Daily Current Affairs 20th November, 2020

Daily Current Affairs 20 November 2020 for Banking/Insurance/SSC and other related exams.

NATIONAL NEWS

Mumbai becomes the 1st Indian city with designated infrastructure for women in its urban plan
Mumbai has become the first city in India to design a plan for development of designated spaces for women’s needs. The city has designed an urban plan with gender-focus on reserving physical and social infrastructure for women.

  • The plan provides about 90 land reservations to address women’s needs including education, health, housing and safety. It has been designed under the Revised Draft Development Plan 2034.
  • Among the planned developments, construction of a child-care centre in Goregaon and a skills development facility in Sion-Koliwada is almost complete.Project designs which have been finalised and await bids include two homes for the elderly in Bhandup and Goregaon, and rental housing for women in Antop Hill, Bhandup and Goregaon.

Punjab Govt. launches Punjab Divyangjan Shaktikaran Yojna
In  a bid to empower persons with disabilities, the Punjab Cabinet approved a new scheme Punjab Divyangjan Shaktikaran Yojna (PDSY), to be implemented in a phased manner across the state.

  • The first phase of the scheme will involve strengthening the existing programmes to ensure that their benefits reach the persons with disabilities in a more effective manner, while in the second phase 13 new interventions are proposed to be undertaken for the empowerment of such persons.
  • For overall guidance and policy support for the scheme, a consultative group headed by the Minister of Social Security and Women and Child Development is proposed to be constituted with all Cabinet Ministers concerned as members.

Rajasthan Govt to Give Rs 6,000 to Women Becoming Mothers for Second Time
Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot said Rs 6,000 will be given to women becoming mothers for the second time under a new government scheme.

  • On the birth anniversary of former prime minister Indira Gandhi, Gehlot launched Indira Gandhi Matritva Poshan Yojana through a video conference.
  • The scheme will not only help fight malnutrition, but will also increase awareness among the people about the importance of a mother’s health and her nutrition level for proper development of children. The beneficiary women will get the amount directly in their bank accounts in five phases.


INTERNATIONAL NEWS

India ranks 77 in global bribery risk matrix
India is ranked 77th in the global list of trade bribery risks of 2020 with 45 points. Trade bribery risk is included in 194 countries, regions and autonomous and semi-autonomous regions in the list of anti-bribery standard setting organization TRACE.

  • According to this year’s data, North Korea, Turkmenistan, South Sudan, Venezuela and Eritrea are the countries with the highest trade bribery risk, while Denmark, Norway, Finland, Sweden and New Zealand have the lowest. In the year 2019, India was ranked 78th with 48 points, while in 2020 it is 77th with 45 points.
  • India fared better than its neighbours – Pakistan, China, Nepal and Bangladesh. Bhutan, meanwhile, secured 48th rank with a score of 37, the data showed.

India among 6 countries with highest tally of infants who didn’t get measles vaccine: report
India was among six countries with the highest number of infants who had not received the vaccine against measles — while the contagious viral disease surged worldwide in 2019 reaching the highest number of reported cases in 23 years , according to a new report of the World Health Organisation and US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

  • A total of 1.2 million children did not receive the first dose of measles-containing-vaccine (MCV1) in 2019 in India, accounting for nearly half of the world’s total along with the remaining five countries — Nigeria (3.3 million), Ethiopia (1.5 million), Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) (1.4 million), Pakistan (1.4 million), and Philippines (0.7 million).
  • The report, titled ‘Progress Towards Regional Measles Elimination Worldwide 2000-2019’, states that cases across the world increased to 8,69,770 in 2019, the highest number reported since 1996 with a rise in all WHO regions. Global measles deaths climbed nearly 50 per cent since 2016, claiming an estimated 2,07,500 lives in 2019 alone.


BANKING & FINANCE

World Bank approves 120-mn to improve transport sector of Meghalaya
The Government of India, Meghalaya government and the World Bank signed a 120 million dollar project to improve and modernise the transport sector of Meghalaya.

  • This will help the state to harness its vast growth potential for high-value agriculture and tourism.
  • The project will improve about 300 kilometres of strategic road segments and stand-alone bridges by using innovative, climate resilient, and nature-based solutions.

