General/Financial/Economy Awareness Vaccine for SBI | RRB | IBPS PO/Clerk Mains Page 1 Exam Centric /// General/Financial/Economy Awareness Vaccine for SBI | RRB | IBPS PO/Clerk Mains General/Financial/Economy Awareness Vaccine for SBI | RRB | IBPS PO/Clerk Mains Current Affairs Covered from Sept'20 to 18 Jan’21 Principal/Key Current Affairs SBI PO | IBPS PO/Clerk | IBPS RRB PO/Clerk Joe Biden: 46th President of USA Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. has defeated Donald Trump to become the 46th president of USA. Biden will become the oldest president-elect in U.S. history and the first to oust a sitting commander-in-chief after one term since Bill Clinton defeated George HW Bush in 1992. Biden’s running mate, California Senator Kamala Harris, becomes the first Black and Indian- American woman to serve as vice president. Mr Biden take oath on 20th January 2021. Mukesh Ambani dropped down to 12th spot in the Bloomberg Billionaires Index 2021 India's richest man Mukesh Ambani, the chairman and Managing Director of Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) dropped down to 12th spot in the Bloomberg Billionaires Index 2021 (as on 2nd January 2021). The long-pending demand of experts to reduce the level of trans fats in food items The long-pending demand of experts to reduce the level of trans fats in food items met, with India’s top food regulator FSSAI reducing it to 3%. The current permissible limit is 5%. A well-preserved Ice Age woolly rhino was found in Siberia, Russia A well-preserved Ice Age woolly rhino was found in Siberia, Russia with many of its internal organs still intact. Page 2 Exam Centric General/Financial/Economy Awareness Vaccine for SBI | RRB | IBPS PO/Clerk Mains North East’s first-ever specialised "Ginger" Processing Plant in Meghalaya North East’s first-ever specialised "Ginger" Processing Plant at district Ri-Bhoui in Meghalaya is being revived and is likely to become functional in the beginning of 2021. Bureau of Police Research & Development (BPR&D) released Data on Police Organizations West Bengal had the maximum of 3,142 people under police protection in 2019, followed by Punjab (2,594), Bihar (2,347) and Jammu and Kashmir (1,184). Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) remained net buyers for the third month In a row by investing Rs 68,558 crore in Indian markets as global investors continued betting on emerging markets. Iran plans to enrich uranium to up to 20% purity at Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant: IAEA International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has revealed that Iran plans to enrich uranium to up to 20 percent purity at Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant. It would take Iran's nuclear enrichment program to pre-2015 levels, when it entered the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) with the P51 countries. Page 3 Exam Centric General/Financial/Economy Awareness Vaccine for SBI | RRB | IBPS PO/Clerk Mains DCGI given approval for restricted use in emergency situation of two Covid19 vaccines- Serum Institute of India's Covishield and Bharat Biotech's Covaxin The Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) gave its approval followed by the recommendation of the Subject Expert Committee (SEC) that recommended both the vaccines for emergency use. FPIs remained net buyers for the third month in a row by investing Rs 68,558 crore in Indian markets As per depositories data, overseas investors put in a net Rs 62,016 crore into equities and Rs 6,542 crore into the debt in December 2020. The total net investment during the month stood at Rs 68,558 crore. PFRDA the subscribers can now use the online mode also to exit from the NPS Under the current process, the NPS subscribers have to physically approach their Points of Presence (POPs) to complete their withdrawal request process and the task is performed offline. Union Minister of Education, Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ laid the foundation stone of “TiHAN-IIT Hyderabad”. India’s first Testbed for Autonomous Navigation Systems (Terrestrial and Aerial) at IIT Hyderabad. Nagaland declared a disturbed area for six more months Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958, the Central government declares that whole of the State of Nagaland to be disturbed area for a period of six months. Global Pravasi Rishta portal and mobile App Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan launched the Global Pravasi Rishta portal and mobile App, to connect with Indian Diaspora across the world. Page 4 Exam Centric General/Financial/Economy Awareness Vaccine for SBI | RRB | IBPS PO/Clerk Mains DRDO & Indian Navy conducted the successful maiden test trial of ‘SAHAYAK-NG’ India’s first indigenously designed and developed Air Dropped Container from IL 38SD aircraft (Indian Navy) off the coast of Goa. Argentina’s Congress legalised abortions up to the 14th week of pregnancy Argentina has some of the world’s most restrictive abortion laws. This change is historic and its implications may be witnessed beyond Argentina, in Latin America at large. India's current account surplus shrank to USD 15.5 billion July-September quarter from a record USD 19.2 billion in April-June as its merchandise trade deficit grew, the Reserve Bank of India stated. Assam assembly passes bill to abolish all state-run Madrasas Assam Assembly has passed 'The Assam Repealing Bill, 2020' to abolish all state-run Madrasas by converting them to general schools. 