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CURRENT AFFAIRS:DAYS
International Civil Aviation Day 2020 : Dec 7
- The International Civil Aviation Day 2020 will be observed all over the world on December 7.
- The day is commemorated to help generate and reinforce worldwide awareness of the importance of international civil aviation to the social and economic development of countries.
- International Civil Aviation Day was first observed in the year 1994 as part of the International Civil Aviation Organization’s 50th-anniversary activities.
- The United Nations General Assembly officially recognised December 7 as International Civil Aviation Day in the UN system in 1996.
About ICAO
- Headquarters – Montreal, Canada
- Founded – 7 th December 1944
International Armed Forces Flag Day Observed on Dec 7
- Armed Forces Flag Day is marked in India every year on December 7 since 1949. Interestingly, the Centre, this year, has declared that Armed Forces Flag Day would be celebrated throughout December.
- The Day provides us an opportunity to honour the sacrifices made by defence personnel in the line of duty.
- The Day also urges citizens to support defence personnel and their families by contributing to Armed Forces Flag Day Fund (AFFDF).
- To celebrate the day, all three branches of the Indian armed forces – the Indian Army, the Indian Air Force (IAF) and the Indian Navy arrange a variety of shows, carnivals, dramas and other entertainment programmes to showcase to the general public the efforts of their personnel to ensure national security.
CURRENT AFFAIRS: NATIONAL
Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Telangana Participates in 7th WASH Conclave
- A 3 day virtual 7 th edition of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene conclave 2020 started in Hyderabad from Dec 2 to Dec 4.
- Theme – Hygiene Matters
- Andhra Pradesh Governor Biswa Bhusan Harichandan participated as Chief Guest of seventh WASH Conclave organised by UNICEF and the National Institute of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj (NIRDPR).
- Target – It should be ensured to achieve the target to provide access to and use of safe and adequate drinking water to all households within premises by 2024.”
About UNICEF :
- Headquarters – New York
- Executive Director – Henrietta H. Fore
CURRENT AFFAIRS: INTERNATIONAL
Bangladesh Signs Preferential Trade agreement with Bhutan
- Bangladesh signed its maiden preferential trade agreement (PTA) with Bhutan to boost bilateral trade between the two countries.
- Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi and Bhutanese Economic Affairs Minister Lyonpo Loknath Sharma signed the agreement on behalf of their respective sides.
- This is the first such agreement Bangladesh has signed with any country since independence in 1971.
- The signing was held on December 6 to make the day memorable as on this day in 1971, Bhutan became the first country in the world to recognize Bangladesh’s independence. And then Besides, the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Bangladesh and Bhutan will also be celebrated on this day.
- In this PTA 100 Bangladeshi products will get duty-free access to Bhutan. Meanwhile, 34 Bhutanese products that will get duty-free access to the Bangladeshi market.
About Bangladesh :
- Prime Minister – Sheikh Hasina
- Currency – Taka
- Capital of Bangladesh – Dhaka
About Bhutan :
- Prime Minister – Lotay Tshering
- Currency – Bhutanese ngultrum
- Capital : Thimphu
CURRENT AFFAIRS: BANKING AND FINANCE
Asian Development Bank approves $190 mn loan to upgrade power distribution system in Bengaluru
- Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a USD 190 million (over Rs 1,400 crore) loan for modernisation and upgradation of power distribution system in Karnataka’s capital city of Bengaluru.
- The funding for the Bengaluru Smart Energy Efficient Power Distribution Project by ADB includes a USD 100 million sovereign loan and a USD 90 million without sovereign guarantee loan to Bangalore Electricity Supply Company Limited (BESCOM).
- BESCOM is one of five state-owned distribution utilities and the largest in Karnataka.
- The project will convert 7,200 kilometer (km) of overhead distribution lines to underground cables with the parallel installation of 2,800 km of fiber-optic communication cables.
About ADB
- Headquarters – Mandaluyong, Manila, Philippines
- Founded – 19 December 1966
- President – Masatsugu Asakawa
- Membership – 68 Countries
Axis Bank and Rupifi launch credit card for MSMEs
- Axis Bank strengthened its offerings for the MSME segment with the launch of a business credit card in partnership with Rupifi, an embedded lending fintech company that provides financial solutions to MSMEs.
