Daily Current Affairs

for app_20201213 Indian humanitarian assistance ship arrives at Vietnam's Nha Rong Port

Indian Naval Ship Kiltan, carrying humanitarian assistance, arrived at Vietnam's Nha Rong Port, Ho Chi Minh City to deliver 15 tonnes of relief material for flood-affected people. The assistance is as a part of Mission Sagar-III, India’s Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) assistance to Friendly Foreign Countries during the ongoing pandemic. Mission Sagar-III is being undertaken in accordance with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of SAGAR (Security And Growth for All in the Region). It reiterates India’s position as a dependable partner, and the Indian Navy as the Preferred Security Partnerand First Responder. The Mission also highlights the importance accorded to ASEAN countries and further strengthens the existing bonds. India, Gabon discuss possibilities of cooperation in post-COVID scenario

India and Gabon have discussed and reviewed bilateral ties including the COVID-19 pandemic and possibilities of cooperation in the post-COVID scenario during a virtual interaction. During the interaction, Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan and Foreign Minister of Gabon Pacome Moubelet Boubeya discussed and reviewed the entire spectrum of the bilateral relationship, including further strengthening cooperation. Both leaders undertook a detailed review of bilateral ties. The two Ministers also discussed the huge potential that exists in Gabon in sectors such as manganese, fertilizer, railways, agriculture and timber.

Daily Current Affairs

for app_20201213 Gabon, a country along the Atlantic coast of Central Africa, has a huge amount of natural resources, particularly, manganese, timber, crude oil and it offers investment opportunities for Indian companies.

National Good Governance Day: 25th December 2020

National Good Governance Day is annually observed across Indian on 25th December to create awareness about the accountability of the government. The day also marks the birth anniversary of India’s former Prime Minister (PM) and Bharat Ratna Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who served 3 terms as the Prime Minister of India. The 25th December 2020 marks the celebration of the 7th National Good Governance Day.

India adds Ladakh’s Tso Kar Lake Complex to list of Ramsar Sites

Union Minister for Environment, Forest & Climate Change (MoEFCC), Prakash Javadekar announced that Tso Kar Wetland complex in Changthang region, Ladakh has been added to the list of Ramsar Sites (Wetlands of International Importance). It will be India’s 42nd site & Ladakh’s 2nd Ramsar Site. Tso Kar Wetland Complex consists of 2 principal waterbodies; Startsapuk Tso, a freshwater lake &Tso Kar, a hypersaline lake. India has the highest number (42 Sites) Ramsar Sites in South Asia.

Daily Current Affairs

for app_20201213 Thaawarchand Gehlot Launches ‘Swachhata Abhiyan’ Mobile App to Identify& Geotag the data of Insanitary Latrines & Manual Scavengers

Union Minister for Social Justice & Empowerment, Thaawarchand Gehlot launched a Mobile Application ‘ Swachhata Abhiyan ’ for identifying & Geo-tagging the data of Insanitary Latrines & Manual Scavengers across the country. Using the app NGOs, Social Organisations & General public can upload details of any insanitary latrine or manual scavengers that they notice. The reported Insanitary Latrines will be replaced with sanitary latrines & Manual Scavengers will be rehabilitated to provide dignity of life to them. Govt of Odisha in Collaboration with UNICEF Launched Odisha Career Portal for Students

The Department of School and Mass Education, Government of Odisha in collaboration with UNICEF, launched a new career portal for secondary and higher secondary students. This portal will enable adolescent students to get expert advice on their future career. Samir Ranjan Dash, Odisha’s School and Mass Education Minister launched the Odisha career portal. The portal provides information about career, colleges, professional courses, vocational courses, entrance exams and scholarship opportunities.

Daily Current Affairs

for app_20201213 Punjab CM Amarinder Singh Launches Digital ‘PR insight’ Mobile App & Web Portal Platform

Punjab Chief Minister (CM ) Captain Amarinder Singh launched ‘ PR Insight ’ a Mobile Application & Web Portal , the application will serve as a platform for receiving feedback from people and will enable Government of Punjab to remove deficiencies in schemes & programs implemented by it. It has been developed by the Directorate of Information & Public Relations Department, Punjab. The main objective of the application is to restructure the existing schemes & programmes after analyzing the feedback received from people. News articles from 31 agencies will be analyzed using advanced analytics & sentiment analysis to understand the citizen feedback & perception of Governance by citizens.

Jharkhand: Hemant Soren Govt Waives Farm Loans of Up to Rs 50,000 for 9 Lakh

The Jharkhand Cabinet approved a loan waiver up to Rs 50,000 for 9.07 lakh farmers. The cabinet has earmarked Rs 2,000 crores for the purpose. According to the State Government of Jharkhand, there are 12.93 lakh farmers in the state. They have loan dues amounting to Rs 5,800 crores. The Jharkhand Cabinet also approved the replacement of Pradhan Mantri Kisan Bima Yojana with its own Fasal Rahat Yojana. The State Government has allocated Rs 100 crores for Fasal Rahat Yojana.

