Current Affairs 19th December 2020| Current Affairs News

 CURRENT AFFAIRS: DAYS 

Goa Liberation Day: December 19

• Goa Liberation Day is observed on December 19 every year in India.
• It marks the day Indian armed forces freed Goa in 1961 following 450 years of Portuguese rule.
• Goa Liberation Day is marked by an abundance of events and festivities in Goa though this time because of the pandemic the celebrations are expected to be muted.
• A torchlight procession is ignited from three different locations in the state, eventually all meeting at the Azad Maidan.

About Goa Liberation Day:

• The Portuguese colonised several parts of India in 1510 but by the end of the 19th-century Portuguese colonies in India were limited to Goa, Daman, Diu, Dadra, Nagar Haveli and Anjediva Island.
• The Goa liberation movement, which sought to end Portuguese colonial rule in Goa, started off with small scale revolts.
• On August 15, 1947, when India gained its Independence, Goa was still under the Portuguese rule.
• The Portuguese refused to give up their hold over Goa and other Indian territories. Following a myriad of unsuccessful negotiations and diplomatic efforts with the Portuguese, the former prime minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru, decided that military intervention was the only option.
• The 36-hour military operation, conducted from December 18, 1961, was code-named ‘Operation Vijay’ meaning ‘Operation Victory,’ and involved attacks by the Indian Navy, Indian Air Force and Indian Army.

About Goa:

• Governor : Bhagat Singh Koshyari
• Capital : Panaji

CURRENT AFFAIRS: NATIONAL NEWS

On 125th birth anniversary of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, Ministry dedicates a Museum in Kolkata

• To commemorate Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose’s 125th birth anniversary on 23rd January, the Union Culture Ministry was planning a museum in Kolkata.
• The government has also decided to expand the current museum of Netaji at Red Fort in Delhi.
• Centre is considering reprinting books written by Subash Chandrs Bose, along with fellowships for students.
• Historical documents, clippings, photos, videos, memorabilia and other material is available with the families of Bose as well as those of INA members which would be brought together at one place for display and dissemination.

About Union Culture Ministry:

• Minister of Culture : Prahlad Singh Patel
• Headquarters : New Delhi

Government Finalises GPS based Technology toll collection across India

• Union Minister of Road Transport & Highways and MSMEs Nitin Gadkari has stated that the Government has finalised GPS-based(Global Positioning System) technology toll collection to ensure seamless movement of vehicles across the country.
• That will ensure India becomes ‘toll booth free’ in the next two years.
• In this, the toll amount will be deducted directly from the bank account based on the movement of vehicles.
• And then the Government will come up with some plan to install GPS technology in old vehicles.

About MSME:

• MSME : Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises
• Headquarters : New Delhi
• Founded : 2007
• The Micro Small and Medium Enterprises have been defined under MSME Act, 2006. According to the Act, MSME have been broadly classified in two categories:

1. Enterprises engaged in the manufacturing and production of goods pertaining to any industry;
2. Enterprises engaged in providing or rendering services

Nehru Zoo gets ISO certification from UK

• The Nehru Zoological Park in Hyderabad has become the first zoo in the country to receive the ISO 9001:2015 Quality Management Standards Certification from the Accreditation Services for Certification Bodies (ASCB), UK.
• In this achievement, the Nehru Zoological Park, Hyderabad has also become the first zoo in the country to get this certificate.
• This was presented to Telangana Forests Minister Indra Karan Reddy.
• HYM International Certifications, Accredited by ASCB(UK) recently conducted assessment of the Zoo for ISO 9001:2015 Certifications, and expressed satisfaction and happiness in the standards being followed in Nehru Zoological Park in the area of sanitation, food processing, animal breeding, Zoo Hospital, animal care, hygiene maintenance and establishment.

About ASCB:

• ASCB is an international accrediting organisation that assesses and verifies Certification and Inspection Bodies to perform their QA activities. ASCB operates in 35 countries.

Odisha CM launches Pareshram portal

• Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik launched ‘Pareshram’ Portal along with 22 online services of Labour and Employees State Insurance Department.
• The Chief Minister hoped that the portal and the online services shall be helpful in ease of doing business and contribute significantly to the industrial development of the state.

