Current Affairs 29th December 2020| Current Affairs News

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CURRENT AFFAIRS: DAYS

World celebrates 1st International Day of Epidemic Preparedness 

• The first ever International Day of Epidemic Preparedness is being observed on December 27, 2020.
• The United Nations General Assembly called on all its member states and other global organisations to mark December 27 every year as the International Day of Epidemic Preparedness in order to advocate the importance of global partnership against epidemics.
• The UNGA called on nations to observe the day “in accordance with national contexts and priorities” through education and awareness-raising activities.
• Aim : The International Day of Epidemic Preparedness aims to promote international awareness and action on the prevention of, preparedness for and partnership against epidemics

About United Nations :

• Headquarters : New York
• Secretary General : Antonio Guterres

About UNGA:

• President : Volkan Bozkir
• Headquarters : New York

CURRENT AFFAIRS: NATIONAL NEWS

PM Modi flags off 100th run of Kisan Rail in Maharashtra

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi flagged off the 100th run of Kisan Rail in Maharashtra On December 28, 2020.
• The move is a big step toward empowering farmers of the country.
• The 100th run of the Kisan Rail was flagged off from Sangola in Maharashtra to Shalimar in West Bengal
• Union ministers Narendra Singh Tomar and Piyush Goyal were also present at the event.
• More than 80 per cent of the small and marginal farmers of the country have got great power through Kisan Rail, PM Modi stated.
• The first Kisan Rail train service of Indian Railways was launched on 7 August 2020, from Devlali to Danapur, which was further extended up to Muzaffarpur.
• Kisan Rail train service will carry and transport vegetables such as cauliflower, chillies, onion, cabbage, capsicum, drumsticks, as well as fruits such as bananas, grapes, pomegranate, custard apple, oranges, etc.

PM Modi flags off India’s first driverless train on Delhi Metro’s Magenta Line

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi flagged off the country’s first ever fully-automated driverless train service on the Magenta Line of the Delhi Metro.
• With the commencement of these new-generation trains, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation has entered the elite league of “seven per cent of world’s Metro networks” which can operate services without drivers, according to DMRC.
• PM also launched a fully operational National Common Mobility Card (NCMC) on the Airport Express Line of Delhi Metro, to connect DMRC with the NCMC service.
• NCMC, dubbed as ‘One Nation One Card’, is an inter-operable transport card that allows the holders to also pay for their bus travel, toll taxes, parking charges, retail shopping and even withdraw money.

About National Common Mobility Card:

• Launched : 4 March 2019
• Comes Under Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs

About Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs:

• Ministry Executive : Durga Shanker Mishra
• Founded : 1952
• Headquarters : New Delhi

Skyroot Aerospace successfully test fire solid-fueled rocket engine

• Skyroot Aerospace, a Hyderabad based start-up in the space sector, has successfully test-fired a solid propulsion rocket engine named Kalam-5.
• It is the country’s first private sector company to successfully test-fire a solid propulsion rocket stage engine.
• The company’s first launch vehicle ‘Vikram-I’ is under active manufacturing and targeting launch in Dec 2021 with the help of ISRO.
• Kalam is a series of five solid-fueled rocket engines with a thrust ranging from 5kN to 1000kN (approx 100Tons).
• The remaining four motors are in various stages of manufacturing and will be tested in 2021.

About Skyroot Aerospace:

• Co-founder & CEO : Pawan Kumar Chandana
• Founded : June 12, 2018
• Headquarters : Hyderabad, Telangana
• Co-founder & COO : Naga Bharath Daka

About ISRO:

• Director : Kailasavadivoo Sivan
• Founder : Vikram Saravhai
• Founded : 15 August 1969

Home Secretary and Secretary DoPT, A K Bhalla releases progress report of e-HRMS

• Home Secretary and Secretary DoPT, A K Bhalla released the progress report of e-HRMS (Electronic-Human Resource Management System).

About e-HRMS:

• e-HRMS was launched by Minister for Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions Dr Jitendra Singh on 25th December, 2017.
• It had 25 applications of 5 modules of the system.
• It is a Standard ICT Solution for the Government Sector, addressing maximum requirements of State Government personnel Management.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Indian & Vietnamese Navy conclude two-day naval passage exercise PASSEX in South China Sea

• Indian and Vietnamese Navy concluded the two-day naval passage exercise PASSEX in the South China Sea from December 26 & 27, 2020.
• This two-day exercise was conducted as part of efforts to boost maritime cooperation between the two countries.
• Indian Naval Ship Kiltan, carrying humanitarian assistance, reached Vietnam’s Nha Rong Port in Ho Chi Minh City to deliver 15 tonnes of relief material for flood-affected people under Mission Sagar-III.
• This mission of INS Kiltan was part of India’s Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) assistance to Friendly Foreign Countries during the ongoing pandemic.

