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Current Affairs Today – 21st January 2020
NEWS AT A GLANCE
- ICICI Bank announced the launch of a ‘Cardless Cash Withdrawal’ facility from its ATMs on 21 January 2020.
- Gurgaon-based Food delivery startup and restaurant aggregator “Zomato” has announced the acquisition of Uber Eats business in India.
- State-owned Indian Telephone Industries (ITI), the telecom equipment maker, has announced that it is to launch its follow-on public offering (FPO) on 24 January 2020.
- The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has reduced India’s economic growth forecast to 4.8% for the current fiscal year.
- Prime Minister of India Shri Narendra Modi and Prime Minister of Nepal Shri K.P. Oli has jointly inaugurated the second Integrated Check Post (ICP) at Jogbani-Biratnagar 21 January 2020.
- The One Nation, One Ration Card scheme will be implemented by 1 June 2020 in India.
- President of Brazil Jair Messias Bolsonaro will arrive in New Delhi on Friday on a four-day state visit to India.
- National Girl Child Day will be celebrated on 24 January in Madhya Pradesh on the theme of “Aware girl child-able Madhya Pradesh” (Jagruk Balika-Samarth Madhya Pradesh) under the “Beti Bachao-Beti Padhao” scheme.
- Union Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports Kiren Rijiju flag off ‘Fit India Cyclothon’ in Panaji, Goa.
- Indian states namely Manipur, Meghalaya, and Tripura celebrated their Statehood Day on 21 January.
- In a first in India, the Telangana State Election Commission will be using facial recognition app in a bid to counter impersonation by voters.
- 12th National Tribal Youth Exchange Programme begins in Puducherry. Puducherry Lieutenant Governor Dr Kiran Bedi inaugurated this Programme.
- The 50th Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum begins in Davos, Switzerland.
- The 2nd edition of NIC Tech Conclave-2020 begins today.
- Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) NITI Aayog and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) hosted the Youth Co: Lab -national innovation challenge was held from 17-19 January in Delhi.
- The 1st edition of Global Social Mobility Report 2020 titled “The Global Social Mobility Report 2020: Equality, Opportunity and a New Economic Imperative” released by World Economic Forum.
- India ranks 41st in lifelong learning while it ranks 53rd in working conditions.
- India ranked 5th in the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) India annual report
- The Global Investment Trend Monitor report stated that India was among the top 10 recipients of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in 2019.
- BJP Working President J P Nadda was elected unopposed as the National President of Bharatiya Janata Party today.
- The team of the Indian Consulate has won the Diplomat Cup Cricket Championship of 2020 held in Sharjah.
- Indian shooters Apurvi Chandela and Divyansh Singh Panwar won gold at the Meyton Cup international shooting championship in Austria.
- The Indian Air Force has inducted its 1st squadron of Sukhoi-30 MKI aircraft.
- President of India Ram Nath Kovind awarded the 14th Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Awards at a ceremony held in New Delhi on 20 January 2020.
NEWS IN DETAILS
BANKING AND FINANCE CURRENT AFFAIRS
ICICI Bank launch of a Cardless Cash Withdrawal Facility
- ICICI Bank announced the launch of a ‘Cardless Cash Withdrawal’ facility from its ATMs on 21 January 2020.
Cardless Cash Withdrawal:
♦ ICICI Bank’s Cardless Cash Withdrawal service will allow customers to withdraw cash from over 15,000 ATMs of the bank by raising a request on its mobile banking app, iMobile.
♦ ICICI customers can now withdraw cash without using a debit card at ATMs.
♦ Cardless Cash Withdrawal service can be used for self-withdrawal.
♦ It has a daily transaction limit of Rs.20,000.
♦ The service from iMobile enables customers to withdraw cash securely and conveniently for everyday usage and purchases.
Extra Shots:
ICICI Bank Limited: In terms of market capitalization (m-cap) is the second-largest bank in India.
