Daily GK Updates - 29th December, 2019

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Haryana to Observe the Year 2020 as Susashan Sankalp Varsh: Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar has announced to observe the year 2020 as “Susashan Sankalp Varsh”. As a part of this, suggestions and reforms in the field of governance would be invited from people of the State He dedicated a website would also be prepared on which the people could upload their suggestions. Besides this, CM Manohar Khattar also launched five new e-initiatives:

(1) Lokayukta portal; (2) Addition of 42 new schemes and services on the dedicated Saral portal, taking the number of such schemes and services to 527; (3) Launch of websites of all 22 districts in the state; (4) Integration of 91 Tehsils to Web Helris (‘Web-Helris’ is a web-enabled integrated solution for deed registration and land records management); (5) Digital map of village Sirsi (district Karnal), making it first village in the State to become ‘Lal Dora free’.

Note: Haryana Capital: Chandigarh; CM: ManoharLalkhattar; Governor: Satyadev Narayan Arya

2. Bihar CM Nitish Kumar unveils life-size statue of Arun Jaitley in Patna: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar unveiled a life-size statue of former Union Minister Arun Jaitley (28 December 1952– 24 August 2019) at Kankarbagh area in Patna, Bihar on his birth anniversary on December 28, 2019. The state shall henceforth observe Jaitley’s birth anniversary as a state function every year.

3. Hemant Soren sworn in as Chief Minister of Jharkhand: Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) leader Hemant Soren (44-years) took oath as the 11th Chief Minister of the state. Jharkhand Governor Draupadi Murmu administered the oath of office to Mr Soren at Morhabadi grounds in Ranchi. Along with Mr. Soren, Congress Legislature Party Leader Alamgir Alam, Rameshwar Oraon (state Congress president) and Satyanand Bhokta (RJD-MLA) were also sworn in as state cabinet ministers. Earlier, Hemant Soren had served as the 5th Chief Minister of Jharkhand (13 July 2013 – 28 December 2014). In the 81-member Jharkhand Assembly, JMM-Congress-RJD alliance has won 47 seats in the recently concluded Assembly elections and BJP - 25 seats.

Note: Jharkhand Capital: Ranchi

4. Madhya Pradesh: Mandu festival starts in Mandu: Five-day event ‘Mandu Festival’ (1st- edition) kicked-off at Mandu, a world-famous picturesque tourist destination located in Dhar district of Madhya Pradesh. Mandu Festival’ has been organised by Madhya Pradesh Tourism Board to dive deep into the rich history of the city. Based on the idea of ‘Khojne Me Kho Jao’, the Mandu festival is offering an eclectic mix of performing arts, workshops, nature trails, food, architecture and music to the visitors. Visitors can also explore the trail on cycling tours, walking tours or jump onto the Hop-In-Hop-Out buses to dive deep into the rich history of the city.

Note: Madhya Pradesh Capital: Bhopal; CM: Kamal Nath; Governor: Anandhiben Patel

5. HM Amit Shah lays Foundation Stone of India’s First transit-oriented development project ‘East Delhi Hub’: The Union Home Minister Amit Shah laid the foundation stone for India’s first transit-oriented development (TOD) project in New Delhi, under which a state-of-the-art infrastructure zone will be constructed. The TOD infrastructure project has been titled as ‘East Delhi Hub’. The project will be developed at Karkardooma area spread over an area of 30 hectares and will come in the next three and a half years. It will include a 48-storey signature tower, which will become Delhi’s tallest tower. The project will be implemented by National Buildings Construction Corporation (NBCC).

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Astronaut Christina Koch records longest single spaceflight by woman: NASA Astronaut Christina Koch has created a record for the longest single spaceflight by a woman. She has surpassed the earlier record of 288 days in space which was previously established by NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson in 2017. She would return to Earth in February 2020. Till then, she would have spent more than 300 days in the space. She is onboard the International Space Station since 14th March 2019.

Note: The world record for the single longest mission by any space explorer whether man or woman, is held by cosmonaut Valery Polyakov, who spent 438 consecutive days on board Russia’s former space station Mir from January 1994 to March 1995.

