09 December 2020: Daily Current Affairs & GK Update

International Anti-Corruption Day 2020: Observed On Dec 9

• The first International Anti-Corruption Day was celebrated across the world in the year 2005.
• The General Assembly of the United Nations adopted the convention against corruption on October 31, 2003.
• The UN-designated December 9 International Anti-Corruption Day in 2005
• The day intends to raise awareness on the importance of a corruption-free society
• International Anti-Corruption Day 2020: Theme – United Against Corruption
• The theme focuses on corruption as one of the biggest obstacles to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

International Day of Commemoration and Dignity of the Victims of the Crime of Genocide and of the Prevention of this Crime 2020: Dec 9

• In September 2015, the United Nations General Assembly established 9 December as the International Day of Commemoration and Dignity of the Victims of the Crime of Genocide and of the Prevention of this Crime.
• The 9th of December is the anniversary of the adoption of the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (the “Genocide Convention”).

Purpose of the day:

• The purpose of the day is to raise awareness of the Genocide Convention and its role in combating and preventing the crime of genocide, as defined in the Convention, and to commemorate and honor its victims.

NATIONAL CURRENT AFFAIRS

Gwalior, Orchha in UNESCO world heritage cities list: MP Govt

• The historical fort cities of Gwalior and Orchha in Madhya Pradesh have been included in the list of UNESCO’s world heritage cities under its urban landscape city program, according to the state government.
• Under the plan UNESCO will suggest the best measures and resources for the development of these places under the Historic Urban Landscape recommendations, the official said.

About Gwalior and Orchha

• Gwalior was established in the 9th century and ruled by Gurjar Pratihar Rajvansh, Tomar, Baghel Kachvaho, and Scindias.
• Orchha is popular for its temples and palaces and was the capital of the Bundela kingdom in the 16th century.

About UNESCO

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

INTERNATIONAL CURRENT AFFAIRS

Mount Everest is 8,848.86 meters tall, says Nepal and China after remeasurement

• The world’s highest peak is now taller by 86 centimeters, Nepal and China jointly announced after they remeasured Mt. Everest at 8,848.86 meters, over six decades after India conducted the previous measurement in 1954.
• The new height is 86 cms more than the previous measurement. According to the measurement done in 1954 by Survey of India, the height of Mount Everest is 8,848 meters.
• In 1955, the height of Mount Everest was measured at 8848 m (29,028 feet) by the Survey of India.

The UK becomes the first country to roll out Covid 19 Vaccine

• The United Kingdom will become the first country to roll out the Covid-19 vaccine. As per the government, the shots will be initially available at hospitals before distributing stocks to doctors’ clinics.
• Britain gave emergency use approval for the vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech.
• The National Health Service is giving top priority to vaccinating those above 80 years, frontline healthcare workers and care home staff and residents.
• Britain has ordered 4 crore doses of COVID Vaccine.

BANKING AND FINANCE CURRENT AFFAIRS

ICICI Bank launches iMobile Pay

• ICICI Bank has launched a new version of a mobile banking app, called iMobile pay, that offers payments and banking services to customers of any bank.

About iMobile pay

• T-Mobile Pay, the app offers a unique combination of facilities of a payment app  such as enabling customers to pay to any UPI (Unified Payments Interface) ID or merchants, pay bills, and do online recharges among others
• In addition to that, it offers instant banking services namely savings account, investments, loans, credit cards, gift cards, and travel cards, along with other banking services.
• Another prominent feature of iMobile Pay is ‘pay to contacts’ that enable users to automatically see the UPI IDs of their phone book contacts, registered on the ICICI Bank UPI ID network, of any payment app and digital wallet.