- Founded on: 5 January 1994
- Headquarters: Mumbai, India
- Chairman: Girish Chandra Chaturvedi
- MD & CEO: Sandeep Bakhshi
BUSINESS AND ECONOMY
Zomato acquires Uber Eats business in India
- Gurgaon-based Food delivery startup and restaurant aggregator “Zomato” has announced the acquisition of Uber Eats business in India.
- Uber Eats is an Uber Technologies Inc’s food delivery business in India.
- The acquisition was done in an all-stock deal.
- The deals provides Uber with the 9.99% ownership in Zomato after the acquisition.
- The deal is estimated to be pegged at $300-350 million. Uber Eats, having about 26,000 restaurant partners entered the food delivery business in 2017 in India.
Extra Shots:
Zomato: Zomato is an Indian restaurant aggregator and food delivery start up founded by Deepinder Goyal in 2008. Zomato provides information, menus and user-reviews of restaurants, and also has food delivery options from partner restaurants in select cities.
- Headquarters: DLF Phase V, Gurugram, Haryana, India
- Founder(s): Deepinder Goyal, Pankaj Chaddah
- Users: 8 crore (80 million) monthly active users
- Founded: July 2008
ITI to launch its FPO to raise around Rs.1,600 crore
- State-owned Indian Telephone Industries (ITI), the telecom equipment maker, has announced that it is to launch its follow-on public offering (FPO) on 24 January 2020.
FPO Issue:
♦ The FPO announced by ITI comprises of fresh issue of up to 180 million equity shares. An additional issue constituting up to 1.8 million shares will be reserved for employees.
♦ ITI’s FPO issue will close on 28 January 2020.
♦ The FPO issue aims to utilize the net proceeds for funding its working capital requirements for FY2020 and Rs.607.30 crore to repay loans, in full or partially, taken by the company.
♦ The net issue will have more than 75% allocation to qualified institutional buyers, around 15% to non-institutional bidders and around 10% to retail individual bidders. It will raise around Rs.1,600 crore follow-on public offer (FPO).
Extra Shots:
ITI: Indian Telephone Industries Limited, commonly known as ITI Limited, is a Central Government-owned manufacturer of telecommunications equipment in India. It was founded in 1948, and today has six manufacturing facilities which produce a range of switching, transmission, access and subscriber premises equipment.
- Headquarters: Bengaluru
- CMD: Shri.R.M.Agarwal
- Founded: 1948
IMF reduces India’s economic growth forecast to 4.8 percent
- The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has reduced India’s economic growth forecast to 4.8% for the current fiscal year.
- The decline is due to the crisis in the non-banking financial sector (NBFC) and weak rural demand.
- It has also cut the world’s growth estimate.
Extra Shots:
IMF: The International Monetary Fund (IMF), is an international organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., consisting of 189 countries working to foster global monetary cooperation, secure financial stability, facilitate international trade, promote high employment and sustainable economic growth, and reduce poverty around the world while periodically depending on World Bank for its resources.
- Headquarters: Washington, D.C. U.S.
- Membership: 189 countries
- Managing Director: Kristalina Georgieva
- Chief Economist: Gita Gopinath
NATIONAL CURRENT AFFAIRS
PM Modi, PM Oli jointly inaugurates second ICP at Jogbani-Biratnagar
- Prime Minister of India Shri Narendra Modi and Prime Minister of Nepal Shri K.P. Oli has jointly inaugurated the second Integrated Check Post (ICP) at Jogbani-Biratnagar 21 January 2020.
Jogbani-Biratnagar ICP:
♦ Nepal built the second Integrated Check Post at Jogbani-Biratnagar has been built with Indian assistance.
♦ The ICP will facilitate trade and people’s movement across the India-Nepal border.
♦ The first ICP was built at the Raxaul-Birgunj border in 2018.
India’s housing project:
Prime Ministers from both sides witnessed the remarkable progress in the Government of India assisted post-earthquake housing reconstruction projects in Nepal. Apart from this, GoI has a commitment to build 50,000 houses in Gorkha and Nuwakot districts. Out of the total, 45,000 have been completed successfully.
