Daily GK Updates - 12th January, 2020

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Amit Shah Inaugurates first-of-its-kind ‘CYBER AASHVAST’ and VISWAS projects: The Union Home Minister Amit Shah inaugurated various people centric projects at Mahatma Mandir in Gandhinagar. Some of the major projects inaugurated includes:

Video Integration and State Wide Advanced Security (VISWAS): It is a first of its kind project in the country launched for major e-governance initiative. It aims at improving Law and Order Management, Proactive traffic management and control, Crime detection through video analytics and Post incident Investigation and video forensics.

Cyber Crime Prevention Unit-AASHVAST Project is a first of its kind unit launched by Gujarat Police to make cyber-space safe for common man through a dedicated helpline service for victims of cyber crimes to provide cyber-security solution.

2. Government to Set up 1023 Fast Track Special Courts under National Mission: The Central Government has started a scheme to set up 1023 Fast Track Special Courts (FTSCs) across the country as a part of National Mission for Safety of Women (NMSW) amid the growing offences of rape and gang rape of minor girls below age of twelve years and similar heinous crimes against women. FTSCs will be set up in different states based on pendency of subject cases obtained from various High Courts for fast and time bound trial and disposal of pending cases related to rape and POCSO Act. Out of 1023 FTSCs, 389 Courts have been proposed to be set up exclusively for POCSO Act related cases in Districts where pendency of such cases is more than 100. 24 have joined this scheme so far and 216 numbers of POCSO courts have already been operationalized in 12 States under the scheme.

3. Union Minister Smriti Irani launched 3 schemes in Goa: The Union minister for women and child development Smriti Irani launched 3 welfare schemes for women in Goa. The schemes are Yashaswini Scheme for Women Entrepreneurship, Swasthya Sahayak Project and breast cancer screening initiative handheld device facilitating detection of cancer.

Under the Yashaswini Scheme for Women Entrepreneurship, the state government provides interest-free loan up to Rs 5 lakh with tenure of 5 years to self-help groups with repayment starting from the second year and the loan to be paid in four instalments.

Under the Swasthya Sahayak scheme, a diagnostic kit will be supplied to primary healthcare workers and Anganwadi workers in the state to help them conduct basic diagnostic tests at people’s doorstep so as to bring an affordable and convenient solution to the common man, who had to stand in queues and wait for days for getting basic diagnostic tests done. The diagnostic kit has been developed by the Public Health Foundation of India, which has partnered with Procter and Gamble to manufacture and supply the kits using corporate social responsibility (CSR) fund.

Under breast cancer screening initiative the handheld devices the Anganwadi and healthcare workers will screen women for breast cancer, reaching out to the women in rural parts of the state. With the help of such a device, the delivery of health services will become more accessible and affordable, he said and added that 20,000 women would be screened for breast cancer.

4. ISRO Planned to Launch IDRSS Satellites for Seamless Communication with Space Crew: The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has planned to launch its own satellite communication system called Indian Data Relay Satellite System (IDRSS) for tracking and communication of its space assets. The IDRSS will have a constellation of two geo satellites, which will be deployed in phases. The first satellites will be launched into low-Earth orbit by the end of 2020, ahead of the unmanned Gaganyaan test flight, while the second satellite will be launched in 2021, before the manned mission is embarked in 2022. IDRSS will help ISRO’s ground control room to uniformly monitor India’s spaceflights and communicate with them at any given point of time, and can be used in both low orbit missions and farther missions such as those to the moon, Mars and beyond.

5. National Youth Day: 12th January: National Youth Day (Yuva Diwas) is celebrated every year on 12 January. On this day Swami Vivekananda was born. He was one of the greatest social reformer, thinker, and philosopher of India.

On the birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda, 23rd National Youth Festival 2020 started with a grand inauguration ceremony in Lucknow. The National Youth Festival 2020 is organized by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports and State Government of Uttar Pradesh. The theme of the 23rd National Youth Festival 2020 is “FIT YOUTH FIT INDIA”.

Note: Swami Vivekananda was born on 12th January 1863 in the Pausha Krishna Saptami tithi and died on 4 July 1902. He was the chief disciple of the 19th-century saint Ramakrishna Paramahamsa and the founder of the Ramakrishna Math and the Ramakrishna Mission. He was one of the most prominent figures of India who introduced Indian philosophies of Vedanta and Yoga to the 'Western' World. The day was declared in 1984 by the Government of India and held annually since 1985. January 12, 2020 marks 157th birth anniversary of Swami Vivekanand.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Tsai Ing-wen wins Taiwan presidential election: Tsai Ing-wen has secured a second term in office in Taiwan after winning the presidential election with 57.1 per cent of the votes. Tsai won 8.17 million votes, while her main rival Han Kuo-yu bagged 5.52 million votes (38.6 percent). Her Democratic Progressive party retained control of the legislature, according to final results. 63-year old Tsai was the first female leader of the country, when she assumed charge for first term in May 2016.

