Daily GK Updates – 22nd Sept, 2020

 

NATIONAL UPDATES:

 

1. PM Modi launches “Ghar Tak Fibre” scheme in Bihar: Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched nine highway projects and Optical Fibre Internet Services in Bihar.

Prime Minister laid the foundation stone of nine highway projects worth Rs. 14,258 crore in Bihar through video conferencing on 21 September 2020. These highway projects includes constructing road length of about 350 kilometres at a cost of Rs. 4258 crore and three bridges.

The optical fibre services are being provided under the scheme “Ghar Tak Fibre”. These services are to be executed along with combined efforts of Common Service Centre. The project is to be implemented Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology under the scheme “Ghar Tak Fibre”. The project will connect 45,945 villages in the state and will thus enable the Digital revolution to reach the farthest corner of Bihar. . The CSC Wi-Fi Choupal is an initiative to provide high-speed internet connectivity to rural India. It ensures digital connectivity using Bharat Net.

Note: Chief Minister of Bihar: Nitish Kumar; Governor: Phagu Chauhan.

 

2. Centre Approves an Outlay of Rs 600 crore for PM Svanidhi Scheme: The Government of India has approved a total outlay of Rs.600.00 crores for the PM SVANidhi scheme. This was informed by Minister of State (I/C) for Housing and Urban Affairs Shri Hardeep Singh Puri in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha on 21 September 2020. The Prime Minister Street Vendor’s Amta Nirbhar Nidhi Scheme (PM SVANidhi) was launched by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs has on 01 June 2020 to facilitate collateral free working capital loans upto Rs 10,000 of 1 year tenure, to about 50 lakh street vendors across the country.

 

3. J&K launched National Generic Document Registration System: Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir, Manoj Sinha launched the National Generic Document Registration System for the union territory. The system was developed by the National Informatics Centre (NIC) to address the diversity and variations that prevails across the states on account of formats, languages, processes and formulae. The software enables “anywhere access” to information and data to both the Enforcement Agencies and to the common man. The system has so far been adopted in three states namely Punjab, Rajasthan and Maharashtra. Six more states and union territories such as Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Goa, Bihar, Manipur, Jharkhand and Mizoram are moving towards the system. The national generic document registration system was developed under Digital India Land Records Modernization Programme.

 

4. Logo and song for “Destination North East-2020″ festival unveiled: The Union Minister, Dr Jitendra Singh has unveiled the Logo and song for festival “Destination North East-2020” (The Emerging Delightful Destinations) through a video conference. The four-day event is to be formally inaugurated by Home Minister Amit Shah on September 27, 2020.

The festival helps to familiarize people of other parts of the country with the rich unexplored potential of North East. It also promotes the tourism potential of the North East. The festival will give a boost to handicrafts, handloom, organic products and cultural troupes of North East. The main objective of the programme is to make the unexplored potentials of the North East Region available to the young entrepreneurs all over the country. The festival was launched in a couple of years in 2018 (in Chandigarh) and in 2019 (in India Gate, New Delhi).

 

5. PMGKP Insurance Scheme for health workers fighting COVID-19 extended for another six months: The Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Package Insurance Scheme for Health Workers Fighting COVID-19 has been extended for another six months. It was announced on 30th March this year for a period of 90 days and it was extended for a further period of 90 days up to 25th September. The scheme has now been extended for another 180 days.

 

6. Himachal Pradesh CM inaugurates “Swachhata Cafe” in Solan district: Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur virtually inaugurated the “Swachhata Cafe” at Nalagarh in Solan district on the birthday of Prime Minister Narendra Modi from Shimla. The Cafe is being operated by Laxmi and Durga women self help groups. The main attraction of this Cafe is that it would serve traditional food such as maize bread and Sarson ka saag, butter, lassi etc. ‘Swachhata Park’ is also being opened at Kufri in district Shimla.

 

7. Amazon India Sets Up All-women Delivery Station in Gujarat’s Kadi: E-commerce major Amazon India said it has set up an all-women delivery station in Kadi, Gujarat – its second such facility in the country. The new all-women delivery station, operated by a delivery service partner, is part of the company’s efforts towards increasing participation of women in the workforce. In 2016, the company had launched its first all-women delivery station in India, with its partner in Chennai, Tamil Nadu.