- The co-branded credit card, powered by Visa
- Rupifi partners with established B2B marketplace and aggregator platforms across sectors including food, grocery, pharma, agri- commodities, e-commerce, fashion, logistics, transport and industrial goods.
- There is a joining fee of Rs 1,000 and there are no annual fees for the co-branded card. It’s a revolving card with 51 days interest free credit period.
- The average credit limit offered will be in the range of Rs 1 and 2 lakh per month
About Axis Bank:
- 3 rd largest Private Sector Bank In India
- Headquarters – Mumbai , Maharashtra
- MD and CEO – Amitabh Chaudhry
About Rupifi:
- Co-founder and CEO, Rupifi – Anubhav Jain,
- Headquarters – Bangalore, Karnataka
RTGS To be Made 24X7 from December 14
- Presently RTGS system is available for customers between 7:00 AM and 6:00 PM.
- On 24×7 availability of Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) System, the RBI stated it has been decided to make RTGS available round the clock on all days of the year with effect from 00:30 hours on December 14, 2020.
- The Reserve Bank announced a slew of measures including enhancing the limit for contactless card transactions to Rs 5,000 and making RTGS transaction facility available round the clock from December 14.
- The RBI also decided to increase the limit for contactless card transactions to Rs 5,000 from Rs 2,000 at Point of Sale (PoS) terminals from January 1, 2021
RBI Announces Introduction of LAF And MSF for Regional Rural Bank
- Reserve Bank of India introduces Liquidity Adjustment Facility (LAF) and Marginal Standing Facility (MSF) for Regional Rural Banks (RRBs)
Eligible For the Scheme
- These include Implemented Core Banking Solution (CBS),
- A minimum CRAR of nine per cent
- Full compliance with the terms and conditions for availing LAF and MSF issued by Financial Markets Operations Department (FMOD).
CURRENT AFFAIRS: APPOINTMENTS AND RESIGNATIONS
Sarangi Elected as a WSF vice president
- Debendranath Sarangi, President Squash Rackets Federation of India, was elected as one of the three vice presidents of the World Squash Federation and its annual general body meeting On Dec 5.
- Zena Wooldridge England was elected president. I feel honoured to have been elected to this post and i will strive to implement new initiatives at the WSF, Stated Sarangi
Joe Biden picks Vivek Murthy as Surgeon General
- Indian-American Dr Vivek Murthy was Surgeon General during the Obama administration
- The Surgeon General serves a four-year term and is the top government official on public health issues
- US President-elect Joe Biden has selected his key Covid-19 advisor Dr Vivek Murthy as the next Surgeon General, a role for which he was appointed during the Obama administration, according to a media report.
- Vivek H Murthy, a former US surgeon general, has been asked to reprise the role in an expanded version in the new administration.
CURRENT AFFAIRS: BOOKS AND AUTHORS
Venkaiah Naidu Releases Book ’40 Years with Abdul Kalam
- Vice President Venkaiah Naidu has released The Book Titled 40 Years with Abdul Kalam – Untold Stories by scientist A. Sivathanu Pillai,
- The book is published by Pentagon Press LLP
- Book foreword was written by Pranab Mukherjee, former president of India.
About the Book
- The book provided information of the life of Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, who was described as the epitome of simplicity, honesty and wisdom
- Kalam contribution to strengthening India’s defence and space capabilities
- The book also Discusses his life events including ISRO, DRDO and BrahMos and then his interaction with the power corridors.
CURRENT AFFAIRS: AWARDS AND HONORS
Serum Institute’s Adar Poonawalla Named As 1 Of 6 Asians Of The Year
- Adar Poonawalla, the chief executive of the world’s largest vaccine manufacturer Serum Institute of India, is among six people named “Asians of the Year” by Singapore’s leading daily, The Straits Times for their work in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Pune-based Serum Institute of India (SII) has collaborated with the University of Oxford and the British-Swedish pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca for making the COVID-19 vaccine, ‘Covidshield’, and is conducting trials in India.
- The Serum Institute was founded by Adar Poonawalla’s father Cyrus Poonawalla in 1966.
- Adar Poonawalla joined the Serum Institute of India in 2001 and became the CEO of Serum Institute with complete control of the day-to-day operations of the company in 2011.
