Daily GA Updates
Former Pak. prime minister Zafarullah Khan Jamali dies
Former prime minister of Pakistan Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali passed away at a hospital in Rawalpindi at the age of 76. Jamali served as the premier from November 2002 until June 2004. Jamali, the country's first and only elected prime minister from Balochistan, had served during the military regime of Gen Pervez Musharraf. However, Gen Musharraf sought his resignation in 2004 and he was replaced by Shaukat Aziz.
Indian-American Gitanjali Rao, 15, First-Ever TIME "Kid Of The Year"
A 15-year-old Indian-American Gitanjali Rao, a "brilliant" young scientist and inventor, has been named by TIME magazine as the first-ever 'Kid of the Year' for her astonishing work using technology to tackle issues ranging from contaminated drinking water to opioid addiction and cyberbullying. Ms Rao was selected from a field of more than 5,000 nominees as TIME's first-ever 'Kid of the Year'.
Daily GA Updates
Maharashtra teacher Ranjitsinh Disale wins Global Teacher Prize 2020
A primary school teacher from Maharashtra Ranjitsingh Disale won the Global Teacher Prize 2020 in recognition of his efforts to promote girls' education. Disale generously declared that he will split half of the prize money of USD 1 million with his top ten fellow finalists. He made headlines in October when his named cropped up in the top 10 finalists for the USD one million annual Global Teacher Prize 2020, recognizing his efforts of promoting girls' education and triggering a quick- response (QR) coded textbook revolution in India.
Disale not only translated the class textbooks into his pupils' mother tongue, but also embedded them with unique QR codes to give students access to audio poems, video lectures, stories and assignments.
U.S. Senate clears Bill on immigrant visas
The U.S. Senate has unanimously passed a Bill that eliminates the per-country numerical limitation for employment-based immigrant visas and raises it for family-based visas, a legislation that will hugely benefit hundreds of thousands of Indian professionals in America who have been waiting for years to get their green cards. The passage of the Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act by the Senate comes as a big relief to Indian IT professionals who come to the US on H-1B work visas and their current waiting period for Green Card or permanent residency is running into decades. The legislation eliminates the seven per cent cap for employment-based immigrant visas, a provision that will facilitate removal of the massive backlog of Indian IT professionals in the US.
Daily GA Updates
Bangladesh starts relocation of Rohingyas to the newly developed facility at Bhashan Char Island
Going ahead with its plan to shift the Rohingyas from Cox's Bazar refugee camp, the Bangladesh government started the process of relocating them to the newly developed facility at the Bhashan char Island. International Human Rights groups are opposing the relocation of Rohingyas to the Bhashan Char. They demand independent assessment of the liveability on the Bhashan char by the UN and humanitarian agencies before the process is started.
Currently more than a million Rohingya are living in refugee camps in Bangladesh after fleeing the military crackdown in the Rakhine province of Myanmar in August 2017.
Biden Picks Indian American Vivek Murthy To Lead COVID-19 Fight
US President-elect Joe Biden has selected his key Covid-19 advisor Dr Vivek Murthy as the next Surgeon General, a role for which he was appointed during the Obama administration. He is also one of the three co-chairs of the Biden's coronavirus Advisory Board. A formal announcement in this matter is expected soon. The Surgeon General serves a four-year term and is the top government official on public health issues.
Daily GA Updates
Singapore Becomes First Country To Approve Sale Of Lab-Grown Meat
Singapore has given US start-up Eat Just the greenlight to sell its lab-grown chicken meat, in what the firm says is the world's first regulatory approval for so-called clean meat that does not come from slaughtered animals. The firm said the meat will be sold as nuggets and had previously pegged their cost at $50 each. The cell-cultured chicken will be produced under Eat Just’s new GOOD Meat brand through partnerships with local manufacturers. The lab meat will go on sale to restaurants before it is available to consumers.
Globally more than two dozen firms are testing lab-grown fish, beef and chicken, hoping to break into an unproven segment of the alternative meat market, which Barclays estimates could be worth $140 billion by 2029.
India and the US sign MoU on Intellectual Property cooperation
India, and the US have signed Memorandum of Understanding on Intellectual Property cooperation. Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, Ministry of Commerce and Industry signed the MoU with US Patent and Trademark Office, Department of Commerce of the US. The MoU aims at increasing IP co-operation between the two countries. It will facilitate exchange and dissemination of best practices, experiences and knowledge on IP among the public, and between and among the industry, universities, research and development organizations, and Small and Medium-sized Enterprises.
Cine star Rajinikanth to float his own political party next month Daily GA Updates
Tamil superstar Rajinikanth announced that he would launch a political party in January 2021 to contest in the Assembly election. In a tweet, he said his political plank would be spiritual. He said everything needs to be changed and it should be now or never. Rajinikanth said, in the forthcoming Assembly General Elections in Tamil Nadu, victory would be at hand adding, a non-corrupt, transparent, non-partisan politics will be witnessed by the public.
Parkash Singh Badal returns his Padma Vibhushan award in solidarity with farmers protesting against farm laws
Former Punjab Chief Minister and Shiromani Akali Dal patron Parkash Singh Badal has returned his Padma Vibhushan award in solidarity with the farmers protesting against the three farm laws. Mr. Badal received Padma Vibhushan Award in 2015.
Manipur police station chosen best in country Daily GA Updates
Nongpok Sekmai police station in Thoubal district of Manipur has been selected by the Home Ministry as the best among all police stations in the country for its performance in dealing cases. It is followed by Kharsang police station in Changlang district of south-eastern Arunachal Pradesh in the second place, and Pakyong police station in Skkim's East District in the seventh position. One police station each from Tamil Nadu, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Uttar Pradesh, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, and Telangana are also in the list of 10 best police stations.
