Daily Current Affairs 24 February 2020 for Banking/Insurance/SSC and other related exams.
NATIONAL NEWS
AP CM Jagan Mohan Reddy inaugurates public helpline to tackle corruption
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy inaugurated the Public Service Messages on the toll-free number 14400 constituted specifically for the reduction of corruption.
- The Chief Minister asked the officials to act stern against corruption charges and to cooperate to make the state 100 percent corruption-free.
New Zealand Deputy PM on Four-Day India Visit
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Affairs Minister of New Zealand Winston Peters arrived in New Delhi on a four-day visit to India.
- Winston attend the inaugural ceremony of New Zealand Centre at IIT Delhi and give a speech on Indo Pacific at the Indian Council of World Affairs. Mr Peters is scheduled to meet External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.
MoS Reddy inaugurates National Cyber Research centre in Hyderabad
Minister of State for Home Affairs, G Kishan Reddy inaugurated the National Cyber Research, Innovation & Capacity Centre at CDTI campus in Hyderabad.
- It will play a prominent role in helping the nation prepare itself to face the menace of cyber threats, which has become a global challenge.
- he Centre is one of the seven verticals under Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) and highlighted the growing relevance of continuous research and innovation in our fight against cyber crime.
Haryana, Uttarakhand lead in Direct Benefit Transfer payouts
Small states like Haryana & Uttarakhand emerged as the best states at 1st and second positions, respectively in ratings prepared for the first time by Centre regarding Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) payouts
- West Bengal has emerged as the worst while new Union Territories (UTs) of Jammu & Kashmir (J&K) and Ladakh have notched up.
- The ratings have ranked states according to DBT payouts compared to their population.
Himachal Pradesh: 1st State to achieve 100% LPG coverage
Himachal Pradesh had become the first state in the country to have “100% LPG gas coverage”.
- Of this, Rs 1.36 lakh were benefitted under the centre’s Ujala Yojana while 2.62 lakh have been provided free gas connections under the state funded ‘Grihini Suvidha Yojana’.
MP becomes 1st state to launch unified vehicle registration card
Madhya Pradesh has become the first state in the country to introduce the unified registration card and the second state to launch the unified driving license after Uttar Pradesh.
- Chief Minister Kamal Nath distributed the unified cards, including vehicle registration and driving license, to six persons in a function held in Bhopal.
Goa paired with Jharkhand under Ek Bharat Shreshth Bharat
Under Ek Bharat Shreshth Bharat, Goa is paired with Jharkhand. Lot of exchange activities are happening on this front.
- More of such exchange activities and projects are being planned between Goa and Jharkhand in the near future.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
BIMSTEC to connect 3000 km long power grid from Myanmar-Thailand to India
Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) is working on connecting about 3,000 kilometre-long power grid from Myanmar-Thailand to India. This was announced by the energy advisor to the Prime Minister of Bangladesh Dr Tawfiq-E-Elahi Chowdhury while inaugurating the energy conference of BIMSTEC in Dhaka.
- Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) are interested in investing in BIMSTEC regional power grid
India 5th Most Polluted Country In The World: Report
According to the World Air Quality Report 2019 compiled by IQAir Air Visual, India was the 5 most polluted country in 2019, with Ghaziabad in the National Capital Region ranked as the most polluted city in the world.
- On the whole, air pollution in India decreased in 2019 from 2018 though about half of the 50 most polluted cities were in India, the report notes
- Bangladesh was marked the most polluted country in 2019 with an average PM 2.5 concentration of 83 µg/m³ followed by Pakistan.
BANKING & FINANCE
Microsoft, SBI join hands to train differently-abled people to find jobs
Global tech major Microsoft announced a partnership with SBI to train differently-abled people find jobs in the banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI) sector.
- Over 500 differently-abled youths will be upskilled in the first year of the collaboration.
FM Nirmala Sitharaman launches Ease 3.0 for tech-enabled banking
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman launched Ease 3.0 for smart, tech-enabled banking for aspiring India.
- Mrs Sitharaman stressed on the need for strong action to get back bad loans and, bank branches in hinterland suffer as employees cannot speak in customers’ mother tounge.
BUSINESS & ECONOMY
MCA rolls out web form SPICe+ for incorporation of companies
The Corporate Affairs Ministry (MCA) has come out with the format of the new web form SPICe+(Simplified Proforma for Incorporating a Company Electronically plus) for incorporation of companies.
- The web form issued as part of the Centre’s Ease of Doing Business initiative has replaced the existing SPICe form
- SPICe+ (Simplified Proforma for Incorporating a Company Electronically plus) is an integrated web form offering multiple services related to Company incorporation such as mandatory issue of PAN, Opening of Bank Account, allotment of GSTIN among others.
SPORTS
J&K bags gold in 6th National Ice Stock sports Championship at Ice Rink in Gulmarg
In Jammu and Kashmir, the hosts bagged gold medal in the 6th National Ice Stock Sports Championship organized at Ice Rink in Gulmarg. Two hundred participants from 18 different states across the country participated in the event.
- Haryana bagged silver while Maharashtra and Bihar bagged bronze medals.
- Similarly, in the team game competition Daman and Diu bagged gold, J&K won silver and Madhya Pradesh and Chandigarh got bronze medals.
APPOINTMENTS
Abhay Kumar Singh takes over as NHPC CMD, replaces Ratish Kumar
State-run hydro power giant NHPC announced appointment of Abhay Kumar Singh as the company’s Chairman & Managing Director from February 24, 2020.
- Abhay replace Ratish Kumar who was holding additional charge of the post of Chairman & Managing Director in addition to his duties as Director (Projects), NHPC
AQUISITIONS & MERGERS
Crisil completes acquisition of Greenwich Associates
Global analytical company Crisil said it has completed the acquisition of 100 per cent stake in Greenwich Associates LLC.
- Greenwich is a leading provider of proprietary benchmarking data, analytics, and qualitative insights to financial services firms worldwide.
OBITUARIES
Egypt’s former President Mohammed Hosni Mubarak, who ruled country for 30 years passes away
Egypt’s former President Mohammed Hosni Mubarak, who ruled the country for 30 years, died. He was 91.
- A former air force chief, Mubarak became Vice President of Egypt on 14 October 1981, and just eight days later, was sworn in as the President after Islamist militants assassinated his predecessor Anwar Sadat during a military parade.
- After almost three decades in power, Mubarak, was forced to resign on February 11, 2011, following 18 days of protests around the country
Famous NASA mathematician Katherine Johnson passes away
Katherine Johnson, a ground-breaking black NASA mathematician whose life was portrayed in the movie Hidden Figures, died. She was 101.
- Johnson and a colleague were the first to calculate the parameters of the suborbital 1961 flight of astronaut Alan Shepard, the first American in space.
- Her math talents later helped determine the trajectory of the Apollo 11 flight that landed Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on the Moon in July 1969.