Daily Current Affairs 19th November, 2019

Daily Current Affairs 19 November 2019 for Banking/Insurance/SSC and other related exams.

NATIONAL NEWS

Census 2021 to be conducted in 16 languages: Home Ministry

Home Ministry announced that Census 2021 will be conducted in 16 languages. Census will be conducted in two phases, viz., House-listing & Housing Census from April to September 2020 and Population Enumeration during February 09-28, 2021.

• Enumerators can collect and submit data directly through mobile App using his /her smartphone or they can use the paper schedule to collect data and submit the same through Mobile App.

Health ministry launched SAANS campaign in Gujarat

Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare Harsh Vardhan launched ‘SAANS’, a campaign aimed at reducing child mortality due to pneumonia, which contributes to around 15 per cent of deaths annually of children under the age of five.

• SAANS, short for ‘Social Awareness and Action to Neutralise Pneumonia Successfully’ was launched by the Union Health Ministry to mobilise people to protect children from pneumonia, and train health personnel and other stakeholders to provide prioritised treatment to control the disease.

NHM Jammu & Kashmir launched BMEWMP programme in J&K, Ladakh

National Health Mission Jammu & Kashmir, in a step towards the better health care services, has launched the Bio-Medical Equipment Waste Management Programme (BMEWMP) in the Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh.

• The program is designed in a way that the equipments in the district level health care facility will have an uptime of 95%, in sub-district hospital 90% and in PHC 80%.

UP: Modern railway coach factory to use humanoid robot ‘Sona 1.5’

The modern railway coach factory is establishing new dimensions in the field of modernity. A humanoid robot ‘Sona 1.5’ is a full-service robot made in India which can be used to transport documents from one place to another in the modern railway coach factory.

• The humanoid robot ‘Sona 1.5’, is being built by Najavunjpavad Jaipur.

ECI to establish a visiting chair in memory of TN Seshan

The Election Commission has decided to establish a visiting chair on the inter-disciplinary approach to electoral studies to commemorate former Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) TN Seshan’s “special connect with the young and aspiring India”.

• The visiting chair will be established at the Centre for Curriculum Development at the India International Institute of Democracy and Election Management (IIIDEM) here from 2020-25.
• It will be mentored by former CEC N Gopalaswami.
• TN Seshan passed away recently on November 10, 2019.

Dr Harsh Vardhan inaugurates 6th National Summit on Good, Replicable Practices and Innovations

Dr Harsh Vardhan inaugurated the 6th National Summit on Good, Replicable Practices and Innovations in Public Health Care Systems in Gandhinagar, Gujarat.

• This NHM National Summit is a celebration of ideas, innovations and knowledge sharing and we all must take back these and ensure that we implement at-least a few of them
• Dr. Harsh Vardhan suggested that similar to the National NHM Summit, the States also can have State/Regional conferences for sharing of knowledge within the districts.

International cherry blossom festival 2019 celebrated in Shillong, Meghalaya

Meghalaya Chief Minister inaugurated the 4th International Cherry Blossom Festival 2019 in Shillong, Meghalaya. For the 1st time, India & South Korea jointly celebrated this festival that witnessed the celebration of unique autumn flowering of Himalayan Cherry Blossoms (scientifically known as the Prunus serrulata).

Darjeeling’s green and white teas get GI tag

The green tea and white tea of Darjeeling have been registered as a geographical indication (GI) products in the country.

• These two varieties of Darjeeling tea have been registered under Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act 1999, with effect from October 2019.

Indian Army conducts ‘Sindhu Sudarshan’ exercise in Rajasthan

The Sudarshan Chakra Corps of the Indian Army conducted ‘Sindhu Sudarshan’ exercise in Barmer, Rajasthan. Around 40,000 jawans of the Indian Army are participating in the exercise.’ Sindhu Sudarshan’ exercise will continue till December 05.

• The aim of the exercise was to evaluate the capability and battle readiness of the defence forces in an integrated air-land battle in a semi-developed terrain of the desert.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Pakistan becomes 1st country to introduce new vaccine to combat typhoid

Pakistan became the 1st country in the world to introduce a new Typhoid Conjugate Vaccine (TCV) in an effort to combat a drug-resistant strain of the potentially fatal disease in the Sindh province.