Note: Capital of Taiwan: Taipei; Currency of Taiwan: New Taiwan dollar

2. India invited as guest of honour at Paris Book Fair 2020: India will be attending the Paris Book Fair 2020 as the guest of honour country. The annual fair will be held in March 2020. This will be the third time that India would be the guest country at the fair after 2002 and 2007. To continue the cultural exchange, France is expected to be the guest of honour at the New Delhi World Book Fair 2022.

3. Om Birla attends CSPOC Standing Committee Meeting in Ottawa: Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla attended the Standing Committee Meeting of the Conference of Speakers and Presiding Officers of the Commonwealth (CSPOC) in the Canadian capital Ottawa. Birla is leading an Indian Parliamentary delegation- comprising of Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Harivansh and Lok Sabha Secretary-General Snehlata Shrivastava- to the 25th CSPOC being held in Ottawa from January 5 to January 11.

OTHER UPDATES:

SPORTS

1. Kento Momota of Japan Wins 2020 Malaysia Masters Badminton Tournament: World number one Kento Momota of Japan won the 2020 Malaysia Masters defeating Denmark’s Viktor Axelsen 24-22, 21-11 on 12 January 2020. The 2020 Malaysia Masters was the first tournament of the 2020 BWF World Tour.

2. Karolina Pliskova Claims 2020 Brisbane International Tennis Tournament: Czech Republic’s Karolina Pliskova defeat Madison Keys of United States 6-4, 4-6, 7-5 to win 2020 Brisbane International Tennis Tournament held at Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. This was Pliskova’s third Brisbane title in four years and her 16th on the WTA tour. In doubles category, Hsieh Su-wei and Barbora Strýcova defeated Ashleigh Barty and Kiki Bertens. Brisbane International is a WTA Premier tournament of the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) Tour.

BANKING AND FINANCE

1. HDFC Bank Acquires majority stake in Apollo Munich Health Insurance for Rs 1,495.81 crore: The mortgage lender Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC) has announced the completion of the acquisition of majority stake (51.16%) in Apollo Munich Health Insurance Company for Rs. 1,495.81 crore. The acquisition was approved by the Competition Commission of India (CCI), the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), and the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRADI) by 01 January 2020. Subsequently, the Apollo Munich has been renamed as HDFC ERGO Health Insurance and will operate as a subsidiary of HDFC. MD and CEO: Anuj Tyagi, Executive Director and Chief Business Officer at HDFC ERGO Health Insurance has been appointed as the new MD and CEO of the new entity HDFC ERGO Health Insurance. However, the appointment is subject to approval of IRDAI. Future plans: HDFC will merge HDFC ERGO General with ERGO Health and will soon apply to seek approval for the same to the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT). Post merger, the merged entity will be the second largest private insurer in accident and health segment in the country.

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY

1. Andhra Pradesh Government signs Rs 711 cr MoU with German development bank: The German state-owned development bank, KfW has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Andhra Pradesh government for Zero-Budget Natural Farming (ZBNF) Under the MoU, KfW will provide Rs 711 crore loan to Andhra Pradesh for expanding the climate-resilient Zero-Budget Natural Farming (ZBNF) in the state over the next five years. Additionally, the state government will spend another Rs 304 crore on the project. Around 2.39 lakh farmers in 591 village panchayats of the state will be encouraged to take up ZBNF under the project.

2. IBM announces appointment of company veteran Sandip Patel as new India MD: Global tech major IBM announced the appointment of Sandip Patel as the new managing director for India and South Asia. Patel, who has been with the US-headquartered company since 2002, succeeds Karan Bajwa who has decided to pursue opportunities outside of IBM.

DEFENCE

1. India deploys INS Vikramaditya in Arabian Sea amid China-Pak naval drill ‘Sea Guardians’: China and Pakistan are conducting their nine-day mega naval exercise ‘Sea Guardians’ in the North Arabian Sea from 06 January 2020 to increase inter-operability and strategic cooperation between their two navies. On the other hand, India Navy too deployed its aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya in the Arabian Sea, to send a clear strategic signal to them about its operational readiness and combat capability in the maritime domain. Top officials of the Naval headquarters are personally keeping close watch on the ‘Sea Guardians’ from the aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya deploying MiG29K fighters on board.