Key features of ‘PAReSHRAM’ Portal

• The ‘PAReSHRAM’ portal is the foundation of the 5-T initiative and this will have all the information regarding different labour laws, to help the industries, commercial organisations, small entrepreneurs and the general public.
• Portal will provide 52 types of services

About Odisha : 

• Chief Minister : Naveen Patnaik
• Capital : Bhubaneswar.
• Governor : Ganeshi Lal

Nitin Gadkari to inaugurate and lay foundation stone for 33 highway projects in Karnataka

• Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari will inaugurate and lay the foundation stone for 33 highway projects in Karnataka.
• The project worth 11 thousand crore rupees, has a road length of nearly 1200 kilometers.
• Paving the way for development of Karnataka, these roads will enhance better connectivity, convenience and economic growth in the State.

About Karnataka:

• Chief Minister : S. Yediyurappa
• Capital : Bangalore
• Governor : Vajubhai Vala

CURRENT AFFAIRS: INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Singapore’s Foodie ‘Hawker’ Culture Given UNESCO Recognition

• Singapore’s tradition of communal dining at hawker centres, has been recognised by UNESCO for its cultural significance.
• The United Nations’ cultural agency announced  it had added the city-state’s hawker culture to its Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
• Singapore’s hawker centres were set up to house former street vendors, or “hawkers” in an effort to clean up the island in the 1970.
• Singapore must submit a report every six years to UNESCO, showing the efforts made to safeguarding and promoting its hawker culture.

About UNESCO: 

• Headquarters : Paris, France
• Head : Audrey Azoulay
• Founded : 16 November 1945

CURRENT AFFAIRS: APPOINTMENTS 

NHAI chairman Sukhbir Singh Sandhu gets second extension of six months

• National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) chairman Sukhbir Singh Sandhu has received a six months extension in his central deputation. He was due to end his second extension term on January 21 next year.
• The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the extension in central deputation tenure of Sandhu, chairman, NHAI, Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, for a period of six months beyond January 21, 2021, i.e. up to July 21, 2021.
• Sandhu, a 1988-batch IAS officer of Uttarakhand cadre, was to retire on January 21, 2021.

About National Highways Authority of India :

• Founded : 1988
• Headquarters : New Delhi
• Chairperson : Sanjeev ranjan

CURRENT AFFAIRS: BANKING & FINANCE

World Bank Comes Out with Corrected Doing Business Rankings

• Coming out with corrected Doing Business rankings following review of data irregularities, the World Bank has announced that China’s ranking would have been lower by seven notches in the index for 2018.
• The World Bank has corrected the Doing Business rankings of Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Azerbaijan.
• The ranking of Azerbaijan has been improved to 28 from 34.
• As per the ‘Doing Business’ 2020 report, India had jumped 14 places to the 63rd position on the ease of doing business ranking.
• India has improved its rank by 79 positions in five years (2014-19).

About World Bank:

• President : David Malpass
• Headquarters : Washington DC, United States

CURRENT AFFAIRS: ECONOMY NEWS

ICRA Says India’s GDP To Contract 7.8% In FY21

• Domestic rating agency ICRA Ratings expects the technical recession in the country’s economy to end in the fourth quarter of the current fiscal, limiting the contraction to 7.8% in the financial year 2021.
• Earlier this rate was 11 percent.
• In the second quarter of financial year 2021, GDP contracted 7.5% as against a decline of 23.9% in the April-June quarter.

About ICRA:

