Daily Current Affairs and GK | 7 November 2020

1. Birth anniversary of Sir Chandrashekhara Venkata Raman (7 November 1888 – 21 November 1970)

• C. V. Raman was an Indian physicist famous for Raman scattering and Raman Effect.
• When light passes through a transparent material, the wavelength and amplitude of some deflected light change. This is called Raman scattering and is a consequence of the Raman Effect.
• He was the first Asian to receive any Nobel Prize for achievements in science.
• He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1930.
• He was also honoured with the Bharat Ratna in 1954 and Lenin Peace Prize in 1957.

(Source: Business Standard)

2. Citizenship of Rohingya- a matter of domestic law, says Myanmar Army Chief.

• The Army Chief of Myanmar said that the issue of Citizenship of Rohingyas is a matter of domestic law of 1982.
• As per the 1982 Citizenship law, Bengalis or Rohingya are not one of the identified 135 indigenous ethnic groups.
• He said that Rohingyas are not debarred from living in Mynamar territory. Still, the matters related to their citizenship, the definition of indigenous people, their rights, etc. are subjected to the 1982 citizenship law.
• Rohingyas:
  • These are the Muslim minorities that live in the Rakhine state of Myanmar. Around 1.1 million Rohingya people live in Myanmar.
  • This ethnic group is considered illegal immigrants and are treated as stateless people and denied citizenship.
  • More than 3,00,000 Rohingya people fled when violence broke out in the Rakhine state. These people took shelter in Myanmar’s neighbouring countries like Bangladesh and India.

3. As per Lancet report, BMI of 19 yr olds in India is very low.

• As per the study published in The Lancet, India has ranked third and fifth from the bottom among the countries with 19-year-old girls and boys having a low body mass index.
• The mean BMI of 19-year-old boys is 20.1 in India and for Indian girls, the mean BMI is again 20.1.
• In developing countries like India, dual burden is observed- Undernutrition as well as Overnutrition.
• The study provides for new estimates for height and BMI trends in 2019 across 200 countries.
• Body Mass Index is measured as the weight (in kg) divided by the square of the height (in metres). It does not measure body fat directly.
• As per WHO guidelines, the weight category is as follows:

(Source: The Lancet)

4. Modi and Conte sign 15 agreements and adopt Action Plan for 2020-25.

• PM Modi and PM of Italy Giuseppe Conte have signed 15 agreements and adopted an Action Plan for 2020-25.
• The Action Plan has been adopted for setting up priorities, strategic goals and mechanisms for 2020-25.
• PM Modi and PM of Italy also said that the two countries are committed to work closely on a development-oriented global agenda for their respective G20 Presidencies (India in 2022 and Italy in 2021).
• Virtual bilateral summit was held between India and Italy. Earlier, Italy has let India hold the G20 summit in 2022 when India completes 75 years of its independence.
• Italian Trade Agency and Invest India signed an agreement to promote investment. Cassa Depositi e Prestiti SpA, Italy and NIIF, India signed an agreement to promote co-financing.
• Before the summit, a High-Level Economic Dialogue was held between CEOs of Indian and Italian companies on October 28, 2020, and ministerial interaction was held on November 2, 2020.
• Italy is ranked at 5^th place among India’s largest trading partners in the EU. Germany, Belgium, UK and France are ranked in the first four places. In 2019, bilateral trade between India and Italy stood at 9.52 billion Euros.

5. PM to flag off Ro-Pax ferry service between Hazira-Ghogha in Gujarat.

• Prime Minister will inaugurate a Ro- Pax terminal and Ro-Pax service between Hazira and Ghogha in Gujarat.
• It will be a big step in Government vision of harnessing waterways and integrating them with its economic development.
• The Ro-Pax ferry service will integrate South Gujarat and Saurashtra region, reducing the distance between Ghogha and Hazira and saving travel time. It will also promote tourism and create new job opportunities in the region.
• With the start of ferry services, many Eco-tourism, religious-tourism industries will get a boost in Saurashtra and Kutch region.
• The Ro-Pax Terminal is 100 m in length and 40 m in width, with an estimated cost of Rs. 25 crores.
• The Ro-Pax Ferry Vessel ‘Voyage Symphony’ is a three-deck vessel with a capacity of 2,500-2700 DWT.
• In October 2017, PM Modi had launched the first Ro-pax ferry service in Gujarat. It was between Ghogha in Bhavnagar and Dahej in Bharuch.

