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NATIONAL AFFAIRS
India & Norway signed 4 MoUs in field of research, higher education
On February 4,2020 India and Norway signed 4 MoUs (A Memorandum of Understandings) in the field of research and higher education to strengthen their bilateral partnership.
The agreements were led by Anni Line Wold, Norway Director-General,Norwegian Ministry of Education & Research and witnessed by Hans Jacob Frydenlund Norwegian Ambassador to India at New Delhi, India.
About 4 MoUs:
i.MoU 1: The MoU was signed between the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi and UiT (The University of Tromso), The Arctic University of Norway, for cooperation in fields such as bio-photonics, health & diagnostic tools, nanotechnology, water management and renewable energy.
ii.MoU 2: The MoU was signed between the Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology and UiT (The University of Tromso), The Arctic University of Norway, to promote & exchange of students, staff towards project initiatives in national and EU arena.
iii.MoU 3: The agreement was signed between IIT(Indian Institute of Technology) Jammu and Norwegian University of Science & Technology.
iv.MoU 4: The agreement was signed between IIT Mandi, Himachal Pradesh and Norwegian University of Science & Technology.
v.The MoU 3 & 4 deals with the activities such as landslides, tunnels, water management, hydropower, project-based learning, students and researchers mobility & cold region technologies.
About Norway:
Capital- Oslo.
Prime Minister (PM)- Erna Solberg.
Currency- Norwegian Krone.
AP Govt made history with ‘Intivadhakey Pension’ scheme by covering 94 % within few days
On February 05, 2020, The Andhra Pradesh (AP) state Government led by its Chief Minister(CM) Yeduguri Sandinti Jaganmohan Reddy,has created a record with its ‘Intivadhakey Pension’ (Pension to your Doorstep) Scheme by covering 94 % of about 60 lakh pensioners at their doorstep within a few days. The scheme was launched in 13 districts on February 1, 2020.
AP is the 1st state in India to take up such an initiative of Door delivery of pension service.
Key Points:
i.The AP government pays a monthly pension of Rs 2,250 to the elderly, widows, weavers, toddy tappers, fishermen, single women and traditional cobblers and others, Rs 3,000 for disabled and Rs 5,000 to Rs.10,000 for CKDU(Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) of uncertain origin ) /Dialysis patients.
ii.Almost 4 lakh volunteers were equipped with biometric information of the about 50,50,394 eligible pensioners, and the amount was transferred to their bank accounts on a single day.
iii.The state has released Rs 1,320 crore for the month of February for this programme.
About Andhra Pradesh:
Capital City- Amaravati
Governor– Biswabhusan Harichandan.
National Parks(NP)- Papikondalu NP, Sri Venkateswara NP
State Tree– Neem tree
State Flower– Water lilies
New Delhi hosts Ministerial-level defence dialogue 2020 between India & South Korea
Key Points:
i.As per Rajnath Singh, India has made considerable progress in the defense sector along with South Korea in recent years. India’s Indo-Pacific policy shares many similarities with South Korea’s new southern policy & the unity of ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) should be important in developing the Indo-Pacific Vision.
ii.The dialogue saw the participation of Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Bipin Rawat, Army Chief General MM Naravane and Navy Chief Admiral Karambir Singh.
iii.In 2019, Singh had visited South Korea & had inked 2 MoUs(memorandum of understanding) to further boost defence cooperation.
About South Korea:
Capital– Seoul
Currency– South Korean won
President– Moon Jae-in
APEDA-CFTRI Sign MoU for Liason Office in Guwahati to Promote Food Processing & Organic Agri Exports in North-East States
On February 4,2020 A Memorandum of Understandings (MoU) was signed between CSIR-CFTRI(Council of Scientific & Industrial Research- Central Food Technological Research Institute) and APEDA (Agricultural & Processed Food Products Export Development Authority ) to set up a Liaison Office, Guwahati, Assam to provide technical support to the food industries in the NorthEast region.It will benefit the farmers, products and entrepreneurs.