NCRTC and NDB sign USD 500m for Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut Rapid Transit System Project
The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, National Capital Region Transport Corporation Limited and the New Development Bank signed a loan agreement for lending 500 million dollars for the ‘Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut Regional Rapid Transit System Project’.

  • The Rapid Transit System will provide a fast, reliable, safe and comfortable public transport system in the National Capital Region.
  • It can take about 3 to 4 hours to travel between Delhi and Meerut in Uttar Pradesh by road during peak hours.

Yes Bank launches co-branded prepaid card with Neokred for cashless payments
Yes Bank said it has launched a co-branded prepaid card named  ‘Yes Bank Neokred Card’,  in partnership with Neokred Technologies to facilitate cashless payments.

  • The card offerings can be personalised to suit the requirements of corporates seeking salary cards or expense cards for their employees.
  • The prepaid card will be offered to Neokred’s corporate partners across various sectors, including healthcare, financial institutions, NBFCs, oil companies, educational institutions, FMCG and infrastructure.


BUSINESS & ECONOMY

Barclays revises India’s FY21 GDP growth estimate to -6.4% from -6%
Barclays has modestly revised its FY21 GDP forecast downwards to -6.4 per cent from -6 per cent earlier, to reflect the marginally weaker incoming data than it had earlier anticipated.

  • However, Barclays has raised its FY22 growth forecast to 8.5 per cent from 7 per cent to reflect a faster recovery in services amid continued policy support.
  • On a calendar year basis, Barclays has now estimated a 7.1 per cent contraction in GDP in 2020 (previously: -6.5 per cent), followed by a stronger bounce in 2021 to 8.9 per cent growth, from 7.1 per cent previously.

Oxford Economics Revises Downwards India Growth Forecast, Pegs at Average 4.5% for 2020-25
Global forecasting firm Oxford Economics revised downwards its India growth forecast over the medium term to an average 4.5 per cent over 2020-25, from its pre-pandemic projection of 6.5 per cent.

  • In a research note, it said India’s post-COVID-19 scars could be among the worst in the world. It said an adequate and well-designed fiscal stimulus would halve this impact by limiting deterioration in pre-COVID-19 headwinds.
  • But, given the low likelihood of such a comprehensive response, they project India’s GDP per capita to be 12% below our pre-virus baseline even in 2025, implying the largest amount of scarring among major economies globally.

Moody’s Ups India’s FY21 Growth Forecast to -10.6%
Moody’s Investors Service has revised its GDP projection for India in 2020-21 to a 10.6% contraction compared to a 11.5% drop it had estimated.

  • The rating agency has also marginally elevated its forecast for 2021-22 GDP growth from 10.6% to 10.8%.
  • The government’s latest fiscal stimulus package, aimed at manufacturing, infrastructure, job creation, credit supply and stressed sectors of the economy, provided a potential upside to the estimated growth.

GDP Contraction Likely to Have Narrowed to 9.5% in September Quarter: Icra
In a report, rating agency Icra said the Year-on-Year (YoY) contraction in Indian GDP (at constant 2011-12 prices) is estimated to have narrowed appreciably to 9.5 per cent in Q2 FY2021 from 23.9 per cent in Q1 FY2021, as the economy recovered from the lows of the pandemic-induced lockdown.

  • It said the contraction in the Gross Value Added (GVA) at basic prices is expected to have moderated considerably to 8.5 per cent in the July-September quarter from 22.8 per cent in the previous three months.
  • The ease in GVA would be led by industry to (-) 9.3 per cent from (-) 38.1 per cent, driven primarily by manufacturing and construction and services to (-) 10.2 per cent from (-) 20.6 per cent).


SPORTS

BCCI announces MPL Sports as Team India’s kit sponsor till 2023
Mobile Premier League’s sports merchandise brand MPL Sports will be the new sponsor of kit for the Indian cricket team under a three-year deal until 2023, the country’s cricket board (BCCI) announced.

  • The agreement will run from this November to December 2023, replacing sportswear giant Nike whose five-year extension signed in 2016 ended this year.
  • Under the partnership, MPL Sports will provide kits for the men’s, women’s and Under-19 Indian teams and it will also be allowed to sell licensed Team India merchandise.


