Daily Current Affairs 23rd November, 2020

Daily Current Affairs 23 November 2020 for Banking/Insurance/SSC and other related exams.

NATIONAL NEWS

2nd edition of SITMEX-20 underway in Andaman Sea
Indian Navy Ships including indigenously built ASW corvette Kamorta and missile corvette Karmuk are participating in the 2nd edition of India, Singapore and Thailand Trilateral Maritime Exercise SITMEX-20 in Andaman Sea.

• The SITMEX series of exercises are conducted to enhance mutual inter-operability and imbibing best practices between Indian Navy, Republic of Singapore Navy and Royal Thai Navy.
• The 2020 edition of the exercise is being hosted by Republic of Singapore Navy which is being represented by the ‘Formidable’ Class frigate ‘Intrepid’ and ‘Endurance’ Class Landing Ship Tank ‘Endeavour’.

India to Host G20 Summit in 2023
G20 leaders announced that India will host the summit of the high-profile grouping in 2023 — a year later than what was decided earlier.

• India was earlier slated to host the summit in 2022 with the Osaka declaration of the G20 stating last year that we look forward to meeting again in Saudi Arabia in 2020, in Italy in 2021 and in India in 2022.
• G20 leaders look forward to next meetings in Italy in 2021, Indonesia in 2022, India in 2023 and Brazil in 2024,” said a declaration of G20 Riyadh Summit leaders, issued at the conclusion of the two-day conference of the world’s top 20 economies.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

UK plans to ban sales of diesel and petrol cars from 2030
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has confirmed the UK will ban the sale of new petrol and diesel cars in 2030, before banning new hybrid sales in 2035.

• The government originally planned to implement the ban in 2040, before deciding to move the deadline forward to 2035.
• The ban only applies to the sale of new vehicles, and with the average British car boasting a lifespan of around 14 years, it seems likely gasoline- and diesel-powered cars will remain a common sight on UK roads well into the 2040s. It seems likely many plug-in hybrid cars will remain on the road until the 2050s.

Hong Kong, Zurich, and Paris most expensive cities in EIU’s Worldwide Cost of Living (WCOL) Index
The COVID-19 pandemic has reordered the world’s most expensive cities list, putting Hong Kong , Zurich, and Paris in the top three spots.

• According to the Worldwide Cost of Living (WCOL) annual report from the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) revealed that Singapore and Osaka, which were joint first in 2019, have slid down the rankings to fourth and fifth place respectively.
• Cities in the Americas, Africa and eastern Europe have become less expensive since 2019, whilst western European cities have become pricier.

BANKING & FINANCE

LIC launches its first digital application ANANDA
Life Insurance Corporation of India launched its first Digital Application, ANANDA, an acronym for Atma Nirbhar Agents NewBusiness Digital Application.

• The Digital application is a tool for the on boarding process to get the Life Insurance policy through a Paperless module with the help of the Agent / Intermediary. It is built on paperless KYC process using Aadhaar based e-authentication of the Life Proposed.
• ANANDA is a first of its kind in the Indian Life Insurance industry with LIC of India pioneering the process through its in-house IT enabled systems. This tool has been brought out at the right time, to enable and empower the Marketing force of LIC to face the current challenges and propel insurance selling to a higher level.

Kotak Mutual Fund launches Kotak ESG Opportunities Fund
Kotak Mahindra Asset Management Company has launched Kotak ESG Opportunities Fund. The New Fund Offer (NFO) of the scheme will close for subscription on December 4.

• The fund will focus on Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) factors and the Principles for Responsible Investing (PRI).
• KMAMC is the first asset management company to sign the United Nation’s Principles for Responsible Investment (UNPRI). Kotak ESG Opportunities Fund will be managed by Harsha Upadhyaya. 
• The scheme will invest in companies based on financial parameters and non-financial factors such as Environmental, Social and Governance as a part of its research process to identify material risks and growth opportunities.

ACQUISITIONS & MERGERS 

IBM to Acquire SAP Consulting Partner TruQua
IBM said that it has acquired TruQua, an IT services and consulting company focused on SAP’s finance and analytics technologies.

• Big Blue said the deal will support its hybrid growth strategy and expand its breadth of consulting services.
• IBM said the deal is expected to close in Q4 2020. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

AWARDS

IIT Delhi tops among Indian institutes in employability
According to Global Employability Ranking and Survey (GEURS) 2020 results, the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi has been ranked as the best institute in India and 27th globally, in terms of employability of its students.The GEURS 2020 was released by the Times Higher Education and French HR Consultancy group ‘Emerging’.

• Globally, India has been ranked among the 15 best-performing countries in employability, improving from its 23rd rank in 2010.
• IIT Delhi climbed 27 ranks from 54 in 2019 to 27. Indian Institute of Science (IISc), however, has dropped to 71 from 43 in 2019. The other Indian institutes that made it to the list are IIT Bombay (128), Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Ahmedabad (184), IIT Kharagpur (195), and Amity University (236).
• Universities from the USA, California Institute of Technology, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Harvard University made it to the podium, followed by two universities from UK, University of Cambridge and the University of Oxford in top five.

14-year-old TN girl wins Children’s Climate Prize for designing solar-powered ironing cart
Vinisha Umashankar, a 14-year-old studying in 9th grade at a private school in Tiruvannamalai, has won the prestigious Children’s Climate Prize for designing a mobile ironing cart using solar panels to power a steam iron box rather than conventional charcoal.

• Vinisha will receive the prize of 100,000 Swedish krona (Rs 8.64 lakh approximately), diploma, and medal from the Sweden-based Children’s Climate Foundation at a digital event.
• This is the fifth edition of the Children’s Climate Prize — one of the world’s largest international climate awards for young innovators.

Naseeruddin Shah receives Aditya Vikram Birla Kalashikhar Puraskar
The coveted Aditya Vikram Birla Kalashikhar Puraskar was conferred on veteran film actor and theatre personality Naseeruddin Shah at the Sangit Kala Kendra Awards virtual function.

• The Aditya Vikram Birla Kalakiran Puraskars were presented to emerging theatre personalities Neel Choudhary and Irawati Karnik. 
• The Sangit Kala Kendra’s ‘Aditya Vikram Birla, Kalashikhar Puraskar’ and the ‘Kalakiran Puraskars’ were instituted in 1996 as a memorial to founder president Aditya Vikram Birla.

Karnataka Governor presents Doctor of Science honorary doctorate upon ISRO Chairman
Karnataka Governor Vajubhai Vala presented Doctor of Science honorary doctorate upon ISRO Chairman K Sivan. 

• The Visvesvaraya Technological University has conferred the doctorate to him. 

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

SpaceX, NASA, ESA launch Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich mission
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched an advanced ocean-mapping satellite into orbit for NASA and the European Space Agency in a stunning morning launch from California.

• The launch marked SpaceX’s SpaceX 22nd Falcon 9 this year.
• The Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich satellite is named for Michael Freilich, the former head of NASA’s Earth science division who died of cancer in August.
• This $97 million satellite is the first in what will be a pair of identical ocean-focused satellites; the next, Sentinel-6B, will launch in 2025.
• With the data collected by Sentinel-6, scientists around the world will be able to make higher-resolution observations of the ocean much closer to shore.

OBITUARIES

First Lady of Odisha Sushila Devi passes away
Sushila Devi, wife of Odisha Governor Prof Ganeshi Lal, passed away at SUM Ultimate Hospital in Bhubaneshwar City. The First Lady of the State was undergoing treatment after testing positive for COVID-19. She was 74.

• A constant companion in various activities of the governor, she was religious and had a passion for socio- cultural pursuits.

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