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Current Affairs Today – 23rd January 2020
NEWS AT A GLANCE
- Subhash Chandra Bose Jayanti is celebrated on 23 January 2020.
- The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has launched a blockchain-technology based payment system ‘Vajra Platform’.
- ICICI Bank has rolled out “Cardless Cash Withdrawal” service through ATM.
- The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has estimated India’s growth rate for the fiscal year 2019 as 4.8%.
- The United Nations has lowered India’s GDP growth rate to 5.7% for the Fiscal Year 2019-20 in its World Economic Situation and Prospects (WESP) 2020 report.
- GAIL India Ltd. plans to invest over Rs.45,000 crore over the next five years.
- Union Cabinet approved to revised cost estimates for the establishment of permanent campuses of new National Institutes of Technology (NITs).
- India joined the World Economic Forum's (WEF) Reskilling Revolution on 22 January which is being held in Davos, Switzerland
- Uttarakhand has become the 1st state in the country where the government has made a policy to lease agricultural land.
- The annual wildlife census has begun in the Kalakkadu - Mundanthurai tiger sanctuary in Tamil Nadu on 22 January 2020. It will be held until 27 January.
- The Punjab Government has announced a ban on three-wheelers that are older than 15 years and run on fossil fuel.
- Madhya Pradesh state government has announced incentives for the players who performed well in Khelo India Youth Games 2020 in Guwahati, Assam.
- The Andhra Pradesh State Legislative assembly passed the Capital Region Development Authority Repeal Bill 2020 and the Andhra Pradesh Decentralisation and Inclusive Development of all Regions Bill 2020 on 20 January.
- The Jaipur Literature Festival has commenced in Jaipur today. Chief Minister of Rajasthan, Ashok Gehlot inaugurated the festival.
- In Gujarat, the two day Odisha Mahaotsav as a part of Ek Bharat Shreshth Bharat Programme was launched
- The Union Minister of State for Shipping (I/C) Mansukh Mandaviya participated in the High-level roundtable of United Nations AIDS (UNAIDS) programme at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland.
- Guyana under Ambassador Rudolph Ten-Pow took over the chairmanship of G77.
- Election Commission of India (ECI) is to host the 10th Annual Meeting of the Forum of the Election Management Bodies of South Asia (FEMBoSA) and an International Conference on Strengthening Institutional Capacity.
- The national conclave on Emerging Opportunities in the natural gas sector was held on 23 January in New Delhi.
- The coal-belching town of Jharia in Jharkhand to be the most polluted city in India according to a Greenpeace India Report.
- India ranked 51st in the Democracy Index 2019.
- Indian Oil has signed an MoU with Ghana’s National Petroleum Authority for proper execution of the Ghana’s National LPG Promotion Policy.
- The Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) under the Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana, National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM).
- The Appointment Committee of the Cabinet has appointed Challa Sreenivasulu Setty as the Managing Director of the State Bank of India.
- Ministry of Defence approved the procurement of military equipment worth over Rs.5,100 crore from indigenous sources.
- The founder and CEO of India based HealthSetGo, Priya Prakash, has won the Global Citizen Prize: Cisco Youth Leadership Award for 2019
- The President of India, Ram Nath Kovind presented the 14th Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Awards in New Delhi.
- President Ram Nath Kovind presented the ICCW National Bravery Award 2019 to 10 girls and 12 boys.
- France will train Indian flight surgeons for the ambitious human space mission Gaganyaan.
- The Indian Space Agency Indian Space Research Organisation's (ISRO) unveiled Vyommitra, a prototype of half humanoid.
NEWS IN DETAILS
IMPORTANT DAYS AND THEMES
Subhash Chandra Bose Jayanti is celebrated on 23 January
- Subhash Chandra Bose Jayanti is celebrated on 23 January 2020.
- The day marks the 124th birth anniversary of Bose.
- Subhash Chandra Bose's birth anniversary commemorates his contribution to India's struggle for independence.
- The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has launched a blockchain-technology based payment system ‘Vajra Platform’.
- The newly launched platform, which is based on the Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) has been designed for automating payment clearing and settlement processes of NPCI products such as unified payments interface (UPI) and Rupay card.