APPOINTMENTS

Maia Sandu Wins Moldova Presidential Election
Maia Sandu, a Harvard-educated economist who supports closer ties with the European Union, has won a presidential election in Moldova against an incumbent whom President Vladimir V. Putin had openly endorsed.

  • Ms. Sandu won with 57.7 percent of the vote against 42.3 percent for Igor Dodon, the incumbent president of Moldova, a tiny former Soviet state sandwiched between the Western and Russian spheres of influence.

Peru’s congress elects Francisco Sagasti as new interim president
Peruvian lawmaker Francisco Sagasti is set to be sworn in as interim President after being voted for by Congress in a bid to help calm anger on the streets amid deadly protests and the departure of two presidents over the last week.

  • Mr. Sagasti, a legislator from the centrist Purple Party, will be sworn in to fulfil a government mandate until July next year, which would include holding a new presidential election scheduled for April 11.


AWARDS

Bhubaneswar, 1st City In Country To Bag ISO Certification for Faecal Sludge and Septage Management
Bhubaneswar becomes the 1st city in the entire country to receive the ISO-9001:2015 certification for effective Faecal Sludge & Septage Management FSSM services.

  • Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) obtained the ISO Certification after successful completion of audit. Bhubaneswar is 2nd in the world and first city in India for FSSM Services.
  • According to BMC, it is the first ULB in the state to pass and adopt FSSM in the state. It has issued a notification in the newspaper for registration of private operators and private cesspool vehicles with an incentive that first 50 vehicles coming forward for registration will be fitted with GPS devices free of cost by BMC.

Delhi Airport becomes first airport in Asia-Pacific region to get Level 4+ carbon accreditation
Delhi Airport has become the first airport in Asia Pacific Region to achieve Level 4+ accredited airport under Airport Council International’s (ACI) Airport Carbon Accreditation program.

  • This means Indira Gandhi International Airport (DEL) in the national capital has been adjudged as the best airport in carbon emission reduction management in the Asia Pacific region.
  • Back in 2016, Delhi Airport became the first Carbon Neutral Airport in the Asia Pacific region 2016. The GMR-led Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) has said that it aims to become Net Zero Carbon Emission Airport by 2030.


SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

Indian Navy receives ninth P-8I maritime reconnaissance aircraft from the US
The Indian Navy received the ninth Poseidon 8I maritime reconnaissance and anti-submarine warfare aircraft from the US  at its naval airbase in Goa, under a USD 1.1 billion deal. It is the first of the four additional planes ordered.

  • The P-8I surveillance aircraft is a variant of Boeing’s P-8A Poseidon aircraft, which it had developed as a replacement to the US Navy’s aging P-3 fleet.
  • The P-8I aircraft is equipped for intelligence, surveillance, anti-surface warfare, long-range anti-submarine warfare and reconnaissance in support of the broad area, maritime and littoral operations.


BOOKS & AUTHORS 

Book ‘Reporting India: My Seventy-Year Journey as a Journalist’ by veteran journalist Prem Prakash
The book titled ‘Reporting India: My Seventy-Year Journey as a Journalist’ by veteran journalist Prem Prakash has been released recently. 

  • The book says Indira Gandhi took steps to ensure that the army continued to grow stronger with the Army finishing the Bangladesh war in barely eight days and she dashed Pakistan’s hopes of becoming militarily equal to or more powerful than India.


IMPORTANT DAYS

World Antimicrobial Awareness Week
Every year, World Antimicrobial Awareness Week observed from November 18 to 24.

  • The aim of World Antimicrobial Awareness Week to increase awareness of global antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and to encourage best practices among the general public, health workers and policy makers to stop the further emergence and spread of drug-resistant infections.
  • The slogan for 2020 will be “Antimicrobials: handle with care” applicable to all sectors. The theme for the human health sector for WAAW 2020 is “United to preserve antimicrobials”.

Women’s Entrepreneurship Day
Women’s Entrepreneurship Day, marked annually on November 19, aims to highlight businesses helmed and run by women across the world.

  • The day highlights the works of women entrepreneurs and inspires them for the better.

International Men’s Day
November 19 marks International Men’s Day all around the world. The objective of this day is to focus on men’s and boys’ health, improving gender relations, and promoting gender equality.

  • This year, International Men’s Day theme is “Better health for men and boys” intending to make practical improvements to the health and wellbeing of the male population.


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