravinderkrishan Raina hails from Ahmedabad, Gujarat. She is the current Indian No.1 in both women’s singles (WTA Ranking – 180) and Doubles (WTA Ranking – 117).
OBITUARY
Padma Awardee & Eminent Aerospace Scientist Roddam Narasimha Passed Away at 87
About Roddam Narsimha:
i.He served as the Director of Council of Scientific & Industrial Research.
-National Aerospace Laboratories(CSIR-NAL) from 1984 to 1993.
ii.He authored the book “Developments In Fluid Mechanics and Space Technology” along with former President Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam.
Awards:
i.He received the Padma Bhushan in 1987 and Padma Vibhushan in 2013 for science and Engineering.
ii.He also received the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize in 1974 for his contribution in the field of Fluid mechanics.
iii.He received the 2008 Trieste Science Prize for his work in fluid dynamics which increased the understanding of turbulence.
Sahitya Akademi Award winning Malayalam Writer UA Khader passes away at 85
On 12th December, 2020 famous Malayalam writer UA Khader, with 5 decades of dedicated contribution to the Malayalam Literature passed away at the age of 85 due to prolonged respiratory ailments. Khader received the prestigious Kendra Sahitya Akademi Award in 2009 for his most acclaimed work ‘Thrikkottur Peruma’ and Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award in 1983.He was Born in 1935 at Bilin, Myanmar.
Awards:
i.Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award in 1983 for “Thrikkottur Peruma”
ii.S. K. Pottekkattu Award in 1993 for “Katha Pole Jeevitham”
iii.Abudabi Shakti Award in 1993 for “Oru Piti Vattu”
iv.C. H. Mohammed Koya Award in 1999 for “Kalimuttam”
v.Kendra Sahitya Akademi Award in 2009 for “Thrikkottur Peruma”
vi.Mathrubhumi Literary Award in 2019 for Contributions to Malayalam literature.
BOOKS & AUTHORS
Om Birla Released a book ‘The Shaurya Unbound-Tales of Valour of the Central Reserve Police Force’
The book is co-authored by Ms Nitu, Deputy Inspector General (DIG), Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and M. Dhinakaran, DIG CRPF along with their team consisting of Mr Amit, Assistant Commandant CRPF and Inspector Deepak Saxena.
Note
Om Birla also released the hindi version of the book.
Essence of the Book
i.The book is a collection of 13 most exemplary acts of courage of CRPF who were the recipients of Ashok Chakra-the Highest Peacetime Gallantry Award, Vir Chakra, and Shaurya Chakras.
ii.The book includes stories of Constable Kamlesh Kumari Ashok Chakra (Posthumously) and four Shaurya Chakra recipients-Head Constable Yam Bahadur Thapa, Constable D Santosh Kumar, Constable Sukhwinder Singh, Constable Shyambir Singh.
iii.The book also responds to the attack on Indian Parliament in 2001.
About 2001 Indian Parliament attack:
i.On December 13, 2001, 5 terrorists of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) attacked Indian parliament.
ii.In this attack 9 people including 6 Delhi Police personnel were killed
iii.All the terrorists were killed outside the parliament.
IMPORTANT DAYS
International Tea Day 2020
International tea day was annually celebrated by the tea growing countries like Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Vietnam, Indonesia, Kenya, Malawi, Malaysia, Uganda, India and Tanzania on 15th December since 2005 to highlight the benefits and importance of tea in everyday life.
UN International Tea Day on 21st May:
The United Nations General assembly(UNGA) adopted the resolution A/RES/74/241 on 19th December 2019 and proclaimed the 21st May of every year as the International Tea Day.
The first UN’s International Tea Day was observed on 21st May 2020.
Aim:
- To promote and support the actions to implement activities that support the sustainable production and consumption of tea.
- To create awareness about the importance of tea in the fight against hunger and poverty.
Why May 21?
