Daily GK Updates - 6th February, 2020

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. PM Modi announces setting up of ‘Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra’: Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced in the Parliament that Cabinet has approved the Ram Mandir Trust named as ‘Shri Ram Janmbhoomi Teerth Kshetra’. There will be 15 trustees in Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust while one trustee will always be from Dalit society. K. Parasaran (92-years) has been appointed the chairman of the trust, take decision-related to the construction of the temple.

2. UP government approves five acre land to Sunni Waqf Board in Ayodhya: Uttar Pradesh cabinet government headed by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has approved five-acre land to Sunni Waqf Board at village Dhannipur under Sohaval Tehsil near Raunahi police station in Ayodhya district. The proposed land is 18 kilometres from Ayodhya. The supreme court in its historic decision on 9th November 2019 had ordered to allot five-acre land in Ayodhya to Sunni Waqf Board for construction of a Mosque.

3. Atal Innovation Mission starts “series of innovation demo days”: Atal Innovation Mission, NITI Aayog has begin a series of innovation demo days. The series aims to unite the stakeholders of the food processing and agriculture sector in India. The innovation demo days will act as a platform where start-ups, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), entrepreneurs, corporate partners and sector academics are brought together to be spectator of government-funded innovations.

4. Union Cabinet clears the setting up of Major Port at Vadhavan: The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given its in-principle approval for setting up a new Major Port at Vadhavan near Dahanu in Maharashtra. The new Major Port will be established on the basis of land lord model. The projected cost of the Vadhavan Port is over Rs 65,000 crore. For the implementation of the project, a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) will be formed along the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) which will act as the lead partner with equity participation of 50% or more.

5. 5 IIITs to get the status of Institution of National Importance: The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved to bestow the status of Institution of National Importance to the five Indian Institutes of Information Technology (IIITs). The status will be provided with the inception of the Indian Institutes of Information Technology Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2020. The bill will provide the status of Institutions of National Importance to the remaining five IIITs along with the existing 15 IIITs in PPP mode. The 5 IIITs in PPP mode includes IIITs in Bhopal, Raichur, Bhagalpur, Agartala and Surat.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. US Prez Donald Trump acquitted of all impeachment charges: The United States President Donald Trump has been acquitted of all impeachment charges. The US Senate has acquitted President Trump on two articles of impeachment that are the abuse of power and obstruction to Congress. The Republican-majority Senate voted 52-48 to acquit him of abuse of power and 53-47 to acquit him of obstruction of Congress.

Note: Capital of the United States, the Washington, D.C.; Currency: Dollar

2. Romania's pro-European govt collapses after no-confidence vote: Romania's pro-European government collapsed in a parliamentary no-confidence vote after only three months in office. A total of 261 of 465 MPs voted in favour of a motion against the minority government led by Ludovic Orban, which took over in November. Now, President Klaus Iohannis appoint a new Prime Minister who in turn must try to assemble a majority.

Note: President of Romania: Klaus Iohannis; Currency of Romania: Romanian leu; Capital of Romania: Bucharest.

3. WHO calls for USD 675m in donations to fight novel coronavirus: Geneva-based WHO has called for 675 million US dollars in donations for a plan to fight the novel coronavirus. This announcement was made by the Director-General of WHO Tedros Adhanom in Geneva. They are launching a strategic preparedness and response plan and requesting 675 million dollars to fund the plan for the next three months. 60 million US dollars of the funds would be for WHO operations while the remainder would go to countries requiring assistance to guard against the deadly virus. World Health Organisation was sending 500,000 masks and 40,000 respirators to 24 countries from its warehouses in Dubai and Accra. Director-General of WHO also hailed a 100 million dollar donation from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation announced earlier.

Note: The World Health Organization was established on 07th April 1948; Headquarters of WHO is in Geneva, Switzerland.

