Daily Current Affairs and GK | 25 and 26 October 2020

1. War memorial of Sub Joginder Singh inaugurated at Bum La.

• The War memorial of Sub Joginder Singh was inaugurated at Bum La in Arunachal Pradesh.
• He was from the first battalion of the Sikh Regt and made great sacrifice during the 1962 Indo-China war. He received Param Vir Chakra for the same.
• On 23 October 1962, the Battle of Tongpen La took place.
• Bum La:
  • It is a border pass between Cona County (in Tibet) and Tawang district of Arunachal Pradesh (India).
  • The pass is currently used as a trading point between Tawang and Tibet.
  • It is also an agreed Border Personnel Meeting point for the security forces of China and India.

2. India’s biggest cardiac hospital in Ahmedabad and world’s longest temple ropeway in Girnar inaugurated.

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated India’s biggest cardiac hospital at U.N. Mehta Institute of Cardiology and Research Center.
• He also launched a Mobile App for tele-cardiology at Civil Hospital campus in Ahmedabad.
• He also dedicated the world’s longest temple ropeway (2.3 kms long and 900m height) at Girnar in Junagarh.
• Usha Breco Limited has developed the Girnar ropeway.
• There are a total of 25 cabins in the ropeway, and it can carry 800 passengers in an hour.
• The project is worth Rs. 130 crore, and it will boost tourism and employment opportunities in the region.
• Mountain Girnar is a major igneous plutonic complex that intruded into the basalts towards the close of the Deccan Trap period. It is also one of the important kshetras as 22^nd Tirthankar Lord Neminath attained Nirvana here.
• ‘Kisan Suryodaya Yojana’ was also launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The scheme aims at providing electricity to farmers for irrigation and farming purposes during the day-time.

3. Philately exhibition on ‘India and the UN: A Postal History’ inaugurated on UN Day (24 October).

• MoS for External Affairs V. Muraleedharan unveiled the philately exhibition on ‘India and the UN: A Postal History’.
• The exhibition was inaugurated in a virtual event organized by UN in India to celebrate the 75^th anniversary of UN.
• United Nations Day:
  • UN celebrates the anniversary of the commencement of the UN charter in 1945.
  • The UN officially came into being on 24^th October 1945, and United Nations Day is being celebrated on 24^th October since 1948.
  • In 1971, the United Nations General Assembly had advised and suggested that 24^th October be observed as a public holiday by all United Nations Member States.
  • This year, the UN day concert will be prerecorded due to COVID-19 and the Mission of Italy will sponsor it. The concert will feature Italian dancer Roberto Bolle and the Orchestra of Teatro alla Scala. 
  • UN Day Concert of 2018 featured Sarod Maestro Amjad Ali Khan with The Refugee Orchestra Project.

4. Chinese foreign ministry will not recognize Hong Kong BNO passports.

• Hong Kong British National Overseas (BNO) passports will not be recognized as valid travel documents by the Chinese foreign ministry.
• The statement came after the British government announced new visa rules for British National overseas in Hong Kong.
• The British government will start processing BNO visa applications for BNO in Hong Kong from 31 January 2021.
• Britain had earlier announced in July to extend the immigration rights of BNO passport holders.
• BNO visa holders will have the right to work and study in Britain for 5 years. Also, they can apply for permanent settlement in the UK after five years and for citizenship after the 6^th year.
• BNO passport holders are permanent residents of Hong Kong who were British Dependent Territories citizens until 30 June 1997.
• Hong Kong is the former colony of the UK handed over to China in 1997 under one country, two systems framework.

5. PM Modi communicated with CEOs of Global Oil and Gas Companies in 5^th roundtable of global Oil and Gas CEOs with PM.

• PM Modi communicated with CEOs of Global Oil and Gas Companies in the 5^th roundtable of global Oil and Gas CEOs with PM.
• NITI Aayog and Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas are organizing the annual event through video conferencing.
• Nearly 45 CEOs of major Oil and Gas companies will participate in the event.
• Roundtable of global Oil and Gas CEOs with PM was started by NITI Aayog in 2016.
• India is the 3^rd largest consumer of crude oil and 4^th largest importer of Liquefied natural gas (LNG).

6. UP government achieves first rank in application, sanction and disbursement of loans under PM Svanidhi scheme.

• Uttar Pradesh government has achieved first rank in the application, sanction and disbursement of loans under Prime Minister Street Vendor Atmanirbhar Nidhi- PM Svanidhi scheme.
• It received the highest number of applications (6, 22,167) under the scheme. It sanctioned loans to 3, 46,150 applicants and disbursed loans to 2,26,728 beneficiaries.
• Seven cities of UP appear in the top 10 cities of India. Top three of them are Varanasi, Lucknow and Aligarh. Allahabad, Gorakhpur, Ghaziabad and Kanpur are other cities.
• PM Street Vendor’s AtmaNirbhar Nidhi – PM SVANidhi Scheme:
  • It is a central sector scheme that was launched on 1 June 2020 to help street vendors.
  • It is fully funded by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs.
  • SIDBI is the implementing agency of this scheme.
  • It provides a working capital loan of Rs. 10,000 to street vendors without any collateral.
  • On the loan’s timely or early repayment within a year, the vendors are eligible to get an interest subsidy of 7% per annum through Direct Benefit Transfer quarterly.
  • This scheme targets to benefit 50 Lakh street vendors.