MDH Masala owner Mahashay Dharampal Gulati dies at 97
Dharampal Gulati, the owner of the MDH Masala brand often called the grand old man of spices, died. He was 97. Gulati was awarded the country's third-highest civilian award Padma Bhushan last year. MDH spices are not just popular in India but are also exported to the United States of America, Canada, United Kingdom, Europe, South East Asia, Japan, U.A.E. and Saudi Arabia.
Lottery, gambling and betting taxable under GST Act: SC Daily GA Updates
The Supreme Court of India held that lottery, gambling and betting are taxable under the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Act. A three-judge bench led by Justice Ashok Bhushan dismissed a writ petition filed by Skill Loto Solutions Pvt Ltd challenging the levy of GST on lotteries as violative of Articles 14,19(1)(g), 301 and 304 of the Constitution of India.
RBI to announce its monetary policy review
The Monetary Policy Committee of the Reserve Bank of India led by Governor Shaktikanta Das will announce its bi-monthly monetary policy review on December 4. In its last MPC meeting in October, the RBI kept policy rates unchanged to help tame inflation. The reverse repo rate remained unchanged at 3.35 per cent, the repo rate at 4 per cent. The MPC had also decided to maintain its accommodative stance as long as necessary at least through the current financial year and next year as Indian economy has been entering into a decisive phase in its fight against coronavirus.
HCL’s Roshni tops list of India’s richest women Daily GA Updates
HCL Technologies chairperson Roshni Nadar Malhotra, with a net worth of Rs. 54,850 crore, tops the Kotak Wealth Hurun list of India’s wealthiest women. Biocon Chairperson Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw is the second-richest woman on the list, with a net worth of 36,600 crore, followed by Leena Gandhi Tewari, Chairperson of USV (Rs 21,340 crore). The cumulative wealth of the 100 women on the list is Rs 2.73 lakh crore, the study said. The top 10 list includes Divis Laboratories' Nilima Motaparti, Zoho's Radha Vembu, Jayshree Ullal of Arista Networks, Renu Munjal of Hero FinCorp, Malika Chirayu Amin of Alembic Pharmaceuticals, Anu Aga and Meher Pudumjee of Thermax, and Falguni Nayar and family of Nykaa, among others.
The list included six women entrepreneurs from the startup, of whom Falguni Nayar of Nykaa and Divya Gokulnath of Byju's have built their companies into unicorns.
RBI halts HDFC Bank from issuing new credit cards
In an unprecedented move, the Reserve Bank of India has temporarily barred HDFC Bank from launching new digital banking initiatives and issuing new credit card after taking a serious view of service outages at the country''s largest private sector lender over the last two years. The Reserve Bank of India’s order came, less than two weeks after the last instance of service outage across its digital banking channels, including internet banking, mobile banking and other payments. The outage on November 21 had severely inconvenienced customers.
Aviation loss to widen to Rs. 21,000 cr. in FY21: ICRA Daily GA Updates
The Indian aviation industry is estimated to report a significant net loss of Rs. 21,000 crore in FY21, against a net loss of Rs. 12,700 crore in FY20, with the industry debt level increasing to Rs. 50,000 crore (excluding lease liabilities) over FY21-22, ICRA said in a report. The rating agency said the industry would require additional funding of ₹35,000-₹37,000 crore over FY21-23.
India can be a $100-bn PCBA hub by 2026
India has the potential to become a $100 billion global manufacturing and export hub for printed circuit board assembly (PCBA) by 2026 — a key to reducing dependency on China, which is currently the world’s largest exporter, the India Cellular & Electronics Association (ICEA) and EY said in a report. The report argues that growth in PCBA manufacturing would principally be driven by four key electronic product segments in the coming years—mobile phones; tablets and personal computers; smart televisions and other smart devices; and consumer appliances. The report further estimates that the global PCBA market across these four segments could be to the tune of around $358 billion by 2025-2026.
Daily GA Updates
Ravi Kumar and Deepak Punia are among the 24 wrestlers who will represent India at the Senior Individual World Cup to be held from 12 to 18th December
A contingent of 42 members including 24 wrestlers and 9 coaches will be travelling to Belgrade, Serbia to represent India at the Senior Individual World Cup to be held from 12 to 18th December. Ravi Kumar and Deepak Punia are among the 24 wrestlers who will represent India in the event, in first international competition since coronavirus outbreak in March.
BCCI set to add two new IPL teams
A decision on adding two new teams to the Indian Premier League is set to be made during the Board of Control for Cricket in India’s (BCCI’s) Annual General Meeting (AGM) on December 24. The BCCI hierarchy has been keen on adding teams to the IPL mix for a while. Multiple corporates have shown interest and the Board will also try and offer stake or a team to promoters of the now- defunct Kochi franchise as a compensatory measure. The BCCI owes more than Rs 5,000 crore to Kochi promoters after a court-appointed arbitrator ruled against the Board for wrongful termination.
Daily GA Updates
Premier League, English Football League Agree 250 Million Pound Virus Rescue Deal
The Premier League and the English Football League agreed a 250-million pound rescue package, ending months of uncertainty for lower-league clubs struggling financially during the coronavirus pandemic. The English Football League said clubs in Leagues One and Two -- the third and fourth tiers -- would receive grants worth 50 million pounds ($67 million). The Premier League will provide a further financial commitment to help the EFL secure a 200-million pound loan facility for clubs in the second-tier Championship.
Frappart makes history
Stephanie Frappart became the first woman to referee a men’s Champions League game. The 36- year-old Frappart has already made history as the first woman to referee in Ligue 1, and took charge of the 2019 Uefa Super Cup final between Liverpool and Chelsea. She also made her Europa League debut in October.