About ICICI Bank

• Headquarters – Mumbai, Maharashtra
• MD & CEO – Sandeep Bakhshi

Kotak AMC launches India’s first international REIT fund of funds

• On December 7, 2020, Kotak Mahindra Asset Management launched Kotak International REIT funds, which is India’s first diversified REIT mutual fund (MF).
• It is an open-ended mutual fund scheme that will invest in units of SMAM Asia REIT sub-Trust Fund.
• Kotak International REIT Fund of Funds Will Invest in units of Japan Based SMAM Asia REIT Sub Trust Fund.

ADB approves USD 2.5 mn technical assistance for advanced biofuel development in India

• The Manila Bades Multilateral lending agency Asian Development Bank (ADB) stated it has approved a USD 2.5 million (about Rs 18 crore) technical assistance to support advanced biofuel development in India.
• The grant is funded from the Asia Clean Energy Fund, financed by the Government of Japan under the Clean Energy Financing Partnership Facility, and the Republic of Korea’s e-Asia and Knowledge Partnership Fund.
• ADB stated the technical assistance (TA) will support the development of advanced bioethanol, bio-compressed natural gas, and biodiesel plants to demonstrate the best practices for suitable feedstock, efficient conversion technology, and sustainable biofuel value chain.

MOU

PwC, UNICEF & YuWaah to upskill 300 Mn people in India

• PwC India has announced the launch of a strategic collaboration with UNICEF and YuWaah (Generation Unlimited in India) to help bridge the digital gap and help upskill 300 million young people in India over the next 10 years.
• Kiren Rijiju, Minister of State (IC), Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, and Usha Sharma, Secretary, Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, were present during the launch.
• This announcement is part of PwC’s global collaboration with UNICEF in support of Generation Unlimited; a multi-sector partnership aimed at helping 1.8 billion young people transition from school to work by 2030.
• This partnership will focus on three facets to India’s digital empowerment for youngsters, which are education, skilling, and entrepreneurship.

About UNICEF

• UNICEF, also known as the United Nations Children’s Fund
• Headquarters – New York
• Head – Henrietta H. Fore
• Founded – 11 th December 1946

NTPC inks MoU with IIFM-Bhopal for Narmada Landscape Restoration Project

• NTPC, an integrated energy company, and a PSU under the Ministry of Power inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Indian Institute of Forest Management (IIFM), Bhopal, on 4 December 2020, to implement the Narmada Landscape Restoration project.
• The program is in partnership with a grant in aid from NTPC and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in equal proportions.
• Narmada Landscape Restoration project is a 4 year Project.
• The four-year project will be implemented in Khargone district of Madhya Pradesh, in the catchments of selected tributaries of the river Narmada between Omkareshwar and Maheshwar dams.
• IIFM, Bhopal, an autonomous institute under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) with the grant-in-aid from NTPC will be jointly implementing this project with Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI), an intergovernmental organization that promotes sustainable and inclusive economic growth in emerging economies.

Aim of the Project

• The project aims to establish an incentivization mechanism to maintain sustainable landscape practices in the Narmada basin. This is expected to positively impact the water quality and quantity in the Narmada tributaries.

SUMMITS AND CONFERENCE

PM Modi to give an inaugural address at virtual IMC 2020

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi will deliver the inaugural address at the virtual India Mobile Congress (IMC) 2020, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) stated.
• The fourth edition of the three-day telecom industry event will be held online for the first time due to the coronavirus pandemic.
• IMC 2020 is being organized by the department of telecommunications (DoT) and the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) and will be held from December 8-10.
• The title theme for IMC 2020 is Inclusive Innovation – Smart, Secure, Sustainable
• Vision: To promote Aatmanirbhar Bharat, digital inclusivity, sustainable development, entrepreneurship and innovation.” IMC 2020 also “aims to drive foreign and local investments, encourage Research and Development in the telecom and emerging technology sectors

AWARDS AND HONORS

Raj Kamal Jha wins Rabindranath Tagore Literary Prize 2020

• Writer and chief editor of The Indian Express, Raj Kamal Jha, has won the Rabindranath Tagore Literary Prize 2020 for his book, The City and the Sea.
• Due to this Covid pandemic, The winner will receive USD 5,000 along with a Rabindranath Tagore statuette announced online, Copenhagen, Denmark.
• Jha’s book, which is based on the December 2012 Nirbhaya rape and murder case, was chosen from ten shortlisted books including Amitav Ghosh’s Gun Island, Nirmala Govindarajan’s Taboo, and Ranjit Hoskote’s Jonahwhale.