7. Biannual Commanders’ Conference of Indian Army to begin in Delhi today.

• Biannual Commanders’ Conference of the Indian Army will begin in Delhi from 26 October 2020.
• The conference will be 4-day long and chaired by Army Chief Gen MM Naravane.
• All Army Commanders, Principal Staff Officers of the Army headquarters and other senior officers will attend the conference.
• The conference formulates important policy decisions. It may do a comprehensive review of security challenges facing India.
• During the conference, Director-General of Border Roads Organisation (BRO) Lt Gen Harpal Singh will brief on various infrastructure development projects of BRO.
• Reform measures such as reducing ceremonial practices and non-military activities to ensure a rational distribution of resources may be finalized during the conference.  

8. Water supply schemes inaugurated on Indo-Myanmar border under Jal Jeevan Mission.

• Chief Minister of Manipur has inaugurated the two water supply projects on Indo - Myanmar border under the Jal Jeevan Mission.
• The water supply projects have been inaugurated for Khangbarol and Khengjoy village of Manipur.
• The newly inaugurated project will provide tap water connections to a rural household.
• The operation & maintenance of the project will be done by the Village Water & Sanitation Committee.
• The biggest challenge in implementing the water supply project in hilly areas is the accessibility of materials throughout the year.
• The next biggest challenge is Communication, as the area has poor network coverage.
• In Manipur, only 30,379 households have tap water connections, so the state has planned for the full coverage of tap connection by 2023 under the Jal Jeevan Mission.
• Jal Jeevan Mission:
  • This mission was announced in August 2019.
  • The main objective of the mission is to provide a piped water supply to all rural households by 2024.
  • Ministry of Jal Shakti is the nodal agency for this mission.

9. World Polio Day: 24 October

• World Polio day is celebrated every year on 24 October to highlight global efforts towards a polio-free world and to honour the contribution made by frontline health workers in the fight against polio.  
• It was started by Rotary International to commemorate the birth of Jonas Salk, who had led the first team that made a vaccine against poliomyelitis.
• The Theme for World Polio 2020 Day is “Stories of Progress: Past and Present.”
• According to WHO, 99.9 % of cases of wild poliovirus cases have decreased since 1980 due to vaccination efforts.
• The Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) has been started by the national government and WHO for monitoring the Polio situation globally.
• In Afghanistan and Pakistan, wild Poliovirus has been reported. They are the last stronghold of wild Poliovirus.
• In 2019 mutated version of Poliovirus has been reported in the Philippines, Malaysia, Ghana, Myanmar, China, Cameroon, Indonesia and Iran.
• Polio:
  • It is an infectious disease caused by Poliovirus.
  • The Poliovirus is a virus that affects the nervous system which can cause paralysis
  • There are mainly three kinds of wild Poliovirus and to declare a country polio-free, all three kinds of virus transmission have to be stopped.
  • It can be prevented by the inactivated poliovirus vaccine (IPV) or Oral poliovirus vaccine (OPV).

10. Study on 59 broken pieces of pottery from Kotada Bhadli shows use of dairy products in Indus Valley Civilization.

• Study on 59 broken pieces of pottery from Kotada Bhadli, an archeological site in Gujarat has shown use of dairy products in Indus Valley Civilization.
• 2020 is the 100^th anniversary of the discovery of Indus Valley Civilisation. First site of Indus Valley Civilisation, Harappa, was discovered in the 1920s.
• The study uses molecular analysis of residues from ancient pottery because the pots absorb proteins and fats from liquids and C16 and C18 analysis can identify food sources of lipids.
• The study has found out signs of boiling and consuming milk and the use of either heated milk or curd.  It could not clearly find out the cheese or curd.
• It was also found that cows and water buffaloes ate millets while sheep and goats ate grass and leaves. 
• It shows that cattle and water-buffalo were possibly used for milk and goat/sheep were possibly used for meat.
• Indus Valley Civilisation (IVC):
  • It is a Bronze Age civilization.
  • It lasted from 2600 BCE to 1900 BCE.
  • Harappa, Mohenjo-daro, Dholavira, Ganeriwala and Rakhigarhi are its five major urban sites.
  • It is also known as Harappan Civilisation.

11. Hyderabad jeweller sets Guinness record for the most number of diamonds set in one ring.

• A Hyderabad jeweller made a Guinness record for the most number of diamonds set in one ring.
• The ring is named “The Divine – 7801 Brahma Vajra Kamalam”.
• The designing process was started in September 2018.
• It has six-layers, with the first five layers having eight petals each.
• Hallmark team has used computer-aided design (CAD) to calculate the number of diamonds.
• Diamond:
  • It is made of carbon.
  • It is the hardest naturally occurring substance.
  • Russia is the largest diamond producing country in the world.

(Source: Indian Express)

12. Rich countries didn’t deliver international aid to poor countries promised 50 years ago.

• On 24 October 1970, rich countries had committed spending of 0.7% of their gross national income on international aid for low- and middle-income countries, but they failed to fulfill their promise.
• International aid is important for poor countries in the fight against poverty and inequality.
• Aid helped in reducing the health, poverty and inequality challenges between 1970 and 2020. It has also provided finance to low and middle-income group countries for boosting investment in public goods and social spending.
• In the last 50 years, donor countries have failed to deliver a total of $5.7 trillion aid to poor countries.
• These unpaid aids could have helped the poor countries to eradicate hunger and extreme poverty.
• It could have created many schools and health infrastructure for the people of low and middle- income group countries.
• According to Oxfam’s report, the world will add 150 million new extremely poor people in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, yet only a substantial fund has been pledged to help poor countries.
• In 2019, high-income countries just contributed 0.3% of their GNI in international aid and only five countries have met the target of 0.7% of GNI.
• Many donor countries have diverted grants towards their national or commercial interests.
• Oxfam:
  • It was founded in 1942.
  • It is an international non-profit organization, works for the alleviation of global poverty and injustice of poverty.