The United Nations choose the 21st May as International tea day since its marks the beginning of tea production season in most of the tea producing countries.
Background:
i.The idea of the International tea day was decided at the 2004 World Social Forum and the first international tea was observed in New Delhi on 15th December 2005.
ii.Sri Lanka joined the annual event and joined the celebration of International Tea Day in 2006.
iii.In 2015, The Government of India proposed to the United Nations(UN) Food and Agriculture Organization(FAO) to expand the international tea day across the globe.
iv.Following which the United Nations integrated the tea day of several countries into the International Tea Day in 2019.
STATE NEWS
IBM Collaborates with TASK to offer online Skill Development Programs for Students in Telangana
i.Aimed to empower students with emerging technological courses thus enhancing professional skillset for their future career.
ii.Courses Offered- Cyber Security, Blockchain, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning, Cloud computing, Internet of Things, Design Thinking.
iii. Age Group- Focused on Students between 18 and 22 years.
About IBM:
International Business Machines (IBM) Corporation is an American Multinational technology company founded in 1911 by Charles Ranlett Flint.
IBM India founded in 1992 is headquartered at Bengaluru
IBM India’s MD- Sandip Patel
About Telangana:
Capital-Hyderabad. Hyderabad city is also known as Biryani Capital of India, City of Pearls.
Chief Minister -K. Chandrashekar Rao
<<Read Full News>>
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Current Affairs Today (AffairsCloud Today)
S.no | Current Affairs 16 December 2020 |
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1 | NITI Aayog released ‘Vision 2035: Public Health Surveillance in India’, a White Paper |
2 | 9th Sustainable Mountain Development Summit 2020 organized by IMI held virtually in Dehradun |
3 | FICCI’s Annual Convention & 93rd Annual General Meeting held Virtually; Inaugurated by PM Narendra Modi |
4 | 1st TWG Meeting between India, Iran, Uzbekistan on Joint use of Chabahar Port in Iran held virtually |
5 | Prime Minister Narendra Modi Virtually addressed Climate Ambition Summit 2020 |
6 | Global electricity demand in 2020 expected to fall by 2% due to Pandemic – Electricity Market Report 2020 |
7 | Edelweiss General Insurance launches a first of its Kind, Open API Gateway |
8 | Canara Bank Launches ‘FX 4 U’, a Tech product for Forex Remittance through Internet Banking |
9 | Ewire Softtech in Partnership with YES Bank Launched ‘EWIRE – YES BANK Prepaid Card’ |
10 | CRISIL Revised up India’s Contraction at -7.7% in FY21 against -9% in September 2020 |
11 | S&P Revises India’s Real GDP Forecast for FY21 to -7.7% from -9% |
12 | UNEP announces 6 Recipients for 2020 Champions of the Earth Award |
13 | RBI Approves Re-appointment of Uday Kotak as MD & CEO of Kotak Mahindra Bank |
14 | INS Himgiri, 2nd Project 17A Stealth Frigate, Launched at GRSE Yard in Kolkata |
15 | Russia Test Launches ‘Angara A5’ Heavy Lift Space Rocket from Plesetsk Cosmodrome |
16 | Indian Coast Guard’s OPV ‘Sujeet’ commissioned in Goa;Manufactured by GSL |
17 | SpaceX’s 1st Super Heavy-lift Starship exploded during Return- landing attempt |
18 | Ankita Raina ITF doubles title in the 23rd Al Habtoor Tennis Challenge held in Dubai |
19 | Padma Awardee & Eminent Aerospace Scientist Roddam Narsimha Passed Away at 87 |
20 | Sahitya Akademi Award winning Malayalam Writer UA Khader passes away at 85 |
21 | Om Birla Released a book ‘The Shaurya Unbound-Tales of Valour of the Central Reserve Police Force’ |
22 | International Tea Day 2020 |
23 | IBM Collaborates with TASK to offer online Skill Development Programs for Students in Telangana |