Daily GK Updates - 1st January, 2020

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Indore tops national cleanliness rankings for first two quarters: The Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) has announced the results of the 1st and 2nd quarters of the SwachhSurvekshan 2020.Around 4,372 cities participated in the league. The rankings were conducted in a league format for the first time and were split into three quarters (April to June, July to September and October to December 2019) and different categories based on the population of the city.The rankings were based on collection, transportation, processing and disposal of waste.Some key results of the SwachhSurvekshan 2020:

Top three cities with over 10 lakh population in 1st quarter (April to June): (1) Indore (Madhya Pradesh); (2) Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh); (3) Surat (Gujarat)

Top three cities with over 10 lakh population in 2nd quarter (July to September): (1) Indore (Madhya Pradesh); (2) Rajkot (Gujarat); (3) Navi Mumbai (Maharashtra)

Top two cities with 1 lakh to 10 lakh population in 1st quarter (April to June): (1) Jamshedpur (Jharkhand); (2) New Delhi

Top two cities with 1 lakh to 10 lakh population in 2nd quarter (July to September): (1) Jamshedpur (Jharkhand); (2) Chandrapur (Maharashtra)

Note: Ministers of State (Independent Charge) of Housing and Urban Affairs: Hardeep Singh Puri.

2. Bengaluru set to host the 107th edition of the Indian Science Congress: Bengaluru will host the 107th edition of the Indian Science Congress. It will be the ninth time the city will host the annual convention. University of Agricultural Sciences (UAS), Bengaluru will host the event.The congress has chosen ‘science and technology: rural development’ as its theme for the 107th edition. A Farmer’s Science Congress will take part in it for the first time, hence providing a platform for innovative farmers.There will also be a ‘Women’s Science Congress’, ‘Children’s Science Congress’, ‘Science Communicator’s Meet’, and ‘Science Exhibition: Pride of India’. The convention will see the participation of over 15,000 delegates, including 8,000 students from across the country and 74 scientists from abroad.

3. Political Parties Registration Tracking Management System launched by EC: The Election Commission of India has launched a Political Parties Registration Tracking Management System (PPRTMS). The system enables the applicants to track the status of the applications for the party registration.The Commission has also amended the guidelines for registration which came into force from 1st January 2020. Under the new guidelines, the applicants applying for the party registration from 1st of January 2020 will be able to track the progress of applications and will get the status through SMS and e-mail.An association seeking registration has to submit an application to the Commission within a period of 30 days from the date of its formation. This should be done as per the guidelines prescribed by the Commission in exercise of the powers conferred by Article 324 of the Constitution of India and Section 29A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951.The status can be tracked through the Commission’s portal “pprtms.eci“.

Note: The registration of political parties is governed by the provisions of Section 29A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951.

4. Deadline for Linking PAN-Aadhaar Extended till March 2020: The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has extended the last date for the mandatory linking of the Permanent Account Number (PAN) with Aadhaar till March 2020. The earlier deadline was December 31.This is the eighth time that the deadline has been extended for individuals to link their PAN with Aadhaar.In September 2018, Supreme Court had declared the Centre’s flagship Aadhaar scheme as constitutionally valid and made biometric ID mandatory for the filing of I-T returns and allotment of the PAN.

5. Venkaiah Naidu Releases Book of ArunJaitley Titled ‘The Renaissance Man-The Many Facets of ArunJaitley’: India’s Vice President Shri M Venkaiah Naidu released a book on former Finance Minister Late Shri ArunJaitley on his birth Anniversary on December 28, 2019.The book titled- ‘The Renaissance Man-The Many Facets of ArunJaitley’ has writings on Jaitley compiled by MuppavarapuHarshavardhan and Deepa Venkat, the son and daughter of Naidu.

6. 27th National children’s science congress 2019 held in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala: The 27th edition of National Children’s Science Congress (NCSC) 2019 was held in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala from December 27 -31,2019.The congress was attended by the Vice President of India M Venkaiah Naidu. The theme of the congress was “Science, Technology, and Innovation for a clean, green and healthy nation” Jointly organized by Kerala state council for science, technology, and environment (KSCSTE) and Department of Science and Technology, Government of India the congress was inaugurated on by the Chief Minister (CM) of Kerala, PinarayiVijayan.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Palau the first country to ban reef-bleaching toxic sunscreen: The Pacific nation of Palau has become the first country in the world to ban sunscreen that is harmful to corals and sea life.From January 1, sunscreen that includes ingredients like oxybenzone and octinoxate is no longer allowed to be worn or sold in the Palau.The compounds are commonly used in sunscreen formulas as they absorb ultraviolet A rays.

Note: A lagoon in Palau’s Rock Islands is a Unesco World Heritage site. Palau is renowned for its marine life and is regarded as one of the world’s best diving destinations.