4. International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation: 6 February: International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation is observed globally on 6 February. This day is sponsored by the United Nations for their efforts to eradicate female genital mutilation. 2020 Theme: “Unleashing Youth Power”. Female genital mutilation (FGM) comprises all procedures that involve altering or injuring the female genitalia for non-medical reasons. It was first introduced in 2003.

OTHER UPDATES:

SPORTS

1. Weightlifter Sambo Lapung wins gold with national record of 188kg: Weightlifter Sambo Lapung has won the gold medal in the men’s 89kg event of the National Weightlifting Championships held in Kolkata. He has made a new national record of 188kg in clean and jerk event in men’s 89kg. The previous national record of clean and jerk was of 187kg. Sambo Lapung is from Arunachal Pradesh.

2. Rakhi Halder bags gold at Senior Women's National Weightlifting Championship: Rakhi Halder has bagged gold in the 64kg category of the Senior Women's National Weightlifting Championships (35th edition) in Kolkata. Halder lifted 93 kg in snatch & 117 kg in clean and jerk to clinch the gold medal. She was 10kg ahead of her nearest rival Harjinder Kaur of Chandigarh.

3. Sourav Ganguly to be Indian team’s Goodwill Ambassador for Tokyo Olympics: The Indian Olympic Association has invited BCCI President Sourav Ganguly to become the Goodwill Ambassador of the Indian contingent at the Tokyo Olympics. The Tokyo Olympic Games will be held from July 24 to August 9.

Note: President of Indian Olympic Association: Narinder Dhruv Batra; Headquarters of Indian Olympic Association: New Delhi.

BANKING AND FINANCE

1. RBI’s 6th Bi-monthly Monetary Policy 2019-20 released: RBI keeps repo rate unchanged at 5.15%: The Reserve Bank of India’s Monetary Policy Committee has released its 6th Bi-monthly Monetary Policy 2019-20. The Reserve Bank of India’s MPC has decided to keep the policy repo rate unchanged to 5.15%. The MPC has also decided to maintain the accommodative stance of monetary policy to revive growth, while ensuring that inflation remains within the target.

The key decisions taken in the 6th Bi-Monthly Monetary Policy Committee meeting are:

The repo rate under the liquidity adjustment facility (LAF) left unchanged to 5.15%.

The reverse repo rate under the LAF stands same i.e. 4.90%.

The marginal standing facility (MSF) rate and the Bank Rate also remains same i.e. 5.40%.

RBI has increased the real GDP growth for fiscal year 2020-21 from 5% to 6%.

2. DICGC increases the insurance coverage for depositors to Rs 5 lakh: The Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation (DICGC), a wholly owned subsidiary of the Reserve Bank of India, has raised the limit of insurance cover for bank deposits in insured banks from the present level of Rs 1 lakh to Rs 5 lakh per depositor, to provide a greater measure of protection to depositors in banks. The enhanced limit is in effect from February 4, 2020.

Deposits with all commercial banks and cooperative banks are insured under the Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation (DICGC). Only Primary Cooperative Societies are not covered under DICGC. DICGC covers all deposits such as savings, fixed, current, recurring and so on except for the following deposits: Deposits of foreign governments; Deposits of Central/State Governments; Inter-bank deposits; Deposits of the State Land Development Banks with the State co-operative bank;

Note: Chairman of Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation: B.P.Kanungo; B.P. Kanungo is the Deputy Governor, Reserve Bank of India.

Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation (DICGC) came into existence on July 15, 1978. The Head Office of the Corporation is at Mumbai.

3. Reliance General launches health insurance plan “Infinity”: Reliance General Insurance Company Limited has launched a comprehensive health insurance plan named “Reliance Health Infinity”. The policy offers 90 days pre and 180 days post hospitalization cover, along with sum insured ranging from Rs 3 lakh to Rs 1 crore, and free restore benefits. This insurance plan (offers Ayush benefit), expenses incurred are covered on treatment in a hospital under Ayurveda, Unani, Sidha and Homeopathy.