- The platform has three types of nodes:
- Clearing House node (CHN) for NPCI.
- UIDAI node for Aadhaar authentication.
- Participant node (PN) for all banks.
- Headquarters location: Mumbai
- Founded: 2008
- Number of employees: 1,000
- Type of business: Section 8 Company
- Founders: Reserve Bank of India, Indian Banks' Association
- ICICI Bank has rolled out “Cardless Cash Withdrawal” service through ATM.
- The “Cardless Cash Withdrawal” service can be used for cash withdrawal having a per day transaction limit of Rs 20,000.
- The service will enable the ICICI customers to withdraw cash from the ATM by putting a request on ICICI Internet Banking App “iMobile”.
- Hence, this service provides cash withdrawal facility from ATM without any use of Debit Card.
- The service also comes with secure and convenient cash withdrawal process for everyday usage and purchases, everything from the convenience of the user’s mobile phone.
- CEO: Sandeep Bakhshi
- Headquarters: Mumbai
- Founder: Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation of India
- The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has estimated India’s growth rate for the fiscal year 2019 as 4.8%.
- IMF has lowered India’s growth rate stating weak income growth in rural areas and the increasing stress in the non-bank financial sector.
- IMF has also projected India’s growth rate as 5.8% in 2020 and 6.5% in 2021.
- Headquarters: Washington, D.C. U.S.
- Managing Director: Kristalina Georgieva
- Chief Economist: Gita Gopinath
- The United Nations has lowered India’s GDP growth rate to 5.7% for the Fiscal Year 2019-20 in its World Economic Situation and Prospects (WESP) 2020 report.
- UN has lowered the growth rate to 5.7% from 7.6% which it projected in its WESP 2019 report.
- UN has also projected India’s growth rate at 6.6% for FY 2020-21 and 6.3% for FY 2021-22.
- According to the UN, India’s growth rate for FY 2018-19 was 6.8%.
- Headquarters: New York, New York, United States
- Founded: 24 October 1945, San Francisco, California, United States
- Official languages: Arabic; Chinese; English; French; Russian; Spanish;
- Secretary General: António Guterres
- GAIL India Ltd. plans to invest over Rs.45,000 crore over the next five years.
- The move is to expand the National Gas Pipeline Grid and city gas distribution network.
- The investment aims to boost the greater use of environment-friendly fuel.
- CEO: Sh B. C. Tripathi
- Headquarters: New Delhi
- Owner: Government of India
- Union Cabinet approved to revised cost estimates for the establishment of permanent campuses of new National Institutes of Technology (NITs).
- It also at a total cost of Rs.4371.90 crore for the period till 2021-2022.
- The cabinet also approved the extension of tenure of the Commission constituted under Article 340 of the Constitution, to examine the issue of sub-categorization within Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in the Central List.
- India joined the World Economic Forum's (WEF) Reskilling Revolution on 22 January which is being held in Davos, Switzerland. The 50th WEF Annual Meeting is being held from 21-24 January 2020.
- The Reskilling Revolution scheme aims to train workers from technological change and help economies by providing new skills for the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
- Headquarters: Cologny, Switzerland
- Founder: Klaus Schwab
- Founded: January 1971
- Leader: Klaus Schwab
- Motto: Committed to improving the state of the world
- Subsidiary: Golomt Financial Group Llc
- Uttarakhand has become the 1st state in the country where the government has made a policy to lease agricultural land.
- In lieu of giving land on a 30-year lease, the concerned farmer will get the rent for the land.
- In the hilly areas of the state, the obstacles of leasing land for farming, agriculture, horticulture, herbs, off-season vegetables, milk production, tea plantation, fruit hybridization and solar energy has been removed with this step.
- Capital: Dehradun
- Chief Minister: Trivendra Singh Rawat
- Governor: Baby Rani Maurya
- Literacy Rate: 78.82%
- National Park: Corbett National Park, Gangotri National Park, Govind National Park, Nanda Devi National Park, Rajaji National Park, Valley of Flowers National Park
- The annual wildlife census has begun in the Kalakkadu - Mundanthurai tiger sanctuary in Tamil Nadu on 22 January 2020. It will be held until 27 January.