Headquarters of NASA: Washington, D.C; Established: July 29,1958.

2. UAE extends 300 million US dollars of development aid to Jordan: The Abu Dhabi Fund for Development (ADFD) announced that it is providing 300 million US dollars as development aid to the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. In a statement the UAE government stated that the UAE leadership’s decision reaffirms the commitment to standing alongside the brotherly leadership and people of Jordan, reflecting the nation’s foreign policy that carries the legacy of the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan and continues under the leadership of President Sheikh Khalifa. Thousands of refugees have been pouring into Jordan to escape Syria’s civil war. Syria shares the northern border with Jordan. According to an UN estimate the Hashemite kingdom hosts about 630,000 Syrian refugees while Jordan claims that the number is over 4 million.

Note: UAE Capital: Abu Dhabi; Currency: United Arab Emirates dirham; President: Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan

Jordan Capital: Amman; Currency: Jordanian dinar; Prime minister: Omar Razzaz

OTHER UPDATES:

SPORTS

1. Australia paceman Peter Siddle retires from international cricket: Australian pace bowler Peter Siddle has announced his retirement from International Cricket. In his career of 11 years, he represented Australia in 67 Tests, 20 ODIs and 2 Twenty20 matches. He took 221 wickets in 67 Test matches. He started his International Cricket career against India in 2008.

2. Koneru Humpy becomes Women's World Rapid Chess Champion: Indian grandmaster Koneru Humpy (32 years) has become the 2019 Women's World Rapid Champion. She defeated China's Lei Tingjie in a dramatic final in Moscow, Russia. After losing the opening game, Humpy made an impressive comeback and collected nine points each in 12 rounds to be tied with Tingjie. China’s Lei Tingjie won the silver and Ekaterina Atalik of Turkey settled with bronze. Humpy is only the second Indian to win the rapid gold in the current format after Vishwanathan Anand who won it in 2017. Norway's Magnus Carlsen claimed the men's title.

BANKING AND FINANCE

1. Finance Minister launches an e-auction platform “eBkray”: Finance Minister has launched an e-auction platform “eBkray“. The platform will enable online auction of attached assets by banks. The platform provides navigational links to all PSB e-auction sites, property search feature. It also presents single-window access to information on properties up for e-auction, comparison of similar properties, and also contains videos and photographs of the uploaded properties.

Note: Union Finance Minister: Nirmala Sitharaman.

2. SBI to implement OTP-based ATM cash withdrawals from January 1, 2020: State Bank of India will introduce One Time Password (OTP)-based ATM cash withdrawals. The step has been taken to reduce the occurrences of unauthorised transactions happening at ATMs. SBI will introduce one-time password for every cash withdrawal of Rs 10,000 and above between 8 am and 8 pm. The OTP-based cash withdrawal will be effective from January 1, 2020 across all SBI ATMs. When an SBI cardholder will enter the amount of cash he/she wishes to withdraw, a screen will appear asking for the OTP. The customer will then have to put the OTP that the bank will send to the registered mobile number.

Note: Chairperson of SBI: Rajnish Kumar; Headquarters: Mumbai; Founded: 1 July 1955.

3. RBI appoints J&K Bank as Lead Bank Convenor for UT of J&K: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has appointed Jammu & Kashmir Bank Ltd. as the UTLBC (Union Territory Lead Bank Convenor) for the newly carved out Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir. State Bank of India (SBI) will be the lead convenor bank for Union Territory of Ladakh.

Note: SBI Founded: 1 July, 1955; Headquarters: Mumbai, Maharashtra; Chairperson: Rajnish Kumar.

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY

1. HDFC Life partners with Paytm to expand its distribution: HDFC Life Insurance has partnered with Paytm to expand its distribution. The partnership is aimed to enable customers of Paytm to purchase insurance products from HDFC Life. HDFC Life Insurance is constantly exploring opportunities to create and sustain new partnerships to strengthen its distribution network. With the partnership, HDFC Life Insurance aims to increase insurance penetration in India and to simplify the customers experience right from the purchase to the claim process.