Note: Reliance General Insurance headquarters: Mumbai, Maharashtra; Reliance General Insurance ED and CEO: Rakesh Jain; Reliance General Insurance founded: 17 August 2000.

4. Fitch forecasts India’s GDP growth at 5.6% for Financial Year 2021: Fitch Ratings has estimated India’s GDP growth of 5.6% in the next FY21 in its India Economic Outlook. This forecast is lower than the projection made by the government’s Economic Survey. For the current fiscal 2019-20 (FY 20), GDP is projected at 4.6%. Fitch has also estimated that in the fiscal year 2022, government debt will remain 70% of total GDP.

Note: CEO of Fitch Ratings: Paul Taylor; President of Fitch Ratings: Ian Linnell; Headquarters of Fitch Ratings: New York, USA.

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY

1. Indian Oil & Phinergy to jointly make metal-air batteries in India: Indian Oil has picked up a minority equity stake in Israel’s battery developer Phinergy to jointly set up a facility in India to manufacture metal-air batteries for electric vehicles. This collaboration helps in the field of Al-Air battery system including research & development, customization, manufacturing, assembly, sale and service of aluminium-air energy systems technology.

Note: Chairman of Indian Oil Corporation (IOC): Sanjiv Singh; Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) founded: 30 June 1959; Headquarters of Indian Oil Corporation (IOC): New Delhi.

2. Eastern Railways partners with Amazon India to set up kiosk: Eastern Railways has partnered with Amazon India to set up a pick-up kiosk at the Sealdah railway station in Kolkata, West Bengal. This follows after the successful pilot of pickup kiosks in four railway stations across Mumbai in 2019. A kiosk is a small open-fronted hut or cubicle from where newspapers, refreshments, tickets, etc will be sold.

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

Capital of West Bengal: Kolkata.

DEFENCE

1. Prime Minister of India sets target at DefExpo of 5 billion dollar USD in upcoming 5 years: Prime Minister of India Shri Narendra Modi has stated that NDA government set a defense export target of 5 billion dollars in the upcoming five years. The export of defense equipment from India was about 2,000 crore rupees. In the past 2 years, it has gone up to 17,000 crore rupees.

Note: Rajnath Singh is the Union defense minister of India.

General Bipin Rawat is the current Chief of Defence Staff of India.

2. HAL & Israel Aerospace Industries to jointly make armed UCAVs: Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) for the 1st time, will sign a partnership pact with Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) at the DefExpo 2020 in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh. This pact is signed for manufacture advanced Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicles (UCAVs) in India.

Note: Hindustan Aeronautics Limited Founded: 1940(As Hindustan Aircraft) &1964 (Renamed

Hindustan Aeronautics Limited Headquarters: Bangalore, Karnataka.

Chairman and managing director of HAL: R Madhavan.

Israel Aerospace Industries Headquarters: Lod, Israel; Israel Aerospace Industries CEO and President: Nimrod Shefer; Israel Aerospace Industries Founded: 1953.

OBITUARIES

1. Former Assam Speaker Pranab Kumar Gogoi passes away: Former Assam Legislative Assembly Speaker and sitting Congress MLA (Member of the Legislative Assembly) Pranab Kumar Gogoi passed away. He was first elected as Legislator from the Assam Legislative Assembly from Sivasagar, Assam for 4 consecutive terms. He also served as minister in Tarun Gogoi-led cabinet from 2006-2011 and speaker of the Assam legislative assembly in 2011. In 2015, Pranab Kumar took the definition of the term ‘Assamese’.

2. Hollywood legend Kirk Douglas passes away: Hollywood legend and veteran actor Kirk Douglas (103-years) passed away at Beverly Hills, California in the US. He is perhaps best known for his role as Spartacus, a Stanley Kubrick classic which won four Oscars and was so popular that its iconic "I am Spartacus" scene entered the pop culture lexicon. The actor came to limelight in 1940’s and played various roles in nearly 100 movies in his 60-year career. He was also the father of Oscar-winning actor Michael Douglas.