• The vaccine, approved by the World Health Organisation (WHO) in 2018, will initially be used during a two-week immunisation campaign starting from November 18 to November 30 in the urban areas of Sindh.
• Typhoid Conjugate Vaccine (TCV) is a one-dose vaccine, that will be injected intramuscularly.
  The vaccine cost is low and it has high efficiency.

India-Russia-China explore alternative to SWIFT payment mechanism

India, Russia and China are exploring an alternative to the US-dominated SWIFT (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication) payment mechanism in a bid to smoothen trade with countries facing American sanctions.

• Russia’s financial messaging system SPFS will be linked with the Chinese cross-border interbank payment system CIPS. While India still does not have a domestic financial messaging system, it plans to link the Central Bank of Russia’s platform with a service that is under development.

BANKING & FINANCE

ADB to provide USD 91 million loan for Vijayanagara Channel

The Centre and Asian Development Bank (ADB) has signed an agreement to extend 91 million US dollar loan to modernize the Vijayanagara Channel Irrigation Systems and prepare river basin management plans in the Krishna river basin. It will help improve irrigation water use efficiency and contribute to improving sustainable water security in Karnataka.

SPORTS

IAAF officially changes its name to “World Athletics”

The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) has officially changed its name and will now be known as “World Athletics”.

• The name has been changed in a bid to make the sport more accessible.

Shooter Shreyasi Singh crowned National Champion in Women’s Trap

Reigning Commonwealth Games champion Shreyasi Singh won the women’s Trap Gold at the 63rd National Shooting Championship for shotgun events in New Delhi.

• Shreyasi representing Bihar shot 42 out of 50 birds to claim the crown, while Rajeshwari from Punjab managed 38 hits to settle for silver.

Sarita Devi elected as member of AIBA athletes commission

Laishram Sarita Devi (Manipur) is among the 6 boxers from 5 continents who were elected as members of AIBA Athletes Commission. This is a first of its kind commission formed to be represented by boxers from across the globe. 

Harmeet Desai claims Indonesia Open TT Championship

Indian paddler Harmeet Desai wins men’s singles title at International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) Challenge Indonesia Open 2019 Table Tennis tournament held at Batam, Indonesia.

Korea’s Kim Joo Hyung wins Panasonic Open

South Korea’s Kim Joo Hyung has won the Panasonic Open held at the Classic Golf and Country Club in Gurugram, India.

Spain’s striker David Villa retires from football

Spain’s striker David Villa has announced his retirement from football. He represented Spain in three World Cups and was also a member of the Spanish side that lifted the trophy in 2010, and won the European Championships in 2008.

AWARDS

David Attenborough to get Indira Gandhi Peace Prize 2019

Renowned broadcaster and naturalist Sir David Attenborough will be awarded the Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development for the year 2019. His name was selected by an international jury chaired by former President Pranab Mukherjee.

Kiran Mazumdar Shaw conferred with lifetime achievement award by ICMR

Biocon Ltd’s Chairperson and Managing Director Kiran Mazumdar Shaw has been conferred with the lifetime achievement award for outstanding achievement in healthcare by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).

• ICMR, the apex body in India for the formulation, coordination and promotion of biomedical research, recognised her as a thought leader for building a globally-renowned biopharmaceuticals company that is committed to innovation and is providing high-quality, affordable medicines to patients across the world.

IMPORTANT DAYS

The World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims

The World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims is celebrated each year on third Sunday of November. In 2019, it was celebrated in 17th November.

• It offers an opportunity for drawing attention to the scale of emotional and economic devastation caused by road crashes and for giving recognition to the suffering of road crash victims and the work of support and rescue services.

World Toilet Day

World Toilet Day (WTD) is an official United Nations international observance day on 19 November to inspire action to tackle the global sanitation crisis. Worldwide, 4.2 billion people live without “safely managed sanitation” and around 673 million people practise open defecation.

• In 2019 the theme is ‘Leaving no one behind’, which is the central theme of the Sustainable Development Goals.

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