06 December 2019 - Daily Current Affairs
1. UNICEF honors Priyanka Chopra with ‘Danny Kaye Humanitarian Award’
- Bollywood actress Priyanka Chopra has been awarded the Danny Kaye Humanitarian Award from UNICEF (United Nations Children's Fund) at the Snowflake Ball in New York.
- Fashion designer Diane von Furstenberg (UNICEF's first Goodwill Ambassador) handed over the award to the actor.
- Priyanka Chopra is quite active not only in the entertainment and fashion world but also in social work.
- Priyanka Chopra has been associated with UNICEF for the past 15 years as a Goodwill Ambassador.
2. Shilpa Shetty App” wins in 2019 Google Play Awards
- Bollywood actor Shilpa Shetty’s fitness and wellness application Shilpa Shetty App has been awarded Google Play’s Best Apps of 2019 in the ‘Personal Growth’ category.
- Google has announced the winners of Google Play's Best of 2019 awards selecting the best across apps, games, ebooks, movies, and audiobooks of the year.
- Best App of 2019 - Ablo
- Best Game of 2019 - Call of Duty: Mobile
- Google Play User's Choice 2019 Awards
- App: Video Editor - Glitch Video Effects
- Game: Call of Duty: Mobile
- Movie: Marvel Studios' Avengers Endgame
- Ebook: Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark
3. Roger Federer first living Swiss to have a coin minted in his honour
- Tennis legend Roger Federer (38-years) is set to become the first living person in Switzerland to have a coin minted in his honour.
- Swiss mint has announced that it would honour Roger Federer by releasing 20 Swiss francs (USD 20.06) silver commemorative coin in January 2020.
- This would be for the first time in its history of Swiss mint that it is dedicating a Swiss commemorative coin to a living person.
- This year's commemorative Swiss coins included the 50th anniversary of the moon landings, the Furka Pass and the roe deer.
Appointment
4. Upender Singh Rawat appointed as the next Ambassador of India to the Republic of Costa Rica
- Senior diplomat Upender Singh Rawat (Indian Foreign Service 1998 batch) has been concurrently accredited as the next Ambassador of India to the Republic of Costa Rica.
- Presently Mr Rawat is Ambassador of India to the Republic of Panama.
- Shri Anjani Kumar (IFS:2003) has been appointed as the next Ambassador of India to the Republic of Mali.
Science & Defence
5. ISRO set up a research Lab at Tiruchirappalli
- Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has set-up a Space Technology Incubation Centre (S-TIC) at the National Institute of Technology (NIT), Tiruchirappalli.
- The centre will work with ISRO on the technical problems at hand related to the future Space programmes and shall provide solutions.
- This S-TIC will cater to the southern region of India, including Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamilnadu, Telangana, the Union Territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry.
National Affairs
6. 3-day national conference of DGPs, IGPs begins in Pune
- A 3-day annual national conference of DGPs and IGPs has begun in Pune.
- The conference is to be held at two venues - Indian Institute of Science, Education and Research in Baner and the Centre for Police Research in Pashan.
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, heads of Central investigative and intelligence agencies, and paramilitary forces are also attending this conference.
- The theme of the conference this year is to promote scientific and forensics-based investigation as well as technology-enabled policing.
7. Govt sanctions Rs 100 cr to set up women help desks in police stations
- Union Home Ministry has sanctioned a sum 100 crore rupees from Nirbhaya Fund for setting up and strengthening of Women Help Desks in Police Stations of States and Union Territories (UT).
- The Help Desks would focus on making the Police Stations more women-friendly and approachable.
- They would be the first and single point of contact for any woman walking into a police station.
- Essentially, lady police officers would be deployed at these help desks.
- These help desks would have enlisted panel of experts like lawyers, psychologists and NGOs to facilitate legal aid, counselling, shelter, rehabilitation and training.
- Nirbhaya Fund was announced by the Finance Minister (then FM P. Chidambaram) in his 2013 budget speech, with Government contribution of Rs. 1000 Crores for empowerment, safety and security of women and girl children.
- The Fund is administered by the Department of Economic Affairs of the finance ministry.
8. Goa hosts 2nd edition of Startup India Global Venture Capital Summit 2019
- The Startup India Global Venture Capital Summit-2019 (2nd edition) has been started in Goa for Fund Managers and Limited Partners of Top Global Venture Capital Firms.
- The theme for Startup India Global Venture Capital Summit 2019 ‘India Opportunity: Investing in tomorrow together’.
- The event will be organized by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), in partnership with Government of Goa.
- The key objectives of the Summit are to show India’s opportunity in the sectors of E-Mobility, FinTech, MedTech, Enterprise Software, EdTech, Genomics and Lifesciences.