- Sars-CoV-2, the virus that has brought death and hardship to the world’s largest and most populous continent, is meeting its tamer in The Virus Busters,the award citation stated.
- The Five others who made it to the list are Chinese researcher Zhang Yongzhen, Major General Chen Wei ( China ), Dr. Ryuichi Morishita (Japan), Ooi Eng Eong (Singapore) and South Korean businessman Seo Jung-jin.
Anita Anand’s ‘The Patient Assassin’, wins PEN Hessell-Tiltman history prize
- British Indian journalist and author Anita Anand’s book that tells the story of a young man caught up in the 1919 Jallianwala Bagh massacre in Amritsar has won a prestigious history-literary prize in the UK.
- True Tale of Massacre, Revenge and the Raj’ beat six other titles for the PEN Hessell-Tiltman Prize for History 2020, awarded annually for a non-fiction book of specifically historical content.
CURRENT AFFAIRS: SPORTS
Corey Anderson retires from international cricket
- New Zealand all-rounder Corey Anderson retires from international cricket, signs up with MLC in the USA. Anderson has signed a 3-year contract with Major League Cricket (MLC) in the USA.
- In the 93 international games across formats, he scored 2277 runs with two hundreds and 10 half-centuries. He also picked up 90 wickets.
- Anderson rose to fame after scoring the fastest 100 in the history of One Day International cricket (ODI), in 36-ball against West Indies in January 2014.
- His 36-ball hundred against West Indies on the New Year’s Day in 2014, was the fastest ODI hundred for a year before AB de Villiers’ broke the record with a 31-ball feat against the same opposition.
CURRENT AFFAIRS: SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
China unfurls flag on Moon, becomes second country to achieve this feat after America
- China has become the second country to plant its national flag on the moon’s surface.
- The China National Space Administration (CSNA) released pictures of Chinese flag placed on the lunar surface.
- Earlier this was achieved only by the USA, during the Apollo mission in 1969.
- The spacecraft comprises an orbiter, a lander, an ascender, and a returner. It was launched on November 24.
- China achieved the historic feat a designer of the Chang’e-5 probe from China Academy of Space Technology (CAST) under the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation stated.
- If the return journey concludes successfully, China will be only the third country to have samples from the moon following the United States and the Soviet Union in the 1960s and 1970s.
- China made its first lunar landing in 2013.
About China National Space Administration (CSNA)
- Headquarters – Beijing, China
- Administrator – Zhang Kejian
Pixxel to launch remote-sensing satellite on Isro rocket in early 2021
- Pixxel, a private satellite-imaging company, will launch its first remote-sensing satellite on the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) workhorse rocket Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) in early 2021.
- The Bengaluru-based firm has entered into an agreement with NewSpace India Limited (NSIL), a Government of India company under the Department of Space.
- The company’s first satellite was scheduled to be launched towards the end of this year on a Russian Soyuz rocket.
- Pixxel aims to put a constellation of 30 earth observation micro-satellites into a sun-synchronous orbit by mid-2023.
- The agreement with NSIL is one of its kind and one of the first since the setting up of IN-SPACe, the authorisation and regulatory body under the Department of Space (DoS) to enable private players undertaking space activities in India.
About ISRO
- Chairman – K.Shivan
- Headquarters – Bengaluru, Karnataka
CURRENT AFFAIRS: OBITUARY
Veteran Bengali actor Manu Mukherjee passes away at 90 on Dec 6
- Bengali actor Monu Mukherjee died due to cardiac arrest. He was 90.
- Mukherjee, had started his film career with Mrinal Sen’s Nil Akasher Niche (1958), earned plaudits with his roles in Satyajit Ray’s Joy Baba Felunath and Ganashatru.
- He had also received critical appreciation for his role in children’s fantasy film Patalghar.
Ravi Patwardhan, veteran Marathi actor, passes away at 84
- Veteran actor Ravi Patwardhan, best known in Marathi entertainment Industry, has passed away after suffering from a massive heart attack. He was 84.
- Ravi Patwardhan, best known for starring in the Marathi show Aggabai Sasubai and 1980s Hindi films like Tezaab and Ankush
Daily CA Dec 5th
- December 4th is International Bank Day to recognize the important role of the banking system in improving living standards.
