Daily GK Updates - 13th February, 2020

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Amit Shah inaugurated the Conference on Combating Drug Trafficking: Union Home Minister Amit Shah inaugurated a two-day Conference on Combating Drug Trafficking for for Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) Partner Nations, at the Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi. The conference is being organized by the Narcotics Control Bureau. The platform will provide the opportunity to all the member nations to deliberate on the increased threats posed by drug trafficking and the collective steps that are required to negate the threats by learning from the best practices adopted by member countries.

Note: The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) is an international organisation comprising seven countries. These are India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand. BIMSTEC Headquarter: Dhaka, Bangladesh

2. Mumbai Plans to get India’s largest air quality monitoring network: The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has planned to develop a network of 90 air quality monitoring stations in Mumbai. This will make the city that has the largest network of air monitoring in India. The time to complete the project is estimated to be over the next five years. BMC is planning to invest Rs. 9.5 crores to install 80 real-time air monitoring stations. These stations will give location-wise updates on the quality of air. Currently, Mumbai has 30 air quality monitoring stations. Mumbai plans to overtake Delhi, which presently has the largest networking of air quality monitors with 38 monitoring stations.

Note: Chief Minister of Maharashtra: Uddhav Bal Thackeray; Governor of Maharashtra: Bhagat Singh Koshyari; Deputy Chief Minister (DCM) of Maharashtra: Ajit Anantrao Pawar; Capital of Maharashtra: Mumbai.

3. National Workshop on Disaster Risk Financing, Insurance and Risk Transfer held in Mumbai: The National Workshop on Disaster Risk Financing, Insurance and Risk Transfer was held in Mumbai on February 13, 2020. The workshop was organized by the National Institute of Disaster Management (NIDM), in partnership with Insurance Institute of India. Purpose: focus on the importance of financing resilience in areas frequently hit by natural disasters and discuss the issues and challenges faced by different stakeholders in assessment of insurance, along with the capacity gap in undertaking such initiatives. The event was a precursor to the National Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction (NPDRR), to be held in May 2020.

4. Haryana launches ‘Reading Mission’ initiative: The state government of Haryana has launched an initiative called ‘Reading Mission- Haryana’. The initiative was launched to encourage reading habit among the young students of the state. The scheme is on the lines of the ‘Reading Mission 2022’, launched by the central government. Under the state’s initiative, monthly book review sessions and mass book reading are to be organised by students in educational institutions.

Note: Haryana Governor: Satyadeo Narayan Arya; Chief Minister (CM): Manohar Lal Khattar.

5. Piyush Goyal inaugurates Kolkata’s East-West Metro line: Union Railway Minister Piyush Goyal inaugurated the first phase of “East-West Metro line” in Kolkata. In this phase, trains will play from Salt Lake's sector five to Salt Lake Stadium. Passenger services will start in this 5.8 Kilometres stretches from Friday. The services will remain open from 8 in the morning to till 8 at night with 20 minutes frequencies of trains within six stations

Note: Chief Minister of West Bengal: Mamata Banerjee; Governor: Jagdeep Dhankhar.

6. Atul Gupta elected as New President of ICAI: CA Atul Kumar Gupta has been elected as the new President of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) for the term 2020-21. Nihar Niranjan Jambusaria has been elected as the Vice President of the ICAI for 2020-21. The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) is the national professional accounting body of India, established on 1st July 1949.

Note: Headquarters of Institute of Chartered Accountants (ICAI): New Delhi.

7. Dharmendra Rai’s book “The Thin Mind Map Book” launched: “The Thin Mind Map Book” authored by a mind mapping & brain literacy pioneer Dharmendra Rai was launched recently. The book is designed to make anyone an expert in mind mapping by devoting 2 full days to reading & doing all the experiential exercises mentioned in the book. Mr. Rai is a mind mapping & brain literacy pioneer and has a world record of conducting more than 380 mind mapping seminars in under 10 years.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. BIMSTEC Disaster Management Exercise 2020 Held in Odisha: The BIMSTEC Disaster Management Exercise 2020, was held from February 11 to 13 at the Ramachandi Beach, Puri, Odisha. This is the second edition of such exercise. The first edition was held in 2017. The exercise was organised by the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) in Odisha, on behalf of the Government of India. The BIMSTEC Disaster Management Exercise was inaugurated by Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. Representatives of BIMSTEC member countries namely Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh, Myanmar and India participated in the exercise. Bhutan and Thailand did not participate in this edition. Purpose: sharing best practices and expertise, consolidating the disaster response, coordination and cooperation among BIMSTEC countries during disasters. The theme of this year’s exercise is “A cultural heritage site that suffers severe damage in the earthquake and flooding or storm.”

