13-14 October 2019 - Daily Current Affairs
1. Chandi Prasad Bhatt to get Indira Gandhi award for national integration
- The 31st Indira Gandhi Award for National Integration for the years 2017 & 2018 will be awarded to Chandi Prasad Bhatt (85-years), the pioneer of the ‘Chipko Movement’.
- The award will be presented to Mr. Bhatt for his services in promoting and preserving the national integration.
- Chandi Prasad Bhatt has received the Ramon Magsaysay Award (1982), Padma Shri (in 1986), Padma Bhushan (2005) and the Gandhi Peace Prize (in 2013).
- The award will be given to Mr. Bhatt by the Congress President Sonia Gandhi on 31st October 2019 (death anniversary of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi) in a function at Jawahar Bhawan.
2. Indian nun Mariam Thresia, four others declared Saints
- Indian nun Mariam Thresia (from Kerala) and four others were declared Saints by Pope Francis in a grand ceremony at St Peter’s Square, Vatican City.
- Mariam Thresia was canonised along with John Henry Newman (English Cardinal), Marguerite Bays (Swiss laywoman), Dulce Lopes (Brazilian Sister) and Giuseppina Vannini (Italian Sister).
- Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan led the Indian delegation at the ceremony.
- Mariam Thresia founded the Congregation of the Sisters of the Holy Family in Thrissur in May 1914.
- Sister Thresia (in her short lifespan of 50 years) worked for the good of humanity becoming a noble example for the entire world.
Important Days
3. 13th October: International Day for Disaster Reduction
- International Day for Disaster Reduction is being observed annually on 13th October to encourages every citizen and government to take part in building more disaster-resilient communities and nations.
- The 2019 Theme: ‘Reduce disaster damage to critical infrastructure and disruption of basic services’.
- This includes disaster prevention, mitigation and preparedness.
- The International Day for Disaster Reduction was started in 1989, after a call by the United Nations General Assembly for a day to promote a global culture of risk-awareness and disaster reduction.
Banking & Finance
4. World Bank cuts growth forecast to 6% from 7.5%
- As per reports on South Asia, The World Bank (WB) has sharply lowered India's economic growth projection for FY 20 to 6%. (earlier estimate -7.5%).
- The report identified softening consumption due to slow growth in rural incomes, domestic demand and credit from NBFCs as a key challenge.
- Structural factors behind the weak investment were the other concern flagged by the World Bank.
- Bangladesh (this fiscal year-7.2%) has become the second-fastest growing economy in South Asia after Bhutan.
| Major credit rating agencies | GDP growth (now) | GDP growth (earlier) |
| Moody’s | 5.8 | 6.8 |
| OECD | 5.9 | 7.2 |
| World Bank | 6.0 | 7.5 |
| RBI | 6.1 | 7.2 |
| ADB | 6.5 | 7.2 |
- A credit rating agency rate a debtor's ability to pay back debt by making timely principal and interest payments and the likelihood of default.
National Affairs
5. Netherlands King Willem-Alexander, Queen Maxima arrive in New Delhi
- The Netherlands King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima arrived in New Delhi on a five-day visit to India.
- King Willem-Alexander's trip will be his first state visit to India, following his ascension to the throne in 2013.
- The King and Queen will visit New Delhi, Mumbai and Kerala during their visit.
- The visit is expected to boost economic and political cooperation between the two countries.
6. India, ADB sign agreement for road connectivity in Rajasthan
- India and Asian Development Bank (ADB) have signed 190-Million-dollar loan agreement for improving road connectivity in Rajasthan.
- According to the Finance Ministry, the agreement was signed to upgrade 754 kilometres of state highways which will benefit about 26 million people in 14 districts of Rajasthan.
- The project provides for constructing more than 200 bus stops and 2 kilometres of raised sidewalk on project roads for the benefit of commuters and pedestrians, particularly women and children.
International Affairs
7. Super Typhoon ‘Hagibis’ hits Japan
- Typhoon 'Hagibis' triggered floods and landslides as it battered Japan with wind speeds of 225km/h.
- More than 100 people were injured across the country after typhoon Hagibis made landfall on Japan's main island of Honshu.
- Bullet trains were also seen engulfed by floodwater at East Japan Railway Co's Railyard near Nagano Station.
- Now, the typhoon has weakened to an extra-tropical cyclone off Japan's northeastern coast.
8. ‘SARAS Aajeevika’ Mela underway at India Gate Lawns in New Delhi
- The SARAS Aajeevika Mela (organised by the Ministry of Rural Development) is underway at India Gate Lawns in New Delhi (till 23rd October 2019).
- It was formally inaugurated by Rural Development Minister Narendra Singh Tomar.
- The objective of this Mela to bring the rural women Self Help Groups formed with the support of Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana-National Rural Livelihoods Mission, under one platform to showcase their skills, sell their products and help them build linkages with bulk buyers.
- Rural SHG craftswomen from 29 States and UTs will show-case a varied range of products like handicrafts, handlooms, natural food products and a food court with regional cuisines.
9. Mobile App, ‘mHariyali’ Launched for ‘Environment Protection in Government Colonies’
- Minister of State for Housing & Urban Affairs Shri Hardeep S Puri has launched the mobile app, ‘mHariyali’ to encourage Public engagement in planting trees and other such Green drives.
