Weekly Current Affairs
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| Malala Yousafzai |
Advance Estimate of
GDP - National Statistical Office (NSO) projects India’s GDP growth rate
for 2019-20 at 5%.The decline has been
mainly on account of deceleration in manufacturing sector growth, which is
expected to come down to 2 per cent in 2019-20 from 6.2 per cent in the
year-ago fiscal.
Most Famous Teenager
of The Decade - The United Nations has declared
Pakistani education activist and Nobel laureate Malala
Yousafzai as “Most Famous Teenager of The Decade”.
She was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2014.
Human Space Flight Centre - The Indian
Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has proposed Human Space Flight Centre (HSFC) at Challakere
in Chitradurga district of Karnataka. At present,
astronauts part of Gaganyaan Mission, the Human Spaceflight Programme of ISRO
are trained in Russia.
Esmail Qaani - Iran’s supreme
leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei named
the Deputy Head of the Revolutionary Guards’ foreign operations arm Esmail
Qaani to replace Qasem Soleimani as
its commander. Soleimani was killed in a pre-dawn US strike in Baghdad.
Zoran Milanovic - Former Prime
Minister Zoran Milanovic belong Social
Democratic Party (SDP) won Croatia’s presidential election.
Malavath Poorna - Indian mountaineer Malavath
Poorna, the youngest girl to have climbed the world’s
highest mountain Mt. Everest 5 years ago, accomplished another feat by
conquering Mt. Vinson Massif, Antarctica’s
highest mountain peak (4,987 mts). With this, the 18-year-old
becomes the first and youngest tribal woman in the world to set foot on the six
tallest mountain peaks across six continents.
Women Science Congress - The Women
Science Congress was inaugurated at the ongoing Indian Science
Congress in Bengaluru.
RBBG Scheme of SBI - The State Bank of India has
announced ‘residential builder finance with buyer guarantee’
(RBBG) scheme. The SBI will issue a guarantee for completion of
select residential projects to customers who have availed home loans from it.
Khelo India University
Games - The 1st edition of Khelo India University Games is
scheduled to be held at the KIIT University in Bhubaneswar,
Odisha from February 22 to March 1, 2020. Khelo India
University Games will witness over 4,000 athletes from 100 Universities across
India vying for top honours in 17 games.
US Space Force -
United States President Donald Trump has signed the 2020
National Defense Authorization Act. With the signing of the
act, US has authorised the establishment
of US Space Force.
Rifle AK-203 - The Indian
Army is to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for
the procurement of over 7.5 lakh AK-203 assault rifles
with Russia. The rifles will be manufactured by the
Indo-Russian Rifles Private Limited (IRRPL) at Korwa in Uttar
Pradesh.
Shivalik Mercantile
Co-operative Bank - The Reserve Bank of India (RBI)
has granted “in-principle” approval to Shivalik
Mercantile Co-operative Bank Limited for transition into
a Small Finance Bank (SFB).
NSE Knowledge Hub - Union Minister of
Commerce and Industries inaugurated the National Stock Exchange
(NSE) Knowledge Hub in New Delhi. National Stock Exchange
(NSE) Knowledge Hub is an Artificial Intelligence (AI) powered learning
ecosystem that will assist the banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI)
sector.
Disinvestment of PSU - Cabinet Committee on
Economic Affairs (CCEA) has given its ‘in
principle’ approval for strategic disinvestment of 4 Central
Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs). The 4
CPSEs includes Minerals & Metals Trading Corporation (MMTC),
MECON, Bharat Heavy Electricals (BHEL)
and National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC).
Krishnapatnam Port -
Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd (APSEZ), India’s largest
private sector port operator, has agreed to buy a 75%
stake in Krishnapatnam Port Co. Ltd (KPCL) at an
enterprise value of Rs 13,572
crores. The Krishnapatnam Port is located in southern Andhra
Pradesh and is a multi-cargo facility.
Global Economic
Prospects - World Bank has released Global Economic
Prospects report. In its report, the World Bank has
projected India’s growth rate at 5% for
fiscal year 2020. While the global
economic growth is likely to increase to 2.5% in
fiscal year 2020.
Henley Passport Index
- Henley Passport Index 2020 has been released. The Indian passport
ranked 84th in the world’s most
powerful passport index 2020. Which is a drop by 2 places as it ranked 82nd in
2019. The list was topped by Japan.
Video based Customer
Identification Process - Reserve Bank of India has revised
the Know Your Customer (KYC) norms
for banks and other lending
institutions. New amendments in KYC norms by RBI allows banks
and other lending institutions to use “Video based Customer
Identification Process (V-CIP)”. The V-CIP is a consent
based alternate method of establishing the customer’s
identity.
SBI Report Ecowrap
- The State Bank of India has
released its research report ‘Ecowrap’. In the report ‘Ecowrap’,
the economic research department of SBI has lowered
India’s growth rate to 4.6% in
the fiscal year 2020.
Indradhanush Natural
Gas Pipeline Grid - The Union Government has
authorized the amount of Rs 5559 crore for 1656
Km long Indradhanush Natural Gas Pipeline Grid project.
The amount will be used to set up Natural Gas Pipeline Grid connecting 8 North
Eastern states.
Terrorist Entities - The Iranian
parliament has designated US
Armed Forces & Pentagon as ‘Terrorist
Entities’ with a motion passed at an open parliament
session.
