Daily GK Updates – 29th Dec, 2020

 

NATIONAL UPDATES:

 

1. UP launches P2P trading  platform for rooftop  solar power producers: Uttar Pradesh has become the first state to launch blockchain-enabled solar power trading in India and South Asia in a project led by India Smart Grid Forum (ISGF) with Australian technology company Power Ledger. Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation Limited (UPPCL) and the subsidiary Madhyanchal Vidyut Vitran Nigam Limited (MVVNL) will host a pilot project involving peer-to-peer (P2P) trading of energy generated from solar rooftop systems installed on buildings in Lucknow. India Smart Grid Forum along with two other organisations will execute the project. The P2P trading platform’s first 12 participants would comprise nine customers with rooftop solar systems (prosumers) and three customers without rooftop solar systems (net buyers).

 

2. Mega leather park with Rs 5,850 cr investment to come up in UP’s Kanpur: A mega leather park will come up in Ramaipur village of Kanpur with an investment of Rs 5,850 crores. With the mega leather cluster at Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh will become the first state in the country to establish a leather park. The park which is part of the mega leather cluster project is likely to create 50,000 jobs. The mega leather cluster project will attract an investment of about Rs 13,000 crores. The leather park will be equipped with an effluent treatment plant to keep a check on pollution.

 

3. Rajasthan govt signs MoU with IIT-Madras for tech solution to road safety: Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras and Rajasthan government have signed an Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to create a data-driven system approach to road safety. The objective of this collaboration is to enhance road safety measures, increase capacity and capability across the board in the Government to both increase the survivability of road accident victims and reduce occurrence rate in the State.

 

4. FASTag to Be Mandatory for All Vehicles from January 1: FASTags will be mandatory for vehicles from January 1, 2021, Union minister Nitin Gakdari said. For National Permit vehicles, the fitment of FASTag was mandated since October 1, 2019. A valid FASTag would be made compulsory for getting a new third party insurance. This would come into force from April 1, 2021. FASTags, which facilitate electronic payment of fee at toll plazas, was introduced in 2016. Making the tags compulsory would also help in ensuring that vehicles pass seamlessly through the toll plazas as fee payment would be done electronically.

 

5. ISRO to open Regional Academic Centre for Space at IIT BHU: The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will establish a Regional Academic Centre for Space at IIT (BHU) to facilitate short and long term projects at the institute. ISRO and the Indian Institute of Technology (BHU) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) and the move can help propel the culture of research and development among students. Short-term projects for B-Tech and M-Tech students from the institute and associate institutes will also be included in this sequence. “Long term R&D projects leading to the PhD programme will also be offered.

 

6. A new book titled ‘Covid-19: Sabhyata ka Sankat aur Samadhan’ released: Nobel laureate Kailash Satyarthi’s new book titled ‘Covid-19: Sabhyata ka Sankat Aur Samadhan’ (Covid-19: Crisis of Civilisation and Solutions) was launched by former Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra and Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Harivansh Narayan Singh. The Hindi book, published by Prabhat Prakashan. The new book discusses how the Covid-19 pandemic has impacted the common way of life while suggesting solutions to the ongoing crisis triggered by the disease. The book discusses how the pandemic has influenced the education system, business, politics, public safety, foreign policy, law, medicine, economy and development of countries.

 

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

 

1. Myanmar Navy formally commissions INS Sindhuvir submarine: The Myanmar Navy has officially inducted the submarine INS Sindhuvir, which was handed over by the Indian Navy to the country in October 2020. This is the first submarine in the Myanmar Navy’s arsenal. The submarine has been refurbished for the Myanmar Navy by state-run defence shipbuilder, Hindustan Shipyard Limited (HSL) in Visakhapatnam.

About INS Sindhuvir: INS Sindhuvir was commissioned on 25th December 2020, which marked the 73rd anniversary of the Myanmar Navy. INS Sindhuvir has been renamed as UMS Minye Theinkhathu by the Myanmar Navy. This is the first submarine in the Myanmar Navy’s arsenal. It is a diesel-electric Kilo-class submarine, which was in operation in the Indian Navy since 1988.

Note: President of Myanmar: Win Myint; Myanmar Capital: Naypyitaw; Myanmar Currency: Kyat.

 

2. Florin Citu to be Romania’s next prime minister: Romanian lawmakers have approved a new center-right pro-Western coalition government headed by U.S.-educated banker Florin Citu, a former finance minister who has pledged to overcome the coronavirus crisis and the economic woes it has caused. Some 260 lawmakers in the freshly elected parliament voted in favor of approving Citu’s cabinet, with 186 against. Shortly after the vote, the new cabinet was sworn in by President Klaus Iohannis.

 

OTHER UPDATES:

 

SPORTS

 

1. MS Dhoni named captain of ICC Men’s ODI and T20I Teams of the Decade: The International Cricket Council (ICC) announced the ICC Teams of the Decade based on the performances, consistency of players over the period of last 10 years. Former Indian captain and wicket-keeper batsman Mahendra Singh Dhoni has been named as the captain of the ICC ODI Team of the Decade. Dhoni has also been named the skipper of the ICC T20I Team of the Decade. Similarly, Virat Kohli has been named the captain of the ICC Test Team of the Decade. Ravi Ashwin is the only other Indian in this list.

