Daily Current Affairs 26th January, 2020

Daily Current Affairs 26 January 2020 for Banking/Insurance/SSC and other related exams.

NATIONAL NEWS

Department of Biotechnology held International Summit on Women in STEM
The Department of Biotechnology organized an International Summit on Women in STEM–“Visualizing the Future: New Skylines”at India Habitat Centre, New Delhi. The Summit was organizedwith the overall aim to boost the participation of women in STEM field for development of scientific career.

Ganga-Volga Dialogue held with Russia to enhance Connectivity
The Ganga-Volga Dialogue between India and Russia was held in New Delhi with dominant theme of the discussions was Connectivity.

• The aim of the dialogue is very similar to the International North-South Transport Corridor.

Govt sets up 3 high-level steering committees to dispose of enemy properties
The government decided to set up three high-level committees, one of which will be headed by Home Minister Amit Shah, to dispose of over 9,400 enemy properties, which is likely to fetch about Rs 1 lakh crore to the exchequer.

• An Inter-Ministerial Group will be constituted which will be co-chaired by the union home secretary and the secretary of the department of investment and public asset management.
• Core Group of Secretaries on Asset Monetisation (CGAM) will be constituted under the chairmanship of the Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba. (Nirmala Sitharaman) and Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari.

Govt think-tank NITI Aayog releases its vision for National Data and Analytics Platform
NITI Aayog released its vision for the National Data and Analytics Platform (NDAP) . The platform aims to democratize access to publicly available government data.

• It will host the latest datasets from various government websites, present them coherently, and provide tools for analytics and visualization. NDAP will follow a user-centric approach and will enable data access in a simple and intuitive portal tailored to the needs of a variety of stakeholders.

‘Bharat Parv 2020’ begins at Red Fort to celebrate spirit of India
Bharat Parv 2020, a festival to celebrate the spirit of India has begun at Red Fort ground in New Delhi. It will continue till 31st of this month. The objective of Bharat Parv is to encourage people to visit different tourism places of the country and to inculcate the spirit of ‘Dekho Apna Desh’.

West Bengal emerges at the top in vegetable production
According to the State-wise horticulture production data released at a conference organised by the Agriculture Ministry, West Bengal has overtaken Uttar Pradesh and emerged as the top State in vegetable production in 2018-19. West Bengal accounted for 15.9 per cent of the country’s total vegetable production in 2018-19 while UP produced 14.9 per cent.

• Andhra Pradesh continued to hold on to the pole position in fruits with 17.61 mt, followed by Maharashtra (10.82 mt) and UP (10.65 mt).

‘Innovation Festival’ held at Science Centre in Itanagar
The two-day  ‘Innovation Festival’ held at the Science Centre in Itanagar, Arunachal Pradesh.

• The Innovation Festival, a first of its kind in the state, aimed to foster the culture of innovation among all people of the state, especially in all the educational institutions.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Corruption Perception Index 2019: India ranks 80th; Denmark and New Zealand top the list
India has been ranked at the 80th position among 180 countries and territories in the Corruption Perception Index (CPI) prepared by Transparency International.

• Denmark and New Zealand have cornered the top spot, followed by Finland, Singapore, Sweden and Switzerland in the top ten.
• With a score of 41, India is at the 80th spot. The rank is also shared by China, Benin, Ghana and Morocco. Neighbouring Pakistan is ranked at the 120th place.

World Breastfeeding Trends Initiative: Srilanka tops in supporting breastfeeding women
Sri Lanka has ranked first among 97 countries globally on breastfeeding rate according to a new survey conducted by the World Breastfeeding Trends Initiative (WBTi). WBTi uses to color- code and rank countries. Sri Lanka has scored 91 out of 100 points and earned a green color code, which implies best level of performance

WEF’s 1st Nature Risk Rising report: $44trillion of global GDP depend on nature
The World Economic Forum’s 2020 Global Risks Report ranks biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse as one of the top five threats humanity will face in the next ten years.

• Flagging huge risks to the economy from dangers of biodiversity loss and climate change, a WEF study said businesses are more than dependent on nature with an estimated exposure of $44 trillion or half of the world GDP.

WEF to conserve 1 trillion trees by 2030 to combat climate change through 1t.org
The World Economic Forum has launched ‘One Trillion Trees Initiative’ to grow, restore and conserve 1 trillion trees across the world by 2030. The global initiative is aimed at restoring biodiversity and help fight climate change.

• Theorg is a WEF initiative, which has been designed to support the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration 2021-2030, led by UNEP and FAO.

Switzerland mints world’s smallest gold coin values ¼ Swiss francs
Switzerland has minted a gold coin with 2.96-millimeter (0.12-inches) which is the smallest in the world.It weighs 0.063 grams (1/500th of an ounce) and has a nominal value of 1/4 Swiss francs (USD 0.26).

BANKING & FINANCE

RBI hikes short-term debt investments limit for FPI to 30% from 20%
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) increased the short-term investment limit of such investors. It doubled the limit in case they voluntarily disclose their investment plan before hand.

