Daily GK Updates – 21st Dec, 2020

 

NATIONAL UPDATES:

 

1. Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik launched ‘Pareshram’ Portal: Chief Minister of Odisha, Naveen Patnaik through a video conference, launched ‘Pareshram’ Portal along with 22 online services of Labour and Employees State Insurance Department. The Portal and the Online Services shall be helpful in “Ease of Doing Business” and contribute significantly to the industrial development of the State. The Portal will provide 52 types of services in the coming days. This technology is the foundation of 5-T initiative and this will help in transformation, hoped that information regarding different Labour Laws will be available and industries, commercial organisations, small entrepreneurs and public will be benefited through this Portal.

Note: Chief Minister of Odisha: Naveen Patnaik; Odisha Capital: Bhubaneswar; Odisha Governor: Ganeshi Lal.

 

2. Mega leather park with Rs 5,850 cr investment to come up in Kanpur: Mega leather park to come up in Ramaipur village of Kanpur with an investment of Rs 5,850 crores. The park, part of the mega leather cluster project will create 50,000 direct jobs & indirect employment for 1.5 lakh people. Recently, the project has received approval from the Union Commerce Ministry. The mega leather cluster project will attract an investment of about Rs 13,000 crores. With the mega leather cluster at Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh will become the first state in the country to establish a leather park. The leather park will be equipped with an effluent treatment plant to keep a check on pollution. For setting up units in the park, industrial plots ranging from 4,000 square metres to 10,000 square metres will be provided to the investors.

Note: Uttar Pradesh Capital: Lucknow; Uttar Pradesh Governor: Anandiben Patel; Uttar Pradesh Chief minister: Yogi Adityanath.

 

3. Nehru Zoological Park Hyderabad gets ISO certifications: Nehru Zoological Park, Hyderabad, with its standard working procedures, has acquired ISO 9001:2015 Quality Management Standards Certification from ASCB, UK. The Hyderabad Zoo has become the first zoo in the country to receive ISO 9001:2015 Quality Management Standards Certificate. This was presented to Telangana Forests Minister A. Indra Karan Reddy. HYM International Certifications, Accredited by ASCB(UK) recently conducted an assessment of the Zoo for ISO 9001:2015 Certifications and expressed satisfaction and happiness in the standards being followed in Nehru Zoological Park in the area of sanitation, food processing, animal breeding, Zoo Hospital, animal care, hygiene maintenance and establishment.

 

4. NHAI chairman Sukhbir Singh Sandhu gets six months extension: Sukhbir Singh Sandhu has been given six months extension as the chairman of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI). The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the extension in central deputation tenure of Sandhu, chairman, NHAI, Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, for a period of six months beyond January 21, 2021, i.e. up to July 21, 2021. Sandhu is a 1988-batch IAS officer of Uttarakhand cadre.

Note: National Highways Authority of India Founded: 1988; National Highways Authority of India Headquarters: New Delhi.

 

5. ISRO sets up dedicated control centre ‘NETRA’ for SSA: The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) has set up a dedicated Space Situational Awareness (SSA) Control Centre named “NETRA”, at its ISTRAC campus at Peenya, Bengaluru. The ISRO SSA Control Centre ‘NETRA’ was formally inaugurated by ISRO Chairman K Sivan.

What is NETRA: The “NEtwork for space object TRacking and Analysis (NETRA)” will monitor, track and protect India’s space assets. It will function as a hub of all SSA activities within India. It has been set up as a ‘Directorate of Space Situational Awareness and Management (DSSAM)’ aiming to protect high valued space assets from space debris close approaches and collisions. The state-of-the-art facility, dedicated to SSA activities, will also help to coordinate between Indian agencies, their foreign counterparts and international bodies. The main elements of NETRA would be a radar, an optical telescope facility, and a control centre.

What is Space Situational Awareness (SSA): SSA is the science of tracking objects (man-made and natural) that are in orbit and also predicting what they would be at a given point in time. Only the US, Russia and Europe have similar facility in place to track space objects and share collision warnings.

Note: ISRO Chairman: K.Sivan; ISRO Headquarters: Bengaluru, Karnataka.

 

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

 

1. Boris Johnson invites PM Modi to UK-Led G-7 Summit: United Kingdom Prime Minister, Boris Johnson has invited Prime Minister Narendra Modi to join the UK-hosted G-7 summit 2021. UK Prime Minister Johnson has also accepted the very generous invitation to attend India’s Republic Day celebrations in January. PM Johnson will attend India’s annual Republic Day parade in New Delhi.

 

2. India ranks 131 in Human Development Index 2020: According to the report released by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), India has been dropped two spots to 131 among 189 countries in the 2020 Human Development Index.

According to the report: Norway topped the index, followed by Ireland, Switzerland, Hong Kong and Iceland, the report showed. Niger is the lowest ranked country at 189, placed among Low human development category, with a score of 0.394. India(131), Bhutan (129), Bangladesh (133), Nepal (142), and Pakistan (154) were ranked among countries with medium human development. In the BRICS grouping, Russia was 52 in the human development index, Brazil 84, and China 85.

Facts related to India: Between 1990 and 2019, India’s life expectancy at birth increased by 11.8 years, mean years of schooling increased by 3.5 years, and expected years of schooling increased by 4.5 years. India’s GNI per capita increased by about 273.9% between 1990 and 2019. Life expectancy for Indian’s at birth was 69.7 years in 2019, slightly lower than the south Asian average of 69.9 years, but slightly higher than the average of medium human development index groupings in the world at 69.3 years.

Note: UNDP Headquarters: New York, New York, United States; UNDP Head: Achim Steiner; UNDP Founded: 22 November 1965.

 

3. PM Modi holds virtual summit with Sheikh Hasina: The Government of India and Bangladesh held a virtual summit to hold comprehensive discussions on the entire spectrum of the bilateral relationship, including further strengthening cooperation in the post-COVID-19 era. The meeting was led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bangladesh counterpart Sheikh Hasina.

During the summit: The two leaders jointly inaugurated the Chilahati-Haldibari rail link, which would connect the borders of the two neighbouring countries. The rail route lies between Haldibari in West Bengal and Chilahati in Bangladesh. It is re-opened after a gap of 55 years. The railway line has been defunct after rail links between India and then East Pakistan snapped in 1965. Both the leaders also digitally inaugurated the digital exhibition in the honour of Mahatma Gandhi and Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rehman. The Indian side also released a postal stamp to commemorate Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Apart from this, the two sides signed 7 MoUs and agreements in various fields.

Note: Prime Minister of Bangladesh: Sheikh Hasina; Capital: Dhaka; Currency: Taka.

 

OTHER UPDATES:

 

SPORTS

 

1. India pledges USD 1 million to WADA to support Clean Sport: India has pledged a sum of USD 1 million to the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), towards its scientific research budget, to ensure an atmosphere of Clean Sport globally. The contribution made by India is the highest among contributions made by other world governments, including China, Saudi Arabia and Egypt. This contribution is over and above the annual contribution made to WADA’s core budget by India. The sum will be used by WADA to develop innovative anti-doping testing and detection methods, and further strengthen WADA’s independent Investigations and Intelligence Department. The total contribution of all member nations will be matched by an equal sum by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to create a corpus of USD 10 million.

Note: President of WADA: Sir Craig Reedie; Headquarters: Montreal, Canada; Founded: 10 November 1999.

 

BANKING AND FINANCE

 

1. RBI imposes Rs 50 lakh fine on Urban Co-operative Bank in Kerala: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has imposed a monetary penalty of Rs 50.00 lakh on The Urban Co-operative Bank Ltd in Kerala. This fine is imposed for non-compliance with directions issued on Income Recognition and Asset Classification (IRAC) norms and on Management of Advances-UCBs. Statutory inspection of the bank with reference to its financial position as on March 31, 2019, conducted by RBI, revealed that the bank had not complied with the directions, the central bank said in a statement. A notice was issued to the bank asking why penalty should not be imposed for non-compliance with the directions issued by RBI.

Note: RBI 25th Governor: Shaktikant Das; Headquarters: Mumbai; Founded: 1 April 1935, Kolkata.

 

2. SBI General Insurance, IntrCity RailYatri partner to offer ₹5L travel cover: SBI General Insurance partnered with IntrCity RailYatri, to provide travel insurance of ₹5 lakh on tickets for bus commuters opting to travel through IntrCity RailYatri. The travel cover is offered on buying the ticket. Under this partnership, SBI General insurance will provide a wide variety of coverage including accidental death, permanent total disability, and medical evacuation.

Note: SBI General Insurance CEO: PC Kandpal.

IntrCity RailYatri CEO: Manish Rathi.

 

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY

 

1. ICRA Projects Indian economy to contract 7.8% in FY21: The domestic rating agency, ICRA Ratings expects the technical recession in the country’s economy to end in the fourth quarter of the current fiscal, limiting the contraction in the GDP to 7.8 per cent in the financial year 2021.

 

AWARDS AND HONOURS

 

1. Robert Lewandowski and Lucy Bronze win best of 2020 FIFA awards: The Bayern Munich striker, Robert Lewandowski has been named The Best FIFA Men’s Player 2020, beating off competition from last year’s winner Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. The 32-year-old Lewandowski, top scorer in Europe and winner of the Champions League with Bayern. Manchester City full-back, Lucy Bronze won the women’s best player award, becoming the first female English player to take the prize. It is the first occasion for both Lewandowski and Bronze to win the award, with the Pole only the second player after Luka Modric in 2018 to break a 13-year Messi-Ronaldo hegemony.

 

2. Kylie Jenner tops Forbes’ list of highest-paid celebrities of 2020: American media personality and reality TV star, Kylie Jenner has been crowned the highest-paid celebrity of 2020 by Forbes. The top-earning stars in the world earned a combined of $6.1 billion in 2020 with Kylie Jenner. Setting aside Kylie’s history with Forbes, the financial experts there calculated her earning this year to be at $590 million after she sold a majority of her beauty brand’s stake to Coty Inc.

Ranked at number 2 on the list by making $170 million was American rapper and record producer Kanye West, who is also coincidentally Kylie’s brother-in-law. In addition to Tyler Perry, Howard Stern, and Dwayne Johnson, A-lister athletes like Roger Federer, Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Neymar and LeBron James helped round out the top 10. Due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the entertainment industry, this year’s combined total of USD 6.1 billion was USD 200 million lesser than that of 2019.

 

OBITUARIES

 

1. Veteran Journalist and first official RSS Spokesperson MG Vaidya passes away: Senior Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) ideologue, MG Vaidya has passed away. He was a veteran journalist, a Sanskrit scholar and the first official spokesperson of the RSS. He became a member of the RSS in 1943.