 

List of members in the Men’s team:

 

ICC Men’s ODI Team of the Decade:	ICC’s T20I Team of the Decade:	ICC’s Test Team of the Decade:
Rohit Sharma	Rohit Sharma	Alistair Cook
David Warner	Chris Gayle	David Warner
Virat Kohli	Aaron Finch	Kane Williamson
AB de Villiers	Virat Kohli	Virat Kohli (c)
Shakib Al-Hasan	AB de Villiers	Steve Smith
MS Dhoni (capt, wk)	Glenn Maxwell	Kumar Sangakkara(wk)
Ben Stokes	MS Dhoni (capt, wk)	Ben Stokes
Mitchell Starc	Kieron Pollard	Ravichandran Ashwin
Trent Boult	Rashid Khan	Dale Steyn
Imran Tahir	Jasprit Bumrah	Stuart Broad
Lasith Malinga	Lasith Malinga	James Anderson

 

List of members in the Women’s team:

 

ICC Women’s ODI Team of the Decade:	ICC Women’s T20I Team of the Decade:
Alyssa Healy	Alyssa Healy (Wicketkeeper)
Suzie Bates	Sophie Devine
Mithali Raj	Suzie Bates
Meg Lanning (Captain)	Meg Lanning (Captain)
Stafanie Taylor	Harmanpreet Kaur
Sarah Taylor (wk)	Stafanie Taylor
Ellyse Perry	Deandra Dottin
Dane van Niekerk	Ellyse Perry
Marizanne Kapp	Anya Shrubsole
Jhulan Goswami	Megan Schutt
Anisa Mohammed	Poonam Yadav

 

2. BCCI approves 10-team IPL from 2022: The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) held its 89th Annual General Meeting in Ahmedabad. In the meeting it was decided that 10 teams will compete in Indian Premier League (IPL) from 2022 against present 8 teams. The 2021 season of IPL will be played with the regular 8 teams and bids will be invited for the addition of two new teams from the 2022 season. Apart from this, former cricketer Chetan Sharma has been appointed as the new chairman of selectors for national men’s cricket team by the Cricket Advisory Committee headed by Madan Lal.

 

BANKING AND FINANCE

 

1. Central Bank of India to exit housing finance business; to sell JV stake for Rs 160 crore: State-owned Central Bank of India will exit housing finance joint venture by selling its entire stake of over 64 per cent to Centrum Housing Finance for Rs 160 crore. According to a separate filing by Centrum Capital, the parent of Centrum Housing, the cost of acquisition is about Rs 160 crore on cash basis. Centrum Capital said the deal is expected to be closed in about two to three months.

 

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY

 

1. SBI Life Insurance acquires 8.99% stake in Paisalo Digital: SBI Life Insurance said it had acquired 8.99 per cent stake in Paisalo Digital. The transaction was for cash consideration of about ₹186.20 crore.  It has purchased 38 lakh equity shares of the company at ₹489.99 apiece, it further said, adding that the purchase was done in the normal course of business.

 

2. India becomes sixth country to manufacture high power electric locos indigenously: The Indian Railways has operationalised its first 12,000 hp electric locomotive manufactured locally by French rolling stock manufacturer Alstom. The locomotive made its maiden commercial run between Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Station to Shivpur. India has become the 6th country in the world to join the club of countries producing high horsepower locomotives indigenously with these powerful e-locos being manufactured within the nation. Two ultramodern maintenance depots in Uttar Pradesh’s Saharanpur and Maharashtra’s Nagpur are also on the way.

 

AWARDS AND HONOURS

 

1. ICC Awards of the Decade 2020 announced: The winners of the prestigious ICC Awards of the Decade were announced on 28th December 2020. The ICC Awards of The Decade recognise the best players across Cricket over the past 10 years. List of Winners:

ICC Spirit of Cricket Award of the Decade: MS Dhoni (India)

ICC Men’s Awards:

Sir Garfield Sobers Award for ICC Male Cricketer of the Decade: Virat Kohli (India)

ICC Men’s ODI Cricketer of the Decade: Virat Kohli (India)

ICC Men’s T20I Cricketer of the Decade:  Rashid Khan (Afghanistan)

ICC Men’s Test Cricketer of the Decade: Steve Smith(Australia)

ICC Men’s Associate Cricketer of the Decade: Kyle Coetzer (Scotland)

ICC Women’s Award:

Rachael Heyhoe Flint Award for ICC Female Cricketer of the Decade: Ellyse Perry (Australia)

ICC Women’s ODI Cricketer of the Decade: Ellyse Perry(Australia)

ICC Women’s T20I Cricketer of the Decade: Ellyse Perry (Australia)

ICC Women’s Associate Cricketer of the Decade: Kathryn Bryce (Scotland)

Note: Chairman of ICC: Greg Barclay; CEO of ICC: Manu Sawhney; Headquarters of ICC: Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

 

OBITUARIES

 

Congress Leader Madan Lal Sharma Passes Away: Veteran Congress leader and former minister Madan Lal Sharma passed away at a private hospital in Katra. He was 68. He was first elected as MLA in1983 and again in 1987 from Chhamb consitituency on Congress mandat. He became minister in the NC-Congress coalition government in 1988. He was again elected from Akhnoor in 2002 and became a minister in the PDP-Congress government. Sharma was twice elected to the Lok Sabha from Jammu- Poonch seat in 2004 and 2009. However, he lost the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.