Daily GK Updates – 12th Nov, 2020

NATIONAL UPDATES:

 

1. Country’s longest motorable single-lane bridge inaugurated in Uttarakhand: India’s longest single-lane motorable suspension bridge has been inaugurated in Tehri-Garhwal district of Uttarakhand. The Dobra-Chanti Jhula (suspension) bridge, was inaugurated by the Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat to mark the 20th foundation day of the state on 9th November 2020. The bridge is 725-metre long and has been built in 14 years over the Tehri lake with a cost of Rs. 2.95 crore. It will cut travel time between Tehri and Pratapnagar from 5 to 1.5 hours.

Note: Uttarakhand Chief Minister: Trivendra Singh Rawat; Governor of Uttarakhand: Baby Rani Maurya.

 

2. Nagaland’s Hornbill Festival to be celebrated virtually: Nagaland govt decides to celebrate Hornbill Festival virtually this year, amid the surge in COVID-19 cases in the country. This festival is also called the Festival of Festivals. It is held every year from December 1 to 10, showcases the culture, heritage, food and customs of Naga tribes. 16 tribes come together to celebrate their traditions with dance performances. Tourists from across the globe attend the 10-day gala.

Note: Chief Minister of Nagaland: Neiphiu Rio; Governor of Nagaland: R. N. Ravi.

 

3. Former chief secretary MM Kutty to be chairperson of CAQM: Former Chief Secretary of Delhi, M.M. Kutty was appointed as the chairperson of Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) in National Capital Region and Adjoining Areas. The CAQM was formed on October 28 after dissolving several pollution-monitoring bodies, including most prominently the 22-year-old, Environment Pollution Prevention & Control Authority (EPCA) that has so far addressed air pollution in the Delhi NCR. This body will perform the job of coordinating activities between the States.

About the Commission: The Centre has notified the Commission for Air Quality Management for the National Capital Region (NCR) days after it issued an ordinance on October 29 to set up the new agency with sweeping powers to monitor and act against sources of air pollution across five north Indian states. The ordinance empowers the agency to make rules, set emission standards, and slap fines of up to Rs 1 crore or imprison violators for up to five years. In exercise of its powers under the ordinance, a selection panel under Union environment minister Prakash Javadekar’s chairmanship selected Kutty. The panel that also comprises Union ministers Piyush Goyal, Nitin Gadkari, Harsh Vardhan; and cabinet secretary Rajiv Gauba has named Arvind Kumar Nautiyal, joint secretary, as the Commission’s full-time member.

 

4. Indian Oil Corp director A K Singh to head Petronet LNG: Indian Oil Corp (IOC) director-pipelines Akshay Kumar Singh will be the new managing director and chief executive of the country’s biggest gas importer, Petronet LNG Ltd. He will replace Prabhat Singh who completed his 5-year term. Petronet is a joint venture of IOC, GAIL, Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) and BPCL. The four state-owned firms hold 12.5 per cent stake each in the company whose chairman is the Oil Secretary. Petronet operates liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal at Dahej in Gujarat and Kochi in Kerala.

Note: IOC Chairperson: Shrikant Madhav Vaidya; IOC Headquarters: New Delhi; IOC Founded: 30 June 1959.

 

5. Anupam Kher’s new book titled ‘Your Best Day Is Today!’: Actor Anupam Kher’s latest book is titled “Your Best Day Is Today!”. He had announced the book, in which he experiences during the coronavirus-induced countrywide lockdown. Through this book, Kher will recount his experiences during the lockdown, several ups and downs, including the time when his mother Dulari and brother Raju Kher had contracted the virus. His previous books are his biography Lessons Life Taught Me Unknowingly & The Best Thing About You is You. He is also a recipient of two National Film Awards.

 

6. Kottoor Elephant Rehabilitation Centre set to become largest care centre in the World: The Elephant Rehabilitation Centre at Kottoor in Thiruvananthapuram is set to become the largest care and cure centre for elephants in the world. The first phase of the Elephant Rehabilitation Centre will be commissioned in February 2021. The project is being implemented at a cost of Rs 108 crore with funding from Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB). The centre has facilities to accommodate 50 elephants including the existing 16 elephants. The project will also include the construction of various reservoirs and check dams at the Neyyar Dam and also special facilities for the care of elephant calves.

 

7. Gujarat HC becomes first state apex court to live-stream proceedings on Youtube: The Gujarat High Court became the first high court in the country to live-stream its court proceedings on Youtube in order to enhance access to courts, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic. The link to watch the proceedings is available on the YouTube channel of the Gujarat High Court. The link to live stream the proceedings will be updated every evening.

 

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

 

1. China launches ‘world’s first 6G experiment satellite’: China has sent into space the world’s first 6G experiment satellite. The 6G satellite was among three Chinese satellites successfully launched into orbit, along with 10 commercial remote sensing satellites developed by Argentinian company Satellogic. This was the 351st rocket of China’s Long March series. As per the reports, the technology is expected to be over 100 times faster than 5G.  The 6G communications test satellite was launched into the orbit along with 12 other satellites. The satellite also carries technology which will be used for crop disaster monitoring and forest fire prevention.

Note: China Capital: Beijing; China Currency: Renminbi; China President: Xi Jinping.

 

2. Kosovo′s President Hashim Thaci resigns: Kosovo President Hashim Thaci, who fought in his country’s 1998-1999 war for independence from Serbia, has abruptly resigned after a Hague-based special court confirmed that he’s been indicted on war crimes charges. Thaci was a senior commander in the Kosovo Liberation Army guerrilla group. After the end of the war in 1999, he was prime minister of Kosovo and was elected president in 2016.

Note: Kosovo Capital: Pristinaa; Currency: Euro; Prime Minister: Avdullah Hoti

 

OTHER UPDATES:

 

SPORTS

 

1. Andrey Rublev wins fifth ATP title of season at Erste Bank Open: Andrey Rublev won his fifth ATP title of the season, beating unheralded Lorenzo Sonego 6-4, 6-4 at the Erste Bank Open. The eight-ranked Russian has won three of his last four tournaments, improving to 7-2 in career finals, and win earned him a berth for the season-ending ATP Finals in London. Rublev became the first player in this shortened season with five titles, one more than Novak Djokovic. No other player has won more than two tournaments.

 

BANKING AND FINANCE

 

1. Aegon Life Insurance announced the launch of ‘Life + 36 critical illness Insurance’ on Flipkart: Aegon Life Insurance, the pioneer of digital insurance in India, announced the launch of ‘Life + 36 critical illness Insurance’ on Flipkart at the starting premium of just Rs. 153 for a life cover of Rs 1 lakh plus Critical Illness cover of Rs.10,000. This means that the policy holder gets the benefit of life protection along with a lumpsum pay-out on diagnosis of any of the 36 critical illnesses. Aegon Life’s “Life+ 36 Critical illness Insurance” ensures that the policyholder gets covered against most of the lifestyle diseases along with a life cover to ease the financial burden.

 

2. Bank of Baroda launches employee-assistance programme: Bank of Baroda (BOB) has introduced Employee Assistance Program, a new employee Central initiative to help employees to deal with personal and professional issues in psychological consulting and counselling. Bank of Baroda has introduced this as a pilot project in Mumbai zone and its corporate offices. This initiative uses multiple channels of assistant and technology in addition to personal counselling in association with EAP India. The counselling service is offered in collaboration with specialists. This 24×7 service is “safe, non-judgmental, and highly confidential” and can be availed not only by the employees but their family members too.

 

3. HDFC Bank Appoints Ramesh Lakshminarayanan as its New CIO: Largest private sector lender HDFC Bank said it has hired Ramesh Lakshminarayanan as its next chief information officer (CIO). The appointment comes nearly four months after the resignation of its the then CIO Munish Mittal to pursue higher education in the UK after spending over 25 years at the bank.

 

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY

 

1. Tamil Nadu, HCL to set up disaster management analytics centre: Tamil Nadu government and HCL will set up a Disaster Management – Data Analytics Centre to strengthen the State’s disaster management efforts in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic. The Disaster Management Centre of the Tamil Nadu government (in Chepauk, Chennai) is responsible for the overall management of disasters across the entire state. The Disaster Management-Data Analytics Centre will help capture data trends from across all districts of Tamil Nadu in real time and display them live to inform the government’s future decisions on degree of response needed for each district and, also for graded relaxation of the current lockdown to resume economic activities.

 

2. Govt., Tata Technologies Ltd. ink pact to upgrade 150 ITIs in Karnataka: The State government of Karnataka entered into an agreement with Tata Technologies Ltd., Pune, to upgrade 150 government Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) at a cost of ₹4,636.5 crore. The upgrade of the ITIs at Peenya, Hosur Road (Bengaluru), Ballari, Mysuru, Dastikoppa (Belagavi), and Shikaripur (Shivamogga) will be taken up in the first phase. Private companies are providing over ₹4,000 crore under CSR activities for this initiative. Along with Tata Technologies Ltd., about 20 companies have decided to contribute ₹4,080 crore. The remaining ₹657 crore would be provided by the State. Each ITIs would be upgraded at a cost of ₹30 crore.

 

3. Axis Bank acquires stakes worth over Rs36cr in govt’s CSC e-Governance Services: The private lender Axis Bank has executed an agreement for subscribing to 57,743 equity shares of face value of Rs 1,000 each to be issued by CSC e-Governance Services India for Rs 6,300 each. The transaction is for 9.91% equity stake for a cash consideration of Rs 36.38 crore in CSC e-Governance Services India as a strategic investment by the bank. The transaction is expected to be completed by December 2020.

 

AWARDS AND HONOURS

 

1. Karsh Kale, Salvage Audio Collective win best music for ‘Gully Boy’ at Asian Film Awards: Filmmaker Zoya Akhtar’s drama “Gully Boy” has bagged the best original music award for musician Karsh Kale and the Salvage Audio Collective at the 14th Annual Asian Film Awards. “Gully Boy” featured Ranveer Singh as an up-and-coming rapper who sets out to achieve his dream by rhyming about his life on the Mumbai streets. Its music, supervised by composer-singer Ankur Teawari, turned out to be a chartbuster with the track “Apna Time Aayega” becoming an anthem.

 

OBITUARIES

 

1. Former Sikkim CM Nar Bahadur Bhandari passes away: The three-term former chief minister of Sikkim, Nar Bahadur Bhandari, passed away. The 77-year old Bhandari rose to become one of the longest-serving chief ministers of Sikkim. Bhandari became the chief minister of the tiny Himalyan state for the first time in 1979 on a Janata Parishad ticket and then again in 1984 and 1989 on a Sikkim Sangram Parishad ticket. The founder of the SSP, Bhandari remained its president till his death. Known as a pragmati and resilient leader, Bhandari was the second chief minister after L D Kazi to hold the reins of the fledgling state which officially became a part of the Indian Union in 1975. He was also a former president of Sikkim Pradesh Congress Committee.