 

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

 

1. India launches first ever direct cargo ferry with Maldives: India and the Maldives have launched the first-ever direct Cargo Ferry Service on 21 September 2020 to boost trade between the two countries. The cargo ferry service will connect the Indian ports of Tuticorin and Cochin ports with Kulhudhuhfushi and Male ports in the Maldives. This initiative will help to cut costs and reduce the time taken to transport goods between the two countries. The Cargo Ferry Vessel MCP Linz operated by the Shipping Corporation of India (SCI) will be used to connect the Indian and Maldivian ports.

Note: Shipping Corporation of India (SCI) MD & Chairman: Mrs H.K.Joshi; Shipping Corporation of India (SCI) Headquarters: Mumbai, Maharashtra; Shipping Corporation of India Founded: 1950.

 

2. International Red Panda Day: 19th September 2020: The International Red Panda Day (IRPD) is celebrated on third Saturday of September every year to raise public awareness and support for red panda conservation issues. In 2020, the IRPD is being observed on 19 September 2020. The day was launched by the Red Panda Network in 2010. The first international red Panda day was celebrated on 18th September 2010. There are two distinct species of red pandas Ailurus fulgens is commonly known as Himalayan Red Panda and Ailurus fulgens styani commonly known as Chinese Red Panda, these are mostly found in the Eastern Himalayan region and southwestern China. Genetically the red pandas belong to the order of Carnivora, but mostly eat bamboo shoots, mushrooms etc and also eat birds, eggs, and insects. The average lifespan of these red pandas is 23 years and the female pandas stop breeding after the age of 12.

Notre: Red Panda Network Founder: Brian Williams; Headquarters: Eugene, Oregon.

 

3. World Rhino Day: 22nd September: World Rhino Day is observed globally on 22 September every year. This special day provides the opportunity for cause-related organizations, NGOs, zoos, and members of the public to celebrate rhinos in their own unique ways. This day is celebrated to raise awareness of the need to protect all the five existing species of Rhinoceros, which are: (1) Black Rhino; (2) White Rhino; (3) Greater one-horned Rhino; (4) Sumatran Rhino; (5) Javan Rhinos.

World Rhino Day was first announced by World Wildlife Fund-South Africa in 2010 and is being observed internationally since 2011.

 

OTHER UPDATES:

 

SPORTS

 

1. Novak Djokovic wins 2020 Italian Open title: Novak Djokovic has defeated Argentine Diego Schwartzman, 7-6, 5-3, to win 2020 Men’s Single Italian Open title and his fifth overall Rome title. In Women’s single, Simona Halep defeated champion Karolina Pliskova, 6-0, 2-1, to win her first Italian Open title. Italian open was held at the Foro Italico in Rome, Italy. Winners List:

 

Category	Name of the Sportsperson
Men’s Single:	Novak Djokovic
Women’s Single:	Simona Halep
Men’s Double:	Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos
Women’s Double:	Hsieh Su-wei and Barbora Strýcová

 

BANKING AND FINANCE

 

1. HDFC Bank launches video Know Your Customer facility: HDFC Bank has launched video KYC (Know Your Customer) facility for its customers. The consent-based Video KYC facility is an alternate method of establishing the prospective customer’s identity, during the account opening process in a safe and secure environment. As per the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) directions, successful completion of Video KYC is equivalent to full KYC and the customers is eligible for all financial / banking products. HDFC Bank video KYC facility will be rolled in a phased manner. In the first phase, savings and corporate salary and personal loan customers can avail this facility. The video KYC process is online, secure, and quick. It is a paperless, contactless, and recorded interaction between a Bank official and the customer.

