Daily Current Affairs 12th March, 2020

Daily Current Affairs 12 March 2020 for Banking/Insurance/SSC and other related exams.

NATIONAL NEWS

Karnataka Govt launches ‘Namaste over Handshake’ campaign to contain COVID-19
The government of Karnataka has launched ‘Namaste over Handshake’ campaign in an attempt to contain the spread of COVID-19. With this campaign, the government advises people to keep a safe distance from one another.

  • The campaign asks people to greet each other by ‘Namaste’ instead of shaking hands in order to protect themselves from others who might be infected with the COVID-19. A health helpline number has also been shared with the locals for clarifying any misinformation or queries.

Leh to host International Yoga Day’s main event, PM Modi to attend
Leh, the capital of the Union territory of Ladakh will be the venue for the main event for International Yoga Day on June 21 

  • The event of IDY 2020 promises to be unique and different since such a large congregation for yoga will be taking place in a high altitude location like Leh for the first time
  • In Delhi, the main event will be held at Rajpath and it will be organised by the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) along with the ministry.

Sanitary pad disposal bags mandatory from Jan 2021: Javadekar
Union Minister Prakash Javadekar said the Centre would make it mandatory for sanitary napkin companies to provide bio-degradable disposal bags from January 2021.

Week Long 1st “Ekam Fest” held in New Delhi
Union Minister of Social Justice & Empowerment Shri Thaawarchand Gehlot inaugurated the week long Exhibition-cum-Fair “EKAM Fest” organised by National Handicapped Finance Development Corporation (NHFDC) under M/o Social Justice & Empowerment at State Emporia Complex, New Delhi.

  • EKAM Fest is an effort for promoting entrepreneurship and knowledge among Divyangjan community, generating awareness among society about potentialities of PwDs & providing a major marketing opportunity to PwDs entrepreneurs.


INTERNATIONAL NEWS

WHO officially declares COVID-19 as a pandemic
WHO officially announced during a press conference today that the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak is a pandemic after the disease caused by the new coronavirus spread to more than 100 countries and led to tens of thousands of cases within a few months.

  • The declaration of a pandemic comes more than a month after WHO declared COVID-19 a “public health emergency of international concern.”This is the first time WHO has declared a pandemic over a coronavirus.

Joy Bangla to be national slogan of Bangladesh
The High Court of Bangladesh has ordered that ‘Joy Bangla’ will be the national slogan of Bangladesh. 

  • ‘Joy Bangla’ was the main slogan during the liberation war of Bangladesh fought against Pakistan in 1971. The first President of Bangladesh Sheikh Mujibur Rahman also used ‘Joy Bangla’ in his speeches and specially during his historic 7th March speech in 1971 declaring the goal of independence for Bangladesh.


BANKING & FINANCE

SBI cuts interest rate on savings accounts to 3 pc; removes minimum balance requirement
The country’s largest lender SBI rationalised interest rate on all savings bank (SB) accounts to a flat 3 per cent, a move affecting 44.51 crore account holders.

  • The bank also waived the requirement for maintaining minimum balance in SB accounts.
  • The bank further said it has also waived SMS charges, which will bring significant relief to all the customers

PhonePe inks partnership with ICICI Bank for UPI Transactions
PhonePe, which earlier partnered with Yes Bank, is now working with private sector lender ICICI Bank for UPI transactions.

  • After YES Bank has been placed under moratorium by Reserve Bank of India due to which UPI transactions at PhonePe got disrupted. The popular payment app had faced outage for nearly 24 hours after the Reserve Bank of India put a moratorium on March 5


BUSINESS & ECONOMY

India shares second position with China as most promising source of disruptive technologies: KPMG
India surged back to tie the second position with China in KPMG’s 2020 global technology industry innovation survey which includes responses from more than 800 global leaders in the technology industry.

