Daily GK Updates - 17th November, 2019

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. 8th International Conference on Agricultural Statistics to be Held in New Delhi: The 8th edition of the International Conference on Agricultural Statistics (ICAS-VIII) will be held in New Delhi from 18th to 21st November 2019. The conference is being organized by the Ministry of Agriculture in collaboration with the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, ISI-CAS, FAO, the USDA, ADB, World Bank, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Eurostat, AfDB and various other organizations. Union Minister for Agriculture & Farmers Welfare Shri Narendra Singh Tomar will inaugurate the event. The Chief Guest for the event is Bill Gates. Theme of the Conference: ‘Statistics for Transformation of Agriculture to Achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)’.

2. Darjeeling Green and White Tea gets Geographical Indications (GI) tag: Darjeeling green and white teas, whose price varies from Rs 3,000 -Rs 10,000 per kg, have received Geographical Indication (GI) tag for the domestic market, which will put to rest any doubt about their authenticity and quality. Both these premium teas have been registered as a GI in the country with effect from October 24, 2019, which means that any teas sold as Darjeeling white and green teas in the domestic market without GI will not be considered authentic teas. Darjeeling black tea is already registered as GI.

Note: Geographical indications mean indications which identify a product as originating from the territory of a member, or a region or locality in that territory, where a given quality, reputation or other characteristic of the product is essentially attributable to its geographical origin.

Darjeeling white tea has a unique aroma. While the leaves used for making black tea undergo withering and oxidation, those used for making white tea do not face any withering and oxidation. In other words, white tea undergoes minimum processing and the terminal buds with rich pubescence of tea shoots are merely dried in natural sunlight. This allows the buds to retain the covering of velvety silver colour. Darjeeling white tea brews have a pale yellow/light translucent colour and has a slightly sweet flavour with no ‘grassy’ undertones sometimes associated with green tea. Darjeeling white tea has good demand in the US and European Union. The annual estimated production of Darjeeling white tea is one lakh kg.

3. Union Minister Harsh Vardhan launches SAANS campaign to curb pneumonia deaths in kids: Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare Harsh Vardhan has launched SAANS Campaign which stands for ‘Social Awareness and Action to Neutralise Pneumonia Successfully’. The aim of the campaign is to reduce child mortality due to pneumonia, which contributes to around 15% deaths annually of children under the age of five. The campaign was launched in Gandhinagar, Gujarat at the 6th National Summit on Good, Replicable Practices and Innovations. The HMIS data for 2018-19 ranked Madhya Pradesh on top in the number of child deaths due to pneumonia, followed by Gujarat on second.

4. 1st National Agrochemicals Congress held in New Delhi: The 1st National Agrochemicals Congress was held in New Delhi between November 13-16, 2019. The theme of the event was: Country’s Status on Various Fronts of Agrochemicals.  The Congress is conducted in view of the role chemical pesticides still continue to play in pest management as more and more target-specific and environment-friendly products are being introduced. From now onwards, it will be conducted once in every three years.

5. CBI sets up online Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation (OCSAE) Prevention/Investigation Unit at New Delhi: The Central Bureau of Investigation has set up an online Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation (OCSAE) Prevention/Investigation Unit at New Delhi under its Special Crime Zone. The territorial jurisdiction of the online Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation (OCSAE) Prevention/Investigation Unit of CBI will be throughout India. OCSAE unit will collect, collate and disseminate information regarding publication, transmission, creation, collection, seeking, browsing, downloading, advertising, promoting, exchanging, distribution of information relating to online child sexual abuse and exploitation.