• CEO : N. Sivaraman
• Headquarters : India
• Founded : 1991

CURRENT AFFAIRS: DEFENCE NEWS

Indian Navy to conduct coordinated patrol with Indonesian Navy on December 17-18

• The 35th edition of India-Indonesia Coordinated Patrol (IND-INDO CORPAT) between the Indian Navy and the Indonesian Navy will be conducted between December 17 and 18.
• Indian Naval Ship (INS) Kulish, an indigenously built missile corvette along with P8I Maritime Patrol Aircraft (MPA) will undertake coordinated patrol with Indonesian Naval Ship KRI Cut Nyak Dien, a Kapitan Pattimura (Parchim I) class corvette and an MPA of the Indonesian Navy.
• As part of Government of India’s vision of ‘Sagar’ (Security And Growth for All in the Region), the Indian Navy has been proactively engaging with countries in the Indian Ocean Region for coordinated patrols, cooperation in EEZ surveillance, passage exercises and bilateral/multilateral exercises, towards enhancing regional maritime security.
• The two navies have been carrying out CORPAT along their International Maritime Boundary Line since 2002, with the aim of ensuring safety and security of shipping and international trade in the region.
• CORPATs build up understanding and interoperability between navies and facilitate institution of measures to prevent and suppress Illegal Unreported Unregulated (IUU) fishing, drug trafficking, maritime terrorism, armed robbery and piracy.

About Indian Navy:

• Headquarters : New Delhi
• Comes under Ministry of Defence
• Vice Chief of the Naval Staff (VCNS) : Vice Admiral G.Ashok Kumar
• Chief of the Naval Staff (CNS) :Admiral Karambir Singh
• Deputy Chief of the Naval Staff (DCNS) : Vice Admiral M.S Pawar
• Commander in chief : Ram Nath Kovind

Rajnath Singh hands over DRDO Systems

• Defence Minister Rajnath Singh handed over three indigenously developed systems to Army, Navy and Air Force at a function held in Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) Bhawan.
• That three systems are

1. Indian Maritime Situational Awareness System (IMSAS) – Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Karambir Singh
2. ASTRA Mk-I Missile – Air Chief Marshal Rakesh Kumar Singh Bhadauria
3. Border Surveillance System (BOSS) – Chief of Army Staff General M M Naravane.

• IMSAS, Astra Mk-1, BOSS have been designed and developed DRDO only.
• Astra Mk – 1 is the first Indigenously developed beyond visual range missile.

About DRDO:

• DRDO Comes under Ministry of Defence
• Founded : 1958
• Headquarters : New Delhi

CURRENT AFFAIRS: AWARDS 

SAIL Gets Golden Peacock Environment Management Award 2020

• Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) has been awarded with the prestigious Golden Peacock Environment Management Award for the year 2020 in the Steel Sector by the Institute of Directors.
• The award was conferred on SAIL in a virtual award presentation ceremony held on December 15, 2020.
• SAIL has been the winner of this award for successive two years and this bears testimony to the efforts made by the company for sustainable and environmentally responsible steel making.
• This award is one of the most coveted awards in the category.
• Considering various environmental issues leading to global warming and climate change, the award encourages corporates to enhance their environmental performance and to compete with peers to set benchmarks.

About SAIL:

• Chairman : Anil Kumar Chaudhary
• Headquarters : New Delhi
• Founded : 19 January 1954

Ratan Tata to be honoured with Global Visionary of Sustainable Business and Peace award

• The chairman emeritus of the Tata group Ratan Tatawill be honoured with the Global Visionary of Sustainable Business and Peace award during the launch of the Federation of Indo-Israel Chamber of Commerce’s international chapter in Dubai on December 21.
• The opening of the Federation of Indo-Israel Chamber of Commerce”s international chapter in Dubai is the first such initiative aiming at tapping business opportunities together in other countries, and developing trilateral collaborations.
• He has generously contributed towards promoting innovation that supports sustainability and has been a promoter of peace in the region, including with the Palestinians.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: AGREEMENTS 

ADB and India sign $300 million loan to upgrade power projects in Uttar Pradesh

• The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Government of India signed a $300 million loan to upgrade rural power distribution networks to provide reliable electricity supply to consumers in the state of Uttar Pradesh.
• This is the first tranche of the loan for the Uttar Pradesh Power Distribution Network Rehabilitation Project.
• This upgrade helps to provide reliable electricity supply to consumers in the state.

About the Project:

• Overall, the $430 million multi-tranche financing facility (MFF) has been approved for the project constituting two tranches.
• The project envisages conversion of 65,000 kilometers (km) of rural low-voltage distribution lines from bare conductors to aerial bundle conductors (ABC) to create a robust distribution network that will benefit an estimated 70 million people in 46,000 villages.

