Daily Current Affairs and GK | 10 October 2020

1. Nobel Peace Prize 2020 won by World Food Programme.

• Nobel Peace Prize 2020 has been won by the world’s largest humanitarian organization, World Food Programme.
• The organization has been given the prize for its efforts to combat hunger, for contributions to make conditions for peace in conflict-affected areas better and for playing role of driving force to stop use of hunger in the form of a weapon for war and conflict.
• Nobel Peace Prize comprises of a diploma, a gold medal, and a 10 million Swedish Kronor cheque.
• Abiy Ahmed, the Prime Minister of Ethiopia, has won 2019 Nobel Peace Prize for his contribution to peacemaking efforts with Eritrea. 2019 Nobel Peace Prize was 100^th Nobel Peace Prize.
• The winners of Nobel Prize in physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine and literature have also been announced. Nobel Prize in economics will be given on 12 October.
• World Food Programme (WFP) was founded in December 1961 and headquartered in Rome, Italy. David Beasley is its head.
• Nobel Prize:
  • It is awarded annually on the death anniversary of Alfred Nobel.
  • The Nobel Prizes are the most prestigious awards given for intellectual achievement in the world.
  • It is awarded in the fields of physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature, economics, and peace.
  • The Nobel Prizes are awarded in Stockholm, Sweden.
  • Rabindranath Tagore was the first Indian to win the Nobel Prize.

2. PM Modi expresses thanks and shows respect on 300th birth anniversary to Bhai Taru Singh Ji.

• PM Modi has expressed thanks and shown respect on 300^th birth anniversary of Bhai Taru Singh Ji, who was a Sikh martyr of the 18^th century.
• PM Modi communicated that Bhai Taru Singh Ji never bowed to injustice. A 3D animation film on Bhai Taru Singh was scheduled for release in 2018.
• His martyrdom also appears in a film named “The Darjeeling Limited”. He got his head scalped. But, he did not cut his hair or convert to Islam.
• He is remembered as he sacrificed his life but protected Sikh values. He was born in 1720 and died in 1745 at the age of 25 years.
• He himself came out of his village and got arrested by soldiers of Lahore’s governor, Zakaria Khan.
• Gurdwara Shaheed Bhai Taru Singh is located in Lahore, Pakistan and was in news in July 2020 to convert it into a mosque. 
• Sikh religion is a monotheistic religion. The first Sikh guru Guru Nanak was its founder. Fifth Sikh guru, Guru Arjan Dev, was killed on the orders of Mughal emperor Jahangir.
• Khalsa Sikhs, who undergo the rite of initiation, possess 5 Ks (Kesh, Kara, Kirpan, Kachera and Kanga). Guru Govind Singh was 10^th and last living Guru of Sikhs.

3. DRDO successfully conducts flight tests of RUDRAM/NGARM.

• DRDO has successfully conducted flight tests of Indigenously Developed air-to-surface Anti-Radiation Missile named as RUDRAM/ New generation anti-radiation missile (NGARM).
• RUDRAM was launched from SU-30 MKI fighter aircraft towards a target on Wheeler Island on the Odisha coast.
• DRDO is developing RUDRAM for Indian Air Force. It will be integrated on SU-30 MKI fighter aircraft.
• RUDRAM has an Inertial Navigation System (INS)/ Global Positioning System (GPS) navigation system with Passive Homing Head (Passive weapon guidance system) for the final attack.
• The missile will help IAF in the Suppression of Enemy Air Defence (SEAD) effectively. Passive Homing Head can detect, classify and engage targets over a wide band of frequencies.
• Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL) and Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) will together produce RUDRAM.
• DRDO laboratory started the development of RUDRAM in 2012. In October 2020, it was test-fired successfully from Balasore. Its range is 100 km to 250 km, and maximum speed is 2 Mach with an accuracy of 10 m circular error probable (CEP).
• DRDO works under the Ministry of Defence and was established in 1958. Its chairman is G. Sateesh Reddy and headquarters are located in New Delhi.   

4. World Mental Health Day: 10 October

• Every year on 10 October, World Mental Health Day is celebrated to raise awareness regarding mental health issues and to mobilize efforts in support of mental health.
• The day was celebrated for the first time on 10 October 1992.
• The day is organized by the World Federation for Mental Health.
• The World Health Organization (2018) states that every 40 seconds, someone dies by suicide.
• A day for “40 seconds of action” to raise awareness of the increasing cases of suicide and the role that everyone can play in preventing it.
• Theme 2020: “Mental Health for All: Greater Investment – Greater Access”

5. Goa, first Har Ghar Jal State in India.

• Goa is the first Har Ghar Jal State in India as it is providing 100% Functional Household Tap Connections (FHTCs) to every rural household.
• Goa provides a tap water connection to two lakh 30 thousand rural households. 
• Goa is now making a detailed proposal for a sensor-based service delivery monitoring system to monitor quality of water supply.
• Goa had an Annual Action Plan (AAP) to provide 100% Functional Household Tap Connections (FHTCs) in rural areas by 2021.
• Jal Jeevan Mission, launched by the government in 2019, aims to ensure piped water to all rural households by 2024.
• It makes training of 5 persons in every village, especially women, in using Field Test Kits for testing of water mandatory.

