Daily Current Affairs and GK | 29 and 30 December 2019

1. NITI Aayog to launch the 2^nd edition of SDG India Index

• The 2^nd edition of the SDG India Index will be launched by NITI Aayog in New Delhi.
• The index measures the performance of states and UTs on the achievement of SDG targets based on 100 indicators drawn from the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation's National Indicator Framework’s 306 indicators.
• Unlike the 2018 edition in which only 13 goals were included, the 2019 edition includes 16 goals and a qualitative assessment on the 17^th goal.
• NITI Aayog

• It is the executive and planning institute of India named as National Institution for Transforming India.
• It came up in 2015, replacing the Planning Commission.
• The Prime Minister is the ex-officio chairman and the Vice-Chairperson is appointed by the Prime Minister.
• Rajeev Kumar is the current Vice- Chairperson of NITI Aayog.

2. ISRO planning to launch Aditya Satellite to study Sun

• In Maan Ki Baat program, Prime Minister informed that ISRO is planning to launch Aditya Satellite to study the sun.
• He informed that ISRO has many powerful telescopes installed near Pune in Kodaikkaanal, Udagamandala, Guru Shikhar and Hanle Ladakh.
• Aditya mission

• Aditya's mission or Aditya L1 mission is a proposed mission to study the sun, its corona, photosphere, and its magnetic emissions.
• The weight of the satellite is 1500 Kg and carries seven payloads.
• The satellite is planned to be placed in Halo Orbit L-1 and one of its main payloads is Visible Line Emission Coronagraph (VLEC).

3. Foundation stone for the building of Director General of CRPF laid in New Delhi

• Union Home Minister Amit Shah laid the foundation stone of the Central Reserve Police Force in New Delhi.
• He highlighted that the government is planning to ensure that each jawan of the Para Military Force should get at least 100 days to spend with his or her family.
• Also, the government is planning to issue a health card to the families of jawans of Para- Military forces.
• Para- Military Forces

• The Parliamentary forces under Home Ministry include Assam Rifles and Special Frontier Force.
• Earlier Central Reserve Police Force, Border Security Force, Indo- Tibetian Police Force, Central Industrial Security Force, Sashastra Seema Bal were also included, but now they have been included in Central Armed Police Force.

4. Dadasaheb Phalke Award 2018 given to Amitabh Bachchan

• Amitabh Bachchan has been presented with Dadasaheb Phalke Award for the year 2018 by President Ramnath Kovind.
• Dadasaheb Phalke Award

• The award is given at National Film Festival to a person for his outstanding contribution to the development of Indian Cinemas. The award comprises a Swarna Kamal (Golden Lotus) medallion, a shawl, and a cash prize of ₹10,00,000.
• It is given by the Directorate of Film Festivals, an organization under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.
• It was first given in 1969 to the actress Devika Rani.

5. NRC Process is an internal affair of India, says Bangladesh DG of Border Guards

• Shafeenul Islam, the Director-General of Border Guards Bangladesh, said that the National Register of Citizens is an internal affair of India.
• National Register of Citizens (NRC)

• It is a register containing the names of all Indian Citizens.
• It was first prepared in 1951 for the entire country. After that, it's done for Assam.
• As per citizenship rules 2003, the central government can prepare National Population Register and on that basis, it can prepare NRC.

6. MyGov has 1 crore registered users

• MyGovIndia started in 2014 as a government-citizen engagement platform that has 1 crore registered users.
• MyGov.in

• It is a citizen-government engagement platform that started in 2014 and owned by the Government of India.
• It is managed by National Informatics Centre (NIC).

7. MDR charges not to be applicable for transactions through RuPay, UPI Platform from January 1, 2020

• Merchant Discount Rate will not apply to transactions from the RuPay card and on all UPI transactions.
• The announcement was made by the Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in New Delhi after a meeting with Public Sector Banks Chiefs, Chief executive of Indian Banks’ Association and representatives of leading private sector banks to discuss banking issues.
• UPI-Unified Payment Interface is a mode of digital payments that allows phone-based multiple accounts to account transfer or account to any payment app transfer.
• MDR-Merchant Discount Rate is the rate charged to a merchant to process the transactions from debit or credit card.

8. Vice-President Venkaiah Naidu launched the book ‘The Renaissance Man-The Many Facets of Arun Jaitley’

• ‘The Renaissance Man-The Many Facets of Arun Jaitley’ book was launched by the Vice- President of India.
• The book is a compilation of letters on Arun Jaitley done by Shri Muppavarapu Harshavardhan and Smt. Deepa Venkat, the children of Vice President M. Venkiah Naidu.