Pravasi Bharatiya
Divas - Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) is celebrated on 9th
January every year. It also commemorates the return
of Mahatma Gandhi from South
Africa to India on 9 January 1915.
Sarbjeet Kaur - Indian women
weightlifter Sarbjeet Kaur has been banned
for 4 years from the sport by the National
Anti Doping Agency (NADA).
Census 2021 - Census
exercise India-2021 to begin on 1st April
2020 and will end on 30th of September 2020. Census India-2021
will be conducted through a mobile phone application.
M Nagaraj - M Nagaraj has been
appointed the company’s Chairman and Managing Director of State-owned
Housing and Urban Development Corporation (Hudco).
Ukrainian Aircraft Crashed - The Ukrainian aircraft
“Boeing 737” boarding 176 people crashed in Tehran,
Iran.
Costa Children’s Award
- Jasbinder Bilan has won the UK based Costa
Children’s Award 2019 . She has won the award for her debut
novel ‘Asha and the Spirit Bird’.
Electric Air Taxis -
Uber Technologies Inc and automaker Hyundai
Motor have teamed up to develop electric
air taxis. The partnership aims to make small self-flying cars
to ease urban congestion. The team is heading towards a goal of launching Uber
Air by 2023 and urban
air mobility service in 2028.
Naseem Al Bahr - India
and Oman will conduct 12th edition of bilateral maritime
exercise ‘Naseem Al Bahr’ in Mormugao
Port, Goa.
Vikram Sarabhai
Children Innovation Center – The Vikram Sarabhai
Children Innovation Center (VSCIC) will be set up in Gujarat.
Suresh Chandra Sharma
- Professor Suresh Chandra Sharma was appointed the chairman of
National Medical Commission.
Sucheta Satish - A 13-year-old
Dubai-based Indian girl Sucheta Satish has won
the 100 Global Child Prodigy Award in Delhi.
Miss Teen
International - Aayushi Dholakia has bagged the title of Miss
Teen International 2019.
Asia Pacific
Drosophila Research Conference - The 5th edition of
the Asia Pacific Drosophila Research Conference
(APDRC5) held in Pune, Maharashtra. The conference is
being conducted in India for the 1st time.
South Asian Trade and
Travel Exchange Expo - The 27th edition of South
Asian Trade and Travel Exchange Expo (SATTE) 2020 was
held in New Delhi.
Karmayoddha Granth -
Union Home Minister released a book ‘Karmayoddha
Granth’ on the life of Prime
Minister Narendra Modi.
Gujarat Ayurved
University - The union cabinet granted the approval making the status
of Institution of National Importance to a cluster of Ayurvedic
institutions at Gujarat Ayurved University in Jamnagar.
World Hindi Day -
World Hindi Day is celebrated globally on 10th
January every year.
Irfan Pathan - Indian all-rounder Irfan
Pathan announced his retirement from all forms of cricket.
National Shooting
Championship - Indian shooter Saurabh Chaudhary has won the
men’s 10 metres air pistol gold medal at the 63rd
National Shooting Championship in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh.
CK Nayudu Lifetime
Achievement Award - Krishnamachari Srikkanth & Anjum Chopra will
be conferred with the CK Nayudu Lifetime Achievement Award.
NEST Division - The External
affairs ministry announced the setting up of new
emerging and strategic technologies NEST Division. The division
will work to increase investment coordination among the states of the country
and also with the foreign countries. It will help in collaboration with foreign
partners in the field of 5G and artificial intelligence.
Year of Nurse and
Midwife - In the honour of 200th birth anniversary of Florence
Nightingale, the World Health Organization designated the
year 2020 as the “Year
of Nurse and Midwife”.
Tallest Statue of Patel - Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay
Rupani unveils world’s 2nd
tallest statue of Sardar Vallabhbhai
Patel in the world at Ahmedabad.
50 feet tall bronze statue has been unveiled
in Ahmedabad.
Cyber Safe Women - Maharashtra
Government has launched a ‘Cyber Safe Women’ initiative
under which awareness camps will be held across all the districts of the state
regarding cyber safety.
World Braille Day - The world
Braille Day is observed annually on 4
January.
Exim Bank Issued LOC - India has extended
a line of credit (LoC) of USD
75 million (over Rs 500 crore) to Cuba.
The line of credit is as per agreement signed between Export-Import
Bank of India (Exim Bank) and Banco
Exterior De Cuba.
Global Investors Meet
- Kochi, Kerala will host the Global Investors Meet: ASCEND
2020.
MECOS-3 - Kochi will host
the 3rd international symposium on marine ecosystems
challenges and opportunities (MECOS-3) from January 7 to
10.
Multi-entry Tourist
Visa - The UAE Cabinet has
validated the Multi-entry Tourist Visa which
would be valid for 5
years. The Multi-entry Tourist Visa facility would be available
for all nationalities visiting the UAE.
International Kite
Festival - The 31st International Kite Festival has
been launched at Sabarmati river front in Ahmedabad, Gujarat.
Forex Trading - Reserve
Bank of India (RBI) has enabled select banks in India to
offer round-the-clock (24×7) trading in
the Indian rupee to allow Indians to safeguard their foreign
exchange (Forex) risks at any time.
Maha-Navy Connect - Indian
Navy starts 1st Maha-Navy Connect 2020 Tri-Dimensional
Expedition started from Mumbai,
Maharashtra.