- United Nations General Assembly designating December 4 as International Banking Day.
- World Soil Day Observed on Dec 5 and The theme for World Soil Day 2020 is Keep soil alive, protect soil biodiversity.
- International Volunteer Day 2020 Observed on Dec 05 Theme of IVD 2020 – Together We Can Through Volunteering.
- Prime Minister to virtually inaugurate Agra Metro Rail project on December 7
- The Union Ministry of Ayush has recently announced that the upcoming new campus of the National Institute of Naturopathy (NIN), Pune will be called Nisarg Gram.
- Government Announces List of 10 best performing police stations in india 2020: NongpokSekmai, Manipur First in Position
- Roshni Nadar Malhotra, chairperson of IT major HCL Technologies, topped the list of the richest women in the country with a net worth of Rs 54,850 crore.
- The fifteen-year-old Indian-American Gitanjali Rao has been selected as first-ever kid of the year by the TIME magazine, This is the first time that the TIME magazine launched the Kid of The Year award.
- Greta Thunberg was named Time’s Person Of The Year last year. Greta Thunberg became the youngest ever Person Of The Year when she was given the honour at age 16.
- Ranjitsinh Disale, a teacher at Zilla Parishad Primary School has been awarded the 2020 Global Teacher Prize $1 million (Rs.7.4 Crore).
- Kuldeep Handoo from J&K, Appointed as Fit India Movement Ambassador
- The Indian Navy is undertaking a Passage Exercise with Russian Federation Navy in the Eastern Indian Ocean Region (IOR) from 4 to 5 December 2020.
- Former prime minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali passed away at a hospital in Rawalpindi at the age of 76, he is the country’s first and only elected prime minister from Balochistan
- Lakshadweep Administrator Dineshwar Sharma, who earlier headed the Intelligence Bureau and was also the Interlocutor for Jammu and Kashmir, has passed away.
- Gujarat High Court sitting Judge R Udhwani passes away of COVID-19
- Telangana Rastra Samithi (TRS) emerges as single largest party in GHMC polls
Daily CA Dec 7th
- The International Civil Aviation Day 2020 will be observed all over the world on December 7.
- International Armed Forces Flag Day Observed on Dec 7
- Asian Development Bank approves $190 million loan to upgrade power distribution system in Bengaluru
- Vice President Venkaiah Naidu has released The Book Titled 40 Years with Abdul Kalam – Untold Stories by scientist A. Sivathanu Pillai,
- 40 Years with Abdul Kalam book is published by Pentagon Press LLP and Book foreword was written by Pranab Mukherjee, former president of India.
- China unfurls flag on Moon, becomes second country to achieve this feat after America
- Bangladesh Signs Preferential Trade agreement with bhutan to boost bilateral trade between the two countries.
- In this PTA 100 Bangladeshi products will get duty-free access to Bhutan. Meanwhile, 34 Bhutanese products that will get duty-free access to the Bangladeshi market.
- Debendranath Sarangi, President Squash Rackets Federation of India, was elected as one of the three vice presidents of the World Squash Federation and its annual general body meeting On Dec 5.
- Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Telangana Participated in a 3 day virtual 7 th edition of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene conclave 2020 started in Hyderabad from Dec 2 to Dec 4. With the Theme – of Hygiene Matters
- Serum Institute’s Adar Poonawalla Named As 1 Of 6 Asians Of The Year
- Pixxel, a private satellite-imaging company, will launch its first remote-sensing satellite on the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) workhorse rocket Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) in early 2021.
- Joe Biden picks Vivek Murthy as Surgeon General
- Veteran Bengali actor Manu Mukherjee passes away at 90 on Dec 6
- Ravi Patwardhan, veteran Marathi actor, passes away at 84 on Dec 6
- New Zealand all-rounder Corey Anderson retires from international cricket, signs up with MLC in the USA.
- Reserve Bank of India introduces Liquidity Adjustment Facility (LAF) and Marginal Standing Facility (MSF) for Regional Rural Banks (RRBs)
- RTGS To be Made 24X7 from December 14
- Axis Bank and Rupifi launch credit card for MSMEs
- Anita Anand’s The Patient Assassin’ wins PEN Hessell-Tiltman history prize