Daily Current Affairs 8th November, 2020

Daily Current Affairs 8 November 2020 for Banking/Insurance/SSC and other related exams.

NATIONAL NEWS

UP’s Chandauli tops aspirational district rankings for September
Chandauli district of Uttar Pradesh has topped the rankings of aspirational districts by government think-tank Niti Aayog for September.

• Bokaro and Purbi Singhbhum (both in Jharkhand) have been placed at second and third positions, respectively, announced by Niti Aayog. Sonbhadra (Uttar Pradesh) has been ranked fourth.
• The rankings took into account incremental progress made by over 112 aspirational districts across six. developmental areas during September.

NSDC launches ‘Project Future Ready’ to impart career skills to 1 lakh students
The National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) in partnership with American India Foundation, Dell Technologies and University of Mumbai has launched ”Project Future Ready” to equip students with career skills.

• The project is set to impact over 1 lakh students in Mumbai and Delhi-NCR, of which 60 per cent are females.
• The project aims to provide skills development for these students through career mentoring, leveraging online skilling platforms and providing market aligned skills training for employability and inculcating entrepreneurial mind-set.

Kottoor Elephant Rehabilitation Centre set to become largest care centre in the World
The Elephant Rehabilitation Centre at Kottoor in Thiruvananthapuram is set to become the largest care and cure centre for elephants in the world. The first phase of the Elephant Rehabilitation Centre will be commissioned in February 2021.

• The project is being implemented at a cost of Rs 108 crore with funding from Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB). The centre has facilities to accommodate 50 elephants including the existing 16 elephants.
• The project will also include the construction of various reservoirs and check dams at the Neyyar Dam and also special facilities for the care of elephant calves.

India conducts major tri-Service exercise in Andaman and Nicobar Islands
The armed forces conducted a joint tri-service exercise ‘Bull Strike’ at the Teressa Island in the Nicobar group of islands located close to the strategic Strait of Malacca.

• The exercise was conducted by the Andaman and Nicobar Command (ANC) from November 3 to 5 involving the three Services components of ANC, elements of the Army’s Parachute Brigade, Navy commandos MARCOS and Special Forces.
• The exercise was carried out to validate and rehearse operational plans and contingencies in a realistic tactical setting under the overall command and control of the ANC.

BANKING & FINANCE

WhatsApp Pay goes official after NPCI approval, partners with 5 Banks for UPI Payment
The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) allowed Facebook-owned messaging platform WhatsApp to start its payments service in the country in a “graded” manner.

• NPCI has given approval for Whatsapp to ‘Go Live’ on UPI in the multi-bank model. WhatsApp can expand its UPI user base in a graded manner starting with a maximum registered user base of twenty (20) million in UPI.
• A cap of 30 per cent of total volume of transactions processed in UPI” will be applicable on all TPAPs from January 1, 2021. 

RBI announces co-lending scheme for banks, NBFCs for priority sector
The Reserve Bank came out with a Co-Lending Model (CLM) scheme under which banks can provide loans along with NBFCs to priority sector borrowers based on a prior agreement

• Under the CLM, banks will be permitted to co-lend with all registered NBFCs (including HFCs) based on a prior agreement, RBI said, adding that “the co-lending banks will take their share of the individual loans on a back-to-back basis in their books”.
• The CLM, which is an improvement over the co-origination of loan scheme announced by the RBI in September 2018, seeks to provide greater flexibility to the lending institutions, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). The NBFCs will be  required to retain a minimum of 20% share of the individual loans.

Sebi enhances foreign investment limit for individual mutual funds
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) enhanced the foreign investment limit for mutual funds to $600 million from $300 million with immediate effect, while capping the overall industry limit at $7 billion.

• The regulator’s move comes after a recent surge in interest in overseas investments by Indian investors.
• It also said that mutual funds can make investments in overseas Exchange Traded Fund (ETFs) subject to a maximum of $200 million per mutual fund, compared to $50 million earlier, while maintaining the overall industry limit at $1 billion.

