Daily Current Affairs 8th December, 2020

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

NATIONAL NEWS

UP’s Dandupur railway station renamed as Maa Barahi Devi Dham
The Dandupur railway station situated between Pratapgarh and Badshahpur on Lucknow-Varanasi rail section will now be named Maa Barahi Devi Dham.

• The Union government has given its consent after which Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath gave his nod to the renaming of the railway station.

Ministry of AYUSH to develop Nisarg Gram campus at Pune
The Ministry of AYUSH announced to develop a new campus of National Institute of Naturopathy (NIN) campus in Pune.

• The upcoming campus will be known as ‘Nisarg Gram’. It will be located 15 km from the present NIN campus at Bapu Bhavan.
• The new curriculum of this campus will be prepared as per the National Education Policy, 2020. Bachelors and Masters in Naturopathy will be the major programmes offered at the campus.

BANKING & FINANCE

ICICI Bank launches iMobile Pay app
ICICI Bank has launched ‘iMobile Pay’ – a mobile banking app that provides payments and banking services to customers of any bank.

• ‘iMobile Pay’ app offers a unique combination of facilities of a payment app – such as enabling customers to pay to any UPI (Unified Payments Interface) ID or merchants, pay bills and do online recharges among others – with instant banking services namely savings account, investments, loans, credit cards, gift cards, travel cards and much more.
• ‘iMobile Pay’ users can also transfer money to any bank account, payment app and digital wallet. It is the first of its kind facility in India that extends the ambit of mobile banking apps which are hitherto restricted to only the customers of the respective banks.

Kotak MF launches REIT Funds of Funds scheme
Kotak Mahindra Asset Management Company has launched of Kotak International REIT Fund of Funds, which is India’s first diversified Real Estate Investment Trusts (REIT) Mutual Fund.

• The open-ended scheme will invest in units of SMAM Asia REIT Sub Trust Fund. This MF scheme will have a diversified investment portfolio comprising of listed REITs which will invest in real estate projects such as residential, office, data centres, warehousing, retail and hospitality.
• The New Fund Offer will be open for subscription till December 21.

RBI opens LAF, MSF windows for regional rural banks
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) allowed regional rural banks (RRBs) to access the liquidity adjustment facility (LAF), marginal standing facility (MSF) and call or notice money market, aimed at facilitating better liquidity management for these lenders.

• At present, RRBs are not permitted to access the liquidity windows of the RBI as well as the call or notice market.
• In addition, RBI proposed to bring the 26 stressed sectors identified by the Kamath Committee within the ambit of sectors eligible under on tap TLTRO.
• This is in addition to the five sectors announced under the scheme on October 21, 2020.

BUSINESS & ECONOMY

Fitch Ratings Revises India GDP Forecast, Sees Contraction at 9.4 Per cent
Fitch Ratings raised India’s GDP forecast to -9.4 per cent in the current fiscal year to March 2021 from a previously projected contraction of 10.5 per cent after the economy staged a sharper rebound in the second quarter.

•  In its Global Economic Outlook, Fitch said the coronavirus recession has inflicted severe economic scarring and the country needs to repair balance sheets and increase caution about long-term planning.
• Fitch said the Indian economy staged a sharper rebound in the July-September quarter from the coronavirus-induced recession. GDP fell 7.5 per cent year-on-year, up from -23.9 per cent in the April-June quarter.

SPORTS

Sergio Pérez wins 20020 Sakhir F1 GP 
Sergio Perez became the first Mexican victor in F1 since Pedro Rodriguez in 1970, ending a series of races dominated by Mercedes for whom Valtteri Bottas finished eighth and George Russell ninth.

• The 30-year-old Mexican recovered from a first-lap crash that dropped him to the back of the field in his 190th race. 

Sri Lanka to host Asia Cup in 2021, Pakistan in 2022
The Asia Cup 2020 had to postponed due to the Covid 19 pandemic. Pakistan was scheduled to host the Asia Cup but the PCB CEO Wasim Khan said the tournament will be hosted by Sri Lanka in 2021 while Pakistan will play host of it in 2022.

• According to the original schedule, Pakistan was to host the Asia Cup in August-September 2020 but faced postponement. It has been now pushed to 2021 for which Sri Lanka has the hosting rights and as compensation, Pakistan will host Asia Cup 2022.

Jehan Daruvala becomes first Indian to win an F2 race
Jehan Daruvala created history when he became the first Indian to win a Formula 2 race during the Sakhir Grand Prix.

•  A thrilling battle against F2 champion Mick Schumacher and later Daniel Ticktum saw the 22-year-old Indian emerge on top in the support race of the season-ending Formula 1 Grand Prix.

APPOINTMENTS

Zena Wooldridge elected as President & Sarangi as WSF vice-president
Zena Wooldridge has been elected as the new World Squash Federation (WSF) President following the WSF’s 2020 Annual General Meeting.

• Wooldridge, from England, will become the 10th WSF President to serve since the Federation’s inception in 1967 and the second female.
• Two new Vice Presidents were also elected at the AGM, while Pablo Serna – former President of the Colombia Squash Federation – has been elected for a second term for four years.
• He is joined by Karim Darwish, a former men’s World No.1 from Egypt, and Debendranath Sarangi, the President of the Squash Rackets Federation of India, who have been elected for four years and two years, respectively.