Key Points:
i.CSIR-CFTRI had brought many innovative efforts to the market.
ii.Apeda has undertaken many promotional activities in the North-east states of India.
iii.Apeda has organized 5 international buyer-seller meets in Assam, Manipur, Tripura, Arunachal Pradesh & Sikkim.
iv.To create awareness on agriculture and exports in the North-East states, converting the large areas of land into organic certification training is provided based on requirements based on National Programme on Organic Production (NPOP).
About CSIR-CFTRI:
Founded- 21 October 1950.
Headquarters- Mysore, Karnataka.
Director- Dr Karumanchi Srisaila Mallikarjuna S Raghavarao.
About APEDA:
Founded- 1986.
Headquarters- New Delhi.
Chairman- Pawan Kumar Borthakur.
MSME implemented new scheme SFURTI to set up traditional industries clusters
On February 03, 2020 the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises(MSME) implemented a new scheme named “Scheme of Fund for Regeneration of Traditional Industries”(SFURTI). Under this scheme, financial support will be given to set up traditional industries clusters viz. Khadi, Coir & Village industries clusters.
SFRUTI objectives:
- Traditional industries to be set up in India in a period of 5 years and make the industries more profitable.
- Launch year: The scheme was first launched in 2005 to boost cluster development by MSME.
- Objective: The main objective of SFURTI is to make sustainable development, employment and strengthen governance systems for traditional rural industries.
- 2020 union budget: Rs 2.3 crores has been sanctioned for the SFURTI scheme in the budget 2020….Click here to Read More
Greenbone Sustainable Resilience data: Maharashtra tops States hit by global medical data leak
On February 05, 2020 according to the recent report published by German cybersecurity firm Greenbone Sustainable Resilience, Maharashtra topped among the Indian states which has been hit by global medical data leak. The analysis was made after data of around 120 million Indian patients were leaked and made freely available on the internet.
Greenbone Sustainable Resilience data:
State ranks: Data leaked states: Maharashtra which topped among Indian states had 3,08,451 data leaks giving access to 6,97,89,685 images.
- Maharashtra was followed by Karnataka in 2nd place with 1,82,865 data leaks giving access to 1,37,31,001 images.
- Other states: West Bengal, Telangana and Gujarat ranked in the 3rd, 4th and 5th place respectively.
- Follow up report : In the November 2019 Follow up report was released. The report classified countries based on 3 categories namely “good”, “bad” and “ugly” based on the actions taken by govt. after the release of the 1st report. India was ranked 2nd in the ugly category after the United States (US)….Click here to Read More
SC directs States to notify setting up ‘Gram Nyayalayas’ within 4 weeks
On February 3, 2020,The Supreme Court (SC) bench headed by Justice Nuthalapati Venkata (NV) Ramana has directed the state governments to issue notifications for establishing mobile village courts called “Gram Nyayalayas” within 4 weeks.
It also asked the High Courts (HC) to speed up consultation with department concerned on the matter.
Key Points:
i.The present scenario of the states with respect to the Gram Nyayalayas were submitted by the SC Advocate Prashant Bhushan.
ii.The SC observed that some States haven’t taken any initiative & no notification has been issued in the matter. It also imposed a fine of Rs 1 lakh on the Government of Assam, Chandigarh, Gujarat, Haryana, Odisha, Punjab, Telangana & West Bengal for not filing their responses.
iii.A total of just 208 Gram Nyayalayas are functioning in India as compared to 2,500 estimated to be required by the 12th five-year plan. Till now, only 11 states have taken steps to notify Gram Nyayalayas.
About Gram Nyayalayas:
These mobile village courts established as per Gram Nyayalayas Act,2008 to provide speedy & ensure justice to rural poor at their doorsteps.
These courts should be set up for every Panchayat at the intermediate level or a group of Panchayats at intermediate level in a district / where there is no Panchayat at intermediate level in any State for a group of Panchayats.
INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS
One in 10 Indians to have cancer in their lifetime: WHO report
In order to mark World Cancer Day on February 4, 2020, WHO (World Health Organization) and its specialized International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) have released 2 reports namely, “Report on Cancer: Setting priorities, investing wisely and providing care for all” by WHO & “World Cancer Report “Cancer research for cancer prevention” by IARC aimed at setting the global agenda on the disease & focused on research and prevention.
- According to the report, 11.6 million new cases of cancer were reported in India & and 7,84,800 people died due to cancer in 2018 & 2.26 million 5-year prevalent cases in India’s population of 1.35 billion.
- As per the report by the WHO, one in 10 Indians to have cancer in their lifetime and one in 15 died of the disease.
- At the same time, WHO has predicted that cancer cases will jump by 81 % by 2040 in poor countries due to the lack of investment in prevention and care.
- The rate of cancer incidence worldwide could rise to 60 % in the next 20 years. The highest number of cases can be increased in middle-income countries because 80 %people who smoke worldwide are from these countries….Click here to Read More
Bhutan ends free entry for Indian tourists
On February 5,2020 The Government of Bhutan, Thimphu decided to implement a daily fee of Rs.1200 ($17) for “regional tourists” from India, the Maldives, Bangladesh from July 2020. The fee is called SDF “Sustainable Development Fees” inorder to regulate a new tourism policy (tourism facilities, better infrastructure).
Key Points:
i.The decision was passed by the National Assembly(lower house of Bhutan) as a “Tourism Levy & Exemption Bill of Bhutan 2020”.
ii.Children under the age of 5 from India, Maldives, Bangladesh will not have to pay the tax and between 6 to 12 years will be required to pay Rs.600.
iii.The SDF fees is lower than foreign tourists ($65), also charged a compulsory flat cover charge of ($250) per day,
iv.Dorji Dhradul, Bhutan’s Tourism Council Director, mentioned SDF was to provide better facilities for regional tourists.
v.SDF cancels the free entry of Indian tourists to Bhutan.
About Bhutan:
Capital- Thimphu.
Prime Minister (PM)- Lotay Tshering.
Currency- Ngultrum.
BANKING & FINANCE
Paytm unveils all-in-one QR, PoS device and merchant SDK
On February 4, 2020, Paytm, India’s leading digital payments company,has launched an all-in-one QR (Quick Response), point-of-sale (POS) device for merchants across India & SDK (software development kit) for third-party integration .
Key Points:
i.With the help of QR & POS device, businessmen will be able to get unlimited payments across the country at zero percent fees through Paytm wallet, Rupay Cards & all UPI (Unified Payments Interface ) based apps directly.
ii.The PoS, launched by Infosys cofounder and UIDAI (Unique Identification Authority of India) chairman Nandan Nilekani, with its full-size display and pre-bundled cloud-based software will enable merchants to generate billing, dynamic QR codes, payments, GST (Goods and Services Tax)-compliant bills ,manage all transactions and settlements through the ‘Paytm for Business’ app at a time.
iii.On the other hand, SDK will help other payment providers to promote their systems to Paytm & offer a hassle free transaction solution for digital payments customers. It also enables SMEs(Small and medium-sized enterprises) and shop owners to make storefronts on Paytm app, just like Google Pay.
About Paytm:
Founded- August 2010
Headquarters- Noida, Uttar Pradesh (UP)
Founder & CEO– Vijay Shekhar Sharma
Owned by– One97 Communications Limited.
RBI hikes Insurance cover on bank deposits to Rs 5 lakh from Rs 1 lakh
India’s central bank, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has increased the Insurance cover on bank deposits to Rs 5 lakh from Rs 1 lakh effective from February 4, 2020 with a view to giving protection to depositors.
- The cover is provided by a wholly owned subsidiary of the RBI, the Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation (DICGC).
- The DICGC does not directly charge any premium from the depositor on this insurance. So Now Banks will pay a premium of 12 paise against 10 paise per Rs 100 deposit.