- The census results will be included in the annual State of Wild Life Population report of the Union Ministry of Forest and Environment.
- Capital: Chennai
- Chief Minister: Edappadi K.Palanisamy
- Governor: Banwarilal Purohit
- Chief Justice of Madras High Court: Vijaya Kamlesh Tahilramani
- National Park: Guindy NP,Gulf of Mannar Marine NP, Indira Gandhi (Annamalai) NP, Mudumalai NP, Mukurthi NP.
- The Punjab Government has announced a ban on three-wheelers that are older than 15 years and run on fossil fuel.
- The vehicles will be replaced with electric or compressed natural gas (CNG) engines.
- Capital: Chandigarh
- Chief Minister: Captain Amarinder Singh
- Governor: V.P. Singh Badnore
- State Formed on: 1 November 1966
- Literacy Rate: 75.84%
- Madhya Pradesh state government has announced incentives for the players who performed well in Khelo India Youth Games 2020 in Guwahati, Assam.
- Capital: Bhopal
- Chief Minister: Kamal Nath
- Governor: Lalji Tandon
- National Park: Bandhavgarh NP, Fossil NP, Kanha NP, Madhav NP, Panna NP, Pench NP, Sanjay NP, Satpura NP
- The Andhra Pradesh State Legislative assembly passed the Capital Region Development Authority Repeal Bill 2020 and the Andhra Pradesh Decentralisation and Inclusive Development of all Regions Bill 2020 on 20 January.
- The bills were aimed to decentralize the state's capital between Amaravati, Visakhapatnam, and Kurnool.
- The Decentralization Bill provides the provision to divided the state into various zones and establishing zonal planning and development boards.
- Amaravati will remain as the legislative capital
- Vishakhapatnam will remain as the executive capital
- Kurnool will remain as the judicial capital.
- Capital: Amravati
- Chief Minister: Y. S. Jaganmohan Reddy
- Governor: Biswabhusan Harichandan
- State Formed in: 1 November 1956
- Literacy Rate: 67.4 %
- National Park: Sri Venkateswara National Park, Sri Venkateswara National Park, Papikonda National Park
- The Jaipur Literature Festival has commenced in Jaipur today. Chief Minister of Rajasthan, Ashok Gehlot inaugurated the festival.
- This is the platform where people can share their views without any hesitation.
- Capital:Jaipur
- Chief Minister: Ashok Gehlot
- Governor: Kalraj Mishra
- Literacy Rate: 11%
- National Park: Sariska National Park, Ranthambhore National Park, Keoladeo Ghana National Park, Desert National Park, Mukundra Hills (Darrah) National Park
- In Gujarat, the two day Odisha Mahaotsav as a part of Ek Bharat Shreshth Bharat Programme was launched
- More than one lakh people from Odisha are settled in Surat and other parts of Gujarat.
- They will showcase the art, culture, traditions and rich heritage of Odisha in this festival. According to Odisha Samaj sources, most of the Odisha people staying in Surat are from Ganjam district of Odisha.
- Recently, Union Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan had also attended the cultural event of Odisha Samaj in Surat.
- Capital: Gandhinagar
- Chief Minister: Vijay Rupani
- Governor: Acharya Devvrat
- State formed on: 1 May 1960
- Literacy Rate: 79.31%
- National Park: Vansda NP, Blackbuck NP, Gir Forest NP, Marine NP, Gulf of Kutch
- Capital: Bhubaneswar
- Chief Minister: Naveen Patnaik
- Governor: Ganeshi Lal
- State Formed in: 1 April 1936
- Literacy Rate: 72.87%
- National Park: Bhitarkanika NP, Simlipal NP
- The Union Minister of State for Shipping (I/C) Mansukh Mandaviya participated in the High-level roundtable of United Nations AIDS (UNAIDS) programme at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland.
- The theme of the programme is “Access for all: Leveraging Innovations, Investments and Partnerships for Health”.
- The main objective of the programme is to coordinate global action on the AIDS disease and alleviate its impact.