9. RBI released the 20^th issue of Financial Stability Report

• RBI released the 20^th issue of the Financial Stability Report.
• The report shows the collective analysis of the Sub-Committee of the Financial Stability and Development Council.
• In the report, RBI stated that India's financial system remained stable despite the slowdown.
• It also stated that the banking sector of the country is improving after the recapitalization of Public Sector Banks.
• It also discussed issues relating to the development and regulation of the financial sector of the country.
• Financial Stability and Development Council (FSDC)

• It was formed in 2010 on the recommendation of Raghuram Rajan’s Committee.
• It is an inter-regulatory body aimed to strengthen the financial sector of the country and to ensure inter-regulatory coordination.
• Its chairperson is Union Finance Minister.

10. Veteran Political Cartoonist Vikas Sabnis passed away

• Veteran political cartoonist Vikas Sabnis passed away at the age of 69.
• Vikas Sabnis started his career in 1968, inspired by Bal Thackery and RK Laxman and completed 50 years of his professional life in 2018.

11. 2019 year-end review of Defence Ministry

• The year-end review of the achievements of the Defence Ministry was released.
• Various achievements of the defense ministry are-

• The government approved the creation of the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS).
• A National War memorial was established at the India gate in New Delhi.
• After the Pulwama attack, the Indian army struck the biggest training center of Jaish-e-Mohammad in Balakot, Pakistan.
• The medium- multi-role modeled aircraft Rafale was handed over to the Indian Air Force at Merignac in France.
• The ministry also restored ration in kind to the personnel of the three services posted in peace areas and 4 times increment in the compensation given to the next of kin of all battle causalities from 2 lakh to 8 lakhs. There has been an extension of retention of government accommodations by battle casualties from three months to one year.
• Union Defence minister also inaugurated the Ujh Bridge in Kathua in Jammu and Kashmir, Banaster bridge in Samba district in Jammu and Kashmir and Sisseri bridge  in Arunachal Pradesh.
• Rohtang tunnel was renamed as an Atal tunnel.
• ICGS Varaha was commissioned, and Border Road Organisation constructed approximately 60,000km of road.

12. Director-General of Doordarshan Shiv Sharma passes away

• Former Director-General of Doordarshan Shiv Sharma passed away at the age of 85 years.
• He is associated with the coverage of Asian Games of 1982 along with various national and international events.
• He has also worked in All India Radio.
• Doordarshan

• It is a public service broadcaster founded by the Indian government under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.
• It was founded in 1959.
• It is one of the two divisions of Prasar Bharti.
• The other division is All India Radio founded in 1956 and officially known as Akashvani.

Multiple Choice Questions(MCQs)

1. NITI Aayog will be launching which edition of the SDG India Index?

1. Second
2. Third
3. First
4. Fifth

2. What is the name of the mission to be launched by ISRO to study the Sun?

1. Bhaskar
2. Aditya
3. Bhanu
4. Dinkar

3. The government is planning to provide leaves for how many days to Para military personnel?

1. 100 days
2. 80 days
3. 50 days
4. 160 days

4. The winner of Dadasaheb Phalke Award is presented with-

1. A Swarna Kamal
2. Rs. 10 lakh cash
3. A Shawl
4. All of the above

5.  National Register of Citizens was prepared for the first time in-

1. 1951
2. 1961
3. 1981
4. 1991

6. MyGov.in platform was launched in- 

1. 2019
2. 2018
3. 2017
4. 2014                               

7. The rate charged by the bank from the merchant for processing transactions from Debit or Credit cards is called-

1. Discount Rate
2. Merchant Discount Rate
3. Service Charge
4. Bank Rate

8. Recently, Vice President launched a book titled “The Renaissance Man” in New Delhi. The book is a compilation of letters written by_________.

1. APJ Abdul Kalam
2. Atal Bihari Vajpayee
3. Arun Jaitley
4. Sushma Swaraj

9. Recently, RBI released which edition of the Financial Stability Report?

1. 25^th
2. 24^th
3. 20^th
4. 28^th

10.  Vikas Sabnis died recently, he was a renowned ________.

1. Actor
2. Politician
3. Cartoonist
4. Musician

11.  Who among the following is the former Director-General of Doordarshan who died recently?

1. Sunil Pachuri
2. Saurabh Kumar
3. Kalyan Singh Visisht
4. Shiv Sharma

Solution:

1. a)

2. b)

3. a)

4. d)

5. a)

6. d)

7. b)

8. c)

9. c)

10. c)

11. d)