6. IFFCO Bazar integrates with SBI YONO Krishi App for accessibility of Quality Agri-products.

• An e-commerce arm of IFFCO has collaborated with SBI YONO Krishi App to cater to all agricultural needs of farmers.
• It will provide free home delivery of quality products of IFFCO across the country.
• Now, farmers can place an order online for seeds, fertilizers, Agri machinery, pesticides, organic products and various other farm products.
• It will help farmers in getting a quality product at a low cost in a hassle-free manner.
• Due to this integration, IFFCO will get over three crore registered Yono customers to sell their products.
• It will help in the commitment of the government to double the farmer’s income by 2022.
• IFFCO is a multi-state cooperative society engaged in manufacturing and marketing of fertilizers and is headquartered in New Delhi. IFFCO was founded on 3 November 1967.

(Source: PIB)

7. A Centre of Excellence for Indian Knowledge System will be set up at IIT Kharagpur.

• The Union Education Minister has inaugurated a webinar titled ‘Bharata Tirtha’ organized by IIT Kharagpur.
• The Union Education Minister declared that a Centre of Excellence for the Indian Knowledge System would be set up at IIT Kharagpur.
• This three-day webinar will witness talks by international stalwarts pioneering in India studies, including Arthashastra (Economics), Sanskrit for Natural Language Processing, Vedic and Ancient Indian Mathematics - Numeral System, Bijaganita and Jyamiti, etc.
• The Union Minister stated that National Education Technology Forum would support technical education.
• Ministry of Education:
  • It was formerly known as the Ministry of Human Resource Development.
  • It is responsible for making and executing education plans and programmes in the country.
  • It is also responsible for the implementation and formulation of the National Policy on Education.
  • Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ is the current Minister of Education.

8. President appointed judges of the Guwahati High Court.

• The President has appointed Justices Sanjay Kumar Medhi, Nani Tagia and Manish Choudhury as judges of the Guwahati High Court.
• The President appoints the Chief Justice of the High Court after consultation with the chief justice of India and the governor of the state.
• The President appoints the other judges of High Court after consultation with the chief justice of India, chief justice of High court and the governor of the state.
• Qualification to become a High Court Judge:
  • He should be a citizen of India.
  • He should have held a judicial office in India’s territory for ten years or have been an advocate of a high court for ten years.
• Tenure of High court judge:
  • He holds office until he attains the age of 62 years.
  • He can resign office by giving his resignation to the President.
  • A judge can be removed only by the President’s order, based on a motion passed by both houses of parliament.

9. India will launch its latest earth observation satellite, EOS-01, today.

• India is set to launch its latest earth observation satellite, EOS-01, developed by ISRO. It will be launched with nine other customer satellites.
• It will be launched today from the launch pad at Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh.
• EOS-01, an earth observation satellite, will be utilized in agriculture, forestry, and disaster management support.
• It will be operational for five years.
• EOS-01 satellite:
  • It is an earth observation satellite equipped with the synthetic aperture radar to produce high -resolution images of the land.
  • It uses X-band radars that operate at low wavelengths to monitor urban landscape and imaging of agricultural or forest land.
  • It can produce high-resolution images in any weather conditions.
  • Different properties on land can be captured in the image produced by it, such as tree cover, vegetation cover, forest areas, etc.
  • It will be launched by a new variant of PSLV.

(Source: News on AIR)

10. Yashvardhan Kumar Sinha takes oath as CIC.

• Yashvardhan Kumar Sinha took an oath as the new Chief Information Commissioner of India.
• He was administered the oath by the President of India.
• He will serve as CIC for three years.
• He was serving as Information Commissioner from January 2019.
• The office of CIC had been vacant for the last two months after Bimal Julka retired at the end of August 2020.
• Chief Information Commissioner heads the Central Information Commission, which is a statutory body established under the RTI Act, 2005.
• Chief Information Commissioner and other Information Commissioners are appointed by the President on the recommendation of a committee that consists of:
  • Prime Minister
  • Leader of opposition in Lok Sabha
  • Union Cabinet Minister nominated by PM