- It was established in 1994.
- Guyana under Ambassador Rudolph Ten-Pow took over the chairmanship of G77.
- It assumed the chairmanship of the Group from the State of Palestine.
- In 2020, Group of 77 will be celebrating the 75th anniversary of the United Nations.
- The Group of 77 (G77) is the largest intergovernmental organization of developing countries in the United Nations.
- India is a member of the G77.
- President: David A. Granger
- Prime Minister: Moses V. Nagamootoo
- Election Commission of India (ECI) is to host the 10th Annual Meeting of the Forum of the Election Management Bodies of South Asia (FEMBoSA) and an International Conference on Strengthening Institutional Capacity.
- The theme of the 10th annual meeting of the forum is Strengthening Institutional Capacity.
- There will be three sessions during the Conference focusing on Election Management Bodies and international organizations.
- The meeting aims to Strengthen Institutional Capacity of EMBs in various countries.
- The 9th annual meeting of FEMBoSA was held in Dhaka, Bangladesh in September 2018.
- Formed: 25 January 1950
- Objectives: Constitutional Autonomous Body conducts the elections to the offices of the President and Vice-President of India,Parliament,State Legislative assemblies and Legislative councils
- Jurisdiction: Government of India
- Headquarters: New Delhi
- First executive: Sukumar Sen
- Preceding executive: Om Prakash Rawat
- The national conclave on Emerging Opportunities in the natural gas sector was held on 23 January in New Delhi.
- It was graced by Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Shri Dharmendra Pradhan.
- The present share of gas in the energy basket of the country is 6.2% and the target is to take it to 15% by 2030.
- In India, Gujarat has a 26% share of gas-based energy.
- Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas: Shri Dharmendra Pradhan.
- The coal-belching town of Jharia in Jharkhand to be the most polluted city in India according to a Greenpeace India Report.
- Jharkhand’s Dhanbad, known for its rich coal reserves and industries, is the second-most polluted city in India.
- Delhi is the 10th-most polluted city in India, according to the report.
- As per the report, 6 of the top-10 polluted cities are in Uttar Pradesh comprising of Noida, Ghaziabad, Bareilly, Allahabad, Moradabad and Firozabad. Lunglei in Mizoram is the least polluted city in the country.
- The report is based on analysis of PM10 data from 287 cities across the country.
- India ranked 51st in the Democracy Index 2019.
- It has dropped 10 places in the Democracy Index’s global ranking.
- The survey described the erosion of civil liberties in India as the primary cause of democratic regression.
- Indian Oil has signed an MoU with Ghana’s National Petroleum Authority for proper execution of the Ghana’s National LPG Promotion Policy.
- According to the MoU, Indian Oil will provide its technical expertise and assistance to Ghana’s National Petroleum Authority.
- The MoU is expected to strengthen the ties between India and Ghana in the field of Petroleum as Indian Oil will help Ghana in the successful execution of its plan of Re-circulation Model (CRM) of LPG.
- The MoU will also provide for administrative support to Indian Oil in case it decides to take part as a commercial participant in Ghana’s downstream petroleum sector.
- Headquarters: New Delhi
- Chairperson: Sanjiv Singh
- The Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) under the Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana, National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM).
- The MoU aims to strengthen grassroots institutions of the rural poor.
- The MoU will remove barriers such as gender inequality and lack of opportunities for women's entrepreneurship and poor health.
- It will provide access to financial institutions and markets.
| PRESENT | PERSON APPOINTED (MD & CEO) |
| Indian Overseas Bank | R Koteeswaran |
| Oriental Bank of Commerce | Animesh Chauhan, |
| Vijaya Bank | Kishore Kumar Sansi |
| United Bank of India | P Srinivas |
| Canara Bank | Lingam Venkat Prabhakar |
| Bank Of Baroda | Sanjiv Chadha |
| Bank Of India | Atanu Kumar Das |
- The Appointment Committee of the Cabinet has appointed Challa Sreenivasulu Setty as the Managing Director of the State Bank of India.
- Department of the Financial Services proposed his name to the Appointment Committee of the Cabinet for the position of Managing Director of the State Bank of India.