 

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY

 

1. Volvo Car India launches “Volvo Car Financial Services”: Volvo Car India has partnered with HDFC Bank to launch Volvo Car Financial Services to enable buyers get easy finance for its vehicles. The service facilitates finance of up to 100% of ex-showroom price of the car and offers convenient repayment options, with no foreclosure charges under specific conditions. It is a faster, flexible and cost-optimised solution to finance a Volvo car. Other features of the Volvo Car financial service include loans for up to 7 years and option to finance insurance, extended warranty, service package and accessories. It allows a faster loan approval and a uniform processing fee, giving a hassle-free finance experience to buyers.

 

2. HCL & Google Cloud expands partnership for HCL’s Actian portfolio: HCL Technologies and Google Cloud has announced the expansion of their strategic partnership to bring HCL’s Actian portfolio, starting with Actian Avalanche, to Google Cloud. Actian Avalanche is a high-performance hybrid cloud data warehouse designed to power an enterprise’s most demanding operational analytics workloads. Actian Avalanche enables a seamless path to migrate legacy data warehouses, including IBM Netezza and Oracle Exadata, to Google Cloud, through a hybrid-cloud offering leveraging Google Cloud’s Anthos application platform.

HCL’s Actian Avalanche hybrid cloud data warehouse has been deployed by Fortune 500 customers to deliver powerful insights to manage business complexities for a variety of use cases, including fraud detection, real-time offers and market basket analysis. Bringing Actian Avalanche to Google Cloud enables enterprise customers to leverage the platform’s scalable, high-performance infrastructure and global network.

 

AWARDS AND HONOURS

 

1. PM Modi awarded Ig Nobel Prize 2020 for medical Education: Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi has been awarded the Ig Nobel Prize 2020 for Medical Education. He has been awarded the prestigious award for “using the COVID-19 pandemic to teach the world that politicians can have a more immediate effect on life and death than scientists and doctors can”. PM Modi is the second Indian Prime Minister to be honoured with the Ig Nobel Prize. Prior to this, Atal Bihari Vajpayee was awarded in 1998. He jointly won the Ig Nobel Peace Prize with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif of Pakistan for aggressively peaceful explosions of atomic bombs.

PM Modi shares the award with Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil, Boris Johnson of the United Kingdom, Andrés Manuel López Obrador of Mexico, Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus, Donald Trump of the USA, Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey, Vladimir Putin of Russia, and Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow of Turkmenistan. Apart from this, the governments of India and Pakistan jointly won the Ig Nobel Peace Prize 2020 for having their diplomats surreptitiously ring each other’s doorbells in the middle of the night, and then run away before anyone had a chance to answer the door in Islamabad and New Delhi city respectively.

 

OBITUARIES

 

1. Assam Musician Bibhuranjan Choudhury passes away: Renowned Assam music composer, Bibhuranjan Choudhury passed away. His first film as music director was ”Sutrapat” in 1987 and the last one was ”Aei Maatite” in 2017. He had composed music for numerous TV serials, stage plays and radio productions in a career spanning over several decades. Choudhury, who composed the music of Guwahati Doordarshan”s first serial “Jibonor Batot”, retired as the superintendent of the Assam State Film (Finance and Development) Corporation.

 

2. Nepal’s Legendary Mountaineer Ang Rita Sherpa passes away: Nepal-based Ang Rita Sherpa, the first man to climb Mount Everest 10 times, passed away. He made all the ascents to the world’s tallest mountain between 1983 and 1996 and that too without bottled oxygen. He was therefore also known as the “snow leopard” for his climbing skills. The mountaineering legend was awarded a prestigious Guinness World Record certificate for making the most number of successful ascents on the 8,848-meter Mt Everest without using supplemental oxygen. The Guinness World Record has also recognised him as the first man to climb Everest in winter without supplementary oxygen in December 1987.

 

3. Former Canadian PM John Turner passes away: The former Prime Minister of Canada, John Turner passed away. He served as the Prime Minister for just 79 days in 1984, the 2nd shortest term in the office recorded in the history of Canada. He was born on 7th June 1929 at Richmond, England. John Turner served in the cabinet of Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau as the justice minister from 1968 to 1972 during which he created the federal court, defended against the criminalisation of homosexuality and abortion in the 1960s among other reforms. He was named the companion of the Order of Canada in 1994.