- This move comes after the Budget announcement by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman who made an important provision in the Budget 2020-2021 on the protection of bank deposits of common people….Click here to Read More
Digital transactions through IMPS, UPI and BHIM at record high in January 2020
On February 03, 2020, According to the latest data from NPCI (National Payments Corporation of India ) comes against the backdrop of the decision made by government on encouraging digital payments, Unified Payments Interface( UPI), IMPS (Immediate Payment Service) & BHIM (Bharat Interface for Money) registered a new record in the amount of cash transaction in January 2020.
- Record by IMPS: It handle much of the online payments via internet banking, round the clock (24×7) & registered a total of 95 crore transaction, aggregating Rs.2.16 lakh crore in the first month of the calendar year 2020.
- Record by UPI: It replicated its volume of transactions of 3 billion with value of transactions to Rs 2.16 trillion (Rs 2,16,241 crore ) in January 2020.
- Record by BHIM: This app also registered all time high volume of transactions with 85 crore transaction worth Rs.6611.22 crore in January 2020….Click here to Read More
Reliance general insurance introduces comprehensive health insurance plan “Infinity”
On February 3, 2020, Reliance General Insurance Company Limited , one of the leading insurance companies in India, has launched a comprehensive health insurance plan called “Reliance Health Infinity”.
Under the plan, the minimum sum insured will be Rs. 3 lakh while the maximum sum insured limit will be Rs. 1 crore.
Key Points:
i.Pre & post hospitalisation: Pre-hospitalisation expenses incurred for a period of 90 days and post-hospitalisation expenses for a period of 180 days will also be covered.
ii.AYUSH coverage: The health policy will also cover expenses for hospitalisation under AYUSH (Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy) treatment.
iii.Co-pay: The plan also consists co-payment for special medical treatments such as Robotic Surgery, Stem Cell therapy, Parkinson and Alzheimer’s disease.
Insured people will have access to over 5000 cashless hospital networks and can even avail up to 30 % discount on premiums which includes voluntary co-payment, 2/3 year policy, the individual sum insured in a family and renewal discount.
About Co-Pay: It refers to an arrangement in which the policyholder will need to pay a portion of the medical expenses on their own and the insurance company will pay the remaining amount.
About Reliance General Insurance:
Founded– 17 August 2000
Headquarters– Mumbai, Maharashtra
ED and CEO– Rakesh Jain
AWARDS & RECOGNITIONS
Big Bang Boom Solutions wins prestigious SKOCH Award
On February 5,2020 Big Bang Boom Solutions Pvt Ltd (BBBS), start-up company in the defence sector was awarded the prestigious SKOCH Award for “Boron Nitrate Based Personal Hybrid Combat Armour ” at New Delhi, India.
Key Points:
i.Big Bang Boom Solutions also won in the MoD (Ministry of Defence) competition around See-Through-Armour and Illegal Defence Drones in iDex (Innovations for Defence Excellence) category.
ii.BBBS was the first company to consolidate Artificial Intelligence (AI) with the defense sector.
About Big Bang Boom Solutions (BBBM):
CEO (Chief Executive Officer)- Praveen Dwarakanath.
CTO(Chief Technical Officer)- Dr. Shivaraman.
About SKOCH award:
The Skoch Award was instituted in 2003, and is the highest civilian honour in the country conferred by an independent organisation. The award is contributed to the best efforts in the area of digital, financial and social inclusion.
ACQUISITIONS & MERGERS
India’s top refiner IOC acquires minority stake in Israeli battery developer Phinergy
On February 4, 2020, Indian Oil Corporation Limited-IOC (commonly known as IndianOil), an Indian government owned oil and gas company, has acquired a minority stake in Phinergy Ltd, an Israeli start-up company specializing in battery development with the aim to make ultra lightweight metal-air batteries that can be used in electric vehicles (EVs).
