GK Update 25th & 26th December 2020

1. Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri launches E-Sampada web portal

  • Housing and Urban Affairs Minister, Hardeep Singh Puri has launched E-Sampada, a new web portal and mobile app on Good Governance Day.
  • The new application provides a single-window for all the services including an allotment for over one lakh government residential accommodations, office space allotment to government organisations in 45 office complexes in 28 cities and booking of 1,176-holiday homerooms.
  • The portal provides online facility to users across India to lodge complaints, submit documents and appear for the virtual hearing.
  • This is a significant step towards the promotion of e-governance to enhance transparency and accountability in providing various estate services like allotment, retention, regularisation and no dues certificate.
  • The real-time information on utilisation of assets and delivery of service will facilitate optimum utilisation of resources.
  • The automated processes will minimize human intervention and will lead to greater transparency.

2. Punjab Govt launches mobile app and web portal ‘PR Insight’

  • Punjab Chief Minister Captain, Amarinder Singh has launched Mobile Application and web portal called ‘PR Insight’, to improve the delivery of citizen-centric services, based upon the feedback of its citizens on government policies.
  • The basic objective of PR Insight is to re-orient the existing schemes and programmes of the state government to the people’s satisfaction after meticulously monitoring their feedback.
  • PR Insight application has been developed by the Information & Public Relations Department to provide a single repository & dashboard of all the news articles & social media posts of the State.

Important takeaways for all competitive exams:

  • Chief Minister of Punjab: Capt. Amarinder Singh; Governor: V.P. Singh Badnore.

3. Himachal CM unveils 18-feet statue of Vajpayee in Shimla

  • Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur has unveiled an 18-feet tall statue of late former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on the occasion of his 96th birth anniversary at the historic Ridge in the state capital.
  • The statue has been built at a cost of Rs 1.08 crore. The Ridge Maidan also houses statues of Mahatma Gandhi and former prime minister Indira Gandhi.

Important takeaways for all competitive exams:

  • Chief Minister of HP: Jairam Thakur; Governor of HP: Bandaru Dattatraya.

4. RBI cancels the Licence of the Subhadra Local Area Bank, Maharashtra

  • The Reserve Bank of India has cancelled the banking licence issued to Subhadra Local Area Bank Ltd., Kolhapur, Maharashtra to carry on banking business in India.
  • The Reserve Bank cancelled the licence of the Subhadra Local Area Bank Ltd as it had breached the minimum net worth requirement for two quarters in the financial year 2019-20.
  • The affairs of the Subhadra Local Area Bank Ltd. were conducted in a manner detrimental to the interests of its present and future depositors.
  • After this, there are only two Local Area Banks operational in India, i,e.– Coastal Local Area Bank Ltd and Krishna Bhima Samruddhi LAB Ltd.

Important takeaways for all competitive exams:

  • Subhadra Local Area Bank Ltd MD & CEO: Sanjay Agrawal.

5. Ind-Ra revises India’s GDP contraction to 7.8% for FY21

  • India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) has revised India’s GDP estimate for the current financial year 2020-21 (FY21) to -7.8 per cent from -11.8 per cent estimated earlier.
  • This lower contraction rate is mainly due to the easing of COVID-19 curbs and better-than-expected recovery in the second quarter.
  • Ind-Ra has also estimated the GDP to grow by 9.6% in 2021-22 (FY22).

6. DFC to invest USD 54 million in India to support critical infrastructure projects

  • The United States International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) has announced to invest $54 million in India to support the development of critical infrastructure projects in the country in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
  • The DFC will invest this $54 million in equity for the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) in India.
  • NIIF will use this capital to support economic growth and address critical development challenges in the country. This financing is part of NIIF’s final round of fund-raising for the fund.

Important takeaways for all competitive exams:

  • National Investment and Infrastructure Fund Headquarters: Mumbai, India.
  • National Investment and Infrastructure Fund Founded: February 2015.
  • National Investment and Infrastructure Fund MD and CEO: Sujoy Bose.

7. HDFC Bank ranks top among 100 BFSI Firms in India

  • HDFC Bank is the top-ranked company among the 100 Banking, Financial Services and Insurance (BFSI) companies in the country, as per the BFSI Movers and Shakers 2020 report by Wizikey.
  • HDFC Bank has topped because of its customer service, monetary management, and innovative offerings amid the coronavirus pandemic.
  • ICICI Bank and State Bank of India (SBI) are ranked second and third, respectively. Other top 10 banks in 2020 Wizikey’s BFSI Movers and Shakers report are Yes Bank, PNB, HSBC Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Bank of Baroda, Deutsche Bank, and IDBI.

Important takeaways for all competitive exams:

  • Headquarters of HDFC Bank: Mumbai, Maharashtra.
  • MD and CEO of HDFC Bank: Sashidhar Jagdishan(Succeeds Aditya Puri).
  • The tagline of HDFC Bank: We understand your world.

8. FIFA cancels next year’s U-20, U-17 World Cups

  • FIFA has cancelled men’s U-20 and U-17 World Cup tournaments in 2021 for the novel coronavirus.
  • As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Bureau of the FIFA Council has decided to cancel the 2021 editions of the men’s FIFA U-20 World Cup and FIFA U-17 World Cup, and to appoint Indonesia and Peru respectively, who were due to host the tournaments in 2021, as the hosts of the 2023 editions.
  • So Peru will host the FIFA U-17 World Cup in 2023. In the same year, the FIFA U-20 World Cup will be held by Indonesia.

Important takeaways for all competitive exams:

  • President of FIFA: Gianni Infantino; Founded: 21 May 1904.
  • Headquarters: Zürich, Switzerland.

9. A new book titled ‘Covid-19: Sabhyata ka Sankat aur Samadhan’ released

  • Nobel laureate Kailash Satyarthi’s new book titled ‘Covid-19: Sabhyata ka Sankat Aur Samadhan’ (Covid-19: Crisis of Civilisation and Solutions) was launched by former Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra and Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Harivansh Narayan Singh. The Hindi book, published by Prabhat Prakashan.
  • The new book discusses how the Covid-19 pandemic has impacted the common way of life while suggesting solutions to the ongoing crisis triggered by the disease.
  • The book discusses how the pandemic has influenced the education system, business, politics, public safety, foreign policy, law, medicine, economy and development of countries.

10. Good Governance Day: 25 December

  • In India, Good Governance Day (Sushasan Divas) is observed annually on 25th December. In this day nation celebrates the birth anniversary of Bharat Ratna and former-Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
  • Good Governance Day was established in 2014 to honour Prime Minister Vajpayee by fostering awareness among the Indian people of accountability in government. In keeping with this principle, the Good Governance Day has been declared to be a working day for the government.
  • Atal Bihari Vajpayee served as the Prime Minister of India for three times. His first term was for only 13 days in 1996. He served his second term for a period of thirteen months from March 1998 to April 1999 and then a full term from 1999 to 2004.
  • His first entry into parliament was in 1962 through the Rajya Sabha. He was elected to the Lok Sabha seven times. In 2015, Mr Vajpayee was conferred the Bharat Ratna, India’s highest civilian award.

11. Former England batsman John Edrich passes away

  • Former English first-class batsman John Edrich has passed away. He was amongst the best players of his generation, during a career that ran from 1956 to 1978.
  • He played 77 test matches for England, and scored more than 5,000 runs, spanning 13 years between 1963 and 1976. He scored a triple-century during a test match in 1965 that is the fifth-highest Test score for England.

12. Legendary Urdu poet Shamsur Rahman Faruqi passes away

  • Legendary Urdu poet and critic, Shamsur Rahman Faruqi has passed away, a month after recovering from COVID-19.
  • He received Saraswati Samman in 1996 for his work ‘She’r-e Shor-Angez’, a four-volume study of the eighteenth-century poet Mir Taqi Mir. The Government of India awarded him the civilian honour of Padma Shri in 2009.

13. India’s first Lithium refinery to be set up in Gujarat

  • India’s first Lithium refinery is soon going to be set up in Gujarat. Manikaran Power Limited, one of the country’s largest power trading and renewable energy company will invest around Rs 1,000 crore to set up this refinery.
  • The refinery will process Lithium ore to produce battery-grade material. Lithium is a rare element and is usually not found in India.
  • Last year, Manikaran Power had collaborated with Australian firm Neometals to tap the Mount Marion Lithium mine in Western Australia.
  • The proposed project is expected to help Gujarat secure the raw material supply for domestic manufacturing of Lithium batteries as it looks to promote electric vehicles.

14. India’s largest hockey stadium to be set up in Odisha

  • Odisha Chief Minister, Naveen Patnaik has announced that India’s biggest hockey stadium is being set up in Rourkela city of Odisha.
  • The stadium will be constructed in the Biju Patnaik University of Technology campus, Rourkela.
  • It will have a sitting capacity of 20,000 people, spread over 15 acres of land.
  • The stadium will be developed as a benchmark for other hockey stadiums around the world.
  • It must be noted that Odisha will be hosting FIH Men’s Hockey World Cup for a second consecutive time, in 2034, at two venues, Bhubaneswar and Rourkela.

15. Niti Aayog launches Cloud Storage Service ‘DigiBoxx’

  • NITI Aayog has launched indigenously developed India’s first Digital Asset Management and Storage platform, called ‘DigiBoxx’.
  • The initiative will give a boost to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’, as India now has its own cloud storage platform.
  • This cloud storage and file sharing service will be available for desktop, iOS, and Android users, including both regular users as well as businesses.
  • Digiboxx offers free 20GB cloud storage space, and 100GB space per month at just Rs 30.Important takeaways for all competitive exams:
  • Chief Executive Officer of NITI Aayog: Amitabh Kant.
  • Chairperson of NITI Aayog: PM Narendra Modi.

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