About HADR :

• RSIS established the Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) Programme to facilitate and enhance cooperation on preparedness and response strategies to the fragile and unpredictable situations we face in the Asia-Pacific

About Vietnam : 

• Prime Minister : Nguyen Xuan Phuc.
• Capital : Hanoi
• Currency : Vietnamese dong

CURRENT AFFAIRS : STATE NEWS

Indian Institute of Skill invites applications for its first batch

• The first batch of training at the Tata-Indian Institute of Skills, Mumbai was launched to provide an impetus to Skill India programme through private sector participation.
• The institute is a joint initiative between the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE), Government of India and Tata-Indian Institute of Skills (Tata-IIS).
• A formal agreement for setting up the institute has been signed between MSDE and Tata-IIS on November 11, 2020.
• The institute will also offer scholarships to the first 100 students along with attractive fee options during this initial launch phase.

About Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) :

• Minister : Mahendra Nath Pandey
• Founder : GoI
• Founded : 9 November 2014
• Headquarters : New Delhi

Amit Shah lays foundation stone of medical college, law colleges in Assam

• Union Home Minister Amit Shah laid the foundation stone of a medical college and nine law institutes, besides launching two other projects in Assam.
• The Union home minister laid the foundation stone of Guwahati’s second medical college and hospital which will be set up by amalgamating the Mahendra Mohan Choudhury Hospital and the Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi Chest Hospital at an estimated amount of Rs 755 crore.

The Nine law colleges to be set up at 

• Diphu,
• Silchar,
• Dhubri,
• Dibrugarh,
• North Lakhimpur,
• Jorhat,
• Nalbari,
• Rangia and Raha.
• Under Asom Darshan ” scheme the Union Minister distributed financial grants to 8000 Namghars (Traditional Vaisnative monasteries of Assam ).

About Namghars :

• Namghars literally Prayer House are places for congregational worship associated with the entire Assamese community and the Ekasarana sect of Hinduism.

About Assam :

• Capital : Dispur
• Chief Minister : sarbananda Sonowal

CURRENT AFFAIRS : SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

Delhi airport’s Terminal 3 installs new passenger tracking system

• Delhi airport’s Terminal 3 has installed a new passenger tracking system that would help manage the flow of people, reduce waiting time and ensure social distancing.
• The Xovis passenger tracking system (PTS), a queue management system, displays live waiting time, taken at various processes like check-in, security check etc., on screens put up at various places.
• In this PTS, passengers are counted and tracked anonymously using the ceiling-mounted sensors.
• The PTS receives data streams from the sensors and provides the airport operator with valuable key performance indicators (KPIs) such as waiting times, process times and passenger throughput.

About Delhi :

• Chief Minister : Arvind Kejriwal

China launches remote sensing satellite Yaogan-33

• China has successfully launched a new remote sensing satellite into space, on December 27, 2020.
• The satellite was launched from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in northwest China.
• The satellite, Yaogan-33, was launched aboard a Long March-4C rocket and entered the planned orbit successfully. It was the 357th flight mission of the Long March carrier rocket series,
• The mission also sent a micro and nano technology experiment satellite into orbit.
• The two satellites will be used for scientific experiments, land resources survey, crop yield estimation and disaster prevention and reduction.

About China :

• Capital : Beijing
• Currency : Renminbi
• President : Xi Jinping

CURRENT AFFAIRS : BANKING & FINANCE

Businesses with monthly turnover of over Rs 50 lakh to pay at least 1% GST liability in cash

• The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) has introduced new rule business with monthly turnover Rs 50 lakh will have to mandatorily pay at least 1 percent of their GST liability in cash, instead of using input tax credits.
• CBIC has introduced Rule 86B in Goods and Services Tax (GST) rules which restricts use of input tax credit (ITC) for discharging GST liability to 99 percent.