About Asian Development Bank (ADB) :

• Headquarters : Mandaluyong, Philippines
• President : Masatsugu Asakawa
• Founded : 19 December 1966

CURRENT AFFAIRS: SPORTS 

Robert Lewandowski and Lucy Bronze win FIFA player of the year awards

• The Best FIFA Football Awards 2020 was announced on 17th December 2020, during a virtual event held at
• The Poland national team captain Robert Lewandowski has been named The Best FIFA Men’s Player for 2020. And he has won the title for the first time in his career.
• Lucy Bronze, plays as a right-back for the English club Manchester City and the England national team, bagged The Best FIFA Women’s Player for 2020.

The Best FIFA Awards 2020

• The Best FIFA Men’s Coach: Jurgen Klopp (Liverpool)
• The Best FIFA Women’s Goalkeeper: Sarah Bouhaddi (France/Olympique Lyonnais)
• The Best FIFA Men’s Goalkeeper: Manuel Neuer (Germany/Bayern Munich)
• The Best FIFA Men’s Player: Robert Lewandowski (Poland/Bayern Munich)
• The Best FIFA Women’s Player: Lucy Bronze (England/Olympique Lyonnais/Manchester City)
• The Best FIFA Women’s Coach: Sarina Wiegman (Netherlands)
• FIFA Fair Play Award: Mattia Agnese (Italy)
• FIFA Puskas Award: Son Heung-min (South Korea/Tottenham)
• FIFA Fan Award: Marivaldo Francisco da Silva (Brazil)

About FIFA:

• Headquarters : Zurich, Switzerland
• Founded : 21 st May, 1904, Paris

Yogasana gets formal recognition as a competitive sport- AYUSH Ministry

• The Ministry of AYUSH and Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports announced the formal recognition of Yogasana as a Competitive Sport.
• Union Minister of State for AYUSH Shripad Naik, and the Union Minister of State for Youth Affairs &Sports Kiren Rijjju announced this at a joint press conference.
• The government’s success in getting the United Nations to declare June 21 officially as International Yoga Day was viewed as a significant milestone in its charge to ignite both national and global interest in the practice.
• Between 2014 and 2019, the Centre spent approximately Rs 140 crore on Yoga Day with the fifth International Yoga Day event held in Ranchi in 2019, drawing a crowd of over 30,000
• Purpose: The move was made to encourage yoga, spread awareness about its benefits and to help improve the physical and mental wealth of the people.

About Ministry of Ayush: 