Extra Shots:
Nepal (Capital/Currency): Kathmandu/ Nepalese rupee
- President: Bidhya Devi Bhandari
- Vice President: Nanda Kishor Pun
- Prime Minister: Khadga Prasad Sharma Oli
One Nation, One Ration Card scheme to be implemented by 1 June
- The One Nation, One Ration Card scheme will be implemented by 1 June 2020 in India.
- The announcement was made by the Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan on 20 January.
- Earlier, the scheme was announced to be launched by 30 June 2020.
One Nation, One Ration Card scheme:
♦ Under the scheme, the beneficiaries can avail of the benefits across the country using the same ration card.
♦ The scheme allows the portability of food security benefits across India, that is, poor migrant workers can buy subsidized rice and wheat from any ration shop in the country.
♦ On 1 January 2020, the facility was started in 12 states in India.
♦ Under this facility, the beneficiaries of the public distribution system (PDS) of these states can get their share of rations in any of the 12 states in which they are residing.
Brazil President Bolsonaro to be chief guest at 71st Republic Day
- President of Brazil Jair Messias Bolsonaro will arrive in New Delhi on Friday on a four-day state visit to India.
- President Bolsonaro will be the chief guest at the 71st Republic Day Parade at Raj Path in the national capital on January 26.
- He will be accompanied by a delegation comprising of seven Ministers, Chairman of Brazil-India Friendship Group in the Brazilian Parliament, senior officials and a large business delegation.
- President Bolsonaro will meet President Ram Nath Kovind on 25th of January who will host a Banquet in his honour.
- On the same day, he will hold talks with the Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Vice President and the External Affairs Minister will call on President Bolsonaro.
- On 27th of this month, President Bolsonaro will address Indian and Brazilian Business leaders at the India-Brazil Business Forum.
Extra Shots:
Brazil (Capital/Currency): Brasilia/ Brazilian real
- President: Jair Bolsonaro
National Girl Child Day to be celebrated on January 24
- National Girl Child Day will be celebrated on 24 January in Madhya Pradesh on the theme of “Aware girl child-able Madhya Pradesh” (Jagruk Balika-Samarth Madhya Pradesh) under the “Beti Bachao-Beti Padhao” scheme.
- During this, health of girls will be examined. Gender champions at the local level will also be selected.
- “The aim of this celebration is to create awareness in the society about the rights of daughters and to provide new opportunities to the daughters for their social and financial development.
- Apart from Girl child day, Women and Child Development Department will also celebrate National Girl Child Week from January 24 to 30.
- During the week, many important programmes like “Beti Bachao-Beti Padhao” signature campaign, plantation and name plate drive in the names of daughters, awareness campaign on women’s rights and mass oaths for girl child protection will be administered.
STATE CURRENT AFFAIRS
Union Sports Minister flag off ‘Fit India Cyclothon’ in Panaji
- Union Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports Kiren Rijiju flag off ‘Fit India Cyclothon’ in Panaji, Goa.
- This inaugural event of ‘Fit India Cyclothon’ organised by Directorate of Sports and Youth Affairs and Government of Goa.
- This event is organized with the aim to get the people involved in outdoor activities and starting a cycling culture in the state.
- The Cyclothon event witnessed participation by over 500 cycling enthusiasts who came together to cycle through a five-kilometre stretch within the Panaji city.
Extra Shots:
Goa:
- Capital: Panaji
- Chief Minister: Pramod Sawant
- Governor: Satya Pal Malik
- National Park: Bhagwan Mahavir (Mollem) National Park
Manipur, Meghalaya, and Tripura celebrated the Statehood Day
- Indian states namely Manipur, Meghalaya, and Tripura celebrated their Statehood Day on 21 January.
- On 21 January 1972, all three states became full-fledged states under the North Eastern Region (Reorganisation) Act, 1971.
