Daily GK Updates - 17th January, 2020

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. No documents or biometric required for National Population Register (NPR): Home Ministry: The Government has informed that no documents will be asked and no biometric will be taken for National Population Register (NPR) exercise to be carried out between April and September 2020. The NPR is a register of usual residents of the country. The NPR exercise will be carried out in all states and UTs, except Assam, along with the house listing phase of the census 2021 exercise. The Union Cabinet has approved Rs. 3,941.35 crore for the NPR exercise. Assam has been excluded because the National Register of Citizens (NRC) exercise has already been conducted in the state.

2. India’s first global Mega-Science Exhibition ‘Vigyan Samagam’ to be held in New Delhi: The fourth and final leg of the first-of-its-kind, multi-venue Mega Science exhibition named “Vigyan Samagam” will be held at the National Science Centre (NSC) in New Delhi from 21 January to 20 March, 2020 The 11-month duration Vigyan Samagam is being hosted at four cities, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Kolkata and Delhi, from May 2019 to March 2020, with around two months at each venue. The previous three leg of the exhibition took place as given below:

1. Mumbai – 8 May to 7 July, 2019

2. Bengaluru – 29 July to 28 September, 2019

3. Kolkata – 4 November to 31 December, 2019

This exhibition is jointly organised by the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), Department of Science and Technology (DST), the funding agencies of these projects, the National Council of Science Museums (NCSM) and Ministry of Culture. After the successful completion of the exibition in New Delhi, it will remain as a permanent exhibition at New Delhi and will be taken care-off by NCSM.

3. First Agribusiness and Rural Development Summit “Krishi Manthan” Held in Gujarat: The first edition of the Krishi Manthan, the largest Food, Agri-business and Rural Development Summit of Asia was held at Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIMA) in Gujarat on 16-17 January 2020. The Summit was organised by the Food and Agribusiness Committee of IIMA. More than 1,500 delegates including students and academicians participated in the two-day event to share ideas, knowledge, and expertise to create solutions. It is an exclusive platform for industry, academia, and policymakers to share ideas, knowledge, and expertise to create solutions.

4. Arunachal Pradesh has signed a (MoU) with the IUCN: Arunachal Pradesh signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) to red-listing of orchids. The state has become the first state to initiate the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) red listing at the state level.

About IUCN Red List: The IUCN’s Red List of Threatened Species is a critical indicator of the health of the world’s biodiversity. The list has been acting as a powerful tool to inform and catalyze action for biodiversity conservation and policy change. IUCN has projected that it is complexities to protect natural resources.

IUCN Founded on: 5 October 1948; Located at: Gland, Switzerland; Director-General: Grethel Aguilar; President: Zhang Xinsheng

5. Dr Mihir Shah appointed Chairman of the Committee to draft the National Water Policy: Dr Mihir Shah, Distinguished Professor at the University has been appointed the Chairman of the Committee to draft the National Water Policy. The committee established by the Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, Government of India will outline the new National Water Policy (NWP) for the country. The committee, comprising of 11 members including Dr Shah, will draft the National Water Policy (NWP) and will submit this to the government within six months from the date of its constitution.

6. IIM-Indore signs MoU with TikTok to provide short video modules: The Indian Institute of Management, Indore has signed an MoU with the video sharing platform “TikTok”. The MoU will facilitate the production of short video modules for students and trained professionals. IIM-Indore Partners TikTok to produce short video lessons on management The Indian Institute of Management, Indore has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with video-sharing application TikTok to produce short video modules on management courses for students and trained professionals. The MoU includes preparing new education modules of short video content storytelling and implement them in communication, negotiation, and marketing and strategy programs, both in flagship programs as well as executive programs of the institute.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Russian Duma (Lower house) approves Mikhali Mishustin as the new Prime Minister: Russian assembly or the Duma on 16th January approved Mikhail V. Mishustin as the new Prime Minister, a little-known technocrat picked by President Vladimir Putin, a day after the Cabinet resigned as part of an unexpected Kremlin shake-up. Putin proposed major changes to the Russian Constitution that would spread political power more evenly, away from the president to the Parliament, the State Council and other government institutions.