Key Points:
i.Since Phinergy specialised in aluminium-air (Al-Air) and zinc-air battery systems that have applications in electric mobility & stationary applications, this will help IOC to form a joint venture (JV) with Phinergy in India to cooperate in developing aluminium-air battery system including research & development (R&D), customisation, manufacturing, assembly, sell and service of aluminium-air energy systems technology.
ii.Both firms also decided to adopt this technology in 3Ws, cars & buses in future as well.
About Indian Oil Corporation (IOC):
Headquarters– New Delhi.
Chairman– Sanjiv Singh.
Founded– 30 June 1959.
About Phinergy Ltd:
Founded– 2008
Founder– Aviv Tzidon
Headquarters– Lod, Israel
Co-Founder & Chairman– Aviv Tzidon
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
UAE discovers new natural ‘Jebel Ali gas field’ between Abu Dhabi, Dubai
On February 3, 2020, The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has discovered huge shallow gas resources called ‘Jebel Ali gas field’ with estimated reserves of 80 trillion standard cubic feet spanning an area of 5,000 square kilometres (sqkm) in the cross-border area of the Emirates of Abu Dhabi and Dubai.
Key Points:
i.Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), the government-owned energy giant, will jointly develop the reservoir with distributor the Dubai Supply Authority (DSA).
ii.This discovery will enhance UAE’s aim of achieving gas self-sufficiency & also help promote major development projects.
iii.UAE aims to become self-sufficiency in gas supply by 2030,a move that would help become a net exporter gas and raise its oil output capacity to four million BPD(barrels per day) in 2020 and five million BPD by 2030.
About United Arab Emirates(UAE):
Capital– Abu Dhabi
Currency– United Arab Emirates dirham
President– Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan
It consists of seven emirates– Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Fujairah, Ras Al-Khaimah and Umm Al-Quwain.
World’s oldest Bamboo Fossil Discovered turns out to be Conifer
On February 04,2020, A fossil of leafy branch was discovered in Eocene, Patagonia in 1941, at that time of Examination it considered as bamboo’s fossil and still it became the oldest bamboo of the world, but in recent Examination of that fossil by Dr. Peter Wilf from Pennsylvania state university revealed the real nature of the plant’s fossil (chusquea oxyphylla name of the fossil) and it was published in open-access journal Phytokeys.
Key points:
i.Wilf states that the fossil does not resemble the members of chusquea genus or any other bamboo and there is no evidence of bamboo-type nodes, sheaths or ligules and if Chusquea oxyphylla has nothing in common with bamboos.
ii.It needs a new name, with the priority of the older name, he combined Chusquea oxyphylla with Retrophyllum spiralifolium (fossil’s genus discovered by Wilf) to come up with Retrophyllum oxyphyllum. Retrophyllum is a genus of six living species of rainforest conifers.
OBITUARY
Former Karnataka Minister D. Manjunath passed away at 92
He was born on 26th August 1928 at Jajoor Village, Challakere Taluk, Karnataka and joined the janata party in 1977.
He was the chairman of the Karnataka Legislative Council in 1987 & also minister in various governments.
Key Points:
i.Mr. Manjunath was first elected to the Legislative Assembly in 1967 from Hiriyur, Karnataka and became Deputy Speaker.
ii.He was the former Minister of Forest and Higher Education in former Chief Minister (CM) Hardanahalli Devegowda H.D Kumaraswamy cabinet.
iii.Manjunath held the Labour, Education & Planning portfolios in the Ramakrishna Hegde Cabinet between 1984 and 1987.
iv.He also served as Revenue Minister in the Jayadevappa Halappa J.H Patel Cabinet.
Former Assam Speaker and sitting MLA Pranab Kumar Gogoi passed away at 84
He was born on 19th August 1936 in Dibrugarh, Assam.
Key Points:
i.Pranab Kumar belongs to Indian National Congress (INC) party and was first elected as Legislator from the Assam Legislative Assembly from Sivasagar, Assam for 4 consecutive terms.
ii.He also served as minister in Tarun Gogoi-led cabinet from 2006-2011 and speaker of the Assam legislative assembly in 2011.
iii.In 2015, Pranab Kumar took the definition of the term ‘Assamese’.