  • Singapore, seventh last year, leaped to the top of this year’s global rankings. London moved up one notch to second.
  • Bengaluru‘s entry in the top 10 rankings is another sign that the city is doing well in the areas of modern infrastructure, attracting skilled talent and investment. Bengaluru ranked 9th in the list

2nd biggest arms importer, India 23rd on exporters’ list
According to the “Trends in international arms transfers 2019″ report, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) listed the world’s top five arms importers during the five-year period as Saudi Arabia, India, Egypt, Australia and China. Together, the five accounted for 36% of all arms imports.

  • India remained the world’s second largest arms importer during the period 2015-19, with Russia being the largest supplier though Moscow’s share of the Indian weapons market declined from 72% to 56%
  • The report said India’s arms imports from both Russia and the US fell during the five-year period, though the decline was more pronounced in the case of Russian arms deals. India accounted for 25% of total Russian arms exports.

Google India launches skill development programme for women
Google India introduced DigiPivot, a skilling programme designed for women who are looking to return to their corporate careers after a break or simply planning to make mid-career shifts to digital marketing.

  • Developed in association with Avtar, a career portal service for women, and the Indian School of Business, the programme aims to influence the overall gender mix in the digital marketing landscape in India and will provide an opportunity for 200 women professionals to re-skill themselves.


APPOINTMENTS

PV Sindhu becomes brand ambassador for Andhra govt’s anti-graft helpline
Badminton world champion PV Sindhu has been appointed the brand ambassador for Andhra Pradesh government’s anti-graft helpline.

  • The ace shuttler featured along with Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy in a video released by the state government as a promo for its toll-free anti-graft number.

ITBP chief SS Deswal given additional charge of BSF DG                   
Director General Indo-Tibetan Border Police S S Deswal has been given the additional charge of the DG Border Security Force (BSF) after the repatriation of incumbent Vivek Johri to his parent cadre Madhya Pradesh

  • Deswal, is currently serving as Director General of Indo-Tibetan Border Police that guards country’s frontier with China.


AWARDS

Maharaja Ranjit Singh named greatest world leader in BBC Poll
Maharaja Ranjit Singh, the 19th century ruler of the Sikh Empire in India, has beaten competition from around the world to be named the “Greatest Leader of All Time” in a poll conducted by ‘BBC World Histories Magazine’.

  • In second place, with 25 per cent of the vote, is African Independence Fighter Amílcar Cabral, who united more than 1 million Guineans to free themselves from Portuguese occupation and in turn propelled many other colonised African countries to rise and fight for independence.

National award for PGI Professor for services to people suffering from ENT diseases
Dr Jaimanti Bakshi, Professor and Unit Head II, Department of Otolaryngology and Head Neck surgery at PGIMER was awarded the “Best Citizens of India Gold medal Award”.She was awarded for “her individual achievements and her contribution towards the national development through her tremendous services to the people suffering from many ENT diseases and head and neck cancer.

  • “This award was given by “GEPRA” Global Economic Progress and Research Association” which is under the government of India, during the National Unity conference held at Chennai.

Indian mountaineer scales Australia’s highest mountain peak
Indian mountaineer Bhawna Dehariya has successfully scaled Mount Kosciuszko, the highest mountain peak in Australia. Dehariya, who last year scaled Mount Everest, successfully summit the 2,228-metres Mount Kosciuszko

Byju Raveendran, Zomato’s Gaurav Gupta on WEF’s Young Global Leaders list
Byju Classes’ founder Byju Raveendran and Zomato’s co-founder Gaurav Gupta are among the five Indians named by the World Economic Forum (WEF) in its new list of 115 Young Global Leaders.

  • The other three Indians on the list are Tara Singh Vachani (CEO of Antara Senior Living), Vinati Mutreja (Managing Director and CEO, Vinati Organics Limited), and Swapan Mehra (CEO, Iora Ecological Solutions).
  • This year, over half the new members are women and nearly half of YGLs are from emerging economies.


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