2. India to host SCO heads of govt meeting later this year: India to host the 19th Edition of Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Council of Heads of Government meeting 2020. This would be the first high-level meeting of the SCO that would be organised here since India’s admission to the eight-member grouping. India took over the presidency of the heads of government’ meeting last year and it was announced in the 18th meeting of the SCO’s Council of heads of government-held in Tashkent in 2019.

Note: The economic and security bloc which initially comprised of China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, included India and Pakistan in 2017.

SCO Headquarters: Beijing, China; Secretary General: Vladimir Norov; Founded: 26 April 1996

3. Senior Indian Advocate Harish Salve Appointed Queen’s Counsel for Courts of England & Wales: Noted Indian lawyer Harish Salve has been appointed as Queen’s Counsel (QC) for the courts of England and Wales. The title of Queen’s Counsel is awarded to lawyers who have demonstrated particular skill and expertise in the conduct of advocacy. Salve, along with other appointees will be formally appointed as QC on March 16, 2020. Advocate Salve served as a Solicitor General for India from November 1999 to November 2002. He is known for representing India before the International Court of Justice in the Kulbhushan Jadhav extradition case.

OTHER UPDATES:

BANKING AND FINANCE

1. UN lowers India’s growth forecast for FY20 to 5.7%: GDP growth in India and few other large emerging countries may gain some momentum this year after the global economy recorded its lowest growth of 2.3 per cent in 2019 due to prolonged trade disputes, a UN study. According to the United Nations World Economic Situation and Prospects (WESP) 2020, a growth rate of 2.5 per cent is possible in 2020, but a flare up of trade tensions, financial turmoil, or an escalation of geopolitical tensions could derail a recovery. It lowered its GDP growth estimate for India to 5.7 per cent in the current fiscal (from 7.6 per cent forecast in WESP 2019) and lowered its forecast for the next fiscal to 6.6 per cent (from 7.4 per cent earlier). It has also forecast a growth rate of 6.3 per cent for the fiscal beginning in 2021.

AWARDS AND HONOUR

1. Sindhi writer “Vasdev Mohi” to be conferred with 29th Saraswati Samman: Eminent Sindhi writer Vasdev Mohi will be conferred with 29th Saraswati Samman a literary recognition given annually by the KK Birla Foundation. He has been selected for this prestigious literary award for his short stories collection- ‘Chequebook’, a collection of short stories in Sindhi, published in 2012. ‘Chequebook’ highlights the life of a domestic helper, facing ill-treatment from her husband and hardships because of poverty. Saraswati Samman carries a cash award of 15 lakh rupees, a citation and a plaque. Mr Mohi has authored 25 books of poetry, stories and translations. He has also received Sahitya Akademi Award.

2. Indian scientist Sakya Singha Sen awarded “Merck Young Scientist Award 2019: Indian scientist Sakya Singha Sen from National Chemical Laboratory (CSIR-NCL) Pune, has been awarded “Merck Young Scientist Award 2019” for doing remarkable research in chemical science. This award is instituted by Merck, a science and technology company operating worldwide. Sen and his research team specializes in main group chemistry and involves in the synthesis of compounds with main group element and their catalytic application.

DEFENCE

1. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh flags off 51st K9 VAJRA-T gun: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh flagged off 51st K9 VAJRA-T Gun from Larsen & Toubro (L&T) Armoured System Complex at Hazira in Gujarat.

The ‘K9 VAJRA-T’ Tracked, Self-Propelled Howitzer Guns are being manufactured by Larsen & Toubro under the contract awarded to the company by Ministry of Defence through global competitive bidding to deliver 100 such guns. More than 75 percent of K9 Vajra has been manufactured in India. The gun weighs 50 tonnes and can fire 47-kilogram bombs at targets up to a distance of 43 kilometres. It can also turn around at zero radius.