2. UK’s start-up launches 1st big batch of satellites: The UK-based company OneWeb has sent 34 satellites into orbit on a single Soyuz rocket, from Baikonur port, Kazakhstan. The aims are to have the full network in operation by the end of 2021. This is the 50th Soyuz mission conducted by Arianespace, as the company plans to perform 19 more medium-lift Soyuz from three spaceports by 2021. Its mission was to drop its satellite batch into one of 12 planes planned for the constellation.

Note: OneWeb company CEO: Adrian Steckel; OneWeb company Headquarters: London, England.

3. World Radio Day: 13th February: World Radio Day is celebrated on 13 February each year to recognize radio as a powerful medium, which brings people together from every corner of the globe, to promote diversity and help build a more peaceful and inclusive world. The day provides an opportunity to honour how radio is uniquely positioned to bring communities together and promote positive dialogue for change. The theme of World Radio Day 2020 is ‘Radio and Diversity’.

Note: The Day was proclaimed in 2011 by the Member States of UNESCO, and adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 2012

4. Portugal President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa arrives in New Delhi: Portugal President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa has arrived in New Delhi on a four-day visit to India. During the visit, President Sousa will be accorded a ceremonial welcome at Rashtrapati Bhavan tomorrow followed by a visit to Rajghat. President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa will also travel to the states of Maharashtra and Goa during his visit.

OTHER UPDATES:

SPORTS

1. FIFA, FIFPRO to launch global fund for salary protection of players – $16m by 2022: FIFA and FIFPRO (World Players’ Union) will launch a global fund for football players to provide financial support to players who have not been paid and have no chance of duly receiving the wages agreed with their clubs. FIFA has set aside USD 16m for the fund up to 2022, and the allocation will be divided as follows: USD 3m in 2020, USD 4m in 2021 and USD 4m in 2022, plus a further USD 5m set aside for the retroactive protection of players’ salaries for the period between July 2015 and June 2020.

BANKING AND FINANCE

1. Government Notifies ‘Printing of One Rupee Currency Notes Rules, 2020’: The Union Ministry of Finance has notified ‘Printing of One Rupee Currency Notes Rules, 2020’. These include details about the colour, design, standard weight, dimensions etc. The One Rupee notes shall be printed at the note printing presses for issue under the authority of Government of India for circulation. Here are basic features of the new one rupee note:

Dimension – 9.7 x 6.3 cms

Colour: The overall colour will be predominantly pink green on obverse and reverse in combination with others.

Signature: Bilingual signature of Shri Atanu Chakraborty, Secretary, Ministry of Finance.

The new note will have image of ‘Sagar Samrat’, the oil exploration platform. The note will be rectangular, with its paper made of 100 percent (cotton) rag content. The note will be 110 microns thick, weighing 90 GSM (Grams per Square Meter). Multi-tonal watermarks.

Note: Union Minister of Finance and Minister of Corporate Affairs: Nirmala Sitharaman.

AWARDS AND HONOURS

1. President Kovind presents President’s Colour to INS Shivaji: President Ram Nath Kovind presented the President’s Colour to INS Shivaji on 13 February. INS Shivaji is an Indian Naval station located in Lonavala, Maharashtra and houses the Naval College of Engineering which trains officers of the Indian Navy and the Indian Coast Guard. INS Shivaji is commemorating 75 years of its glorious service to the Indian Navy in February 2020.

Note: The President’s Colour is the highest honour that can be bestowed upon any military unit. The motto of this establishment is Karmasu Kaushalam which translates to imbibing the concept of Skill at Work in all facets of human endeavour.

DEFENCE

1. DRDO developing new 200-km strike range Pranash ballistic missile: The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) is developing a 200-km strike range tactical ballistic missile named ‘Pranash’. Use: Will be used by the Army and the Air Force for destroying enemy targets at short ranges. Version: The missile is an advanced version of the 150-km strike range Prahar missile which was being developed for tactical missions. Type: Surface-to-surface ballistic missile and single-stage solid-propellant missile. Strike range: 200 km

Note: DRDO Chairman: G Satheesh Reddy; Established: 1958; Headquarters: New Delhi.

OBITUARIES

 

1. Renowned Journalist Nandu R Kulkarni Passes Away: Veteran journalist Nandu R Kulkarni, has passed away following a heart attack. He was 69. Kulkarni was the Mumbai Bureau Chief of the Kolkata-based newspaper “The Statesman”. He started his career as an intern with ‘The Indian Express’ in 1976 and worked there for 16 years. In 1992, Nandu joined “The Statesman”.