- Now, People can upload information/photos of any plantation done by them, which is linked to the app and will be displayed on the website www.epgc.gov.in.
- The App provides for automatic geotagging of plants.
- This app will also enable nodal officers to periodically monitor the plantation.
10. PM Modi launches commemorative stamp to honour Marshal of IAF Arjan Singh
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi has released a commemorative stamp in honour of Marshal of the Indian Air Force late Arjan Singh.
- Arjan Singh (Chief of Air Staff - August 1964 to July 1969) is an icon of Indian military history and the best remembered for providing excellent leadership to a young IAF during the 1965 war.
- In January 2002, Government of India designated him as the Marshal of the Air Force.
- Mr. Singh remains the only officer of the IAF to be given a Five-Star rank.
Banking & Finance
11. GeM signs MoU with Union Bank of India (UBI)
- Government e-Marketplace (GeM) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Union Bank of India (UBI).
- Through this partnership, UBI will be able to offer an array of services including transfer of funds through GeM Pool Accounts (GPA), advising of Performance Bank Guarantees (e-PBG) and Earnest Money Deposit (EMD) to the registered users on the GeM portal.
- The MoU will facilitate a cashless, paperless and transparent payment system on the portal and will create an efficient procurement system for government entities.
- Government e-Marketplace (GeM) is an initiative of the Government of India offering one-stop platform facilitating online procurement of common use goods and services required by various government departments, organisations, Public Sector Units.
Books & Author
12. Bill Gates’s new book on climate change to be released in 2020
- UK-based publishing house Allen Lane has announced, American philanthropist Bill Gates’ (founder of Microsoft Corporation) will release a new book titled ‘How to Avoid a Climate Disaster: The Solutions We Have and the Breakthroughs We Need’.
- The book will be released in June 2020.
- Gates will explain why he cares so deeply about climate change and what makes him optimistic that the world can prevent the worst impacts of the climate crisis.
- The author’s interest in climate change is a natural outgrowth of the efforts made by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to reduce poverty and disease.
Sports
13. Dutch Open: Lakshya Sen wins maiden BWF World Tour title
- Rising Indian shuttler Lakshya Sen (18-year-old from Almora) clinched his maiden BMF World Tour title by winning the Dutch Open men’s singles at Almere in the Netherlands.
- Lakshya defeated Japan’s Yusuke Onodera 15-21,21-14,21-15 in the final.
- The Dutch Open is a BWF World Tour Super 100 tournament.
- Earlier, Lakshya had won the Belgian Open, Asian Junior Championships, a silver medal at Youth Olympic Gamers and a bronze medal at the world Junior Championship 2018.
- The 2019 Dutch Open was a badminton tournament which took place at Topsportcentrum in Almere, Netherlands.
- The total prize money for this tournament was USD 75,000.
14. Simone Biles breaks the record for most world medals won by any gymnast
- American artistic gymnast Simone Biles (22-years) captures all-time medal record at the World Gymnastics Championship.
- Biles surpassed Belarusian Vitaly Scherbo's record 23 world medals (won in the 1990s), winning “her 24th and 25th world medals (both gold) at the World Championship competition in Stuttgart.
- Now, Simone Biles holds the record for the most World Championship medals (25), as well as the most gold medals (19) in World Championship history for an athlete of any gender.
15. Dutee Chand breaks her own national record
- Star sprinter Dutee Chand (23-years) smashed her own national record in the women’s 100 m semi-finals at the National Open Athletics Championships in Ranchi.
- She surpassed her previous timing of 11.26 second (clocking -11.22 seconds) which she had set at the Asian Championships in April this year.
- Dutee clocked 11.25 seconds in the final to claim the gold, leaving Archana Suseendran and Himashree Roy behind.
16. Manju Rani settles for silver medal in World Women's Boxing C'ships
- Sixth-seeded Manju Rani settled for silver medal in World Women's Boxing Championships at Ulan-Ude in Russia.
- Russian Ekaterina Paltceva defeated Rani 4 -1 in 48 kilograms category in the final match of the tournament.
17. Kings XI Punjab appoints Anil Kumble head coach for IPL season 2020
- Former India leg-spinner Anil Kumble (48-year) has been appointed the head coach of the Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Kings XI Punjab for the 2020 edition.
- Kumble is also being put in charge of "all cricket-related affairs" of the team for the foreseeable future, co-owner of the franchise Mohit Burman has confirmed.
- The appointment makes Kumble the only Indian coach in the IPL.
- Earlier, Kumble served as a mentor for the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), whom he also led to the IPL final in 2009, as captain.
18. Kenya's Eliud Kipchoge becomes first to run the marathon in under two hours
- Kenya's Eliud Kipchoge (34-years) has successfully completed the first-ever marathon under two hours in Vienna’s (Austrian capital).
- Eliud Kipchoge (Olympic marathon champion and world record holder) completed a course around Vienna's Prater Park in 1 hour 59 minutes and 40 seconds (42- kilometres).
- During the race, Kipchoge followed behind a car and was assisted by an army of 30 pacemakers.
- Kipchoge has won 10 of his 11 marathons, holds the official world record of 2:01:39 since shattering the previous best mark by 78 seconds in Berlin last year.