9. Piyush Goyal inaugurates the third edition of National Public Procurement Conclave
- The Union Minister Piyush Goyal has inaugurated the third edition of National Public Procurement Conclave in New Delhi.
- The two-day conclave has been organized by Government e-Marketplace (GeM) in association with Confederation of Indian Industry.
- GeM rests on the three pillars of openness, fairness and inclusiveness and is a symbol of a truly transparent e-marketplace.
- During this conclave, a road map for the future of GeM will be put in place that will unify all government procurement, across all Ministries and Departments.
Banking & Finance
10. Fifteenth Finance Commission submits the report to President
- Fifteenth Finance Commission has submitted its report for 2020-21 to President Ram Nath Kovind.
- Chairman of the Commission N K Singh, Members Ajay Narayan Jha, Ashok Lahiri, Ramesh Chand, Anoop Singh and Secretary Arvind Mehta called on the President and submitted the report for further necessary action.
- The Finance Commission was constituted by the President on 27th of November 2017 to make recommendations for a period of five years (from 1st April 2020 to 31 March 2025).
11. Country's first aqua lab to be set up in Dehradun
- State forest minister Shri Harak Singh Rawat laid the foundation stone of India’s first Ganga centralised aqua lab at Wildlife Institute of India (WII) Dehradun, Uttarakhand.
- The aqua labs will be set up under the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG).
- Tributaries of river Ganga such as Gomti, Betwa, Kosi will be scientifically studied and their biological components will be preserved in the lab.
Obituaries
12. Writer DC Fontana passes away
- Dorothy Catherine "DC Fontana’ (80-years) the first female writer for 'Star Trek' passed away after battling with a brief illness.
- The writer penned numerous stories for the original Star Trek' TV series and developed one of its signature characters, Spock.
- She wrote 1967's 'Journey to Babel', which introduced Spock's father Sarek and mother, Amanda.
13. Nation pays homage to Dr BR Ambedkar on his 64th Mahaparinirvan Diwas
- Today, President Ram Nath Kovind paid floral tributes to Bharat Ratna Dr BR Ambedkar on his 64th Mahaparinirvan Diwas at his Statue in Parliament House.
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi also paid floral tribute at Ambedkar's statue.
- Dr Ambedkar (also known as the Father of the Indian Constitution) died on 6th December 1956.
- Parinirvan is one of the major principles and goals of Buddhism.
- As per the Buddhist text (i.e. Mahaparinibbana Sutta) the death of Lord Buddha at the age of 80 is considered as the original ‘Mahaparinirvan’.
Banking & Finance
14. Razorpay recognized as 'Most Innovative Payment Start-Up' At IFTA 2019
- Razorpay, the neo-banking platform, successfully added three more accolades to its bouquet at the India FinTech Awards (IFTA) 2019, organised by India Fintech Forum in association with National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI).
- The company won awards for the 'Most Innovative Payment Start-up' and 'Most Innovative Fintech Product' for its neo-banking product, RazorpayX.
- The CEO and Co-founder, Harshil Mathur was also honoured at the event as the 'Fintech Leader of the Year'.
- IFTA is a platform that celebrates and recognises the leaders and organizations for their contribution to the payments and technology domain.
15. HDFC ERGO launches my: health Woman Suraksha policy
- HDFC ERGO General Insurance Company has launched the 'my: health Woman Suraksha' policy.
- My: health Woman Suraksha policy is specially designed to cover women against numerous illnesses and contingencies they may face during their lifetime thereby providing financial aid in case of medical contingencies.
- This policy will cover various types of cancers and related surgeries, pregnancy and neonatal (newborn baby) complications and assaults and burns.
- my: health Woman Suraksha intends to ensure the overall well-being of women and offers wellness benefits under my: health mobile application of HDFC ERGO.
- It also provides counselling on stress management, pregnancy care, work-life balance, etc which is much needed by today's new age women.
- This policy is offered to women between 18-65 years of age and offers a sum insured ranging from Rs 1 lakh to 1 crore.
16. RBI mulling to amend regulatory guidelines for UCBs
- The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said that it is mulling to amend regulatory guidelines for primary Urban Co-operative Banks (UCBs).
- According to RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das, the guidelines would primarily relate to exposure norms for single and group/interconnected borrowers, promotion of financial inclusion and priority sector lending.
- These measures are expected to strengthen the resilience and sustainability of UCBs and protect the interest of depositors.
- RBI has also decided to bring UCBs with assets of 500 crore rupees and above under the Central Repository of Information on Large Credits - CRILC reporting framework.
- This will help in strengthening off-site supervision and early recognition of financial distress.
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Read Daily GK Update of the 5th December 2019 here.
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