21-year-old Arya Rajendran becomes India's Youngest Mayor Arya Rajendran from Kerala became India's youngest Mayor as the mayor of the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation after winning a clear victory in a three-cornered election to the post. FASTag mandatory for all vehicles from 1st January 2021 The government has allowed the National Highways Authority of India to fulfill regulatory requirements for 100 per cent payment through FASTag latest by 15th of February 2021. Please Visit: Exam Centric You Tube Channel Download Exam Centric App Play Store Page 5 Exam Centric General/Financial/Economy Awareness Vaccine for SBI | RRB | IBPS PO/Clerk Mains Narendra Singh Tomar launches Honey FPO Programme in 5 states The Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, Narendra Singh Tomar inaugurated Honey Farmer Producer Organisation (FPO) Programme in five states, for producing honey. The Honey FPO Programme has been launched under the Central Sector Scheme for Formation & Promotion of new 10,000 FPOs. These 5 FPOs will be set up by the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Limited (NAFED). They will be set up at- 1. East Champaran (Bihar) 2. Morena (Madhya Pradesh) 3. Bharatpur (Rajasthan) 4. Mathura (Uttar Pradesh) 5. Sunderbans (West Bengal) Policy Rate unchanged at RBI's Bi-Monthly Monetary Policy RBI decided to maintain the status quo on policy rate amid sticky rate of inflation. At this point, the repo rate or the rate at which RBI lends to banks stands unchanged at 4%. The reverse repo rate also stayed unchanged at 3.35%. Policy Rate as on 19th January 2021: Policy Repo Rate: 4.00% Reverse Repo Rate: 3.35% Marginal Standing Facility Rate: 4.25% Bank Rate: 4.25% RBI orders HDFC Bank to halt its digital launches RBI issued an order to HDFC Bank with regard to certain incidents of outages in the internet banking, mobile banking and payment utilities of the lender over the past 2 years. Reliance Industries tops Fortune India 500 Ranking 2020 Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) topped the 2020 Fortune 500 list of Indian companies, released. The revenue of RIL clocked Rs 615,854.00. 1. Reliance Industries 2. Indian Oil Corporation 3. Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Page 6 Exam Centric General/Financial/Economy Awareness Vaccine for SBI | RRB | IBPS PO/Clerk Mains 4. State Bank of India 5. Bharat Petroleum Corporation 6. Tata Motors 7. Rajesh Exports 8. Tata Consultancy Services 9. ICICI Bank 10. Larsen & Toubro Union Cabinet approves Atmanirbhar Bharat Rojgar Yojana (ABRY) ABRY will also incentivize the creation of new employment opportunities under Atmanirbhar Bharat Package 3.0. The Cabinet approved an expenditure of Rs. 1,584 crores for the current financial year and ₹ 22,810 crores for the entire scheme period from 2020 to 2023. The scheme will provide subsidy for two years in respect of new employees engaged on or after October 1, 2020, and up to June 30, 2021. Centre Launches QRMP scheme for GST payers GoI launched ‘Quarterly Return filing & Monthly Payment of Taxes (QRMP)’ scheme for small taxpayers under the GST system. Taxpayers with an aggregate annual turnover of up to Rs 5 crore in the preceding financial year and have filed their October GSTR-3B (sales) return by November 30, 2020, are eligible for this scheme. The notifications for the same were issued by the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC). Page 7 Exam Centric General/Financial/Economy Awareness Vaccine for SBI | RRB | IBPS PO/Clerk Mains Bajrang Punia, Elavenil Valarivan bag Sportsperson of the Year awards Award Sports Person Sportsperson of the Year (Female) Elavenil Valarivan Sportsperson of the Year (Male) Bajrang Punia Best State Promoting Sports Award Madhya Pradesh Best Company Promoting Sports (Private Sector) Anil Kumble Gwalior, Orchha in UNESCO world heritage cities list The historical fort cities of Gwalior and Orchha in Madhya Pradesh have been included in the list of UNESCO’s world heritage cities under its The World Heritage Cities Programme. Joe Biden, Kamala Harris jointly named Time’s ‘Person of the Year’ 2020 US President-elect, Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris jointly named Time magazine’s 2020 “Person of the Year”. The TIME magazine releases the annual list since 1927. India ranks 131 in Human Development Index 2020, Norway topped Norway topped the index, followed by Ireland, Switzerland, Hong Kong and Iceland, the report showed.