About CBIC :

• Chairperson : M. Ajit Kumar
• Founded : 1 January 1964
• Elected Officer responsible : Nirmala Sitharaman (Finance Minister )

Centralised Investment Clearance cell by April 15

• The Centralised ‘Investment Clearance Cell’, under the proposed single window system, aimed at facilitating businesses through a one-stop digital platform, is planned to be launched with relevant Ministries and Departments and select States by April 15, 2021.
• The Investment Clearance Cell, which is an integral part of the single window system being worked out by the Commerce and Industry Ministry.
• The idea behind the Central Investment Clearance Cell is to ensure that an investor gets all information and clearances on one platform, instead of visiting multiple platforms.

About Ministry of Commerce & Industry :

• Union Minister : Piyush Goyal
• Minister of State : Hardeep Singh Puri, Som Parkash

CURRENT AFFAIRS : BOOKS & AUTHORS 

Union Minister Shripad Naik Releases book Sutranivednachi sutra- ek anbav

• Union Minister of state (I/C) for AYUSH and Minister of State for Defence Shripad Naik released a Konkani book Sutranivednachi sutra- ek anbav, by Dr Roopa Chari, which is published by Sanjana Publications
• Roopa Chari is a well-known personality in the field of Compering in Goa.

About the book :

• This book will definitely help aspiring youngsters, who wish to make a career in this field. This is the spontaneous art; you don’t nurture it by having any classes. With proper study, you always have to be vigilant, as compere is the link between the audience and the speaker.

CURRENT AFFAIRS : SPORTS NEWS

The ICC Awards of the Decade winners announced

• The winners of the prestigious ICC Awards of the Decade were announced on 28th December 2020.The ICC Awards of The Decade recognise the best players across Cricket over the past 10 years.

List of Winners

• ICC Spirit of Cricket Award of the Decade – MS Dhoni

ICC Men’s Awards :

• Sir Garfield Sobers Award for ICC Male Cricketer of the Decade – Virat Kohli
• ICC Men’s ODI Cricketer of the Decade –Virat Kohli
• ICC Men’s T20I Cricketer of the Decade –  Rashid Khan
• ICC Men’s Test Cricketer of the Decade – Steve Smith
• ICC Men’s Associate Cricketer of the Decade – Kyle Coetzer

ICC Women’s Award :

• Rachael Heyhoe Flint Award for ICC Female Cricketer of the Decade – Ellyse Perry
• ICC Women’s ODI Cricketer of the Decade – Ellyse Perry
• ICC Women’s T20I Cricketer of the Decade – Ellyse Perry
• ICC Women’s Associate Cricketer of the Decade – Kathryn Bryce

About ICC :

• Chairman : Greg Barclay
• CEO : Manu Sawhney
• Headquarters : Dubai, United Arab Emirates

CURRENT AFFAIRS : OBITUARIES

Eminent Daince Scholar and Critic Sunil Kothari Passes away at 87

• Eminent dance scholar and critic Sunil Kothari, passed away. He was 87.
• Born in Kheda district of Gujarat, Kothari qualified as a Chartered Accountant and taught in Mumbai’s Sydenham College for a brief while before turning to dance studies.
• He authored more than 20 books on the subject of Indian dance forms.

Achievements :

• Kothari received numerous titles and awards for his contribution to Indian dance forms including the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (1995); the Gaurav Puraskar conferred by the Gujarat Sangeet Natak Akademi (2000); the Padma Shri bestowed by the Government of India (2001); and the Life Time Achievement Award of the Dance Critics Association, New York, USA (2011).

Former Union min Kadambur R Janarthanan passes away

• On December 26, 2020, Former Union Minister and senior AIADMK leader Kadambur M. R. Janardhanan passed away. He was 91.
• Elected to the Lok Sabha from Tirunelveli constituency in 1984, 1989, 1991 and 1998.
• Janardhanan served as Union Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances and Pension with additional charge of Minister of State for Finance in the Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee between 1998 and 1999