About Rabindranath Tagore Literary Prize

• The Rabindranath Tagore Literary Prize was founded in 2018 by US-based publisher Bundalo as a platform for world peace, literature, art, education, and human rights. Last year, British Indian novelist Rana Dasgupta was awarded the literary prize for his novel Solo.

RANKING

India ranked 10th in the Climate Change Performance Index

• On December 7, 2020, Germanwatch has released the 16 th edition of CCPI.
• The list is prepared by assessing the performances of 57 countries and the European Union in four categories.
• GHG emissions – 40%
• Renewable Energy – 20%
• Energy Use – 20%
• Climate Policy – 20%
• These 57 Countries and European Union Collectively are responsible for about 90% of global GHG emissions.
• Though India slid one position down from ninth in 2019 to 10 th this year and scored 63.98 out of 100.
• No countries were ranked in the top 3 Positions, the top rank in the CCPI 2021 Index is the 4 th Rank.
• Sweden (4th) United Kingdom (5th), Denmark (6th), Morocco (7th), Norway (8th), Chile (9th) were among the top 10 rankers in the index.
• No country was doing enough to meet the goals of the 2015 Paris Agreement, according to the index. Six G20 countries were ranked among very low performers. The United States, with a rank of 61, was the worst performer.
• Paris Agreement commitment to keeping global warming increase below 2 degree Celsius by the end of the century and actually to make efforts to restrict it to 1.5 degree celsius rise.

About CCPI:

• The Climate Change Performance Index was first published in 2005 and an updated version is presented at the UN Climate Change Conference annually.

About Germanwatch:

• Headquarters – Bonn, Germany
• Founded – 1991
• Policy Director – Christoph Bals

SPORTS CURRENT AFFAIRS

Kiren Rijiju launches 2nd edition of Fit India Cyclothon

• Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju has launched the second edition of Fit India Cyclothon via social media.
• The mega cycling event started from 7 th Dec to till 31st December 2020 for 25 days.
• The event will be held across the country in each district and citizens can participate by registering on the Fit India website
• Participants can cycle daily a distance of their choice, and share their images and videos on social media.
• They may also tag @FitIndiaOff and use the hashtag – FitIndiaCyclothon and #NewIndiaFitIndia.

About Sports Authority

• Founder – Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports
• Founded – 1982
• Headquarters – Delhi
• Annual Budget – 500 Crores
• Sports Secretary Cum Director-General – Sandip Pradhan

OBITUARY

Veteran Hindi writer Madhukar Gangadhar passes away at 88

• Veteran Hindi writer Madhukar Gangadhar passed away in National Capital Delhi.
• Gangadhar was born in Bihar’s Purnia district on 7th January 1932
• He studied at Purnia Inter College and Patna University and had worked at Patna Akashwani and later also served as the director, AIR Allahabad.
• He also worked in the capacity of Deputy Director General (DDG), AIR at New Delhi.
• He also Served in All India Radio (AIR) for 39 years and then he became an independent writer based in Delhi.

Well, Known Works :

• Motivo Wale Hath
• Hina Ki Aankhen

Popular TV actress Divya Bhatnagar passes away at 34 years

• Popular TV actress Divya Bhatnagar passed away on Dec 7 in Mumbai.
• She acted in hit serials like Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata and Udaan.
• Apart from being a part of shows like YRKKH, the actress did shows like Tera Yaar Hoon Main, Divya did Udaan, Jeet Gayi Toh Piyaa Morre, and Vish.
• She was also part of the comedy show Tera Yaar Hoon Main.

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