Daily Current Affairs and GK | 09 November 2019

1. Indian PM to inaugurate Integrated Check Post of the Kartarpur Corridor

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the Integrated Check Post (ICP) of the Kartarpur Corridor at Dera Baba Nanak.
• The ICP will allow the Indian pilgrims to visit Gurudwara Kartarpur Sahib.
• An agreement regarding the operationalisation of the Kartarpur Sahib Corridor at Zero Point, International Boundary has been already signed between India and Pakistan.
• Recently in New Delhi, an exhibition of miniature paintings “Guru Nanak Dev Ji ki Janamsakhi” was organized that showcased 100 paintings depicting various stages of Guru Nanak Dev Ji’s life.

2. Decline in Maternal Mortality Rate (MMR) in India by 8 points in one year

• Registrar General of India has released a Special Bulletin on MMR, citing decline in MMR by 8 points in one year, which means more than 2,000 pregnant women are saved annually.
• MMR has decreased from 130 per lakh live births in 2014-16 to 122 per lakh live births in 2015-17.
• India is expected to achieve its sustainable development goal(SDG) for reducing MMR by 2025 with such a consistent decline.
• Maternal Mortality Rate is the number of maternal deaths per lakh live births while giving birth or within 42 days of termination of pregnancy (due to causes of pregnancy).

3. Indian Railways launches 3 new applications

• Indian Railways has rolled out three new applications to give a boost to its IT-enabled services and properly monitor projects taken up by Railways.
• These applications are:

• CRS Sanction Management System- It will play an important role in the construction, maintenance and up-gradation of railway assets.
• Rail-road crossing GAD approval system- It will speed up preparation, processing and approval of general agreement drawing related to the construction of Road Over Bridges and Road Under Bridges.
• TMS for construction- It is developed for new assets that will be constructed by the construction organisation.

4. External Affairs Minister on a 3-day visit to the Netherlands

• S Jaishankar, External Affairs Minister, will embark on a three-day visit to Netherland where he will discuss bilateral and multilateral issues of mutual interest.
• During the visit, the minister will interact with members of the foreign affairs committee of the House of Representatives of the Dutch Parliament.
• The capital of the Netherlands is Amsterdam, and its currency is Euro.

5. SC to announce verdict on Ayodhya Babri Masjid case today

• The five-judge constitution bench, including Justice Sharad Arvind Bobde, Ashok Bhushan, D Y Chandrachud, and S Abdul Nazeer had reserved the judgement regarding Ayodhya-Babri Masjid case which will be pronounced today.
• The mediation process led by a three-member Mediation panel consisting of Shri Shri Ravi Shankar, Justice (Retired) FMI Kalifullah, and Advocate Sriram Panchu failed after which the SC heard the case on a day-to-day basis.
• In 2010, a three-judge Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court gave the judgement by equally distributing 2.77 acres of disputed land among the U.P. Sunni Central Waqf Board, the Nirmohi Akhara and Ram Lalla.
• While in 2011, based on the appeals by different parties, SC had stayed the judgement.

6. Tiger Triumph: Tri-services exercise between India-US

• The first-ever tri-services exercise “Tiger Triumph” will be jointly conducted by India and the US from 13^th November 2019 in Visakhapatnam and Kakinada, Andhra Pradesh.
• The harbour phase will be held from 13-16 November, while the second phase will take place from 17-21 November.
• The drill will focus on amphibious humanitarian disaster and relief operations.

7. Household income limits for NBFCs’ and MFIs’ borrowers increased

• The household income limits for Non-Banking Financial Companies’ (NBFCs) and microfinance institutions’ (MFIs) borrowers has been increased from Rs. 1 lakh to Rs. 1.25 lakh in rural areas by the Reserve Bank of India.
• While for urban and semi-urban areas, it has been increased to Rs. 1.6 lakh and Rs. 2 lakhs respectively.
• The decision will help in providing credit to those at the lowest rung of society.

8. Pilgrims visiting Meenakshi Temple to be offered free laddu as prashad

• The pilgrims visiting Meenakshi Temple will be now given free laddu as prashad, which will weigh 30g and will be supplied near the Mukkuruni Vinayakar Shrine.
• The hygiene and quality control of ingredients has been ensured as the system has been mechanized.
• Meenakshi Temple
  • The temple was built during the reign of Pandyas in the 17^th century and is located in Madurai, Tamil Nadu.
  • The temple architecture belongs to the Dravidian style of temple building.
  • The temple is dedicated to the main deities Sundareswaran (Lord Shiva) and Meenakshi (Parvati).

9. ‘No Money for Terror’ Conference 2020

• India will host No Money for Terror Summit in 2020.
• In 2019, the summit was hosted in Melbourne, Australia.
• The aim of this summit is to stop terror financing and implement the standards of FATF.
• Financial Action Task Force (FATF)
  • Established- 1989
  • Members- 39
  • Headquarters- Paris, France
  • Mandate- combat terror financing and money laundering

10. India to host 2023 Men’s Hockey World Cup

• 2023 Men’s Hockey World Cup will be hosted in India from 13th -29th January.
• While Spain and Netherlands will jointly the 2022 Women’s Hockey World Cup, which will be held from 1st -22nd July. 

Multiple Choice Questions:

1. Which of the following countries will be hosting the 2023 Men’s Hockey World Cup?

a. India

b. Bangladesh

c. China

d. USA

Correct Answer: a

2. An exhibition titled “Janamsakhi”, recently organized in New Delhi was dedicated to which of the following saints?

a. Kabir

b. Guru Nanak Dev

c. Shankar Acharya

d. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu

Correct Answer: b

3. Which of the following countries hosted 2019 ‘No Money for Terror’ Conference?

a. Britain

b. Saudi Arabia

c. Australia

d. USA

Correct Answer: c

4. ‘Tiger Triumph’ is a tri-services exercise between which of the following two nations?

a. India and China

b. India and Russia

c. India and USA

d. India and France

Correct Answer: c

5. Recently RBI has announced increment in household income limits for NBFCs’ and MFIs’ borrowers from _______ to _________ in rural areas.

a. Rs. 1 lakh to Rs. 1.35 lakh

b. Rs. 1 lakh to Rs. 1.25 lakh

c. Rs. 1 lakh to Rs. 1.50 lakh

d. Rs. 1 lakh to Rs. 1.75 lakh

Correct Answer: b