Daily CA on Dec 29^th   

• The first ever International Day of Epidemic Preparedness is being observed on December 27, 2020.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi flagged off the 100th run of Kisan Rail in Maharashtra On December 28, 2020. The move is a big step toward empowering farmers of the country.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi flagged off the country’s first ever fully-automated driverless train service on the Magenta Line of the Delhi Metro.
• Skyroot Aerospace, a Hyderabad based start-up in the space sector, has successfully test-fired a solid propulsion rocket engine named Kalam-5
• Home Secretary and Secretary DoPT, A K Bhalla released the progress report of e-HRMS (Electronic-Human Resource Management System).
• Indian and Vietnamese Navy concluded the two-day naval passage exercise PASSEX in the South China Sea from December 26 & 27, 2020.
• The first batch of training at the Tata-Indian Institute of Skills, Mumbai was launched to provide an impetus to Skill India programme through private sector participation.
• Union Home Minister Amit Shah laid the foundation stone of a medical college and nine law institutes, besides launching two other projects in Assam.
• Delhi airport’s Terminal 3 has installed a new passenger tracking system that would help manage the flow of people, reduce waiting time and ensure social distancing.
• China has successfully launched a new remote sensing satellite into space, on December 27, 2020.
• The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) has introduced new rule business with monthly turnover Rs 50 lakh will have to mandatorily pay at least 1 percent of their GST liability in cash, instead of using input tax credits.
• The Centralised ‘Investment Clearance Cell’, under the proposed single window system, aimed at facilitating businesses through a one-stop digital platform, is planned to be launched with relevant Ministries and Departments and select States by April 15, 2021.
• Union Minister of state (I/C) for AYUSH and Minister of State for Defence Shripad Naik released a Konkani book Sutranivednachi sutra- ek anbav, by Dr Roopa Chari, which is published by Sanjana Publications
• The winners of the prestigious ICC Awards of the Decade were announced on 28th December 2020.The ICC Awards of The Decade recognise the best players across Cricket over the past 10 years.
• Eminent dance scholar and critic Sunil Kothari, passed away. He was 87.
• On December 26, 2020, Former Union Minister and senior AIADMK leader Kadambur M. R. Janardhanan passed away. He was 91.

Daily CA on Dec 27^th and 28^th  

• India’s first hot air balloon wildlife safari in a tiger reserve was launched in the world famous Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve by Madhya Pradesh forest minister Vijay Shah.
• Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has extended the validity of vehicular documents such as driving licenses (DLs), registration certificates (RCs) and Permits till 31st of March 2021 in the light of need to prevent the spread of Covid-19 Pandemic.
• Rajya Sabha MP RCP Singh was unanimously elected as the national president of the Janata Dal. This decision was taken at the party’s national executive meeting in Patna .
• On December 27, 2020, Union Home Minister Amit Shah will lay the foundation stone for seven major projects while two other projects will be inaugurated.
• Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur unveiled an 18 feet statue of former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee at the historic Ridge Maidan here on his 96th birth anniversary.
• The Myanmar Navy has officially commissioned the submarine INS Sindhuvir, which was handed over by the Indian Navy to the country in October 2020.
• The Centre for Economics and Business Research stated Indian economy will again overtake the UK to become the fifth largest economy in 2025 and race to the third spot by 2030.
• US’s plan to have the first nuclear reactor on the moon by the end of 2026.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the New Bhaupur-New Khurja section of Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor, EDFC through video conferencing.
• The Madhya Pradesh cabinet approved the Dharma Swatantrya (Religious Freedom) Bill 2020 . Under the provisions of the bill, forced conversion of a woman will be punishable for a term up to 10 years and minimum fine of Rs 50,000.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY) SEHAT scheme via video-conferencing to extend health insurance coverage to all residents of Jammu and Kashmir.
• Andhra Pradesh chief minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy launch of his government’s much-publicised programme, Navaratnalu-Pedalandariki Illu (Nine jewels – housing for all the poor), of providing house sites to 90 lakh poor people at Komarigiri village of U-Kothapalli block of East Godavari district.
• Nation’s leading public sector bank, Punjab National Bank (PNB),  introduced PNB e-Credit Card, a digital replica of a physical Credit Card. 
• The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) confirmed that 10 teams will take part in the Indian Premier League from 2022. The decision was taken in the BCCI AGM meeting in Ahmedabad.
• The International Cricket Council (ICC) announced the Men’s T20I and ODI teams of the decade  and named former India captain MS Dhoni as the leader of both sides.
• Anshu Malik has become the first wrestler of the country to finish on the podium position at the Individual Wrestling World Cup in Belgrade, Serbia.
• Former England cricketer Robin Jackman, played four test matches and 15 one-day internationals, has died, the International Cricket Council stated. He was 75.
• US wrestler Jon Huber, better known to fans as Brodie Lee or Luke Harper, has died aged 41.