BOOKS & AUTHORS
Pop singer Lord J launches his Autobiography Book “Lord J: Lord of Anonymity”
Albums: Lord J has done Lip Locks, Love Me for Me, Roger That and Beside Me.
About the book Lord of Anonymity:
i.The book is an autobiography penned by Lord J himself about his initial days of understanding the value of music, lyrics, concepts of videography and making music videos, and it also speaks about hardships that he faced on the transition of global pop singer, from dream to achieve it.
ii.The reason behind making the book is, it will motivate anyone who wants to chase their goals in life and willing to take risk to achieve it.
STATE NEWS
Karnataka CM launches Janasevaka Scheme to Provide delivery of Govt Services at Doorstep
On February 04,2020, The government of Karnataka launched the Janasevaka scheme in certain municipal corporation wards to provide home delivery of various government services like ration cards, senior citizen identity and health cards, etc.
The scheme is launched by the chief minister of Karnataka Mr. Bookanakere Siddalingappa Yediyurappa, and the scheme will contain 53 services from 11 departments.
Key points:
i.A toll-free helpline has been set up for this scheme which will work from 8 am to 8 pm, and Rs.115 has been charged to provide the home delivery service people can apply from home by paying the fee online.
ii.Under the scheme, there will be one volunteer in each ward, initially the scheme was implemented in Dasarahalli area on a Navigation basis if it works well then it will be implemented across Bengaluru and then across Karnataka.
iii.The main objective of the scheme is to ensure on-time delivery of government services and make the lives of the citizens of Karnataka Easy.
About Karnataka:
Capital- Bengaluru, Karnataka
Chief Minister- Bookanakere Siddalingappa Yediyurappa,
Governor- Vajubhai Vala
National Parks(NP)- Kudremukh NP, Bannerghatta NP, Nagarhole NP, Bandipur NP.
AC GAZE
Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg nominated for Nobel Peace Prize 2020
Swedish teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg has been nominated for the 2020 Nobel Peace Prize by two lawyers Jens Holm and Hakan Svenneling , who are both members of Sweden’s Left Party. It is the second consecutive year that Thunberg has been nominated.
Current Affairs Headlines: 5 February 2020
- India & Norway signed 4 MoUs in field of research, higher education
- AP Govt made history with ‘Intivadhakey Pension’ scheme by covering 94 % within few days
- New Delhi hosts Ministerial-level defence dialogue 2020 between India & South Korea
- APEDA-CFTRI Sign MoU for Liason Office in Guwahati to Promote Food Processing & Organic Agri Exports in North-East States
- MSME implemented new scheme SFURTI to set up traditional industries clusters
- Greenbone Sustainable Resilience data: Maharashtra tops States hit by global medical data leak
- SC directs States to notify setting up ‘Gram Nyayalayas’ within 4 weeks
- One in 10 Indians to have cancer in their lifetime: WHO report
- Bhutan ends free entry for Indian tourists
- Paytm unveils all-in-one QR, PoS device and merchant SDK
- RBI hikes Insurance cover on bank deposits to Rs 5 lakh from Rs 1 lakh
- Digital transactions through IMPS, UPI and BHIM at record high in January 2020
- Reliance general insurance introduces comprehensive health insurance plan “Infinity”
- Big Bang Boom Solutions wins prestigious SKOCH Award
- India’s top refiner IOC acquires minority stake in Israeli battery developer Phinergy
- UAE discovers new natural ‘Jebel Ali gas field’ between Abu Dhabi, Dubai
- World’s oldest Bamboo Fossil Discovered turns out to be Conifer
- Former Karnataka Minister D. Manjunath passed away at 92
- Former Assam Speaker and sitting MLA Pranab Kumar Gogoi passed away at 84
- Pop singer Lord J launches his Autobiography Book “Lord J: Lord of Anonymity”
- Karnataka CM launches Janasevaka Scheme to Provide delivery of Govt Services at Doorstep
- Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg nominated for Nobel Peace Prize 2020
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