Daily GK Updates – 25th Nov, 2020

NATIONAL UPDATES:

 

1. Bhubaneswar, 1st City in Country To Bag ISO Certification for Faecal Sludge and Septage Management: Bhubaneswar becomes the 1st city in the entire country to receive the ISO-9001:2015 certification for effective Faecal Sludge & Septage Management FSSM services. Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) obtained the ISO Certification after successful completion of audit. Bhubaneswar is 2nd in the world and first city in India for FSSM Services. According to BMC, it is the first ULB in the state to pass and adopt FSSM in the state. It has issued a notification in the newspaper for registration of private operators and private cesspool vehicles with an incentive that first 50 vehicles coming forward for registration will be fitted with GPS devices free of cost by BMC.

 

2. New building permission system ‘TS-bPASS’ launched in Telangana: A new online single window system for sanctioning approvals to new buildings based on self- certification by the applicants was launched in Telangana by Municipal Administration Minister K T Rama Rao. Under the Telangana State Building Permission Approval and Self-Certification System (TS-bPASS), no permission was required for constructing a house in plots area up to 75 square yards and building height up to 7 meters. Instant approval for buildings will be provided for plots of above 75 square yards land and up to 600 square yards land, based on self-certification.

 

3. Over 50,000 Ayushman Bharat Health & Wellness Centers set up across country: Aiming at providing Comprehensive Primary Health Care (CPHC) services to the communities closer to their homes, 1.5 lakh Ayushman Bharat – Health and Wellness Centres (AB-HWCs) are to be established by December 2022. With more than 50,000 having been established, one-third of the target has been met. This has led to improved access to affordable primary healthcare services for more than 25 crore people. Ayushman Bharat was launched in 2018 with its twin pillars of Health & Wellness Centers (HWCs) and Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY) for full range of services across the continuum of care.

 

4. Digital museum opens at Maharaj Bada in Gwalior, MP: In Madhya Pradesh, a digital museum has been opened at Maharaj Bada in Gwalior for the public. The museum is developed by Gwalior Smart City and entry for the public is being made free for a few days. It is the first center of its kind in Gwalior and Bundelkhand area and will play a role in educating school students. In the Digital Museum, the architectural styles, objects, costumes, lifestyle, musical instruments, jewelry, handicrafts, cultural tradition, painting and many genres of paintings have been digitally displayed in a modern way.

 

5. GoI releases Rs 3,971 crores for micro-irrigation projects: Government of India sanctioned a loan of 3,971 crores of rupees for micro irrigation projects in Tamil Nadu. This is one of the biggest loans being sanctioned for the state of Tamil Nadu. The loan has been sanctioned at subsidised interest rate under micro irrigation fund. The micro irrigation fund was created within the National bank for Agriculture and Rural Development, NABARD.This fund with a corpus of Rs 5,000 crore was operationalised in FY20 with an objective to facilitate states in availing subsidised loans for expanding coverage of micro irrigation.

 

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

 

1. EIU’s Worldwide Cost of Living (WCOL) Index 2020 announced: The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) has released its biannual ‘Worldwide Cost of Living (WCOL)’ report of the World’s Most Expensive Cities in 2020, based on their cost of living. Hong Kong (China), Paris (France) and Zurich (Switzerland) share the top spot as the most expensive cities in the list, which comprises of 133 cities. Damascus (Syria), Taskent (Uzbekistan), Lusaka (Zambia) ranked the last three spot as the most cheapest cities in the list, which comprises of 133 cities. The report took into account the price of 138 items, used in every day for survival, and the falling or rising value of that country’s currency due to Covid to rank the cities accordingly.

Note: Economist Intelligence Unit Headquarters: London, United Kingdom; Economist Intelligence Unit Founded: 1946.

 

2. ADB Allocates $20 Million to help developing members access vaccines for COVID-19: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has allocated $20.3 million in technical assistance to help its developing members access vaccines for Covid-19 and establish systems to enable equitable and efficient vaccine distribution. The funds will be available for ADB developing members to support vaccine-related health system assessments and the development of country readiness plans to strengthen the capacity to access, introduce, deploy, deliver, and monitor vaccines safely and effectively, the multilateral funding agency.

 

3. NASA-ESA successfully launches Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich satellite: The US space agency NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) successfully launched ‘Copernicus Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich satellite’, to monitor the rising global sea level. The joint US-European satellite lifted off on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 4E at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.

About Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich satellite: The Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich satellite will help to enhance weather forecasts and provide detailed information on large-scale ocean currents to support ship navigation near coastlines. The US-EU collaboration for the monitoring of sea-level record began in 1992 with the TOPEX/Poseidon satellite and followed by Jason-1 (2001), OSTM/Jason-2 (2008), and eventually, Jason-3 (2016). This Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich satellite will be followed in 2025 by its twin, Sentinel-6B.

Note: The administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration: Jim Bridenstine; Headquarters of NASA: Washington D.C., United States.

 

4. International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women: 25th November: The United Nations designated International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women is celebrated worldwide on November 25. The day is celebrated to raise awareness of the fact that women around the world are subject to various forms of violence and the true nature of the issue is often hidden. This year’s theme for the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women is “Orange the World: Fund, Respond, Prevent, Collect!”. In 1981, activists at the Latin American and Caribbean Feminist Encuentros marked November 25 as a day to combat and raise awareness of violence against women more broadly; on December 17, 1999, the date received its official United Nations (UN) resolution.

 

OTHER UPDATES:

 

SPORTS

 

1. Jannik Sinner Clinches Maiden ATP Tour Title in Sofia: Italian teenager Jannik Sinner has become the youngest man to capture an ATP Tour title in more than 12 years after his title win at the Sofia Open. Sinner defeated Vasek Pospisil of Canada 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (3) in the summit clash to win his first ATP title. Pospisil was also attempting to capture his first ATP Tour crown. The last player to have lifted a tour-level trophy at a younger age than Sinner was Kei Nishikori who had earned his maiden ATP Tour title as an 18-year-old at the 2008 Delray Beach Open.

 

BANKING AND FINANCE

 

1. RBL Bank selects Amazon Web Services to drive digital transformation: RBL Bank has selected Amazon Web Services (AWS) as its preferred cloud service to drive digital transformation. At present, around 40 per cent of the bank’s mission-critical applications are on the cloud. The bank first migrated its corporate website to AWS cloud and with the experience gained initiated a 10-in-10 project (a complete migration of 10 applications in 10 days). The bank chose AWS for its commitment to security and highly reliable global infrastructure.

 

2. ICICI Bank partners Pine Labs to unveil ‘Cardless EMI’: Private lender ICICI Bank has launched a fully digital mode of payment at leading retail stores. Titled as ‘ICICI Bank Cardless EMI’ (Equated Monthly Instalments), the facility will help lakhs of its pre-approved customers in buying their favourite gadgets or home appliances with the help of their mobile phone and PAN. ICICI Bank is the first lender in India to introduce a fully digital, cardless EMI facility at retail stores. For this facility the bank joined hands with Pine Labs, merchant commerce platform, to offer this facility across pan-India outlets of leading retailers namely Croma, Reliance Digital, My Jio Stores and Sangeetha Mobiles. Buyers can simply convert the high-value transactions into easy, no-cost monthly instalments by furnishing their registered mobile number, PAN and OTP (received on mobile number) on the PoS machine at the retail outlets.

 

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY

 

1. Reliance Retail buys Urban Ladder for $24.4 million: Reliance Retail has acquired a majority stake in furniture and decor platform Urban Ladder, making a broader push into e-commerce as the largest retail chain in India gears up to fight Amazon and Flipkart. In a filing to the local stock exchange, Reliance Retail said it had acquired a 96% stake in Urban Ladder for about $24.43 million. The Indian retail giant, which retains the option to acquire the remainder stake in the seven-and-a-half-years-old startup, said it has proposed to invest up to $10.06 million more in Urban Ladder by December 2023.

 

2. NASSCOM Launches New FutureSkills PRIME Platform for Reskilling: As part of its ongoing efforts to foster an ecosystem that enhances India’s digital talent with the right set of skills, the National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM) launched FutureSkills PRIME Beta Platform. The programme will be offered as a robust online platform to encourage remote and self-paced learning. Many awareness-building modules will be free to access, allowing the maximum number of participations. Under the Programme, 4.12 lakh learners will get subsidised access to certified courses in any of the 10 identified emerging technologies (Artificial Intelligence, Internet of things, Big Data Analytics, Robotic Process Automation, Additive Manufacturing/3D Printing, Cloud Computing, Social & Mobile, Cyber Security, Augmented/Virtual Reality and Blockchain.)

 

AWARDS AND HONOURS

 

1. Naseeruddin Shah honoured with Aditya Vikram Birla Kalashikhar Puraskar: Veteran actor Naseeruddin Shah has been honoured with the 2020 Aditya Vikram Birla Kalashikhar Puraskar at annual Sangit Kala Kendra Awards. Alongside, two emerging stars, in the firmament of theatrics – Neel Choudhary and Irawati Karnik were awarded the Aditya Vikram Birla Kalakiran Puraskars. “Theatre” is the central theme, for this year’s awards.

The Aditya Vikram Birla Kalashikhar and Kalakiran Puraskar awards, were instituted in 1996 by the Sangeet Kala Kendra (SKK), which was founded in 1973 by Aditya Vikram Birla (former Chairman of Aditya Birla Group), to honor excellence in theatre and performing arts.

 

2. 14-year-old TN girl wins Children’s Climate Prize for designing solar-powered ironing cart: Vinisha Umashankar, a 14-year-old studying in 9th grade at a private school in Tiruvannamalai, has won the prestigious Children’s Climate Prize for designing a mobile ironing cart using solar panels to power a steam iron box rather than conventional charcoal. Vinisha will receive the prize of 100,000 Swedish krona (Rs 8.64 lakh approximately), diploma, and medal from the Sweden-based Children’s Climate Foundation at a digital event. This is the fifth edition of the Children’s Climate Prize — one of the world’s largest international climate awards for young innovators.

 

OBITUARIES

 

1. Former IIS officer M L Dhar passes away: M L Dhar, former IIS officer, passed away in Ahmedabad. He was 72. He started his career as News Editor in News Services Division of All India Radio in 1971 and worked in several media units of Information and Broadcasting Ministry including PIB, Doordarshan News and erstwhile Directorate of Field Publicity. He retired as Director.

 

2. Former CM of Assam Tarun Gogoi passes away: Tarun Gogoi, former chief minister of Assam, passed away in Guwahati after his health condition deteriorated. He was 84. Assam’s longest serving chief minister, was a popular leader and a veteran administrator, who had years of political experience in Assam as well as the Centre. Gogoi was the MLA from the Titabor assembly constituency since 2001. He was also a six-time parliamentarian and a Union minister twice.