Daily Current Affairs and GK | 14 November 2019

1. Outcomes of BRICS summit held recently in Brasilia, Brazil

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended the BRICS summit that was recently held in Brasilia along with the Heads of other BRICS nations.
• The theme of the summit was "Economic Growth for an Innovative Future.”
• BRICS was formed in the year 2006, and it is headquartered in Shanghai, China.
• The outcomes of the summit are:
  • India and Russia have already achieved the benchmark of 25 billion US Dollars of bilateral trade, which was meant to be achieved by 2025.
  • Indian citizens are granted free travel visa to Brazil.
  • President of Brazil is going to be the chief guest for India’s Republic Day celebrations for the next year.
  • Prime Minister of India gets an invitation for the 3rd informal summit,which is going to be held in China in 2020.

2. Office of CJI now comes under the ambit of RTI Act

• A five-judge Constitutional bench, which was headed by CJI Ranjan Gogoi, stated that the office of the Chief Justice of India is an office of public authority that has to come under the purview of RTI Act, 2005.
• It is to be noted that while disclosing facts about the CJI’s office, judicial independence has to remain intact.
• Right to Information (RTI): It is a legal right given to the citizen of India by an act of Parliament passed in 2005-RTI Act, 2005. Through the RTI Act, one can seek information about the procedures, orders, etc. of a public authority office.
• But, section 8(1) ofthe RTI Act, 2005, prohibits to provide any information which can posea threat to national unity and integrity.

3. 39^th India International Trade Fair in Delhi

• 39^th edition of India International Trade Fair has started from 14 – 27 November in Pragati Maidan, Delhi.
• The theme of the IITF 2019 is ‘Ease of Doing Business.’
• Various countries are participating in IITF, including China, Australia, the UK, Vietnam, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, Egypt, Hong Kong, Indonesia, etc.
• Afghanistan has been given the status of ‘Partner country’.
• South Korea is the ‘focus country’, and Bihar and Jharkhand are the ‘focus states’ for this year at IITF. 

4. Justice Muhammad Raffiq swear in as new Chief Justice of Meghalaya HC

• Justice Muhammad Raffiq takes oath as the new Chief Justice of Meghalaya High Court.
• He succeeded Justice Ajay Kumar Mittal, who is now appointed as new the Chief Justice of Madhya Pradesh.
• He held the position of Acting Chief Justice of Rajasthan High Court twice.
• He was administered the oath of office by the Governor of Meghalaya Tathagata Roy.

5. Dr. Ravi Prakash won BRICS- Young Innovator Prize, 2019

• Ph.D. Scholar Ravi Prakash won BRICS- Young Innovator Prize (YIP) worth 25,000 US Dollars at the 4^th BRICS-Young Scientist Forum (YSF) held in Brazil.
• The award is given to him for developing an indigenous and affordable milk chilling machine, which can become very useful for smaller and marginal dairy farmers located in rural areas.
• This milk chilling unit can decrease the temperature of milk from 37 ^οC to 7 ^οC within 30 minutes.
• BRICS-Young Innovator Prize: It is a special reward given to a scholar or a researcher who has projected a practical and innovative solution to a real-world problem. It aims to provide a better socio-economic condition in BRICS nations.

6. 6^th World Congress on Rural and Agricultural Finance held in New Delhi

• Recently, the 6^th edition of World Congress on Rural and Agricultural Finance was held in New Delhi on 12 November 2019.
• The objective of the Congress is to reveal various opportunities in the field of Agricultural finances, especially in rural areas.
• This Congress is held every three years.
• The 1^st edition of the Congress was commenced in the capital of Ethiopia, Addis Ababa in 2005.

7. 2^nd edition of Paris Peace Forum

• Recently, the 2^nd edition of the Paris Peace Forum was held in Paris, France, from 11-13 November.
• This forum acts as a launcher for various new projects and initiatives to maintain peace among the nations.
• The 1^st  edition of the Paris Peace Forum was held in France in 2018.
• According to the 1^st President of the forum, peace should not be taken for granted, and a badly governed world would quickly turn into a place for war, just like case with the Syrian and the Ukrainian crises. In order to preserve peace among the nations, the President of France formed the Paris Peace Forum in January 2018.

8. India to host 19^th Council of Heads of Governments of SCO in 2020

• India will be hosting the 19^th edition of the council of heads of Government of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in New Delhi in 2020.
• India is added to the list of members of SCO in 2017, along with Pakistan.
• For the year 2019, the same summit was held in Tashkent (capital of Uzbekistan).
• Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO): It is an organization of selected countries having common political, economic and security agendas. It was founded in 1966 and it is headquartered in Beijing, China.  It has eight members, namely China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, India and Pakistan.

9. Meeting of Indian Olympic Association (IOA) with Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF)

• Indian Olympic Association (IOA) is going to meet the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) in New Delhi.
• The objective of the meeting is to bring back ‘Shooting’ as a sport in the 2020 Commonwealth Games, which is going to be held in Birmingham, England.
• Since 1974, the ‘shooting’ sport has been excluded from the CWG roster due to some logistical issues.
• In the last edition of CWG, which was held in Gold Coast, Australia, India had secured 16 medals, out of which 7 were Gold.
• Indian Olympic Association (IOA): It is a non-profit organization that is the nodal agency for selection of players to represent India at various platforms like Commonwealth, Olympics, Asian Games, etc.
• Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF): It is a nodal agency for the control and functioning of Commonwealth Games. It was founded in 1932 and is headquartered in London, UK.

10. Virat Kohli and Jasprit Bumrah secured 1^st position in ICC ODI player rankings

• Indian Skipper Virat Kohli again secured the top position for batsman in the latest ODI player rankings given by International Cricket Council (ICC). He is followed by batsman Rohit Sharma in the same rankings.
• Also, Indian Cricketer Jasprit Bumrah again secured top position for bowler in the latest ODI player rankings given by International Cricket Council (ICC).
• Hardik Pandya is the only Indian Cricketer to get featured in the top 10 all-rounders. His rank is at number 10.
• Whereas, England’s Ben Stokes tops the overall list followed by Afghanistan’s Mohammad Nabi.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Which of the following heads of the country will be the chief guest for India’s Republic Day Celebrations, 2020?

a. President of Brazil

b. President of China

c. President of Russia

d. President of South Africa

Correct answer: a

2. Who among the following is the ‘partner country’ for 39^th IITF?

a. South Korea

b. Afghanistan

c. China

d. Vietnam

Correct answer: b

3. Which of the following nation is not a member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation?

a. Kazakhstan

b. Kyrgyzstan

c. Uzbekistan

d. Turkmenistan

Correct answer: d

4. Commonwealth Games 2020 is going to be held in which of the following cities?

a. New Castle

b. Manchester

c. Birmingham

d. Portsmouth

Correct answer: c

5. Who among the following is the only Indian Cricketer to get featured in the top 10 all-rounder positions in ICC ODI player rankings?

a. Virat Kohli

b. Hardik Pandya

c. Jasprit Bumrah 

d. Rohit Sharma

Correct answer: b