Daily GK Updates – 29th Oct, 2020

 

NATIONAL UPDATES:

 

1. Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri launches ‘e-Dharti Geo portal’: Union Housing and Urban Affairs Minister, Hardeep Singh Puri has launched the ‘e-Dharti Geo Portal’ to integrate legacy drawings such as maps and lease plans in the management information system and make its geographic information system (GIS)-enabled.  The Land and Development Office deals with more than 60000 residential, commercial, industrial and institutional properties. Now with the launch of the portal the property certificate details and outline map of the property can be easily accessed online. The portal is highly beneficial to the elderly public. It will help avoid unnecessary litigation. Also, the portal will help a purchaser to learn about the details of the property whether any lawsuit is pending in respect of the property.

What is a property certificate? It is usually created during the purchase of a property. The property certificate provides information about the property to the purchaser and the lessee. This information about the property certificate can now be accessed by paying a nominal fee of thousand rupees.

Note: Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs and Civil Aviation: Hardeep Singh Puri.

 

2. PM Modi Inaugurates 4th edition of India Energy Forum: PM Narendra Modi has inaugurated the 4th India Energy Forum by CERAWeek organised by HIS Markit. The event was held from October 26-28, 2020. The theme of this edition is “India’s Energy Future in a World of Change”. Thousands of delegates from Indian, regional, and international energy companies, institutions, and governments virtually participated in the 4th India Energy Forum. The forum provides a platform to bring together the global energy leaders and experts to India to deliberate on the opportunities and challenges in India’s energy sector. 

India is the third-largest and the fastest-growing aviation market in terms of domestic aviation and Indian carriers are projected to increase their fleet size from 600 to 1200 by 2024. According to PM, India’s Energy Plan aims to ensure energy justice while fully following India’s global commitments for sustainable growth. This means more energy is needed to improve the lives of Indians with a smaller carbon footprint. He envisioned India’s energy sector to be growth-centric, industry-friendly and environmentally conscious.

Note: The CERAWeek India Energy Forum has been organized since 2017 by the information and insights company IHS Markit based in Houston, Texas.

 

3. IIT Jodhpur, NHAI sign MoU for betterment of Highway Infrastructure: Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Jodhpur and National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to share expertise for the betterment of highway infrastructure. About Memorandum of Understanding:

(1) The two institutions will work in domains which include transportation engineering, structural engineering, geotechnical engineering.

(2) They will also cooperate in hydraulics engineering, infrastructure systems, earthquake engineering, urban and rural planning and disaster management and planning domains.

(3) The MoU will enable Undergraduate and Postgraduate students of IIT Jodhpur to undertake internships from the above-mentioned domains.

(4) The joint activities will bridge the industry-institution gap and develop technologies that would be adopted in practice by NHAI.

Note: National Highways Authority of India Chairman: Sukhbir Singh Sandhu; National Highways Authority of India Headquarters: New Delhi.

Indian Institute of Technology Jodhpur Chairman: R. Chidambaram; Indian Institute of Technology Jodhpur: Jodhpur, Rajasthan.

 

4. Centre extends ESI Scheme to Arunachal Pradesh from Nov 1: In its continuous endeavor to cover more workers under ESI Scheme, the Centre has extended the Employees’ State Insurance, ESI Scheme to Arunachal Pradesh from 1st of next month. A notification to this effect has been issued by the Central Government for notifying the district of Papum Pare, under the ESI Scheme. All factories located in the district of Papum Pare employing 10 or more persons will become eligible for coverage under ESI Act 1948.

 

5. Income tax return filing deadline for FY20 extended till December 31: The Ministry of Finance has further extended the deadline for filing income tax returns by individual taxpayers for FY 2019-20 by a month till December 31, 2020. Earlier this deadline was November 30, 2020. In addition to this, for those taxpayers whose accounts need to be audited, the Income-Tax Return filing deadline has been extended by two months till January 31, 2021. The extension in the deadlines will provide more time to taxpayers for furnishing of Income Tax Returns.

 

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

 

1. Indian-origin Wavel Ramkalawan elected President of Seychelles: Indian-origin Wavel Ramkalawan has been elected as the President of Seychelles. Seychelles has elected an opposition candidate as president for the first time since 1977. He has defeated the incumbent Danny Faure. Ramakalwan is a priest of Indian Origin whose grandfather came from Gopalganj, Bihar.

Note: Seychelles Capital: Victoria; Seychelles Currency: Seychellois rupee; Seychelles Continent: Africa.

 

2. India announces USD1 billion Line of Credit to Central Asian Countries for connectivity & other development projects: The second meeting of the India-Central Asia Dialogue was held virtually on 28 October 2020 under the chairmanship of the External Affairs Minister of India Dr S Jaishankar. The foreign minister of all the five Central Asian countries- Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and the Kyrgyzstan– participated in the meeting. Apart from this, the Acting Foreign Minister of Islamic Republic of Afghanistan also attended the meeting as a special invitee. During the meeting, India announced US $ 1 billion line of credit for “priority developmental projects” in Central Asian countries in the fields of connectivity, energy, IT, healthcare, education, agriculture and offered to provide grant assistance for implementation of High Impact Community Development Projects (HICDP) for furthering socio-economic development in the countries of the region. The first India-Central Asia Dialogue was held in Uzbekistan’s Samarkand in 2019.

 

3. India hosts 19th Meeting of SCO Ministers of Foreign Economy & Foreign Trade: India hosted the 19th Meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Ministers of Foreign Economy and Foreign Trade on 28 October 2020. The virtual meeting was held under the Chairmanship of Union Minister of Commerce and Industry of India Shri Piyush Goyal. It was attended by the Secretary General of SCO Vladimir Norov and Ministers from Kyrgyz Republic, China, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. The meeting concluded with the adoption of the following four documents:

(1) Statement on the response to Covid-19.  It highlights the need for greater cooperation for access to medicines and facilitation of trade.

(2) Statement on the Multilateral Trading System of Ministers of SCO Countries who are WTO Members.  It highlights the importance of the rules based multilateral negotiations.

(3) Statement on SCO Cooperation on Intellectual Property Rights (IPR).  It relates to cooperation of intellectual property and include sharing information/experience on legislation and enforcement, cooperation in international organisations and other areas.

(4) Action Plan for Implementation of MOU to stimulate cooperation within the framework of SCO in the field of MSMEs.  It looks at number of areas of cooperation among MSMEs, including exchange of information, organisation of events and collaboration on research and capacity building.

 

4. International Internet Day 2020: 29th October: International Internet Day is observed on 29th October every year. It aims to honour a momentous day in the history of telecommunications and technology. This day also highlights the sending of the 1st electronic message which was conveyed from one computer to another computer in the year 1969.

History of International Internet Day: Charley Kline who was a student programmer at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), he discovered the transmission of first-ever electronic message in the world ‘LO’ on 29th October 1969. In that era, the Internet was called ARPANET (Advanced Research Projects Agency Network). In 2005, this was the first time when the world observed first International Internet Day on 29th Oct.

 

5. World Psoriasis Day 2020: 29th October: World Psoriasis Day is commemorated by International Federation of Psoriasis Associations (IFPA) annually on 29th October. It aims to create awareness and promoting empowerment, taking action regarding improving the quality of life for citizens with psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis. World Psoriasis Day Theme 2020: INFORMED.

About Psoriasis: Psoriasis is a kind of a skin disorder that reasons skin cells to multiply up to ten times faster. Psoriasis causes the skin to build up into bumpy red patches embraced with white scales.

Note: President of International Federation of Psoriasis Associations: Hoseah Waweru; International Federation of Psoriasis Associations Founded: 1971; International Federation of Psoriasis Associations Headquarters: Sweden.

 

OTHER UPDATES:

 

SPORTS

 

1. Federation of Indian Fantasy Sports appoints Bimal Julka as Chairman: Federation of Indian Fantasy Sports (FIFS) has announced the appointment of Bimal Julka as its Chairman. In his new role, Julka will work closely with all the stakeholders to further strengthen the operating standards of the Indian fantasy sports industry. Bimal Julka is an Indian Administrative Service (IAS) Officer of the 1979 batch belonging to the Madhya Pradesh Cadre. Julka is taking over from John Loffhagen, who served as the Chairman of FIFS for over three years. Loffhagen will assume the role of a Strategic Advisor and support FIFS on collaborating with relevant international bodies in the industry.

Note: Federation of Indian Fantasy Sports (FIFS) is India’s first and only self-regulatory industry body for fantasy sports, established in 2017.

 

BANKING AND FINANCE

 

1. HDFC Bank MD & CEO Aditya Puri retires: The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of HDFC Bank, Aditya Puri has stepped down, after 25 years of a highly successful career at India’s largest private sector lender. The 70-year-old Puri had transformed a start-up in a sector dominated by state-owned banks into an industry leader. At nearly Rs 6 trillion, HDFC Bank leads the industry in terms of market capitalisation and remains the most profitable by a long margin. Sashidhar Jagdishan has been appointed as the new chief executive and managing director of the HDFC Bank w.e.f. 27 October 2020.

Note: The tagline of HDFC Bank: We Understand Your World; HDFC Bank Headquarters: Mumbai, Maharashtra.

 

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY

 

1. Nippon Life Invests in World Bank Sustainable Development Bonds and Highlights Support for Nutrition: The World Bank issued a 15-year AU$150 million Sustainable Development Bond, while for the first time, highlighting the importance of good nutrition to build human capital.  Nippon Life Insurance Company was the sole investor in this transaction. World Bank bonds support the financing of sustainable development projects and programs in member countries across a range of sectors in line with its mission to end extreme poverty and promote shared prosperity. This includes US$4.9 billion in projects, of which US$1 billion are in IBRD countries, helping to improve nutrition.

 

AWARDS AND HONOURS

 

1. Om Puri awarded Lifetime Achievement Award posthumously at IIFFB 2020: Late Indian actor, Om Puri was honoured with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the third edition of the India International Film Festival of Boston (IIFFB 2020). The award was received by his wife Nandita Puri. The three-day film festival, based in Boston USA. Another highlight of the festival was a conversation with chef Vikas Khanna, recipient of the “Pride of India Award”.

Malayalam film “Kaanthi” bagged the Best Feature Film Award, while the Best Male Actor was won by Victor Banerjee for playing a priest in Josef: Born In Grace. The Best Female Actor went to Shylaja Ambu for Kaanthi at the Boston festival.

 

OBITUARIES

 

1. Veteran Gujarati Actor Naresh Kanodia passes away: Veteran Gujarati film star-turned-politician, Naresh Kanodia passed away. He was the younger brother of Gujarati singer Mahesh Kanodia who died on 25 October 2020 in Gandhinagar after a prolonged illness. Naresh Kanodia worked in over 100 Gujarati films. Later he joined politics and was elected as a BJP MLA from Karjan constituency between 2002 and 2007. Both brothers were known as the Mahesh-Naresh duo in Gujarati film industry and together shared credit for several Gujarati hit movies.