- Setty’s appointment has been done for 3 years.
- Challa Sreenivasulu Setty is presently serving in the State Bank of India as its Deputy Managing Director.
- Headquarters: Mumbai, Maharashtra
- Chairman: Rajnish Kumar
- SBI is the largest commercial bank and the largest mortgage lender across the country.
- SBI has 22,010 branches and 58,000 ATM/CDM across India.
- Ministry of Defence approved the procurement of military equipment worth over Rs.5,100 crore from indigenous sources.
- It also approved the construction of six conventional submarines for the Navy in India under the strategic partnership model.
- The approval was announced after the meeting of the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) chaired by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh. The meeting was attended by Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat and several top officials.
- The procurement includes sophisticated Electronic Warfare Systems for the Army designed by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).
- The equipment will be manufactured locally by the Indian industry.
- Also, DAC shortlisted Indian strategic partners (SP) and the potential Original Equipment
- Defence Minister: Rajnath Singh
- The founder and CEO of India based HealthSetGo, Priya Prakash, has won the Global Citizen Prize: Cisco Youth Leadership Award for 2019.
- The award was given for her school health program that provides healthcare support to children. The prestigious award honours an individual aged 18 – 30 who is bringing about a positive change in the world by solving some of its biggest global challenges.
- The award includes a US $250,000 prize.
- HealthSetGo is a healthcare organisation that supports the UN’s (United Nation) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and to improve the health & lives of children.
- HealthSetGo in a span of 4 years has become India’s largest healthcare organisation for schools.
- The President of India, Ram Nath Kovind presented the 14th Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Awards in New Delhi.
- These awards are one of the most prestigious awards in India in the field of journalism, held annually since 2006.
- These are awarded to honour journalists across the country from print, broadcast and digital media who have maintained the highest standards of their profession and, despite immense challenges, produced work that sustains public trust in the media and impacts the lives of people. The award is named after Ramnath Goenka, who was an Indian newspaper publisher and founder of “The Indian Express” and Indian Express Group.
- President Ram Nath Kovind presented the ICCW National Bravery Award 2019 to 10 girls and 12 boys. He also awarded 16-year-old Muhammed Muhsin, who drowned while saving three of his friends in the rough sea in April 2019, from Kozhikode in Kerala posthumously. He was chosen for the ICCW Abhimanyu Award.
- Indian Council for Child Welfare Award:
- The National Bravery Award, ICCW award, was instituted in 1957 by Indian Council for Child Welfare.
- The award recognizes children who perform outstanding deeds of bravery and meritorious service.
- So far, the award has been awarded to 1,004 children, of which 703 are boys and 301 are girls.
- France will train Indian flight surgeons for the ambitious human space mission Gaganyaan.
- The training is a critical aspect of the Gaganyaan project that is aimed at sending three Indians to space by 2022.
- The flight surgeons, who will be Indian Air Force doctors specialising in aviation medicines and responsible for the health of astronauts before, during and after the flight.
- France has a well-established mechanism for space medicine.
- It also has the MEDES space clinic, a subsidiary of CNES, where space surgeons undergo training.
- The four shortlisted astronauts all test pilots from the Indian Air Force are currently in Russia for an 11-month training programme.
- Prime Minister: Édouard Philippe
- President: Emmanuel Macron
- The Indian Space Agency Indian Space Research Organisation's (ISRO) unveiled Vyommitra, a prototype of half humanoid.
- ISRO has decided to send Vyommitra as a trial to space before Gaganyaan which has aimed at sending astronauts to space in an orbital spacecraft.
- Vyommitra will be sent ahead of the first unmanned mission under Gaganyaan.
- It has been designed in a way that it will simulate most of the human body functions.
- The half humanoid has no legs. It will try to simulate a human and report back to ISRO.
- ISRO has selected 4 Indian astronauts for India's first human space mission.
- The training of the Indian astronauts will take place in Russia.
- Headquarters: Bengaluru
- Founder: Vikram Sarabhai
- Founded: 15 August 1969
- Director: Kailasavadivoo Sivan
- Subsidiary: Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre