Payment Processing...

Daily Current Affairs 25th Dec 2020

To prepare for any competitive exam, one of the important sections to read and learn is current affairs. Exams like UPSC, Bank, SSC, RRB or any Government

Minister of Commerce & Industry, Piyush Goyal launched "Australia Economic Strategy Report 2020"

  • Shri Piyush Goyal, Union Minister of Commerce and Industry launched Australia Economic Strategy Report 2020 prepared by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) team with contribution from KPMG, India.
  • The Report was launched during the Cil's virtual session on Enhancing India Australia Bilateral Economic and Trade Relationship
  • This report will contribute to the Indo-Australia strategic bilateral relationship as it has made recommendations for expanding cooperation in various areas.
  • Both nations can further expand their trade relationship with 3B objectives: Bigger trade basket - Better trade basket - Balanced trade relationship.
  • The Report has been prepared as a response to the India Economic Strategy Report, 2035, released by Australia in July 2018.

About Confederation of Indian Industry (Cii)

  • Director General- Chandrajit Banerjee
  • President- Uday Kotak
  • Headquarter- New Delhi

About KPMG India:

  • Chairman & CEO - Arun M. Kumar

35th edition of IND-INDO CORPAT 2020 held between the Indian Navy and the Indonesian Navy

  • 35th edition of India Indonesia Coordinated Patrol (IND-INDO CORPAT) 2020 between the Indian Navy and the Indonesian Navy was held.
  • The Indian side was represented by Indian Naval Ship (INS) Kulish, an indigenously built missile corvette along with P8l Maritime Patrol Aircraft (MPA)

About Indonesia:

  • Capital, Jakarta
  • Currency-Indonesian rupiah
  • President- Joko Widodo

MoFPI Signed Joint Communique with MoTA

  • Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MOFPI) signed a Joint Communique with Ministry of Tribal Affairs (MoTA) and also inked 5 Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs) with 5 government entities for the implementation of Pradhan Mantri Formalisation of Micro food processing Enterprises (PM-FME) Scheme.
  • MOFPI signed an agreement with Union Bank of India as nodal bank for PM FME scheme. Union Bank of India would help in transferring the subsidy recevied from Centre and states into loan accounts.
  • Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India (TRIFED)
  • Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR)
  • National Scheduled Castes Finance and Development Corporation (NSFDC)
  • National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd. (NAFED)
  • National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC)

About PM FME scheme:

  • The scheme is being implemented by MOFPI under the AatmaNirbhar Bharat Abhiyan to support Micro Level Food Entrepreneurs, SHG, Co- operatives and Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs). It has a total outlay of Rs 10,000 crores out of which Rs 800 crores will be available for scheduled caste (SC) people.
  • The expenditure will be shared by GOI and the States in ratio of 60:40.
  • PM-FME Scheme provides for seed capital of up to Rs.40000 for working capital and purchase of tools for
  • 3)food processing. As a part of the scheme, MOFPI will develop incubation centers in tribal focused districts for common processing and training to tribal entrepreneurs.
  • The scheme has 4 major components viz:
  • Support to individual and groups of micro enterprises
  • Branding and Marketing support
  • Strengthening institutional support
  • Setting up robust project management frameworks

India's 1st CoE for Skill Development in Power Sector at NISE, Haryana

  • Minister of State for Skill Development & Entrepreneurship (MSDE), RK Singh virtually launched India's 1st Centre of Excellence (COE) for Skill Development in Power Sector at the campus of National Institute of Solar Energy (NISE), Gwal Pahari. Gurugram, Haryana. The CoE was established as a result of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between MSDE, Government of India & the Ministry of National Education & Youth, Government of the French Republic & Schneider Electric.
  • The CoE will serve as a platform to create a robust cadre of certified trainers and assessors across the country The certified trainers & assessors will provide skills training to candidates to improve their status of employability in the fields of Electricity, Automation and Solar Energy Sectors. The CoE will house 2 labs - Advance Electrician Lab & Solar Lab set up by Schneider Electric as part of its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative.
  • Advance Electrician Lab houses specially designed instruments for facilitating training in home & building, industry installation & automation
  • Solar Lab will provide the candidates hands on practical training on latest technologies in the Solar Sector.
  • Power Sector Skill Council will be responsible for managing operations of the centre & for development of necessary learning contents for job roles in Generation, transmission, distribution & downstream sub sectors.
  • An Expert will be deputed by Department of Education, France to India for 3 years to conceptualise, design & head the CoE.

About Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship (MSDE):

  • Union Minister - Mahendra Nath Pandey
  • Minister of State - Raj Kumar Singh

About Schneider Electric:

  • Chairman & Chief Executive Officer - Jean-Pascal Tricoire
  • Headquarters - Rueil-Malmaison, France

EAM Jaishankar virtually Addresses the 2020 GTS - 5th Edition organized by MEA, CI

  • External Affairs Minister Jaishankar virtually addressed the 2020 Global Technology Summit (GTS) - 5th Edition, It was jointly organized by the Ministry of External Affairs, Carnegie India.
  • The Theme of 2020 GTS is "Geopolitics of Technology".
  • Sub theme of GTS 2020 - Data: Linking the World, Digital Payments: The Future of Global Financial Highways, Digital Inclusion: Taking the Local to the Global, and Transforming Healthcare for a Post-COVID World.
  • GTS is one of the four Flagship annual conferences organized by MEA, the other three being - Raisina Dialogue, the Geo-Economic Dialogue & the Indian Ocean Conference.

