Daily GK Updates - 20th October, 2019

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. India Post Launches Commemorative Stamp on Centenary of NIN: Dr Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare released a postal stamp to commemorate the centenary celebrations of the Hyderabad-based National Institute of Nutrition (NIN) on October 18, 2019 at Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), in New Delhi. The stamps have been brought out under ‘Corporate My Stamp’ scheme of the India Posts. About 5000 stamps with a face value of Rs 5 per stamp have been printed. NIN is the oldest Institute under the ICMR.

2. Indian Army Launches Software OASIS to Digitize Records of its Officers: The Indian Army has launched new software “Officers Automated Structured Information System“(Oasis) to digitise the service and personal records of the Army officers. The new software will be hosted on Army’s intranet and can be accessed by the Army officers to check their details. Before this, the records were maintained manually by Manpower Planning (MP) Directorate, making the whole process of collecting the records, checking the records and keeping a track very cumbersome.

3. PM Unveils Book Titled “Bridgital Nation”: Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi unveiled the book titled “Bridgital Nation: Solving Technology’s People Problem” during an event in New Delhi on October 20, 2019. The book has been written by Shri N Chandrasekaran and Ms. Roopa Purushottam. It talks about the importance of technology and also presents powerful vision on how technology and human beings co-exist in a mutually beneficial ecosystem.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo Sworn in for Second & Final Term: Indonesian President Joko Widodo was sworn in for a second and final five-year term as president on October 20, 2019. The 58-year-old, popularly known as Jokowi, took oath along with the 76-year-old vice president Maruf Amin. Amin replaces Jusuf Kalla, who was the vice president in Widodo’s first term.

2. India Ranks Third, China Tops Inaugural Hurun Global Unicorn List 2019: India has emerged as third largest ecosystem for more successful tech startups, in the inaugural Hurun Global Unicorn List 2019. The Hurun Global Unicorn List 2019 is a ranking of the world’s billion-dollar tech ‘start-ups’ founded in the 2000s and not yet listed on a public exchange. India has 21 unicorns, which is led by payments solutions platform One97 Communications ($10 billion) and followed by cab aggregator Ola Cabs ($6 billion); online educator Byju’s ($6 billion) and travel-stay finder OYO Rooms ($5 billion). The Hurun Global Unicorn List 2019 has been topped by China with the most number of Unicorns, 206. United States stands second with 203 Unicorns.

3. Bloomberg names 20 Countries that Will Dominate Global Growth in 2024; India on Second, China top: Bloomberg, based on the data of the International Monetary Fund has named 20 Countries that Will Dominate Global Growth in 2024. China is on top with 28.3% while India is on second with 15.5% share in global growth. United States is on third with 9.2% share in global growth. The data are based on Purchasing Power Parity. The share of the remaining 17 countries in the growth is 21.5%. Some are: Indonesia, Russia, Brazil, Germany, Turkey, Japan and Egypt.

4. World Osteoporosis Day: 20 October: The World Osteoporosis Day (WOD) is observed annually on October 20 to raise global awareness of the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of osteoporosis and metabolic bone disease. Each year the event is marked by launch of a year-long campaign with a specific theme. In 2019 the Global WOD Campaign theme is “THAT’S OSTEOPOROSIS”.

Note: Osteoporosis is a bone disease that occurs when the body loses too much bone, makes too little bone, or both. As a result, bones become weak and may break from a fall or, in serious cases, from sneezing or minor bumps.

OTHER UPDATES:

SPORTS

1. Bengal Warriors wins Pro Kabaddi League title 2019: Bengal Warriors has won the Pro Kabaddi League title 2019 by defeating Dabang Delhi 39-34. The finals was held in EKA Arena by TransStadia in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. Pardeep Narwal became the first ever player to reach 1000 points in the Pro Kabaddi League.

2. Prithvi Sekhar Claims Gold in World Deaf Tennis Championship 2019: India’s unseeded Prithvi Sekhar has won the men’s final gold at the World Deaf Tennis Championship 2019 in Antalya, Turkey. The 26-year-old from Integral Coach Factory, Chennai, beat third seed Jaroslav Smedek of the Czech Republic 6-4, 6-3 to claim the medal.

3. Asian Junior Championships: Indians bag 21 medals: Indian boxers packed quite a heavy punch at the Asian Junior Championships, clinching 21 medals- including six gold and nine silver- to end with the best medal haul among 26 competing countries in Fujairah, UAE. The Indian men’s squad fetched two gold, three silver and an equal number of bronze, while the women claimed four gold, six silver and three bronze medals to round off a stupendous performance on Thursday evening. The team ended top in terms of medals won but finished second behind Uzbekistan (20) which had a better gold count of eight. An unprecedented 26 countries competed in the continental event, which was open only to boxers born in 2003 or 2004. The number of participating pugilists stood at 239, including 170 men and 69 women.

4. 7th World Military Games begins in China: With an objective to improve its previous records, 54 players of Indian Armed Forces' sports contingent-- Army, Indian Air Force, and Indian Navy are participating in the nine-day long Military Olympics.  India will participate in nine sports games in which athletes will be giving their best to bag the medals. The nine-game events are archery, boxing, diving, modern pentathlon, shooting, TRAC and field, gymnastics, wrestling and tennis. Indian athletes will be giving their best to bag the medals in these sports events. India won six medals in the last edition at South Korea in 2015 and Indian para-athletes won three medals in the previous editions. So far, India has taken part in three editions of the military games in 2007, 2011 and 2015. India is hoping to increase its medal count in the current World Military Games edition. In 2007, India had hosted the 4th edition of the games in Hyderabad with 101 nations participating in the event.

BANKING AND FINANCE

1. No charges on digital payments made to large business establishments (turnover>Rs 50 crore) from Nov 1: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has announced that system providers will not impose charges or Merchant Discount Rate on customers as well as merchants on digital payments made to establishments having a turnover in excess of Rs 50 crore from November 1. For this, amendments have been made in the income tax act as well as in the Payment and Settlement Systems Act 2007.

2. SBI’s Rajnish Kumar elected as Chairman of Indian Banks Association: Head of State Bank of India, Rajnish Kumar has been elected as the chairman of the Indian Banks Association for fiscal 2019-20. Indian Banks Association is a body comprising members from various banks and represents banks’ interests with the government and regulators. G Rajkiran Rai (of Union Bank of India), S S Mallikarjuna Rao (of Punjab National Bank) and Madhav Kalyan (of JP Morgan Chase Bank) have been elected as deputy chairmen.

AWARDS & HONOURS

1. Vice President Venkaiah Naidu Presents ‘Most Eminent Senior Citizen Award’ to Former Attorney General, Shri K. Parasaran: The Vice President of India, Shri M Venkaiah Naidu conferred the ‘Most Eminent Senior Citizen Award’ to veteran lawyer and former Attorney General of India, Shri K. Parasaran on October 20 at the India International Centre in New Delhi.

The 92-year-old Parasaran was honored for his exceptional contribution to the field of law and justice. He served as the Attorney General of India under Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi. The award was presented during the annual day celebrations and also the Elder’s Day celebration of Age Care India, an organization working for the welfare of the elderly.

DEFENCE

1. India-Myanmar Naval Exercise IMNEX-2019 Commences in Visakhapatnam: The second edition of ‘India Myanmar Naval Exercise’ IMNEX-2019 began in Visakhapatnam. The IMNEX-2019 will have harbour phase and sea phase and will conclude on October 22, 2019. Myanmar naval ships UMS Sin Phyu Shin (F-14) and UMS Tabinshweti (773) are participating in the exercise. INS Ranvijay and INS Kuthar will be participating ships from India.