Extra Shots:
Tripura:
- Capital: Agartala
- Governor: Ramesh Bais
- Chief Minister: Biplab Kumar Deb
- Literacy: 87.75%
Meghalaya:
- Capital: Shillong
- Governor: Tathagata Roy
- Chief Minister: Conrad Sangma
- Literacy: 75.84%
Manipur:
- Capital: Imphal
- Governor: Najma Heptulla
- Chief Minister: N. Biren Singh
- Literacy: 79.85%
Face recognition app to be used in Telangana Municipal polls on pilot basis
- In a first in India, the Telangana State Election Commission will be using facial recognition app in a bid to counter impersonation by voters.
- This will be done on a pilot basis in 10 selected polling stations in Kompally Municipality of Medchal Malkajgiri district.
- Polling for 120 municipalities and nine municipal corporations will be held on January 22nd and results declared on January 25th.
Extra Shots:
Telangana:
- Capital: Hyderabad
- Chief Minister: K. Chandrashekar Rao
- Governor: Tamilisai Soundararajan
SUMMITS AND CONFERENCES
12th National Tribal Youth Exchange Programme begins in Puducherry
- 12th National Tribal Youth Exchange Programme begins in Puducherry.
- Puducherry Lieutenant Governor Dr Kiran Bedi inaugurated this Programme.
- Two hundred youths from Naxal-affected districts of Chattisgarh are taking part in this week-long programme.
- The programme has been jointly organized by the Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan (NYKS) and Puducherry Government with a view to ensuring development and empowerment of the tribal youths.
- They will be visiting many places to know about the language, customs, culture, arts, dressing patterns, food pattern and other aspects of Puducherry.
50th Annual Meeting of WEF begins in Davos
- The 50th Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum begins in Davos, Switzerland.
- On the Indian side, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal will lead the delegation to the WEF.
- This year programme will focus on achieving the maximum impact on the Forum’s platform for public-private cooperation.
- This year 50th Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum theme will be “Stakeholders for a Cohesive and Sustainable World”.
- The Programme for the Annual Meeting will prioritize six key areas: ecology, economy, society, industry, technology, and geopolitics.
- These initiatives aim to plant more than one trillion trees over the next decade and to equip one billion people with the necessary skills in the age of the 4th Industrial Revolution.
Extra Shot:
WEF: The World Economic Forum, based in Cologny-Geneva, Switzerland, is an NGO, founded in 1971. The WEF’s mission is cited as “committed to improving the state of the world by engaging business, political, academic, and other leaders of society to shape global, regional, and industry agendas”.
- Founder: Klaus Schwab Trending
- Founded: January 1971
- Headquarters: Cologny, Switzerland
- Leader: Klaus Schwab
- Motto: Committed to improving the state of the world
- Subsidiary: Golomt Financial Group Llc
2nd edition of NIC Tech Conclave-2020 begins today
- The 2nd edition of NIC Tech Conclave-2020 begins today.
- The Union Minister for Electronics and Information Technology Ravi Shankar Prasad will inaugurate this conclave in New Delhi.
- These event is being organized by the National Informatics Centre.
- This conclave will contribute immensely to the capacity building of Government officers across the country and help in delivering high-quality citizen-centric services.
- This year conclave theme is “Technologies for Next-Gen Governance”.
AIM and UNDP hosted 3-day Youth Co: Lab National Innovation Challenge
- Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) NITI Aayog and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) hosted the Youth Co: Lab -national innovation challenge was held from 17-19 January in Delhi.
- The move by AIM and UNDP aims to support young people by catalyzing youth-led innovation and empower them through Youth Co:Lab.
- It aims to foster technology and promote youth leadership and social entrepreneurship in India.
Extra Shots:
Youth Co:Lab:
Youth Co:Lab was co-created by UNDP and the Citi Foundation in 2017. It was aimed to establish a common agenda for Asia-Pacific countries to invest in and empower youth to accelerate the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through leadership, social innovation and entrepreneurship. Youth Co:Lab was launched in India in October 2019 in collaboration with Atal Innovation Mission, NITI Aayog. It aims to develop skills, catalyzing and sustaining youth-led start-ups and social enterprises across the region.
