Daily GK Updates - 5th Oct, 2020

 

NATIONAL UPDATES:

 

1. Tamil Nadu & Arunachal Pradesh integrated under One Nation One Ration Card Scheme: Two more States, Tamil Nadu and Arunachal Pradesh have been integrated with existing national portability cluster of 26 States and UTs under One Nation One Ration Card. With this, a total of 28 States and UTs are now seamlessly connected with each other under the ‘One Nation One Ration Card plan’, which aims to provide an option to all NFSA beneficiaries. The beneficiaries of these states can lift their entitled foodgrains under NFSA from any ePoS enabled Fair Price Shop of their choice anywhere in the country, by using their existing/same ration card with Aadhaar authentication on ePoS device.

 

2. Govt sets up panel to screen all Chinese foreign investment proposals: India has set up a screening panel to vet all Chinese foreign investment proposals and those considered “non-controversial” could be approved. More than 100 proposals involving foreign direct investment (FDI) from China are pending. The screening panel is headed by the home secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla and has the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) secretary as a member.

 

3. CM Jagan Mohan Reddy launches YSR Jala Kala scheme: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy launched the YSR Jala Kala Scheme under which free borewells will be drilled for the needy farmers in the state. The government said that about three lakh farmers will be profited from the scheme and will cover five lakh acres of land under cultivation with an estimated cost of Rs 2,340 crore in four years. The eligible farmers can apply either online or through the village secretariats. The applications will be approved after hydrogeological and geophysical surveys

 

4. UP’s First Conservation Centre For Vultures To Come Up In Gorakhpur Forest Division: Uttar Pradesh’s first vulture conservation and breeding centre is set to be established at Bhari Baisi village in Farenda range of Gorakhpur forest division. This vulture breeding and conservation centre will be the first in India which will be dedicated to king vulture and also the first vulture conservation and breeding centre in Uttar Pradesh. The centre will be established on the lines of Haryana’s Pinjore vulture conservation and breeding centre.

 

5. Jitendra Singh launched a book titled ‘Discovering the Heritage of Assam’: The Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), Dr Jitendra Singh has released a Coffee Table Book on “Discovering the Heritage of Assam”, written by Padampani Bora and having foreword by Amitabh Bachchan. The book depicts the heritage, faith, beliefs and traditions of different ethnic tribes and subtribes living in Assam, the largest State of the North Eastern Region. The book by Padampani Bora will help to understand the grand splendour and glory of the undiscovered facets of Assam.

About Padampani Bora: The author, Padampani Bora, is by profession an officer of the Indian Revenue Service (IRS-2009 batch) but has over the years established himself as an accomplished author, specializing in the subjects reflecting diverse nuances of the North Eastern Region of India.

 

6. Paytm to open ‘mini app’ store for Indian developers: Paytm has announced the launch of its “mini app” store to support Indian developers in taking their products to the masses in line with Google. Mini apps are a custom-built mobile website that give users app-like experience without having to download them and can be built using HTML and Javascript technologies. Paytm will add a new section on its main application where mini apps will be listed and accessed by its users.

Paytm CEO: Vijay Shekhar Sharma

 

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

 

1. World Habitat Day 2020: 5th October: The United Nations designated the first Monday of October as World Habitat Day. In 2020, the World Habitat Day is being celebrated on 5th October. The day is commemorated every year worldwide to throw light on the condition of our towns and cities, and on the basic right of all to adequate shelter. The day is also intended to remind the world that we all have the power and the responsibility to shape the future of our cities and towns. The theme for 2020 World Habitat Day is “Housing For All — A Better Urban Future” as a proper place to live has become important more than ever.

 

2. World Teachers’ Day: 5th October: World Teachers’ Day (International Teachers Day) is being observed annually on October 5 since 1994. The day provides the occasion to celebrate the teaching profession worldwide, take stock of achievements, and draw attention to the voices of teachers, who are at the heart of efforts to attain the global education target of leaving no one behind. In 2020, World Teachers’ Day will celebrate teachers with the theme “Teachers: Leading in crisis, reimagining the future”. It is co-convened in partnership with UNICEF, the International Labour Organization and Education International.

 

3. Sofia Vergara tops Forbes’ highest paid actress list 2020: The Colombia-born American actress Sofia Vergara, who came to fame with an American TV Show ‘Modern Family’ is the highest paid actresses in the annual list of Forbes’ Highest-Paid Actresses 2020. The 48-year-old actress has topped the list with an earning of $43 million (equivalent of Rs 315 crore). Most of her earnings came from Modern Family and America’s Got Talent, wherein she is one of the judges. Hollywood actress Angelina Jolie secured the second position ($35 million) while Gal Gadot ($31 million) stood third. None of the Indian actresses have featured on the list for the year 2020.

 

OTHER UPDATES:

 

SPORTS

 

1. India climb to Third in ICC Women’s T20 Team Rankings, topped by Australia: The Indian women’s cricket team has overtaken New Zealand to rise to the third spot in the T20 International standings and retained the second position in the ODI chart of the latest ICC rankings. Australia and England retain the top two positions in T20s, their points tally remaining 291 and 280, respectively. The biggest improvement in rankings has been registered by Brazil, who are up 11 places to 27, after a gain of 15 rating points, while the biggest ranking fall has been for Malaysia, who are down from 31st to 38th.

 

BANKING AND FINANCE

 

1. Nabard Disburses Rs 12,298 Crore So Far Under Swachh Bharat Mission: The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard) has disbursed Rs 12,298 crore so far under the Swachh Bharat Mission-Gramin (SBM-G) for construction of 3.29 crore household toilets. To mark the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, the development finance institution has launched a nationwide sanitation literacy campaign. The campaign will support the government’s SBM-G and Water, Sanitisation and Hygiene (WASH) programmes to enable the vulnerable rural communities to access better sanitation facilities in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

2. Indian Bank launches Rupay Kisan credit card scheme for TN fishermen: Indian Bank has introduced a Kisan credit card loan scheme for fishermen in Tamil Nadu. The features of the scheme include the availability of revolving credit up to ₹2 lakh, 7 per cent interest rate, interest subvention of 3 per cent for those who repay the loan within a period of one year. The loan can be renewed once in a year.  There is no restriction on the number of credit and debit transactions. This loan will be provided under Mudra scheme. Borrowers will get Rupay Kisan Credit Card and beneficiaries can use the card to withdraw money from ATMs, BC (banking correspondent) points, and also make purchase through merchant POS.

 

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY

 

1. SBI signs MoU with HUL for an end to end digital solution for ecosystem: India’s largest lender State Bank of India has entered into a partnership with FMCG major Hindustan Unilever to offer corporate solutions to its trade partners. The partnership aims to make availing of credit easy for channel partners, provides UPI based payment solutions and PoS terminals to retailers & distributors. The objective of the partnership is to augment the width of credit and will be beginning a pilot in Mumbai and Bengaluru.

 

2. Twitter appoints Rinki Sethi as New Information Security Head: Twitter Inc appointed Rinki Sethi, a former information security executive at IBM, as its chief information security officer. Sethi had previously worked as the vice president of information security at cyber-security firm Palo Alto Networks Inc.

 

AWARDS AND HONOURS

 

1. Right Livelihood Award 2020 announced: The Right Livelihood Award Foundation has announced the four winners of the 2020 Right Livelihood Award 2020 which is also known as the alternative Nobel Prize in Stockholm. The four activists Ales Bialiatski of Belarus, Nasrin Sotoudeh of Iran, Bryan Stevenson of the United States(US) and Lottie Cunningham Wren of Nicaragua shared the 2020 award for their contribution towards equality, democracy, justice and freedom.

Ales Bialiatski and Nasrin Sotoudeh received the award for their contribution to the realisation of democracy in Belarus and human rights in Iran respectively. Bryan Stevenson, a US civil rights lawyer, received the award for his efforts to reform the criminal justice system and the advance racial reconciliation in the US. Lottie Cunningham Wren received the award for her contribution in protecting indigenous lands and communities from exploitation.

 

2. AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh chosen for ‘Gandhi’ Award: Rajya Sabha MP and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Sanjay Singh has been chosen for ‘Gandhi’ Award instituted by the Mahatma Gandhi National Foundation. He was instrumental in India’s diplomatic intervention to remove Mahatma Gandhi’s images on beer bottles of a private company in Israel, Mr Jose, who brought the matter into the public domain. The Award carries a sculpture of Mahatma Gandhi, cash prize of Rs 25,001 and a certificate.

 

DEFENCE

 

1. Indian Navy Helicopters Undertake Aerial Seeding Initiative at Visakhapatnam: The Indian Navy has partnered with Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC) to undertake Aerial Seeding at Visakhapatnam. The aim of this initiative is to enhance the green cover in and around Visakhapatnam. Aerial seeding is a technique in which seeds are sown aerially with the help of drones or helicopter. The aerial seeding programme was inaugurated on 2nd October 2020 at INS Dega at Visakhapatnam by Rajya Sabha MP V Vijayasai Reddy and Vice Admiral Atul Kumar Jain. Two UH3H helicopters will be used for this operation. The Naval helicopters will be airdropping 50,000 seed balls weighing approx. 6.25 tonnes in five locations around Visakhapatnam covering an area of nearly 200 acres which are inaccessible by road.

 

OBITUARIES

 

1. Former Odisha Minister Pradeep Maharathy passes away: Former Odisha Minister and senior BJD MLA Pradeep Maharathy (65 years) passed away in Bhubaneswar due to COVID-19. He was elected 7 times as the MLA from Pipili constituency from Biju Janata Dal (2000-2019) ticket, Janata Party (1985) and Janata Dal (1990) tickets. He had served as Minister of Panchayati Raj & Drinking Water Supply, Agriculture and Fisheries in Odisha. He was honored with Global Agriculture Leadership Award in 2016 and Krishi Karman Award 2014-15

 

2. Jharkhand Minister Haji Hussain Ansari passes away: Jharkhand’s Minister of Minority Welfare and Registration Department Haji Hussain Ansari (73 years) has passed away in a private hospital at Ranchi due to cardiac arrest He was a 4-time MLA from Madhupur assembly constituency in Deoghar, who was elected in 1995, 2000, 2010 and 2019. He was the chairman of Hajj committee Jharkhand. He was also the first and only Muslim to become minister in Jharkhand.

Note: Jharkhand CM: Hemant Soren.