6. NCDEX ties up with NSE Indices to launch AGRIDEX, India’s first agri index: National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange (NCDEX) has partnered with NSE Indices Limited and launched  India’s first agri index — ‘NCDEX Agridex’, for easy reference to price variations in agricultural commodities. The AGRIDEX tracks and replicates the performance of the ten most liquid commodities traded on the NCDEX’s platform. It is an index futures contracts.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Russian President Vladimir Putin invites PM Modi for Victory Day celebrations in May: Russian President Vladimir Putin invited Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the Victory Day celebrations in May next year as the two leaders had an "excellent meeting" in Brasilia and discussed ways to further cement their special strategic partnership. Modi, who is in Brazil for the 11th BRICS Summit which will focus on building mechanisms for counter-terrorism cooperation and strengthen India's ties with the world's five major economies, met Putin on the sidelines of the meeting and reviewed the full range of India-Russia relations. PM Modi also tweeted in Russian about the meeting. Mr Putin said that bilateral trade has registered a growth of 17 per cent.

Note: The annual May 9 Victory Day parade in Moscow, where Russia shows off its military might, commemorates the May 1945 allied victory over Nazi Germany.

2. Bill Gates Surpasses Jeff Bezos as World’s Richest Person: Bloomberg: Billionaire philanthropist and Microsoft Corp. co-founder, Bill Gates has surpassed Amazon chief executive officer Jeff Bezos to become the world’s richest person on Earth with a net worth of $110 billion, according to the latest Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Gates, 64, had briefly topped Bezos (55), whose net worth stands at $109 billion. Europe’s richest person, Bernard Arnault, is third with $102.7 billion. Reliance Industries Limited Chairman Mukesh Ambani is the richest Indian in the list positioned at 14th spot with net worth of $56.7 billion.

3. World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims 2019: November 17: World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victimsis celebrated on Third Sunday in November every year. This year World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims is celebrated on 17 November, 2019 Purpose of this day is to remember those killed and injured on the roads, together with their families, friends, and others affected. Theme 2019: “Life is not a car part”.

Note: The day was started by the British road crash victim charity, RoadPeace, in 1993 and was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 2005.

4. International Students’ Day: November 17: The International Students’ Day is celebrated on November 17 around the world, with special focus on ensuring education is available for all students.

Note: The date 17 November was chosen to be the International Students’ Day to commemorate the day in 1939, during World War II, when University of Prague was stormed by Nazis after demonstrations against the killing of Jan Opletal and the occupation of Czechoslovakia. Nine student leaders were subsequently killed, over 1200 students sent to concentration camps, and all Czech universities and colleges were closed.

OTHER UPDATES:

SPORTS

1. India Finishes Fourth in Medal Tally with 26 Medals in 2019 Asian Shooting Championships at Doha: The 14th edition of the Asian Shooting Championships, 2019 was held from 5 to 13 November 2019 in Doha, Qatar. India won total 26 medals (5G-10S-11B) to be placed at fourth spot in the medal table. China stood first with highest number of medals (45), followed by South Korea (21) and North Korea (11). Host nation Qatar won 3 medals to be placed at 8 spot among 16 nations that participated in the Championship. Winners of Gold Medal:

Udhayveer Sidhu, Vijayveer Sidhu, Gurpreet Singh – 5 m men’s standard pistol team

Angad Vir Singh Bajwa – Men’s Skeet

Manu Bhaker – Women’s 10 m air pistol

Anjum Moudgil, Kajal Saini, Tejaswini Sawant – Women’s 50 m rifle prone team

Abhishek Verma, Manu Bhaker – Mixed 10 m air pistol team

2. India record best-ever medal haul at World Para Athletics Championships, wins 9 medal: India has won 9 medals at the World Para Athletics Championship held in Dubai finishing in the 24th position. This is the best medal-winning haul by India. Out of these 9 medals, India won two gold, two silver and five bronze, securing 13 qualifying spots at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics. Until this edition, London 2017 had been India’s best ever show where the para athletes finished with five medals (one gold) in the joint 34th place. China topped the medals tally with 59 medals including 25 gold. Asian Para Games 2018 champion javelin thrower Sandeep Chaudhary stood out among the Indian performers by setting a new world record (F44) on the way to clinching the gold with a personal best 65.80m in men’s javelin F64 category

3. India’s first-ever day-night pink ball Test match to be played at Kolkata’s Eden Gardens from November 22: In a historic move, the first-ever day-night pink ball Test match on Indian soil will be held at the iconic Eden Gardens in Kolkata from 22–26 November 2019 against Bangladesh. India is the only major Test-playing nation which has not played a day-night Test match before. For Bangladesh also, it will also mark their debut test with the pink ball on the international stage. Although Indian players have played with a pink ball before, but that ball was manufactured by the Australian company Kookaburra. The pink balls for the upcoming Test has been made by Sanspareils Greenlands (SG) of Meerut.