(Source: PIB)

6. China announces its joining of COVAX initiative.

• China has announced that it has joined the COVAX initiative, which is a World Health Organization led initiative to supply at least 2 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines by 2021.
• China joined the initiative by signing an agreement with Global Vaccine Alliance (GAVI).
• Russia and the US have still not joined the COVAX initiative. Over 150 countries have joined the COVAX initiative.
• WHO has estimated that if a country is allocated doses equal to 20% of its population, it should be enough for treating the people at the highest priority.
• In the starting, countries will be given doses in small portions till they have enough doses to treat 3% of their population with a vaccine.
• COVAX initiative aims to create a 15 billion dollars corpus fund for supplying at least 2 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines by 2021.
• Global Vaccine Alliance (GAVI) is an international organization created in 2000 to improve access to new and unused vaccines for children living in the world’s poorest countries. It is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland. Its founder is Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

7. Monetary Policy announced by RBI.

• RBI has issued its bi-monthly Monetary Policy statement and kept the interest rate, repo rate and reverse repo rate unchanged.
• While the reverse repo rate is 3.35%, the repo rate remains at 4%.
• The Monetary Policy Committee has maintained its accommodative stance. Accommodative stance means that RBI is not likely to increase key rates.
• RBI Governor has announced that Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) will become 24X7 from December 2020.
• As of now, new housing loans risk weights are linked to loan size and Loan-to-value ratio. But, RBI has removed loan size until March 31, 2022. So, risk weights will be linked to Loan-to-value ratio.
• RBI has also said that it will rationalize risk weights for all new housing loans until March 31, 2022.
• Scheme for co-lending will also be linked to all NBFC, HFC by banks. As per the MPC, real GDP growth for FY21 may contract by 9.5%.

(Source: News on AIR)

8. Mexican Ozone Layer ‘Prophet’ Mario Molina passed away.

• Mario Molina, winner of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work on the threat to the ozone layer from chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) died at the age of 77.
• He was the first Mexican to win the Nobel Prize for Chemistry.
• He was one of the eminent scientists of Mexico.
• He was appointed as a scientific adviser to U.S. President Barack Obama in 2008.
• He advised the authorities of Mexican capital on their efforts to reduce smog and air pollution.
• In 1974, Molina and Rowland published an article in Nature magazine on the developing threat to the ozone layer from the use of chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) gases, the Freon used in spray bottles, in refrigeration and in plastic foams.
• Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer A. Doudna have been jointly awarded the 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the method of genome editing.

(Source: The Hindu)

9. Cochin shipyard bags green certification.

• Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) has certified Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL) for the GreenCo Silver rating.
• It is the first Green Company in the shipping sector to get a GreenCo sliver rating certificate.
• ‘GreenCo’ rating is given to a company for its environment-friendly ways of operations.
• The award is based on the following parameters:
  • Energy efficiency
  • Water conservation
  • Renewable energy
  • Greenhouse gas emission
  • Waste management
  • Material conservation
  • Recycling and recyclability
  • Green supply chain
  • Product stewardship
  • Life cycle assessment
  • Innovation for environment
  • Green infrastructure
  • Ecology
• Energy efficiency has the highest weightage in this rating system.
• Cochin Shipyard Ltd:
  • It was incorporated in 1972 as a Government of India company.
  • It is a Public sector enterprise under the Ministry of Shipping, Govt. of India.
  • It is the largest shipbuilding and maintenance facility in India.

(Source: Green.co)

10. ‘Human ATM’ launched by Fino Payments Bank.

• Fino Payments Bank launched its ‘human ATM’ at Anuradha Auto Service Centre, a Bharat Petroleum (BPCL) outlet in Visakhapatnam.
• A ‘Human ATM’ will be equipped with Fino’s Micro ATM, Aadhaar-enabled payment system (AePS) devices and the staff of Fino Payments Bank.
• It will help people with deposit, withdrawals or money transfer transactions and opening of new accounts.
• Its objective is to help bank customers 24X7, by bringing services closer to their doorstep, especially in rural areas. 
• Anuradha Auto Service is a part of the Fino’s strong and growing network of banking points in Andhra Pradesh.
• Features of Payment Bank:
  • The payments banks can accept deposits up to a maximum of Rs. 1 lakh from a customer.
  • It is authorised to open both savings and current accounts of their customers.
  • It can only issue ATM or debit cards to their customers.
  • It cannot provide loans or lending services to customers.
  • Some Payment banks in India are:
    • Airtel Payments bank
    • Paytm Payments Bank 
    • India Post Payments Bank 
    • Fino Payments Bank 
    • Aditya Birla Payments Bank
    • Jio Payments Bank

(Source: Fino logo)

11. National Postal Week: 9^th-15^th October

• National Postal Week celebration begins with World Post Day, which is celebrated every year on 9 October.
• World Post Day is celebrated on the anniversary of the establishment of the Universal Postal Union (UPU) in 1874 in Berne.
• It aims to create awareness of the role of the postal sector in people’s and everyday lives and its contribution to the social and economic development of countries.