Daily Current Affairs

for app_20201213 Australian firm partners with Indian power company to develop India's first lithium refinery

Australian mining company Neometals has entered into a deal with Indian power conglomerate Manikaran Power to jointly fund a feasibility study to set up India's first lithium refinery. The refinery, if established, would process ore from the Mount Marion mine in Western Australia to produce battery-grade material for electric cars. The first Lithium refinery of India is to be set up in Gujarat. One of the largest power trading and renewable energy company, Manikaran Power Limited is to invest Rs 1000 crores to set up the refinery.

Niti Aayog launches Service ‘DigiBoxx’

NITI Aayog has launched indigenously developed India’s first Digital Asset Management and Storage platform, called ‘DigiBoxx’. The initiative will give a boost to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’, as India now has its own cloud storage platform. This cloud storage and file sharing service will be available for desktop, iOS, and Android users, including both regular users as well as businesses. Digiboxx offers free 20GB cloud storage space, and 100GB space per month at just Rs 30.

Daily Current Affairs

for app_20201213 ISRO & IIT-BHU Signs MoU to Set-up Regional Academic Center for Space (RAC-S) at IIT-BHU

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)-Banaras Hindu University (BHU) to set up its Regional Academic Centre for Space(RAC-S) at the institute. This will enable advanced research in the future technology of the Indian space program.

Indian Navy, CSIR-NIO sign MoU to Collaborate and Exchange Expertise in the Field of Ocean Studies

The Indian Navy represented by Integrated Headquarters, Directorate of Naval Oceanology & Meteorology ( DNOM ) & CSIR-NIO (Council of Scientific & Industrial Research ; National Institute of Oceanography) virtually signed an Memorandum of Understanding ( MoU ) to collaborate & exchange expertise in the field of Oceanography. The agreement will formalise the informal cooperation & scientific research taking place between the 2 agencies. As part of the agreement, Indian Navy & CSIR-NIO will undertake joint studies in oceanography, ocean modelling, ocean data collection & other professional engagements.

Daily Current Affairs

for app_20201213 RBI Cancelled Licence of Maharashtra-Based Subhadra Local Area Bank

Banking Licence of Subhadra Local Area Bank at Kolhapur, Maharashtra under Section 22 (4) of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 was cancelled by Reserve Bank of India (RBI) with immediate effect from December 24, 2020. But the bank has enough liquidity funds to refund the deposit amounts to its customers. As per Section 5(b), Subhadra Local Area Bank is banned from conducting the business of banking or any additional business activities under Section 6 of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 with immediate effect.

Ind-Ra revises India's FY21 GDP contraction to 7.8% from 11.8% earlier

India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) revised its previous projection of Gross Domestic Product ( GDP ) of India due to the sustainability of the recovery perceived in Q2 when the economy contracted only 7.5%(-7.5%), after a 23.9% (-23.9%) contraction in Q1. Ind-Ra has revised its estimate for GDP contraction FY 2020-21 to 7.8%(-7.8%) from the earlier projection of 11.8%(-11.8%). This is in line with the revision in the projected contraction of India’s GDP by RBI, ADB, Fitch, and others. Earlier, RBI lowered the projection for the contraction to 7.5% (-7.5%) from 9.5% (-9.5%), ADB to 8% (-8%) from 9% (-9%), and Fitch to 9.4 % (-9.4%) from 10.5% (-10.5%).

Daily Current Affairs

for app_20201213 US financial body to invest USD 54 mn in India to support critical infrastructure projects

The United States International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) has announced to invest $54 million in India to support the development of critical infrastructure projects in the country in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. The DFC will invest this $54 million in equity for the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) in India. NIIF will use this capital to support economic growth and address critical development challenges in the country. This financing is part of NIIF’s final round of fund-raising for the fund. SBI Life Insurance acquires 8.99% stake in Paisalo Digital

SBI Life Insurance Company has acquired 38 lakh equity shares or 8.99% equity stake in non-banking finance company Paisalo Digital. It has acquired equity shares of the Non-Banking Financial Company ( NBFC ) at Rs 489.99 per share for a consideration of Rs 186.20.

Daily Current Affairs

for app_20201213 FIFA postpones Under-17 and Under-20 World Cups till 2023 due to coronavirus pandemic

The World football's governing body, FIFA has cancelled Under-17 and Under-20 World Cups that were scheduled to be played next year due to a coronavirus pandemic. These World Cups will now be played in 2023, with Indonesia still hosting the Under-20s and Peru the Under-17s. The Bureau of the FIFA Council said, the COVID-19 pandemic continues to present challenges for the hosting of international sporting events and to have a restrictive effect on international travel.