• The central bank said foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) can now invest 30 per cent of their portfolios in central and state government securities, including in treasury bills, from the 20 per cent
• Similarly, in corporate bonds, too, short-term investments can now be 30 per cent of the portfolio from 20 per cent earlier.

In a 1st , City Union Bank launches multilingual voice based ‘All-In-One’ app
City Union Bank (CUB) is the first Bank in the country to introduce multilingual voice enabled mobile banking App. The customers can converse with the chat-bot ‘Ask Lakshmi’ of the App in Tamil, English, Hindi or Telugu.

• Customers can converse with this bot for their general banking needs including transactions like Balance enquiry, mini statement, fund transfer over voice/text instructions.

New India Co-operative Bank(NICB) to be converted as Small Finance Bank
The New India Co-operative Bank (NICB) said its shareholders have decided to convert it into a small finance bank.The move comes after a slew of regulatory changes by the RBI following the Rs 4,500-crore PMC Bank fraud and to ensure better regulation of such lenders which are heavily influenced by regional political heavyweights

BUSINESS & ECONOMY

MoRD inks MoU with BMGF under DAY-NRLM to strengthen grassroots institutions of the rural poor
The Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) under the Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana – National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM), for furthering their mutual objectives of strengthening grassroots institutions of the rural poor.

Government announces sale of 100% stake in debt-laden Air India
The government announced sale of 100 per cent stake in debt-laden Air India as it issued the preliminary bid document for the strategic disinvestment and has set March 17, as the deadline for submitting expression of interest.

• As part of the strategic disinvestment, Air India would also sell 100 per cent stake in low-cost airline Air India Express and 50 per cent shareholding in joint venture AISATS

AWARDS

2nd Subhash Chandra Bose Aapda Prabandhan Puraskar 2020:DMMC & Kumar singh awarded
Disaster Mitigation and Management Centre (DMMC), Uttarakhand, (in the institution category) and Kumar Munnan Singh (individual category) have been selected for the Subhash Chandra Bose Aapda Prabandhan Puraskar for their commendable work in Disaster Management for Subhash Chandra Bose Aapda Prabandhan Puraskar 2020.

• The winner institution receives a certificate and a cash prize of Rs 51 lakh and the money is to be used disaster management-related activities only.

Kerala Tourism’s disabled-friendly project won UNWTO’s Accessible Destination Awards 2019
Kerala Tourism’s Barrier-Free Tourism Project has won global recognition with the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) making a special mention of the south Indian state as an “Emerging Global Destination” in the Accessible Destination Awards 2019.

• The recognition was for the implementation of the project in the central Kerala district of Thrissur, which thus became India’s only destination to win the honour.

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

1st unmanned mission will be launched in December 2020 as a preparation for ‘Gaganyaan’: ISRO
Ahead of the launch of India’s maiden human spaceflight venture ‘Gaganyaan’ in December 2021, the ISRO will undertake two unmanned missions in December 2020 and June 2021 informed by ISRO chairman K Sivan at the inaugural session of a symposium on “Human Spaceflight and Exploration – Present Challenges and Future Trends.

BOOKS & AUTHORS

Minority Affairs minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi’s new novel ‘Balwa’ to be released
The Union Minister for Minority AffairsMukhtar Abbas Naqvi  released his Hindi novel Balwa, a fiction story based on the happenings in India in the 1990s. It will be published by Diamond Pocket Books.

• Also, Naqvi has written a Hindi novel ‘ Raj Lila’, which based on the story of tribal woman’s struggles & Cyber Supari will also be released soon.

OBITUARIES

Former Minister of Odisha, Jagannath Rout passes away at 78
Former Minister Jagannath Rout passed away at a private hospital in Bhubaneswar. He was 78.

• The former minister, who was elected thrice to the assembly from Dhamnagar assembly constituency won all the three assembly elections he contested on a Congress ticket in 1980, 1985 and 1995.

Former Rajya Sabha MP Melhupra Vero passed away at 88
The first Naga MP to the Rajya Sabha, Melhupra Vero (popularly known as M Vero) passed away in Chakhesang colony, Dimapur. He was 85 years old.

• He was the MP of Rajya Sabha for two consecutive terms from 1964-74.
• Hailing from Runguzu village in Phek district, M. Vero also served as a Member of Indo-Naga Peace Mission during 1956-57. He went on to serve as Member of Parliamentary Committee for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes from 1966-69.

Noted artist and sculptor Sher Singh Kukkal passes away
Noted artist and sculptor Sher Singh Kukkal passed away after a brief illness. He was 86.

• He was awarded Senior Fellowship in Visual Art Photography by Union Ministry Of Culture during 2008-09.

IMPORTANT DAYS

Nation celebrates 71st Republic Day on January 26, 2020
India marked its 71st Republic Day on January 26, 2020 with a parade showcasing some of its newly acquired capabilities and military hardware, both homegrown and like the anti-satellite missile as well as bought from abroad like US made heavy lift Chinook and the anti-tank attack Apache helicopters.

• The ceremony that lasted one and a half hours, was witnessed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the chief guest of this year’s parade, Brazilian president Jair Messias Bolsonaro as President of India, Ram Nath Kovind took the salute.

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