Daily Current Affairs 2nd January, 2020

Daily Current Affairs 2 January 2020 for Banking/Insurance/SSC and other related exams.

NATIONAL NEWS

‘One nation, one ration card’ implemented in 12 states: Ram Vilas Paswan

Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan said that the ‘one nation, one ration card’ facility has been started in 12 states in the country on the first day of the new year.

• The states are Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Haryana, Rajasthan, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Goa, Jharkhand and Tripura.
• Under this facility, the beneficiaries of the public distribution of these states can get their share of rations in any of the 12 states in which they are residing
• The facility will be implemented in all states in the country by June 2020.

Group of ministers set up to review crop insurance scheme

Concerned over exit of a few states, dropping out of insurance companies and growing dissent among farmers on the government’s flagship crop insurance scheme, the centre has set up a seven-member group of ministers (GoM) headed by defence minister Rajnath Singh to review the scheme and recommend changes to make it more farmer friendly.

Govt creates new Department of Military Affairs, to be headed by Gen Rawat

The government has created a Department of Military Affairs, to be headed by newly appointed Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) Gen Bipin Rawat.

• The new department will have under it works relating to the three forces — Army, Navy and Air Force — and procurement exclusive to the services, except capital acquisitions, according to prevalent rules and procedures

Railway Protection Force renamed as Indian Railway Protection Force Service

The Ministry of Railway has accorded Organised Group ‘A’ status to Railway Protection Force (RPF) and renamed it Indian Railway Protection Force Service.

Odisha govt launches online platform to digitalise Odisha Gazette

As a part of Odisha’s ‘5T initiatives’, the state government launched e-Gazette Portal, an online platform to digitalise the publication of Odisha Gazette and move forward as a paperless mode of publication.

• e-Gazette is a milestone in governance, the online system will expedite the process of Gazette Publication and will make it error-free and Paperless since no paper will be used it will save trees as well as the cost of the paper and printing materials along with the transportation cost.

Delhi govt renames Pragati Maidan metro station as Supreme Court metro station

The Delhi government announced that Pragati Maidan metro station will be rechristened as the Supreme Court metro station.

• Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia also announced that Mukarba Chowk and the flyover have been renamed by the naming committee as Captain Vikram Batra Chowk after the martyr who sacrificed his life in the Kargil War
• The Badarpur-Mehrauli Road will be named as Acharya Shri Mahapragya Marg, he added.

PM dedicates five DRDO Young Scientists Labs to nation

Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi dedicated to the nation 5 Young Scientists Laboratories of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), in Bengaluru.

• DRDO Young Scientist Laboratories (DYSLs) are located in five cities viz, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata and Hyderabad. Each lab will work on a key advanced technology of importance to the development of futuristic defence systems viz, Artificial intelligence, Quantum technologies, Cognitive technologies, Asymmetric technologies and Smart materials.

14th Global Healthcare Summit to be held in Vizag in 2021

Visakhapatnam will host the prestigious three-day 14th Global Healthcare Summit from January 3, 2021.

• Being organised by American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI), the conference will see the participation of over 500 doctors from the US, Australia, Britain and other countries.
• The focus of the Global Health Summit is an Indian-centric approach, with special events such as global impact and India’s contribution in providing cost-effective medicines and addressing shortage of healthcare professionals.

BUSINESS & ECONOMY

PPF & NSC: Govt keeps interest rates unchanged for Jan-Mar quarter

The government kept the interest rates on small savings schemes, including NSC and PPF, unchanged for the fourth quarter of 2019-20 despite moderating bank deposit rates. Interest rates for small savings schemes are notified on a quarterly basis.

Current Rates:

• Public Provident Fund (PPF): 7.9%
• National Savings Certificate (NSC):  7.9%
• Kisan Vikas Patra (KVP): 7.6% (113 months maturity)
• Sukanya Samriddhi Account: 8.4%
• 5-year Senior Citizens Savings Scheme: 8.6%
• Savings Deposit: 4.0%
• Term Deposits (1-5 year maturity): 6.9 %-7.7 %
• 5-year Recurring Deposit: 7.2%

RBI launches ‘MANI’ app to help visually challenged persons to identify denomination of notes

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das launched a mobile application called ‘Mobile Aided Note Identifier’ (MANI) to aid visually challenged persons in identifying the denomination of currency notes.

• The app is capable of identifying the denominations of Mahatma Gandhi Series and Mahatma Gandhi (New) series banknote by checking front or reverse side or part of the note including half folded notes at various holding angles and a broad range of light conditions (normal light/daylight/low light, etc.).

CAD narrows to 0.9 per cent of GDP in July-September on lower trade deficit: RBI

India’s current account deficit (CAD) narrowed to 0.9 per cent of GDP, or USD 6.3 billion, in the September 2019 quarter, on account of lower trade deficit.

• It had stood at 2.9 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP), or USD 19 billion, in the corresponding quarter of 2018-19.
• The current account deficit is the difference between foreign exchange inflows and outflows.

CBIC paid Rs 1,12,000 crore as IGST refunds to exporters

Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) has announced that it has paid Rs 1,12,000 crore as Integrated Goods and Services Tax (IGST) refunds to exporters. According to CBIC, over 83,000 exporters have been benefited by these refunds. The numbers indicated the government’s efforts to fast track refunds under GST especially to exporters. Also, as of now, refunds of only 3,604 crores are pending with Customs.

• CBIC is using data analytics to identify risky exporter entities that “take input tax credit fraudulently and monetize it by paying IGST and taking refund”. Such exporters are being subject to KYC and verification process before the grant of refund.

Delhi NCR and Bengaluru beat global bigwigs, now rank in top 10 start-up cities globally

HexGn released a study of the funding trends in the global start-up ecosystem in 2019; the team analyzed over 60,000 deals and one million data points for the report.

• In the 2019 annual start-up report, HexGn announced the ‘Top Ten Start-up Cities for 2020’. In the order of global ranking, they are, San Francisco Bay Area, New York, Beijing, London, Shanghai, Delhi NCR, Singapore, Los Angeles County, Hangzhou, and Bengaluru.
• For the first time, two Indian cities, New Delhi and Bengaluru, debuted in the HexGn “Global Top 10 cities for Start-up Funding”.

APPOINTMENTS

Railway Board Chairman VK Yadav’s term extended by 1 year

The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) has approved the re-employment of Vinod Kumar Yadav as Chairman of Railway Board for a period of one year with effect from January 1, 2020 to December 31, 2020.

AWARDS

Piyuus Jaiswal honoured with Global Peace Excellence Humanitarian & Global Bihar Excellence Awards 2019

Piyuus Jaiswal was awarded the Global Bihar Excellence Award 2019. The award was given to recognise and felicitated Piyuus Jaiswal’s contribution towards social welfare, women empowerment and introducing new talent in the field of arts and culture.

• Piyuus Jaiswal was recently awarded the humanitarian award with the Global Peace Excellence Humanitarian Award 2019 on the occasion of International Human Day

OBITUARIES

Senior NCP leader DP Tripathi passes away

Senior Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader and former MP, DP Tripathi passed away after a prolonged illness.

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