Indian-origin Anil Soni appointed as CEO for WHO Foundation
The World Health Organization Foundation has appointed an Indian-origin health expert, Anil Soni, as its first Chief Executive Officer (CEO) to address the most vital health challenges all across the globe.

• Global health expert Soni will assume his role as its inaugural CEO on January 1 next year.
• The Foundation is an independent grant-making agency based out of Geneva in Switzerland and was launched in May 2020 to work alongside the WHO and the global health community.

AWARDS

Yulimar Rojas and Mondo Duplantis crowned 2020 World Athletes of the Year
World record-breakers Mondo Duplantis of Sweden and Yulimar Rojas of Venezuela have been named the male and female World Athletes of the Year respectively at the World Athletics Awards 2020, a ceremony held virtually this time due to the post novel coronavirus (COVID-19)
Other awards:

• Member Federations Award: Polish Athletics Association
• COVID Inspiration Award: Ultimate Garden Clash
• President’s Award: Tommie Smith, Peter Norman and John Carlos
• Coaching Achievement Award: Helena and Greg Duplantis
• Athletes Community Award: Athletics Clubs
• World Athletics Photograph of the Year: Michael Steele’s photograph of young children competing at the Discovery Cross Country Championships in Eldoret, Kenya .

Invest India wins United Nations Investment Promotion Award for 2020
United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) has declared ‘Invest India’ as winner of the 2020 United Nations Investment Promotion Award. The award ceremony took place at UNCTAD Headquarters in Geneva.

• The Award recognizes and celebrates the outstanding achievements of the World’s best-practice investment promotion agencies.
• The evaluation was based on UNCTAD’s assessment of work undertaken by 180 national Investment Promotion Agencies across the world.

Gwalior & Orchha included in list of World Heritage City by UNESCO
The historical fort cities of Gwalior and Orchha of Madhya Pradesh have been included in the list of World Heritage City by UNESCO under its urban landscape city programme .

• After being included in the list of World Heritage, UNESCO will work with the tourism department of the state to preserve and refine these archaeological and historical monuments of Orchha and Gwalior.

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

Yogi launches Mera Covid Kendra in UP
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath launched COVID-19 testing centre detection app named the Mera Covid Kendra app which will help people get information about nearby testing labs.

•  ‘Mera COVID Kendra’ app which will help people in accessing public and private COVID testing labs available within 5 km of their location.
• All the data like map, centre timing, test type and other details of the testing labs are present in the map. This mobile application can be downloaded from Google Play Store.

ENVIRONMENT 

Kanhargaon becomes 50th wildlife sanctuary of Maharashtra
Kanhalgaon, spread over 270sqkm in Chandrapur district, is the latest to be declared a wildlife sanctuary. It will be the 50th wildlife sanctuary of Maharashtra .

• With the addition of the state’s 50th wildlife sanctuary and 10 new conservation reserves (CR), Maharashtra has expanded its protected area network from 62 to 73 zones with over 10,000 sq km of the state now secured.

OBITUARIES

Former Uruguay president Tabare Vazquez passes away
Former Uruguayan President Tabare Vazquez died in Montevideo at the age of 80 after suffering from lung cancer.

• The center-left politician and oncologist was president of Uruguay twice in 2005-2010 and 2015-2020.
• Vazquez, who interchanged terms with Jose Mujica since Uruguay’s constitution bans presidents from serving consecutive terms, presided over the legalization of the state-controlled production, distribution and sale of cannabis.

Veteran Hindi writer Madhukar Gangadhar passes away
Veteran Hindi writer Madhukar Gangadhar passed away in a hospital in the National Capital. He was 88 years old.

•  Mr. Gangadhar had worked at Patna Akashwani and later also served as the director, AIR Allahabad.He also worked in the capacity of Deputy Director General (DDG), AIR at New Delhi.
• After serving for 39 years in All India Radio (AIR) he became an independent writer based in Delhi.
• ‘Motiyo Wale Hath’, ‘Hirna Ki Aankhen’ are some of his most well known works.

Popular TV actress Divya Bhatnagar passes away following Covid 19 complications
Popular face in Indian TV Divya Bhatnagar passed away following Covid 19 complications.She was 36.

• Bhatnagar had acted in shows including “Udaan”, “Silsila Pyaar Ka”, “Sasural Genda Phool”, “Sawaare Sabke Sapne Preeto”, “Vish”, “Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai”among others.

Father Of Fibre Optics, Narinder Singh Kapany passes away
Narinder Singh Kapany, often described as the ‘father of fibre optics’, passed away. He was 94.

• DR Narinder Singh Kapany is among the 10 most renowned Sikhs in the world. He has also earned the title of “Father of Fibre-Optics”. He was named one of the seven “Unsung Heroes” by Fortune magazine and called Businessmen of the Century in its issue of November 22, 1999.
• Dr Kapany’s research on fibre optic communications, lasers, bio-medical instrumentation, solar energy and pollution monitoring led him to gather more than 100 patents. He became a member of the US National Inventors’ Council. At present, he is a Fellow of numerous scientific societies, including the British Royal Academy of Engineering, the Optical Society of America and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
• Dr Kapany’s achievements are remarkable. As founder of the Sikh Foundation, he has introduced to the First World aspects of Sikhism through books, calendars, posters, greeting cards and exhibitions.

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