BUSINESS & ECONOMY

UNDP-powered accelerator programme for social impact startups launched in Kerala
Finance Minister T.M. Thomas Isaac launched Green Innovation Fund, a fund-linked accelerator programme for social impact start-ups, as a joint initiative of Kerala Startup Mission, Haritha Keralam Mission and United Nations Development Programme, India.

• Green Innovation Fund (GIF), seeks to support startups working on SDG goals (Climate change related) by giving them Grant and technical support.
• GIF is an ambitious experimentation to leverage technology to bridge gaps which may be arduous through our traditional way of working.

Govt., Tata Technologies Ltd. ink pact to upgrade 150 ITIs in Karnataka
The State government of Karnataka entered into an agreement with Tata Technologies Ltd., Pune, to upgrade 150 government Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) at a cost of ₹4,636.5 crore.

• The upgrade of the ITIs at Peenya, Hosur Road (Bengaluru), Ballari, Mysuru, Dastikoppa (Belagavi), and Shikaripur (Shivamogga) will be taken up in the first phase.
• Private companies are providing over ₹4,000 crore under CSR activities for this initiative. Along with Tata Technologies Ltd., about 20 companies have decided to contribute ₹4,080 crore. The remaining ₹657 crore would be provided by the State. Each ITIs would be upgraded at a cost of ₹30 crore.

ACQUISITIONS & MERGERS 

Axis Bank acquires stakes worth over Rs36cr in govt’s CSC e-Governance Services
The private lender Axis Bank has executed an agreement for subscribing to 57,743 equity shares of face value of Rs 1,000 each to be issued by CSC e-Governance Services India for Rs 6,300 each.

• The transaction is for 9.91% equity stake for a cash consideration of Rs 36.38 crore in CSC e-Governance Services India as a strategic investment by the bank.
• The transaction is expected to be completed by December 2020.

APPOINTMENTS

M M Kutty appointed chairman of commission on Delhi air quality management
Former Chief Secretary of Delhi M M Kutty was appointed chairperson of the Commission for Air Quality Management in National Capital Region and Adjoining Areas.

• Besides  him, Professor Mukesh Khare, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi and Ramesh K J, Ex-Director General, India Meteorological Department (IMD) have been appointed as the full-time technical members of the Commission.
• Arvind Kumar Nautiyal, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change will be the full-time member of the panel.

Kosovo′s President Hashim Thaci resigns
Kosovo President Hashim Thaci, who fought in his country’s 1998-1999 war for independence from Serbia, has abruptly resigned after a Hague-based special court confirmed that he’s been indicted on war crimes charges.

• Thaci was a senior commander in the Kosovo Liberation Army guerrilla group. After the end of the war in 1999, he was prime minister of Kosovo and was elected president in 2016.

Manipur’s Gyanendro Ningombam emerges as first Hockey India president from Northeast
Manipur’s Gyanendro Ningombam has been elected as the Hockey India president, while former President Mohd Mushtaque Ahmad is back in the Hockey India Executive Board after being Elected Unopposed for the Senior Vice President post. 

• Ningombam has become the first person from the Northeast to be appointed in the top post of India’s national hockey team.
• Earlier, Ningombam, served as the senior vice-president of Hockey India, senior vice-president of the Manipur hockey team and chief executive officer of the Manipur state hockey team.

Syska Group announces Rajkummar Rao as its new brand ambassador
SYSKA Group, India’s leading Fast Moving Electrical Goods (FMEG) company, announced that it has roped in award winning Bollywood actor Rajkummar Rao as the new face of the brand. 

• Rajkummar Rao will work closely with the company to promote the Syska products across LED and Fan segments.

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

ISRO launches PSLV C-49 carrying EOS-01, 9 other satellites
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) launched the 51st mission of Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh.

•  The carrier vehicle PSLV C49 will deliver 10 satellites in all with EOS-01 as the primary one.
•  The EOS-01, an earth observation satellite, was intended to provide agriculture, forestry and disaster management support.The nine customer satellites are from Lithuania (1), Luxembourg (4) and USA (4).

IMPORTANT DAYS

National Cancer Awareness Day
National Cancer Awareness Day is marked on November 7th of every year.

•  The day is dedicated to spreading awareness on preventing the spread of cancer and how can one detect any symptoms early.

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