• Headquarters : New Delhi
• Founded : 9 November 2014

Daily CA on Dec 17th and 18th

• The International Migrants Day is observed on 18 December every year. The theme of International Migrants Day 2020 : ‘Reimagining Human Mobility’.
• The Minorities Rights Day is observed in India every year on December 18. The Minorities Rights Day is celebrated by the National Commission for Minorities (NCM).
• World Arabic Language Day is celebrated every year on 18 December since 2012.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone of the world’s largest renewable solar and wind energy 30,000 megawatts (MW) Ultra Mega Hybrid Park in Gujarat’s Kutch.
• The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) has set up a dedicated Space Situational Awareness (SSA) Control Centre, at its ISTRAC campus at Peenya, Bangalore.
• The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved assistance of about Rs. 3,500 crore (US$ 476.10 million) for sugarcane farmers (Ganna Kisan).
• Quality Council of India (QCI) at the behest of the FSSAI has come out with a Scheme for approval of Hygiene Rating Audit Agencies to scale up Hygiene Rating by increasing the number of recognised Hygiene Rating Audit Agencies in the country.
• India and Bangladesh reopened the 55 years old Chilahati-Haldibari rail link between the two nations. The inauguration took place during a virtual bilateral summit between PM Modi and PM Sheikh Hasina on December 17, 2020.
• CCEA (Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs), chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has approved the Revised Cost Estimate (RCE) of North Eastern Region Power System Improvement Project (NERPSIP) at an estimated cost of Rs 6,700 crore
• British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has invited India to attend the G7 Summit next year.
• India and Bangladesh signed seven MoUs and agreements during the virtual summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
• External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar launched a dedicated economic diplomacy website.
• Aim : To provide critical and relevant information on major economic indicators, central and state government policy updates as well as the latest business news and trade data.
• The Government of India and New Development Bank signed a loan agreement for one thousand million dollars to provide support to Aatma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyan through MGNREGA Scheme.
• Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) meeting, headed by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, approved proposals to procure equipment worth Rs 27,000 crore from the domestic industry.
• Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari stated the National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP), infrastructure projects worth ₹ 44 lakh crore are under implementation.
• AICTE has decided to release the instalment of Rs 20,000 as maintenance allowance under Prime Minister’s Special Scholarship Scheme (PMSSS) for the students of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.
• Prasar Bharati CEO Shashi Shekhar Vempati has been elected as the Vice President of Asia Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU), one of the largest broadcasting associations in the world.
• Indian Coast Guard (ICG) ship Sujeet, the second in the series of five Offshore Patrol Vessel (OPV) built by Goa Shipyard Limited, will be commissioned at Goa on December 15.
• India’s GDP growth is expected to be at (-) 7.4 per cent in FY21 on better than projected recovery, stated a SBI research report, upgrading its earlier forecast of (-) 10.9 per cent.
• The Government of India and the World Bank have signed a 400 million dollar project to protect India’s poor and vulnerable from the impact of COVID-19.
• India has been ranked 131 among 189 countries in the 2020 human development index, according to a report released by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
• Doha will host the 2030 Asian Games and rival Riyadh will stage the event in 2034 following a vote by the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) General Assembly in
• Former BJP MP, Satya Dev Singh, one of the senior-most leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party, has passed away. He was 75.

Daily CA on Dec 19th

• Goa Liberation Day is observed on December 19 every year in India
• To commemorate Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose’s 125th birth anniversary on 23rd January, the Union Culture Ministry was planning a museum in Kolkata.
• Union Minister of Road Transport & Highways and MSMEs Nitin Gadkari has stated that the Government has finalised GPS-based(Global Positioning System) technology toll collection to ensure seamless movement of vehicles across the country.
• The Nehru Zoological Park in Hyderabad has become the first zoo in the country to receive the ISO 9001:2015 Quality Management Standards Certification from the Accreditation Services for Certification Bodies (ASCB), UK.
• The Nehru Zoological Park, Hyderabad has also become the first zoo in the country to get ISO certificate.
• Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik launched ‘Pareshram’ Portal along with 22 online services of Labour and Employees State Insurance Department.
• Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari will inaugurate and lay the foundation stone for 33 highway projects in Karnataka.
• Singapore’s tradition of communal dining at hawker centres, has been recognised by UNESCO for its cultural significance.
• National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) chairman Sukhbir Singh Sandhu has received a six months extension in his central deputation. He was due to end his second extension term on January 21 next year.
• Coming out with corrected Doing Business rankings following review of data irregularities, the World Bank has announced that China’s ranking would have been lower by seven notches in the index for 2018.
• Domestic rating agency ICRA Ratings expects the technical recession in the country’s economy to end in the fourth quarter of the current fiscal, limiting the contraction to 8% in the financial year 2021.
• The 35th edition of India-Indonesia Coordinated Patrol (IND-INDO CORPAT) between the Indian Navy and the Indonesian Navy will be conducted between December 17 and 18.
• Defence Minister Rajnath Singh handed over three indigenously developed systems to Army, Navy and Air Force at a function held in Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) Bhawan.
• Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) has been awarded with the prestigious Golden Peacock Environment Management Award for the year 2020 in the Steel Sector by the Institute of Directors.
• The chairman emeritus of the Tata group Ratan Tata will be honoured with the Global Visionary of Sustainable Business and Peace award during the launch of the Federation of Indo-Israel Chamber of Commerce’s international chapter in Dubai on December 21.
• The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Government of India signed a $300 million loan to upgrade rural power distribution networks to provide reliable electricity supply to consumers in the state of Uttar Pradesh.
• The Best FIFA Football Awards 2020 was announced on 17th December 2020, during a virtual event held at
• The Ministry of AYUSH and Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports announced the formal recognition of Yogasana as a Competitive Sport.