UNDP: The United Nations Development Programme is the United Nations’ global development network. It advocates for change and connects countries to knowledge, experience and resources to help people build a better life for themselves.
- Headquarters: New York, New York, United States
- Founded: 22 November 1965, United States
- Head: Achim Steiner
- Parent organization: United Nations Economic and Social Council
- Awards: Shorty Social Good Award for Best in Live Events
- Nominations: Latin American Green Award: Human Development
The NITI Aayog is a policy think tank of the Government of India, established with the aim to achieve sustainable development goals with cooperative federalism by fostering the involvement of State Governments of India in the economic policy-making process using a bottom-up approach.
- Website: niti.gov.in
- Formed: 1 January 2015
- Objectives: Foster involvement and participation in the economic policy-making process by the State Governments of India
- Jurisdiction: Government of India
- Headquarters: New Delhi
- Chairperson: Narendra Modi
- CEO: Amitabh Kant
- Vice Chairman: Rajiv Kumar
RANKS AND INDICES
Global Social Mobility Index 2020: An index to measure social mobility
- The 1st edition of Global Social Mobility Report 2020 titled “The Global Social Mobility Report 2020: Equality, Opportunity and a New Economic Imperative” released by World Economic Forum.
- The global social mobility index (GSMI) of 82 countries were launched in this report.
- As per the Index, India ranked has 76th position with a score of 42.7, while Denmark topped the list.
- Social protection and fair wage distribution are the areas in which India needs improvement.
- It ranks 79th in both social protection and the fair wage distribution. India ranks 41st in lifelong learning while it ranks 53rd in working conditions.
- It has the second-highest level of workers in vulnerable employment behind Saudi Arabia.
Top 5 Countries in the index:
- Denmark
- Norway
- Finland
- Sweden
- Iceland
Extra Shot:
WEF: The World Economic Forum, based in Cologny-Geneva, Switzerland, is an NGO, founded in 1971. The WEF’s mission is cited as “committed to improving the state of the world by engaging business, political, academic, and other leaders of society to shape global, regional, and industry agendas”.
- Founder: Klaus Schwab Trending
- Founded: January 1971
- Headquarters: Cologny, Switzerland
- Leader: Klaus Schwab
- Motto: Committed to improving the state of the world
- Subsidiary: Golomt Financial Group Llc
India ranked 5th in the CDP India annual report
- India ranked 5th in the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) India annual report.
- The non-profit organization surveyed among the countries for corporate commitments to science-based targets (SBT).
Report Highlights:
♦ The report identified that the investors demand better disclosure of climate change risk from Indian companies.
♦ The report examined the carbon reduction activities of the selected companies
♦ It stated that 98% of the firms surveyed between 2018 and 2019 have board-level oversight of climate-related issues.
Top 5 ranks:
♦ The United States topped the list with 135 companies
♦ Japan ranked second with 83 companies respectively
♦ The United Kingdom ranked third with 78 countries
♦ France ranked fourth with 51 companies
♦ India ranked fifth with 38 companies
India stands among the top 10 recipients of FDI flow
- The Global Investment Trend Monitor report stated that India was among the top 10 recipients of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in 2019.
- The report was compiled by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).
Report Highlights:
♦ The report stated that India has attracted around $49 billion in inflows, a 16% increase from the previous year.
♦ It stated that the global FDI remained flat in 2019 at $1.39 trillion, a 1% decline from the revised $1.41 trillion in 2018. It is due to the weaker macroeconomic performance and policy uncertainty for investors, including trade tensions.
♦ It reported that the developing economies continue to absorb more than half of global FDI flows.
Extra Shots:
FDI: A foreign direct investment is an investment in the form of a controlling ownership in a business in one country by an entity based in another country. It is thus distinguished from a foreign portfolio investment by a notion of direct control.