2. Mastercard signs agreement to acquire RiskReckon: Mastercard has announced an agreement to acquire RiskRecon. RiskRecon is one of the leading providers of data analytics solutions and artificial intelligence focused on cyber-risk and security and offering solutions to mitigate cyber risks faced by the companies. The acquisition would enhance the cyber-security systems for MasterCard which offers payment processing services on a global scale.

Note: CEO and Co-Founder of RiskRecon: Kelly White.

3. IMF Retains India’s Growth Forecast at 6.1% for FY20: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) in its latest report has retained India’s economic growth forecast at 6.1% for FY20. IMF’s projection is much higher than those by most agencies for FY20.

Reserve Bank of India (RBI): 5%.

Standard & Poor’s: 5.1%.

Moody’s: 4.9 %

Fitch’: 4.6 %

Note: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is an international organization headquartered in Washington, D.C. (United States). The IMF (Created in 1945) is governed by and accountable to the 189 countries that make up its near-global membership.

AWARDS AND HONOURS

1. Aayushi Dholakia becomes first Indian to win Miss Teen International 2019: India’s Aayushi Dholakia has won the 2019 Miss Teen International by beating participants from 22 countries. She was crowned by the previous year winner Odalys Duarte of Mexico. With this, she became the first Indian as well as Asian to win the title in the 27 years history of the beauty pageant. Yessenia Garcia (Paraguay) came as the First Runners-Up and Anicia Gaothusi from Botswana came as the Second Runners-Up.

Note: The 27th edition of the Miss Teen International pageant 2019 was held at the JaiBagh Palace in Jaipur, India.

2. Srikkanth & Anjum Chopra to receive BCCI’s CK Nayudu Lifetime Achievement Award 2019:

Former India captain Krishnamachari Srikkanth (a member of the 1983 World Cup-winning team) has been named as the recipient of the prestigious CK Nayudu Lifetime Award for the year 2019. Former India women’s captain Anjum Chopra (42-year) is the co-recipient of the lifetime achievement award for the year 2019. The 60-year-old Srikkanth played 43 Tests, scoring 2062 runs with two hundred and 12 half-centuries. They will be conferred with the Lifetime Achievement award for their contributions to Indian cricket. They will receive the award during the BCCI Annual Award function in Mumbai on 12th January 2020.

DEFENCE

1. Home Minister lays foundation stone of CRPF Headquarters in New Delhi: Union Home Minister laid the foundation stone of Directorate General Building of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) in New Delhi. The new building at a cost of Rs 280 crore will have all modern facilities and green amenities. It will also have effective control and command system with modern training modules for 3.5 lakh strong force to enhance their operational capability. The Home Minister also launched a new logo “Garud” for those engaged in providing security to the common man and VIPs.

Note: Director General CRPF: Rajeev Rai Bhatnagar.

Union Home Minister: Amit Shah.

2. New Delhi hosts 49th Border Coordination Conference between BSF & BGB: 49th Border Coordination Conference between border guarding forces of India and Bangladesh was held in New Delhi. The Indian delegation was headed by DG Border Security Force Vivek Kumar Johri and the Bangladesh delegation was headed by DG of Border Guards Bangladesh (BGB) Md Shafeenul Islam. The conference focused on co-operation in Border Guarding and Border Management between the two forces. During the conference, both forces agreed to make all possible efforts to curb the menace of cattle smuggling or any other criminal activity and to ensure tranquility on the borders.

Note: Director General of Border Security Force: Vivek Kumar Johri.

Bangladesh Capital: Dhaka; Currency: Taka; PM: Sheikh Hasina.

OBITUARIES

1. Vishwesha Tirtha Swami of Pejawar Mutt passes away: Vishwesha Theertha Swami of Pejawar mutt (88-years) passed away in the coastal town of Udupi in Karnataka. He was ordained as a monk at the age of eight in 1938, as the 33rd seer in the linage or ‘guru parampara’ of the Pejawar Mutt. Vishwesha Tirtha Swami made history by becoming the only seer among the seers of the Ashta Mutts (eight mutts) of Udupi, which propagate the Dwaita philosophy, to have performed five biennial Paryayas. He had established Poornaprajna Vidyapeetha in Bangalore which has completed over 63 years.