Daily GK Updates - 24th November, 2019

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. PM Modi launches Fit India School grading system: Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Fit India School grading system in schools across the country. The Fit India School rankings have been divided into three categories- The Fit India Schools, which is the first level of ranking, Fit India School (3 star) and Fit India School (5 star). Schools can declare themselves as fit by visiting the Fit India portal. Fit India three star and Fit India five star ratings will also be given. The schools that achieve this ranking will also be able to use the ‘Fit India’ logo and flag.

2. 8th International Tourism Mart Organised at Imphal, Manipur: The 8th International Tourism Mart has been organised at Imphal, Manipur from 23 November to 25 November, 2019. The Theme of 2019 International Tourism Mart is “Sustainable Tourism an engine for Economic Growth and Employment”. It was inaugurated by the Minister of State (I/C) for Culture & Tourism, Shri Prahlad Singh Patel and Chief Minister of Manipur, Shri N. Biren Singh. The event has been organised by the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, in association with the North Eastern States. It is an annual event organised in the North Eastern region with the objective of highlighting the tourism potential of the region in the domestic and international markets.

3. National Tribal Craft Mela 2019 inaugurated in Bhubaneswar: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik inaugurated the 7-day long National Tribal Craft Mela-2019 in Bhubaneshwar, Odisha. This is the 8th edition of the event. More than 240 tribal artisans from 18 states are participating in the Mela and will showcase handicraft items, handloom products, iron, bamboo products, puppets, siali crafts, tribal textiles and embroidery work, tribal paintings and many more tribal products. The Mela has been organised with the objective of promotion and popularisation of traditional tribal arts and crafts and to help the artisans to find better opportunities to develop their skills through cross-cultural interactions for commercial viability of their products.

4. Modern Coach Factory, Rae Bareli Deploys humanoid robot ‘Sona 1.5’: The Modern Coach Factory (MCF), Rae Bareli, Uttar Pradesh has introduced indigenously developed humanoid robot named ‘Sona 1.5’ to transport documents from one place to another. The full-service robot Sona 1.5 has been developed by Jaipur based Club First Technologies and will also be used for welcoming visitors, technical interaction, other types of training. The robot is said to be the first robot in the world having human-like spine technology which helps them to balance. In addition to this, the humanoid robot is based on navigation and mapping with the help of sensors and reach the target.

5. National Investigation Agency hosts first counter-terror exercise for Quad countries in New Delhi: The New Delhi based National Investigation Agency (NIA) hosted the first-ever counter-terrorism exercise ‘CT-TTX’ for the Quad countries namely India, the US, Japan and Australia in New Delhi. The ‘CT-TTX’ (counter-terrorism table-top exercise) was the first engagement among the four countries to discuss issues of common interest related to counter-terrorism.

6. Microsoft Launches ‘K-12 Education Transformation Framework’ in India: Microsoft has unveiled ‘K-12 Education Transformation Framework’ to offer comprehensive digital transformation of schools in India. Microsoft India launched the framework at the second edition of the Microsoft Education Days in Gurgaon, which was participated by more than 700 school leaders, educators, students, and Microsoft partners to deliberate on the future of learning. The framework comprises of four pillars namely leadership and policy, modern teaching and learning, intelligent environments and technology blueprint. More than 50 countries have already adopted the framework which will offer a series of workshops based on each of these pillars.

Note: Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Microsoft: Satya Nadella; Founded: April 4, 1975; Headquarters: Washington, United States(US).

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. India will host SCO forum of Young Scientists and Innovators 2020: India has been chosen to host the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Forum of Young Scientists and Innovators in 2020. This decision was taken during the 5th Meeting of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Member States Heads of Ministries and Departments of Science and Technology and Permanent Working Group on S&T Cooperation concluded in Moscow, Russia recently. Indian delegation was led by Secretary, Department of Scientific and Industrial Research and Director General Council for Scientific and Industrial Research Dr. Shekhar Mande. Apart from this, India will be the host of Council of Heads of Government (Prime Ministers) of SCO Member States in 2020, which will approve the Draft SCO Roadmap on cooperation between research institutions of SCO Member States for the period 2021-2023.

Note: SCO has eight fulltime members namely: China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, India and Pakistan; Secretary-General of SCO: Vladimir Norov; Founded: 19 September 2003; Headquarters: Beijing, China.

2. 29th WCO Asia Pacific Regional Contact Points (RCP) Meet Held in Puducherry: The 29th edition of the World Customs Organisation (WCO) Asia Pacific Regional Contact Points (RCP) meeting was held at Puducherry, Tamil Nadu to facilitate customs functions, operations and services in the Asia-Pacific region. The conference was hosted by the Chennai Customs Zone and inaugurated by Pranab Kumar Das, Chairman of the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC).

Note: World Customs Organisation (WCO) headquarter – Brussels, Belgium

3. Bangalore highest ranked Indian city in new global prosperity index 2019: Bangalore has emerged highest-ranked Indian city in the first-ever Prosperity & Inclusion City Seal and Awards (PICSA) Index which features world’s 113 cities in terms of economic and social inclusivity. Three Indian city has been listed in the index. While Bengaluru is placed at 83rd position, Delhi (101) and Mumbai (107) are the other two Indian cities in the list. The index has been topped by Zurich in Switzerland. Vienna, Copenhagen, Luxembourg and Helsinki are the top five cities in the index respectively.

Note: The PICSA Index has been commissioned by Basque institutions and compiled by D&L Partners. The index is designed to showcase not only the quantity of economic growth of a city but also its quality and distribution across populations.

4. Afghanistan most impacted by terrorism, India Ranks 7th: 2019 Global Terrorism Index: According to the 2019 Global Terrorism Index (GTI), Afghanistan recorded largest increase in deaths from terrorism. The Global Terrorism Index released by the Australia based Institute for Economics & Peace (IEP) ranks 163 countries according to the impact of terrorism on the basis of factors such as the number of attacks, fatalities, injuries and the extent of property damage. India has been placed at 7th position in terms of country most impacted by terrorism. Top 10 countries most impacted by terrorism: (1) Afghanistan; (2) Iraq; (3) Nigeria; (4) Syria; (5) Pakistan; (6) Somalia; (7) India; (8) Yemen; (9) Philippines; (10) Democratic Republic of the Congo

Key Findings of the index: 2019 Global Terrorism Index (GTI) is the 7th edition of the index. As per the latest edition, deaths from terrorism have decreased by 15.2 percent in 2018 to 15,952 globally. This is the fourth consecutive year of improvement. The global economic impact of terrorism was US$33 billion in 2018; a substantial decrease of 38% from the previous year. Deaths from terrorism in Afghanistan rose up by 59 percent in 2018 from the prior year. The Taliban is now the deadliest terrorist group in the world, and accounts for 38% of all terrorist deaths. This is an increase of 71%. Belarus, Guinea-Bissau, Oman, The Gambia, North Korea are the 5 least impacted countries.

5. India ranks 8th in WHO study on physical activity among adolescents: As per The Lancet Child and Adolescent Health report of the World Health Organisation (WHO), India has been ranked at 8th spot in terms of the lowest level of insufficient physical activity among adolescents. Bangladesh tops the list while USA’s adolescents figure fourth on the list of 146 countries. India is ranked eighth with an overall prevalence of insufficient physical activity in adolescents at 73.9 percent.

6. India Ranks 44 in Nomura’s Food Vulnerability Index (NFVI) 2019: India has been ranked 44 among 110 countries in Food Vulnerability Index (NFVI) 2019, complied by Nomura Global Market Research. The NFVI ranks countries on the basis of their exposure to large swings in food prices. The higher the rank, the worse is the case.