APPOINTMENT
JP Nadda elected as National President of Bharatiya Janata Party
- BJP Working President J P Nadda was elected unopposed as the National President of Bharatiya Janata Party today.
- Party’s election in-charge of organization, Radha Mohan Singh gave him the certificate of his election on the occasion.
Extra Shots:
BJP:
The Bharatiya Janata Party is one of the two major political parties in India, along with the Indian National Congress. As of 2019, it is the country’s largest political party in terms of representation in the national parliament and state assemblies and is the world’s largest party in terms of primary membership.
- President: Amit Shah
- Founders: Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Lal Krishna Advani
- Founded: 6 April 1980, India
- Headquarters: New Delhi
- Alliance: National Democratic Alliance
Four PSUs get MDs and CEOs
- The Finance Ministry appointed managing directors (MDs) and chief executive officers (CEOs) of four PSU banks.
- The four banks for which new MD & CEOs were announced were Oriental Bank of Commerce (OBC), Indian Overseas Bank (IOB), United Bank of India (UBI) and Vijaya Bank.
| PRESENT | PERSON APPOINTED | PREVIOUS |
| Indian Overseas Bank | R Koteeswaran | Bank of India |
| Oriental Bank of Commerce | Animesh Chauhan, | Central Bank of India |
| Vijaya Bank | Kishore Kumar Sansi | Punjab and Sind Bank |
| United Bank of India | P Srinivas | Bank of Baroda |
SPORTS CURRENT AFFAIRS
India wins Diplomat Cup Cricket Championship 2020
- The team of the Indian Consulate has won the Diplomat Cup Cricket Championship of 2020 held in Sharjah.
- The team of the Indian Consulate defeated the Pakistan Consulate to win the trophy which was organized by Skyline University College in Sharjah.
- The trophy was organised with an aim of uniting the officials and employees of different Consulates based in UAE.
- The Consulate team of 8 countries participated in the tournament.
- The participating Consulates were: India, Australia, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh , Afghanistan, South Africa, Pakistan and the US.
Extra Shots:
UAE (Capital/Currency): Abu Dhabi/Dirham
- President: Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan
Apurvi Chandela, Divyansh Singh Panwar won gold at the Meyton Cup
- Indian shooters Apurvi Chandela and Divyansh Singh Panwar won gold at the Meyton Cup international shooting championship in Austria.
- The four Indian shooters have already secured Olympic quotas for Tokyo Games 2020.
- Apurvi won the gold in women’s 10m air rifle.
- She secured a final score of 251.4. Another Indian player, Anjum Moudgil had to settle for bronze in the same event with a final score of 229.
- In men’s 10m air rifle, Divyansh won the top honours with a final score of 249.7. Also, Deepak Kumar won bronze with a score of 228.
Extra Shots:
Austria (Capital/Currency): Vienna/ Euro
- President: Alexander Van der Bellen
DEFENCE CURRENT AFFAIRS
1st squadron of Sukhoi-30 MKI aircraft inducted by IAF
- The Indian Air Force has inducted its 1st squadron of Sukhoi-30 MKI aircraft.
- This aircraft is carrying the BrahMos missiles in the South at its Thanjavur based in Tamil Nadu.
- Thanjavur is the ideal location because of the easy access from there to the east and the west sides and also to the Indian Ocean Region.
- The Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat and the Chief of Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal Rakesh Kumar Bhadauria inducted the squadron.
- The newly reinstated 222-squadron, also known as the Tigersharks, would serve as a lethal weapons platform capable of carrying both aerial and maritime roles in the Indian Ocean Region.
AWARDS
President Ram Nath Kovind presented the 14th Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Awards
- President of India Ram Nath Kovind awarded the 14th Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Awards at a ceremony held in New Delhi on 20 January 2020.
- The recipients of the Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Awards constitute works from the year 2018.
- It is awarded in various categories.
Extra Shots:
Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Awards:
The Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Award was instituted in 2016. It honours journalists from print, broadcast and digital media. It recognizes their strength of character and integrity while covering news in adverse circumstances.
