Daily GK Updates – 16th Dec, 2020

 

NATIONAL UPDATES:

 

1. The Second Cancer Genome Atlas Conference held in Delhi: The Minister of Science and Technology held the second TCGA-Cancer Genome Atlas 2020 conference in New Delhi. The conference brought together scientists and clinicians from all over the world to jointly establish the Indian Cancer Genome Atlas (ICGA). Indian Cancer Genome Atlas (ICGA) aims to create an indigenous, open-source and comprehensive database to collect molecular profiles of all prevalent cancers in the Indian population. TCGA is a joint effort of the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), which are both part of the National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. It was started in 2006.

 

2. Centre Releases Rs 6,195 Cr to 14 States as Instalment of Post Devolution Revenue Deficit Grant: The Centre released Rs 6,195 crore to 14 states as monthly instalment of post devolution revenue deficit grant. Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Punjab, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Tripura, Uttarakhand and West Bengal are the states to whom the amount has been released. A similar amount was released as grant for April-November months of the current financial year.

 

3. Mizoram launches project to assist migrant workers find employment: The Mizoram government has launched a project to assist the migrant workers, who lost their jobs due to the Covid-19 pandemic, find suitable employment. The Rs 3.3 project under the Mizoram Youth Commission (MZC) christened as ‘Livelihood Generation for Returned Migrant Workers’ was launched by Chief Minister Zoramathnga. The project funded by the North East Council will cover more than 2,600 people, who will be given skill-based training and entrepreneurship development training, to help them find suitable employment.

 

4. Central Govt Announces Co-WIN App That Will Let Indians Self-Register for COVID-19 Vaccine: The Union Health Ministry has developed a digital platform, including a mobile application, for real-time monitoring of COVID-19 vaccine delivery, recording data and to enable people to get themselves registered for vaccination. There are five modules in Co-WIN app – administrator module, registration module, vaccination module, beneficiary acknowledgement module and report module. The Co-WIN, will help monitor the entire vaccination process.The mobile application will also send real-time data of temperature of the cold-storage facilities to the main server

 

5. Andhra Pradesh signs MoU with Survey of India for historic land survey: Andhra Pradesh government signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Survey of India in the presence of Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy for the implementation of the ‘YSR Jagananna Saswatha Bhoomi Hakku-Bhoomi Rakshana’, scheduled for launch on December 21. The State government in partnership with Survey of India will be conducting a comprehensive survey which will go down in history with the golden letters, as such a large scale survey is being conducted for the first time in the country after almost 100 years. The State government and Survey of India are putting together 70 base stations to take up this survey, which will be added to their network in future.

 

6. NE states, UP, Bihar top in pandemic management: Report: North-eastern states have topped the list of states in managing Covid-19 followed by Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, according to a study conducted by SBI Research. Northeast was combined into one. Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Himachal Pradesh, on the other hand, are at the bottom of the list. As far as the entire country is concerned, the estimated number of infections is 9,929,000 which is 466,000 higher than the 9,463,000 confirmed cases. This indicated that India has done a fairly good job on controlling the spread of the virus. The northeast topped the list in the macro economic parameters as well, followed by Himachal Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. Bihar, Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal were at the bottom. Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat and Maharashtra were at the top on performance in the Centre’s schemes, while Goa, West Bengal and Chhattisgarh were the most laggard.

 

7. Nation Observes 49th Vijay Diwas on 16 December 2020: In India, Vijay Diwas (also called Victory Day) is celebrated every year on December 16. The country is celebrating thea 49th Vijay Diwas in 2020. Vijay Diwas is observed to commemorate the service, valour, and sacrifices of the gallant men of the Indian Armed Forces’ victory over Pakistan in 1971 war.

About Vijay Diwas: The Indo-Pakistan war of 1971 which began on December 3 lasted for 13 days and officially ended on December 16, after which Pakistan surrendered to India. It was on this day in 1971, the chief of the Pakistani forces, General AA Khan Niazi, along with 93 thousand troops, had surrendered unconditionally to the allied forces consisting of Indian Army and Mukti Bahini. The end of the war also resulted in subsequent secession of East Pakistan into Bangladesh.

 

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

 

1. India and Uzbekistan inks 9 Agreements to strengthen strategic partnership: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Uzbekistan President Shavkat Mirziyoyev co-chaired the virtual Summit held between the two countries, to strengthen strategic partnership among them. The Government of India also approved a US $448 million Line of Credit for four developmental projects in Uzbekistan in the fields of road construction, sewerage treatment and information technology.

India and Uzbekistan signed nine Agreements and Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs) in various areas including in the field of: (1) Solar Energy; (2) Digital Technologies; (3) High Impact Community Development Projects; (4) Trade, Economic and Investment Cooperation; (5) Defence and Security; (6) Civil Nuclear Energy; (7) Connectivity; (8) Culture, Education and People-to-People Contacts; (9) Terrorism.

Note: Capital of Uzbekistan: Tashkent; Currency: Uzbekistani Som.

 

2. India Drops to Second Position In BNEF’s 2020 Climatescope Ranking; Chile Bags Top Spot: India has dropped to the second position in Bloomberg New Energy Finance’s (BNEF) 2020 Climatescope survey ranking from first last year, as a result of a decline in clean energy investment, which fell 12 per cent in 2018-19 to $8.5 billion and has plummeted 32 per cent since 2017. Chile has bagged the top spot in the survey reflective of its strong clean energy policies while, Brazil remained at the third position. However, the report added that Mainland China and India continued to be the biggest markets for clean energy investment with Mainland China far and away the largest. The report also added that the total foreign direct investment (FDI) in renewables set a new record at $32 billion in 2019, up from a previous high of $24 billion in 2018. It said that the majority – 84 per cent – of the 2019 total came from international project developers, utilities, commercial banks and other private sources.

 

OTHER UPDATES:

 

BANKING AND FINANCE

 

1. Canara HSBC Oriental Bank of Commerce Life Insurance launches digital campaign ‘heroes of my city’: Canara HSBC Oriental Bank of Commerce Life Insurance has launched its new digital campaign- ‘heroes of my city’ celebrating real life heroes and their acts of generosity during the ongoing pandemic. This two month long campaign is an extension to the initiative ‘me for my city’ which was launched in 2018 by Canara HSBC OBC Life Insurance. The campaign is all about fulfilling promises to the society at large and making a difference to the cities. The campaign starts with actress Bhumi Pednekar lending a strong voice to the idea of recognising these real-life heroes that exist in every city.

 

2. Federal Bank ties up with OrbitRemit Limited, New Zealand to offer money transfer facility: Federal Bank has entered into a tie-up with OrbitRemit Limited to facilitate money transfer from New Zealand to India. NRIs and small businesses in New Zealand will now enjoy a modern, low cost, fast, easy and more reliable way of transferring money to India.Federal Bank currently processes more than 17 per cent of the personal inward remittances into India.

 

3. ICICI Bank to be designated bank for all financial transactions under National Health Mission in West Bengal: ICICI Bank has won the mandate to be the designated bank for all financial transactions under National Health Mission (NHM) in West Bengal, outbidding State Bank of India and other public sector lenders despite their bigger presence in the state. The West Bengal government has decided to implement a single bank account system for NHM. Under this, all financial transactions will be conducted through online software, integrated with bank accounts.

 

4. SBI General Insurance ties up with Mahindra Insurance to make deeper inroads into tier-2, 3 cities: SBI General Insurance has partnered with Mahindra Insurance Brokers Ltd (MIBL) to raise its penetration in tier-II and III cities. This association will enable the company to provide health insurance cover to a significant number of people in tier-II and III cities and generate employment. Under this ‘Sajhedaari programme’, the insurer said it hopes to make a significant milestone in realising its vision to be the most-trusted general insurer.

 

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY

 

1. ADB narrows India’s FY21 GDP contraction projection to 8%: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) upgraded its forecast for the Indian economy, projecting 8% contraction in 2020-21 as compared to 9% estimated earlier, on the back of a faster-than-expected recovery. Observing that the economy had begun to normalise, the Asian Development Outlook (ADO) Supplement said the second quarter contraction at 7.5% was better-than-expected. The economy contracted by 23.9% in the June quarter on account of the impact of the COVID-19s pandemic.

 

AWARDS AND HONOURS

 

1. Paul Sein Twa, co-founder of KESAN and Salween Peace Park in Myanmar, receives Goldman Environmental Prize 2020: The co-founder of KESAN and Salween Peace Park in Myanmar, Paul Sein Twa has won the Goldman Environmental Prize 2020 for Asia, in recognition of his efforts in promoting the self-determination of the Karen people in managing their natural resources. Sein Twa received the prestigious prize along with five other grassroots environmental activists from the Bahamas, Ghana, Ecuador, Mexico and France. Dubbed the “Green Nobel Prize,” this award is given annually to environmental heroes from each of the world’s six inhabited continents.

 

OBITUARIES

 

1. Dennis Ralston, Hall of Fame tennis player, passes away: Dennis Ralston, a five-time Grand Slam doubles champion who was one of the initial players signed to the professional World Championship Tennis tour in the 1960s and a member of the sport’s Hall of Fame has passed away. He was 78. He was considered the highest-ranked American player for three years in the 1960s, long before the sport’s computerized rankings system began.He was a three-time Grand Slam finalist in mixed doubles. Ralston was one of the so-called Handsome Eight who signed on with the WCT tour in 1967, along with John Newcombe, Tony Roche, Cliff Drysdale, Earl Buchholtz, Niki Pilic, Roger Taylor and Pierre Barthes.

 

2. Famous Hindi Poet and Journalist Manglesh Dabral passes away: Eminent Hindi poet and journalist Manglesh Dabral passed away after suffering from COVID-19-induced complications. He was 72. Dabral worked with several Hindi newspapers, including Jansatta and Pratipaksha. He had also worked with the National Book Trust as an Editorial Consultant. Dabral had written five poetry collections – Pahar Par Lalten, Ghar Ka Rasta, Hum Jo Dekhte Hain, Awaz Bhi Ek Jagah Hai and Naye Yug Me Shatru. He also wrote two collections of prose – Lekhak Ki Roti and Kavi Ka Akelapan. For his contribution to Hindi literature, he was given the Sahitya Akademi Award for his poetry collection Hum Jo Dekhte Hain.