Daily Current Affairs 15th November, 2020

Daily Current Affairs 15 November 2020 for Banking/Insurance/SSC and other related exams.

NATIONAL NEWS

India, Maldives sign 4 pacts including $100M grant for key connectivity project
India and the Maldives signed four agreements, including one for a $100-million grant for a connectivity project, as visiting foreign secretary Harsh Shringla and the Maldivian leadership discussed ways to boost economic recovery amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

• One of four memorandums of understanding (MoUs) signed by the two sides was for the grant of $100 million by India for the $500-million Greater Male Connectivity Project (GMCP) that will link capital Male with three islands. India will also provide a $400-million line of credit for the project, the largest such infrastructure venture undertaken in the Maldives.
• The other MoUs were for setting up soil and plant testing laboratories through a grant of 1.71 million Maldivian rufiyaas, establishing a drug detox facility through a grant of 7.7 million Maldivian rufiyaas and cooperation in sports and youth affairs.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

15th East Asia Summit 2020 held virtually, hosted by Vietnam 
The 15th East Asia Summit hopes to give a big push to a free, open, inclusive, transparent, rules-based, peaceful and prosperous Indo-Pacific region.

• The virtual Summit Meeting will be Chaired by the Prime Minister of Vietnam Nguyen Xuan Phuc as Vietnam is the ASEAN chair this year. External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar represented India at the 15th East Asia Summit (EAS) on behalf of the PM.
• The Summit Meeting will also discuss ways and means to strengthen the EAS platform and to make it more responsive to emerging challenges on its 15th anniversary. The Leaders will also exchange views on issues of international and regional interest including the COVID-19 pandemic and the cooperation among EAS participating countries to achieve an expeditious and sustainable economic recovery.

8th BRICS STI Ministerial Meet held virtually, hosted by Russia
The 8th BRICS Science, Technology and Innovation Ministerial meeting held through a virtual platformto discuss S & T cooperation among the member countries. The Ministry of Science and Higher Education of Russia organized the meeting, Russian Federation being the Chair for 12th BRICS Summit.

• The BRICS STI Declaration 2020 was unanimously adopted at the meeting. The meeting was. Science and Technology cooperation among the member countries Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa was discussed in the meeting.
• During the meeting, BRICS Members applauded India’s scheme ‘SERB–POWER’ (Promoting Opportunities For Women in Exploratory Research) to encourage and support emerging as well as eminent women researchers to undertake R&D activities in frontier areas of science and engineering.

Guadalajara named World Book Capital 2022
Guadalajara (Mexico) was named World Book Capital for the year 2022 by the Director-General of UNESCO, Audrey Azoulay, on the recommendation of the World Book Capital Advisory Committee.

• The city was selected for its comprehensive plan for policies around the book to trigger social change, combat violence and build a culture of peace.
• Tbilisi (Georgia) was named as the World Book Capital 2021 and Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) for 2020. 

BANKING & FINANCE

SBM Bank India set to launch a neo banking platform
SBM Bank India, which is the wholly-owned subsidiary of State Bank of Mauritius, is focussing on technology to reach out to customers and is set to launch a neo banking platform.

• SBM Bank India has tied up with a fintech for neo banking. The bank is looking at collaborative banking in a lot of other segments as well where companies may have access to large number of customers but do not have a banking license.

ACQUISITIONS & MERGERS 

TCS to acquire Postbank Systems from Deutsche Bank
TCS, India’s largest information technology (IT) services company, will acquire the shares of Postbank Systems AG, the technology services unit of Frankfurt-based Deutsche Bank AG and absorb its 1,500 employees.

• Postbank Systems provides project management, application management and infrastructure support services to Deutsche Bank.
• The value of the deal was not disclosed.The transaction is expected to be completed by the year-end, subject to regulatory approvals

SPORTS

Trailblazers beat Supernovas by 16 runs to win Women’s T20 Challenge title
Trailblazers beat Supernovas by 16 runs to win clinch the Jio Women’s T20 Challenge title. Smriti Mandhana starred with the bat while Salma Khatun picked three wickets as Trailblazers beat Supernovas by 16 runs to clinch the Jio Women’s T20 Challenge title at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium.

• Opting to field, Supernovas restricted Trailblazers to 118/8 despite Smriti Mandhana’s 49-ball 68. Radha Yadav claimed the maiden five-wicket haul (5/16) in the short history of the competition to deny the final flourish to Trailblazers’ innings.