4. Senior Journalist Rajat Sharma Quits as DDCA Chief: Senior journalist Rajat Sharma has resigned from the post of President of Delhi and Districts Cricket Association (DDCA) on November 16 citing his inability to continue amidst “various pulls and pressures” within the organisation. Rajat Sharma said: “It seems that it may not be possible to carry on in DDCA with my principles of integrity, honesty and transparency, which I am not willing to compromise at any cost.”

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY

1. NCAER predicts India’s GDP growth at 4.9% in FY20: The National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) has predicted India’s GDP growth rate for 2019-20 (FY20) at 4.9%. This comes a day after Moody’s cut its calendar year 2019 GDP forecast for India to 5.6 per cent from 6.2 per cent.

2. Google to launch checking accounts next year in a tie-up with Citigroup: Google will launch a checking account service next year in collaboration with Citigroup and a credit union at Stanford University. It will be launched under a project code named Cache. Google is working on a system that will host checking accounts clearly bearing the brands of the financial institutions.

3. Vodafone Idea posts India’s biggest ever quarterly loss at Rs 50,921 crore: Telecom firm Vodafone Idea has reported a record loss of Rs 50,921 crore for the July- September quarter 2019. This is the highest ever quarterly loss for any Indian company. The loss was reported as the company made a provision for the Supreme Court’s ruling on payment of average gross revenue (AGR) dues. Rs 30,774.5 crore was a one-time loss the company incurred due to the recent Supreme Court verdict.

Reliance Communications posted a mega loss of Rs 30,142 crore, registering India’s second biggest quarterly loss after Vodafone Idea. The firm was mainly hit due to provisioning for liabilities after the Supreme Court ruling on the AGR issue. Anil Ambani has submitted his resignation as director of Reliance Communications, even as the firm continues to remain under CIRP (Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process). Four other directors, including Smt. Chhaya Virani, Ryna Karani, Manjari Kacker and Suresh Rangachar have also submitted their resignation.

Bharti Airtel posted a loss of Rs 23,044 crore for the quarter ended September 30, due to Rs 28,450 crore provisions towards adjusted gross revenue (AGR) dues.

AWARDS AND HONOUR

1. Indian sand artist Sudarsan Pattnaik received the Italian Golden Sand Art Award 2019: Acclaimed Indian sand artist Sudarsan Pattnaik has been conferred the Italian Golden Sand Art Award, 2019 at a ceremony in Rome, becoming the first Indian to win the prestigious award for his contribution to sand art. Representing India at the International Scorrano Sand Nativity event held in Lecce from November 13 to 17, the acclaimed artist created a 10-foot high sand sculpture of Mahatma Gandhi along with Russian artist Pavel Minilkov.

2. Luka Modric Wins the 2019 Golden Foot Award: Real Madrid midfielder Luka Modric has been announced as the winner of the 2019 Golden Foot Award. The Croatian, Luka is the 17th winner of the prestigious award which is exclusively ‘dedicated to the best footballers ever.’ The Golden Foot Award is an international football award given to active players of at least 28 years of age for their outstanding on-field achievements, both as an individual and a team player and for their personality. The award can only be won once.

ORBUTIRIES

1. Goa DGP Pranab Nanda dies of cardiac arrest in Delhi: Goa's Director General of Police Pranab Nanda has died due to cardiac arrest. Nanda was on a visit to Delhi after attending official functions in Goa. He was 57. The 1988-batch IPS officer was transferred to Goa on February 25 this year.