OTHER UPDATES:

SPORTS

1. Rafael Nadal wins Davis Cup title 2019: Rafael Nadal (world number-one) has clinched 6th Davis Cup title for Spain after beating Denis Shapovalov of Canada in front of a jubilant home crowd in Caja Mágica Madrid, Spain. Nadal (33-year) defeated Shapovalov 6-3, 7-6 (9-7) to clinch Spain’s 2-0 win against Canada. It was the Spanish team's first Davis Cup title since 2011 and their sixth Davis Cup title overall. Rafael Nadal received the Most Valuable Player (MVP) award for his performance in the tournament after he won 8 of the 8 matches he participated in. In 2019, Nadal won the French Open and the US Open, made the Australian Open final and reached the Wimbledon semi-final.

Note: The 2019 Davis Cup (108th edition) is a tournament between national teams in men's tennis, sponsored by Rakuten.

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY

1. OECD predicts India’s GDP growth rate in 2020 at 6.2%: Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has made the following GDP growth rate predictions for India:

2019- 5.8%

2020- 6.2%

2021- 6.4%

2. OECD Cuts Global Growth Forecast for 2020 to 2.9%: The Paris-based Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has cut its 2020 global economic growth forecast in the November 2019 Economic Outlook. As per OECD, the world economy is projected to grow 2.9% in 2019 and 2020, as against its earlier estimate of 3.0% in September. Also, OECD sees the global economic growth edging back up to 3% in 2021.

AWARDS AND HONOURS

1. Nawazuddin Siddiqui conferred with Lesley Ho Asian Film Talent Award at SIFF: Indian Actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui has received the Lesley Ho Asian Film Talent Award at the Singapore International Film Festival for his Netflix’s Emmy-nominated original series ‘Sacred Games’. Nawazuddin Siddiqui received the award from a business tycoon from Beijing, Charles Ho. The 30th edition of Singapore International Film Festival (SGIFF) commenced on November 21. It is set to conclude on December 8.

2. Eliud Kipchoge and Dalilah Muhammad Wins World Athlete of the Year 2019: The pioneering marathon runner Eliud Kipchoge, who is the first man to run a marathon in less than two hours, has won the World Athlete of the Year 2019. Besides, the 400 metres hurdles world champion Dalilah Muhammad has been named as the World Athlete of the Year 2019 in women’s category. The World Athlete of the Year award is presented by the World Athletics (formerly IAAF) to athletes participating in events within the sport of athletics including track and field, cross country running, road running, and racewalking.

DEFENCE

1. Indian Army conduct ‘Epic Run 2019’ in West Bengal: Indian Army conducted the ‘Epic Run 2019’ at Pedong, West Bengal in recognition and respect for the soldiers and their Next of Kin (NOK). The Indian Army is commemorating the Year 2019 as the ‘Year of NOK’ (YoNoK). The purpose of the event was to outreach to the Next of Kin and also make aware the students, youth & citizens regarding the unsung sacrifices made and hardships faced by the families of gallant soldiers, who encourage them to always uphold the motto of ‘Nation First’ of the Indian Army,

2. NCC celebrates its 71st Raising Day: The National Cadet Corps (NCC), the world’s largest uniformed youth organization, is celebrating its 71st Raising Day on 24 November. The NCC day which is observed every year on the fourth Sunday of November was celebrated with pomp and gaiety. The NCC Raising Day was also celebrated all over the country with the cadets participating in marches, cultural activities and social development programs. National Cadet Corps is a Tri-Services Organization, comprising the Army, Navy and Air Wing. Many cadets have done the nation and the organization proud by their remarkable achievements in the fields of sports and adventure.

Note: Director-General of NCC: Lt Gen Rajeev Chopra; Founder: Government of the United Kingdom; Founded: 16 April 1948; Headquarters location: New Delhi.

OBITUARIES

1. Former Madhya Pradesh CM Kailash Joshi Passes Away: Former Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, Shri Kailash Joshi died after a prolonged illness. He was 91. Joshi was called as the ‘saint of politics’. He had served as the state’s chief minister from 1977 to 1978. He was MLA for eight terms and also served as a member of both the Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha.