Daily GK Updates – 27th Dec, 2020

NATIONAL UPDATES:

 

1. World Bank signs $500mn project to develop highways in India: The Government of India and the World Bank signed a $500 million project to build safe and green national highway corridors in the states of Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh. The project will also enhance the capacity of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) in mainstreaming safety and green technologies. The $500 million loans from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development a lending arm of World Bank Group, has a maturity of 18.5 years including a grace period of five years. About Green National Highways Corridors Project:

(1) The Green National Highways Corridors Project will support MoRTH construct 783 km of highways in various geographies by integrating safe and green technology designs such as local and marginal materials, industrial byproducts, and other bioengineering solutions.

(2) The project will help reduce GHG emissions in the construction and maintenance of highways.

(3) The ultimate objective of transport infrastructure is to provide seamless connectivity and reduce logistics costs.

(4) The Government of India has launched many investment programs in road sector infrastructure to strengthen and improve logistics performance.

(5) This project will also support analytics to map the freight volume and movement pattern on the National Highway network, identify constraints, and provide innovative logistics solutions.

Note: World Bank Headquarters: Washington DC, United States; World Bank President: David Malpass; World Bank Founded: 1944.

Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways:  Nitin Jairam Gadkari.

 

2. Cabinet approves 100% FDI in DTH services:  The Union Cabinet approved revised guidelines for Direct-to-Home (DTH) broadcasting services, allowing 100 per cent foreign direct investment (FDI) as well as increasing the licence period to 20 years. Due to our I&B guidelines, this field was not getting the benefit of 100 per cent FDI. After changing the guidelines, the guidelines will have the same guidelines as the Commerce Ministry and will come under 100 per cent FDI. Under the revised guidelines the licenses will be issued for a period of 20 years, compared to 10 years at the moment, and will be renewed for a 10-year period. The license fee has been revised from 10 per cent of gross revenue (GR) to 8 per cent of adjusted gross revenue (AGR), which will be calculated by deduction of GST from GR.

Note: Minister of Information and Broadcasting: Prakash Javadekar.

 

3. Cabinet approves the merger of four Govt film media units: The Cabinet approved the merger of four government-run film and media units- the Films Division, the Directorate of Film Festivals, the National Film Archives of India and the autonomous body Children’s Film Society, with the National Film Development Corporation. The merger of Film Media Units under one corporation will lead to convergence of activities and resources and better coordination, thereby ensuring synergy and efficiency in achieving the mandate of each media unit. This will lead to a reduction in duplication of activities and direct savings to the exchequer.

About the Films Division: The Films Division, which was established in 1948 and is the oldest of the four units, was created primarily to produce documentaries and news magazines as publicity for government programmes and to keep a cinematic record of Indian history.

About the National Film Archives of India: The National Film Archives of India was established in 1964 with the primary objective of acquiring and preserving Indian cinematic heritage.

About the Directorate of Film Festivals: The Directorate of Film Festivals was set up in 1973 to promote Indian films and cultural exchange.

About The Children’s Film Society: The Children’s Film Society, which was founded in 1955 with the specific objective of providing children and young people value-based entertainment through the medium of films.

 

4. Karnataka unveils “FRUITS” portal for farmers: Karnataka government has unveiled the Farmer Registration and Unified beneficiary Information System (FRUITS), an e-governance portal, to create a repository of farmland information and farm loan details on a single platform. All farmers will be registered and given an identification number on the portal. The FRUITS Portal is integrated into the BHOOMI Package of the Karnataka State for fetching and validating the land details. One other important facility of this Portal is online creation of charge by which visit of farmers to Sub-Registrar Office is avoided. Canara Bank has agreed to run FRUITS on a pilot basis.

Canara Bank observed that Karnataka State Government has always been in the forefront of technology initiatives to improve the ease of Banking as can be seen from the various initiatives like BHOOMI Package, Debt Waiver Portal and currently, the FRUITS Portal. Using this number, banks and other lending institutions can access the land details of farmers as well as details of their existing borrowings and take a quick decision on lending.

Note: Chief Minister of Karnataka: B.S. Yediyurappa; Governor: Vajubhai Vala.

 

5. VP Venkaiah Naidu virtually released the book ‘Oh Mizoram’: VP Venkaiah Naidu virtually released the book ‘Oh Mizoram’, written by Governor of Mizoram, Shri P S Sreedharan Pillai. Pillai is a lawyer, an orator, a prolific writer, a philanthropist, and a thinker. He has written 125 books in Malayalam & English. Oh, Mizoram is his first poetry collection in English.

 

OTHER UPDATES:

 

SPORTS

 

1. India’s largest hockey stadium to be set up in Odisha: Odisha Chief Minister, Naveen Patnaik has announced that India’s biggest hockey stadium is being set up in Rourkela city of Odisha. The stadium will be constructed in the Biju Patnaik University of Technology campus, Rourkela.

About the Stadium: It will have a sitting capacity of 20,000 people, spread over 15 acres of land. The stadium will be developed as a benchmark for other hockey stadiums around the world. It must be noted that Odisha will be hosting FIH Men’s Hockey World Cup for a second consecutive time, in 2034, at two venues, Bhubaneswar and Rourkela.

 

BANKING AND FINANCE

 

1. ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund launches Business Cycle Fund: ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund has launched a open-ended equity scheme Business Cycle Fund, which will invest in equity and equity-related securities, with a focus on riding business cycles through dynamic allocation across sectors and stocks. The New Fund Offer opens on December 29 and closes on January 12. The fund will follow a top down approach right from monitoring macro indicators (global and domestic), identifying business cycle followed by determining suitable sectors, and selecting the stocks within these sectors.

 

2. Indian Army and Bank of Baroda enter into MoU for Baroda Military Salary Package: Indian Army and Bank of Baroda have entered into a Memorandum of Understanding, MoU for Baroda Military Salary Package.  The MoU lays down the basis on which banking services would be provided by Bank of Baroda to serving and retired Army personnel. The package offers very attractive benefits including free Personal Accidental Insurance cover, Permanent Total Disability cover, Partial disability Cover and Air Accident Insurance Cover of sizeable amounts, as well as Higher Education Cover and Girl Child Marriage Cover on death in case of serving personnel.

 

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY

 

1. IIFL Home, ICICI Bank join hands for affordable housing, MSME loans: IIFL Finance said its home loan subsidiary IIFL Home Finance Ltd has tied up with ICICI Bank to provide affordable housing and MSME loans. Under the tie-up, IFL Home will originate and service customers through the entire loan life-cycle including sourcing, documentation, collection and loan servicing and in turn, ICICI Bank will provide funding to these customers.

 

AWARDS AND HONOURS

 

1. NTPC wins the prestigious CII-ITC Sustainability Awards 2020: Country’s largest power producer, National Thermal Power Corporation Limited (NTPC) has been conferred “Excellence” in the prestigious CII-ITC Sustainability Awards 2020 in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Domain. NTPC has been honoured in the Corporate Excellence Category, Commendation for Significant Achievement. This is the highest award conferred by CII-ITC in CSR domain. NTPC is the only PSU to receive the award in the Corporate Excellence category. NTPC wins the prestigious CII-ITC Sustainability Awards in Corporate Excellence category second time in a row i.e. in the year 2019 and 2020.

Note: NTPC MD & CEO: Gurdeep Singh; NTPC Founded: 1975; NTPC Headquarters: New Delhi, India.

 

OBITUARIES

 

1. Kabul’s Deputy Governor killed in a blast in Afghanistan: A bomb attack in Afghanistan’s capital city killed the deputy governor of Kabul, adding a sticky bomb was attached to his car by unknown assailants. Mahboobullah Mohebi, the deputy governor was travelling with his security guards when the blast occurred. Two guards were injured in the blast. No militant group has made an immediate claim of responsibility for the blast.

 

2. Former Liverpool, France coach Gerard Houllier passes away: Former Liverpool, Paris Saint-Germain and France coach Gerard Houllier has passed away. He was 73. Houllier, who had a long association with the national team as a youth coach, an assistant and head coach between 1992 and 1993.He resigned after failing to take the team to the 1994 World Cup in the United States. He rebuilt his reputation at Liverpool, however, joining as co-manager with Roy Evans in 1998 before assuming full responsibility and leading the team to a treble of the FA Cup, League Cup and UEFA Cup in 2001. He also had success back in France with Lyon, leading them to back-to-back Ligue 1 titles.He returned to management after taking a break in 2010.