Daily Current Affairs and GK | 18 November 2019

1. Justice Dr. Ravi Ranjan sworn in as new Chief Justice of Jharkhand  HC

• Justice Dr. Ravi Ranjan has sworn in as the new Chief Justice of Jharkhand High Court.
• He is appointed as the 13^th Chief Justice of the Jharkhand High Court.
• Previously, he was a judge in the Punjab and Haryana High Court.
• He succeeded Justice Anirudh Bose, who was appointed as the judge of the Supreme Court.
• He was administered the oath of office by the Governor of Jharkhand Draupadi Murmi.

2. Over 88% of BPL rural households in Kerala are in debt

• According to a survey of rural households that are lying below the poverty line in the state of Kerala revealed that 88% of them are in debt.
• 32% of the rural households are over-indebted such that their monthly loan repayments have exceeded their incomes.
• The number of loans in the name of a female is 2.5 times more than that in the name of a male in a household having a pink or yellow ration card.
• According to the RBI guidelines, a woman can take up only two loans from Micro-Finance Institutions (MFIs), but there are instances where the lady of the family has taken up more than 6 loans at a time. This results in a non-payment of debts in stipulated time. Hence, it also shows the lack in monitoring of MFIs.
• Pink Ration cards are given to those households which have an annual income of more than Rs. 1 Lakh.
• Yellow Ration cards are given to those households which fall below the poverty line.

3. India’s 1^st International Cruise Terminal in Kochi, Kerala

• According to the Cochin Port Trust (CPT), India’s 1^st full-fledged International Cruise Terminal is going to set up at Ernakulam Wharf in Willingdon Island (Kochi, Kerala) by February 2020.
• The Cruise Terminal will able to facilitate around 5000 tourists providing amenities like helicopter services, performance on traditional art forms, ATM services, food kiosks, etc.
• A special Task Force consisting of Shipping and Tourism Secretaries has been set up to uplift and promote CRUISE Tourism in India.

4. Gotabaya Rajapaksa sworn in as the new President of Sri Lanka

• Gotabaya Rajapaksa is going to be the new President of Sri Lanka.

• He is the younger brother of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, who served the country from 2005 to 2015.
• Lieutenant Colonel Gotabaya Rajapaksa also served as the Defence Secretary during the end of the LTTE War.
• He got high support from majority-dominated areas of southern and western provinces of Sri Lanka.
• LTTE war: It stands for Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. It was also known as Tamil Tigers. It was a militant group that raised demand for a separate territory for Hindu Tamils in North and East regions of Sri Lanka. The war lasted from 1983 to 2009. The Government of Sri Lanka finally won this civil war.

5. Use of Winter-grade Diesel especially for high altitude regions of Ladakh

• Home Minister Amit Shah has recently launched a special winter-grade diesel for high altitude regions in UT of Ladakh.
• This winter-grade diesel has been developed by Indian Oil Corporation (IOC).
• In high altitude regions of Ladakh, Kargil, Kaza and Keylong, the tourists on motorcycles face the issue of freezing of diesel due to a drop in temperature which even goes up to minus 30 degrees Celsius.
• This move will facilitate mobility and tourism in high altitude regions even during the peak of winters.
• Petroleum Minister: Dharmendra Pradhan

6. Rejoice National Ayush Awards to health sector institutions

• Ayush Minister Shripad Yesso Naik presented the ‘Rejoice National Ayush Awards’ to the health sector institutions for providing health care facilities via various programmes.
• ‘Rejoice Health Foundation’ was the first to initiate such award which aimed to provide health care to people in the country.
• Rejoice Health Foundation, with the aid from AYUSH Ministry, has also been putting efforts to take care of the specially-abled children in the country.

7. Foreign Minister of Bhutan to visit India

• Foreign Minister of Bhutan Lyonpo Tandi Dorji has reached New Delhi for a week-long visit in India.
• Indian External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar and Bhutanese counterpart are going to discuss about economic cooperation, hydro-power partnership and other developmental aspects between the two nations.
• During the visit to India, Bhutanese Foreign Minister Lyonpo Tandi Dorji is also going to pay tribute to Bodhgaya and Rajgir in Bihar.
• Bodhgaya and Rajgir are the two significant places associated with the life of Gautam Buddha, the founder of Buddhism.

8. Extension of Visa-on-Arrival facility to UAE citizens

• The government of India has recently extended the Visa-on-Arrival facility to the citizens of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) up to a period of 60 days.
• This facility is available only at six designated International Airports, which are Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bangalore and Hyderabad.
• The period of 60 days visa-on-arrival has been doubled for citizens coming to India for business, tourism, conference or medical purposes.
• The facility is only open to those UAE citizens who have previously obtained an e-Visa or a normal paper Visa for India, irrespective of the actual visit to India happened or not.
• Pakistan Origin UAE nationals are not going to be eligible for the Visa-on-Arrival facility.

9. India secured 5 gold and 2 silver medals at Asian Youth Boxing Championship

• India secured 5 gold medals in women’s category while 2 silver medals in men’s category at Asian Youth Boxing Championship held in Mongolia.
• Five Gold medal winners are Naorem Chanu (51kg), Vinka (64kg), Sanamacha Chanu (75kg), Poonam (54kg) and Sushma (81kg).
• Two Silver medal winners are Selay Soy (49kg) and Ankit Narwal (60kg).

10. International Association of Athletics Federations renamed as World Athletics

• The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) has now been renamed as World Athletics.
• IAAF is an international organization that acts a governing body in the field of athletics.
• The organization deals in athletics sport, track covering, cross-country running, mountain running, road running, etc. It was formed in 1912. It is headquartered in Monaco (a small country situated in Europe).

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Who has sworn in as the new Chief Justice of Jharkhand High Court?

1. Govind Mathur
2. Ravi Ranjan
3. Gita Mittal
4. Vikram Nath

Correct Answer: b

2. Ration card of which of the following colour is provided to the families living below the poverty line?

1. Brown
2. Orange
3. Yellow
4. Pink

Correct Answer: c

3. 1^st Global Cruise Terminal of India is going to be set up in __________.

1. Mumbai, Maharashtra
2. Vishakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh
3. Chennai, Tamil Nadu
4. Kochi, Kerala

Correct Answer: d

4. Recently, which of the following countries has provided a 60 days extension on Visa-on-Arrival facility by India?

1. UAE
2. Saudi Arabia
3. Iraq
4. Jordan

Correct answer: a

5. The new name of International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) is

1. World Champions
2. Global Athletics
3. World Athletics
4. Athletics Organisation

Correct Answer: c