AWARDS

Bangladeshi teen wins International Children’s Peace Prize for fighting against cyberbullying
Bangladeshi teen, 17-year-old Sadat Rahman has won the International Children’s Peace Prize 2020 for his fight against cyberbullying.

• Sadat has been awarded for his involvement in setting up his social organization and mobile app “Cyber Teens” to stop cyberbullying.
• Through his app Cyber Teens, Sadat has provided a platform to the helpless teenagers, who need help.The app has supported over 300 victims of cyberbullying.

Manipur introduces award for civil servants to promote good governance
Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh launched “Scheme for Chief Minister’s Award for Good Governance” to recognise and reward progressive and extraordinary work executed by authorities officers that promotes good governance.

• Under the scheme, authorities servants will probably be rewarded for excellent and exemplary efficiency and tasks whose qualitative and quantitative outcomes are of a really excessive order and which have benefitted numerous residents and stakeholders, stated a notification issued by the state.
• The award will probably be given yearly to a person or a staff to the executive secretaries, deputy commissioners, heads of division, heads of engineering departments (CEs or equal) and to any official or division. The award will embrace a money prize of Rs 1 lakh for the person class and Rs 2 lakh for group class.

Russia’s Lakhta Center wins Emporis Skyscraper Award 2019
The Emporis Skyscraper Award, one of the world’s most renowned prizes for high-rise architecture, has been given to a 462-metre-high Lakhta Center in St Petersburg this year.

• This marks the first time that the prestigious award has gone to a project in Russia in the 20-year-long history of the award.
• The skyscraper which has been, designed by GORPROJECT and RMJM, is not only the tallest building in Russia but is the tallest building in entire Europe and the fourteenth tallest building in the world.

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY 

India Successfully test fires QRSAM system off Odisha Coast
India successfully test-fired the Quick Reaction Surface-to-Air Missile (QRSAM) system at an integrated test range in Chandipur off the Odisha coast. The successful test-firing of the QRSAM, having a range of around 30 km, paves the way for its commercial production.

• The QRSAM system is capable of detecting and tracking targets on the move and engaging targets with short halts.
• The system is designed to give air defence coverage against strike columns of Indian Army.

OBITUARIES

Noted writer and journalist Ravi Belagere passes away
Journalist-writer Ravi Belagere, who worked at the intersection of Kannada literature and journalism besides giving crime reporting a racy narrative both in print and on TV, passed away in Bengaluru following a heart attack. He was 62.

• Belagere was famous for writings on the crime world and his column ‘Paapigala Lokadalli’ was very popular.
• Known for his writing style, Belagere was honoured with many awards including the Karnataka Sahitya Academy award, Kannada Rajyothsava award, Karnataka Media Academy award and many more.

Veteran Bengali actor Soumitra Chatterjee passes away
Veteran actor Soumitra Chatterjee passed away at a Kolkata hospital. He was 85.

• Chatterjee began his film acting career with Satyajit Ray’s Apur Sansar, the third film of the internationally acclaimed Apu trilogy. The partnership between the two grew over the course of 14 films.
• Chatterjee was also famed for his poetry, the written word only eclipsed by his impeccable diction, which still acts as the golden standard for actors starting out in Bengali theatre and cinema.
• He was the winner of the Padma Bhushan (2004), the National Film Award (2006), the Dadasaheb Phalke Award (2012) which is the country’s highest honour in the field of cinema and the French Legion of Honour (2018).

Former India & Mohun Bagan defender Satyajit Ghosh passes away
Former India and Mohun Bagan defender Satyajit Ghosh died of cardiac arrest at his home town at Bandel. He was 62.

• Ghosh represented India in the 1985 Nehru Cup in then Cochin in the team coached by Yugoslovian Milovan Ciric.
• After starting his career with Railway FC in 1980, Ghosh switched to Mohun Bagan from the next season and formed the core of the club’s backline along with star Indian defender Subrata Bhattacharya.
• Ghosh made a return to Mohun Bagan in 1989 and remained there till 1993, when he called time on his career.

IMPORTANT DAYS

Lung Cancer Awareness Month 
Lung cancer is the most common cancer worldwide, and is observed during the entire month of November every year.

• The objective of Lung Cancer Awareness month to raise awareness about the risk factors that increase the possibility of developing lung cancer.

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