President of Palau: Tommy Remengesau; Capital: Ngerulmud; Currency: US Dollar.

2. Nepal launches ‘Visit Nepal Year 2020’ campaign: President of Nepal Bidya Devi Bhandari launched a much-awaited Visit Nepal Year 2020 campaign amidst a spectacular ceremony held at historic DasarathaRangashala in Kathmandu on January 1, 2019.The ambitious campaign is aimed to promote tourism in Nepal and attract 2 million tourists during the year 2020.Visit Nepal Year 2020 will create a new image of Nepal in the hearts and minds of the world community. Mythical creature Yeti has been selected as a mascot of the campaign.The campaign was also launched in all seven provinces of Nepal.

Note: President of Nepal: Bidhya Devi Bhandari; Currency of Nepal: Nepalese rupee.

3. Violence against Children surpassed to 1,70,000: UNICEF Report: The annual report published by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) on December 31, 2019, stated that since 1989, the number of countries experiencing conflicts has increased and the attacks on children have increased as well.UNICEF has named the last decade as “Deadly Decade” because as per the report, the number of attacks on children since 2010 has increased to three-fold.The world agency responsible for providing humanitarian and developmental aid to children around the world says that in 2018, around 24,000 grave violations were recorded against children and the number has gone up highly to 1,70,000 in 2019.This includes abductions, killing, sexual violence, maiming, child recruitment, denial of humanitarian access and attacks in schools and hospitals.

OTHER UPDATES:

SPORTS

1. Lawn bowls & Cycling to be included in 3rd Khelo India Games:Chief Executive Officer of “Khelo India Games” has announced that “Lawn bowls” and “cycling” will be included in the 3rd edition of Khelo India Games. The two games will be included in the event for the first time. The 3rd edition of the tournament will be held in Guwahati, Assam in January 2020, in which 6500 athletes from 37 teams are expected to take part.Athletes from all over the country will be coming to Guwahati for the Khelo India Youth Games.

Note: Chief Executive Officer of “Khelo India Games”: Avinash Joshi.

2. Weightlifter Seema receives four-year ban for doping: India’s Commonwealth Championship silver medallist weightlifter Seema has been slapped with a four-year suspension for a doping violation.In a statement, the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) said Seema’s dope sample was collected this year during the 34th Women National Weightlifting Championship in Vishakhapatnam.“Presence of prohibited substances were found in her system during an ongoing Championship to enhance her performance which amounted to a clear cut case of cheating and outright violation of National Anti-Doping rules,” said a statement.

BANKING AND FINANCE

1. “MANI” to help visually challenged to identify currency notes: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has launched a mobile app “Mobile Aided Note Identifier (MANI)”. The visually challenged people can identify the denomination of a currency note by using the mobile app “MANI”.The application also works offline once installed. The application scans the currency notes using the camera of the mobile phone and also gives audio output in Hindi and English. The app does not authenticate a note as either genuine or counterfeit.

Note: RBI 25th Governor: Shaktikant Das; Headquarters: Mumbai; Founded: 1 April 1935, Kolkata.

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY

1. India may overtake Germany to become the fourth-largest economy by 2026: The report titled 'World Economic League Table 2020' was released by the UK-based Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR).According to the report, India is expected to become the fourth-largest economy by 2026 and the third-largest by 2034.The CEBR report states that India would surpass Germany to become the fourth-largest economy by 2026 and further topple Japan in 2034 to become the third-largest economy.Today, India is the fifth-largest economy in the World after the US (20.49 trillion USD), China (13.41 trillion USD), Japan (4.97 trillion USD) and Germany (4 trillion USD).India has decisively overtaken both France and the UK to become the world's fifth-largest economy in 2019.

AWARDS AND HONOURS

1. Sanjay Gupta to be honoured with LokmanyaTilak journalism award: Sanjay Gupta, the editor-in-chief of 'Jagran', will be honoured with the 'LokmanyaTilak National Journalism Award' for his contribution to the field of journalism.The award, instituted by the Kesari-Maratha Trust, will be conferred on Gupta in Pune on 139th Foundation Day of 'Kesari', the newspaper started by LokmanyaTilak.The award is given to recognize the work of an individual, which he or she has carried out for the larger good of the journalistic field.The award aims to promote the courageous and idealistic journalistic practices started by LokmanyaTilak.

2. IMS and Sum Hospital conferred with Six Sigma Healthcare Excellence Award 2019: The Institute of Medical Sciences (IMS) and SUM Hospital was adjudged the best medical college of the year and conferred with the Six Sigma Healthcare Excellence Award for 2019.Union Minister of State for Finance and Corporate Affairs Anurag Thakur presented the award at a special function held at New Delhi.SOA University also won a separate award on the occasion as its founder president ManojranjanNayak was chosen as the dynamic entrepreneur of the year.