About Carnegie India (CI):

  • Centre Director - Rudra Chaudhuri
  • Location - New Delhi

MOD organized India-Maldives Defence Cooperation Webinar and Expo

  • Department of Defence Production (DDP), Ministry of Defence (MoD) through Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) organized India - Maldives Defence Cooperation Webinar and Expo as a part of the Aero India 21 series of webinar to boost defence cooperation and engagements with friendly foreign countries.
  • Theme- "Joint Indo Maldives High Level Defence Engagement"

About Maldives:

  • President- Ibrahim Mohamed Solih
  • Capital- Male
  • Currency- Maldivian Rufiyaa

20th Meeting of IORA Council of Ministers hosted Virtually by UAE

  • 20th Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) Council of Ministers (COM) Meeting 2020 hosted virtually by United Arab Emirates (UAE) where Indian side was represented by Vellamvelly Muraleedharan, Minister of State (MoS) Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). France became 23rd member of the IORA.
  • The COM was inaugurated by Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of UAE while it was chaired by Ahmed Ali Al Sayegh, UAE Minister of State.
  • It was the first virtual COM amid COVID-19.
  • UAE is the chair of IORA for a period 2019-2021 on the theme "Promoting a Shared Destiny and Path to Prosperity in the Indian Ocean".
  • The meeting was attended by all 22 Member States and 10 Dialogue Partners and also adopted the Emirates Communique as the outcome of the COM.
  • Sri Lanka will be the Vice Chair of IORA for the period 2021-23
  • India has deployed an IT (Information Technology) Expert by India and is also implementing e-Office system and Mahatma Gandhi library at the IORA Secretariat as a commitment towards the strengthening of IORA.
  • India was the chair of IORA in 2011 during which IORA adopted its six priority areas which are guiding principles of all its activities.

About Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA):

  • Establishment- 1997
  • Secretary-General Nomvuyo N. Nokwe
  • Headquarter- Ebene, Mauritius

India ranks 111 out of 162 countries in the Human Freedom Index 2020

  • According to the 'Human Freedom Index 2020: A Global Measurement of Personal, Civil, and Economic Freedom - 6th Annual Report released by Cato Institute of United States & Fraser Institute in Canada, India (overall score of 6.43) ranked 111 in the list of 162 countries. New Zealand (score 8.87) topped the index followed by Switzerland (score 8.82) & Hong Kong (score - 8.74).
  • The Human Freedom Index (HFI) 2020 is a global ranking of civil, economic & personal freedom, it uses data from 2008 to 2018. It was prepared by lan Vásquez and Fred McMahon.
  • India ranked 110/162 in Personal Freedom (Score - 6.30); 105/162 in Economic Freedom (Score - 6.56). In the Regional Wise Rankings, in South Asia, India secured 10th Rank among 17 countries. India was ranked 94 on the HFI 2019.

About Cato Institute:

  • President, Chief Executive Officer - Peter N.Goettler
  • Location AmericaWashington D.C., United

About Fraser Institute:

  • Chairman - Peter Brown
  • Location - Vancouver, Canada

The Reserve Bank of India(RBI) further extended the restrictions of Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative(PMC) Bank Limited for a period of 3 months

  • The Reserve Bank of India(RBI) further extended the restrictions of Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative(PMC) Bank Limited for a period of 3 months from December 23, 2020 to March 31, 2021.
  •  All other terms and conditions of the Directives under reference shall remain unchanged.
  • Earlier the restriction was imposed till June 23, 2020 and then changed until December 22, 2020
  • PMC Bank, a Multi-State Urban Cooperative Bank was placed under All-inclusive Directions under sub-section (1) of Section 35 A read with Section 56 of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949, with effect from September 23, 2019
  • It was placed under due to bad loans, financial irregularities, fraudulent transactions.
  • RBI had raised the withdrawal limit of PMC Bank to Rs 1,00,000 from Rs 50,000.
  • RBI appointed AK Dixit, ex-General Manager of Union Bank of India(UBI) as the new administrator of PMC Bank with effect from September 23, 2020. He succeeded J.B. Bhoria, ex-chief general manager with the central bank.

About Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative(PMC) Bank Limited:

  • Commenced Operations- February 13, 1984
  • CEO- Surinder Pal Singh Ram Singh
  • HeadQuarters- Mumbai, Maharashtra

RBI extended CKYCR to Legal Entities from Individual Accounts w.e.f. April 1, 2021: December 2020

  • Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has amended the Master Direction (MD) on "Know Your Customer (KYC)", dated February 25, 2016, by extending the applicability of centralized KYC registry to legal entities (LES), from individual accounts w.e.f. April 1, 2021.
  • In this regard, Regulated Entities (REs) will upload the KYC data pertaining to the accounts of LEs opened on or after 1 April 2021, on to CKYCR in terms of Rule 9 (1A) of the PML (Prevention of Money-laundering) Rules.
  • Since 2017, banks, non-banks, and other entities regulated by RBI have been uploading the KYC data of individual accounts opened on or after 1 January 2017 on to the centralized KYC registry (CKYCR).
  • In case of accounts of LEs opened prior to April 1, 2021, the KYC records are uploaded on to CKYCR during the process of periodic updation as specified in Section 38 of the MD.
  • RES should ensure that during periodic updation, the customers' KYC details are migrated to current Customer Due Diligence (CDD) standards

PayU Collaborates with Google Pay to Introduce Tokenised Payments Flow for Merchants

  • Payu collaborated with Google Pay to introduce tokenised payments flow for merchants in India. This collaboration enables the merchants of PayU to offer Google Pay users the option to use their debit cards, credit cards, or Google Pay UPI to make repeated payments without the need to physically share their card details.
  • Google Pay users can make repeat payments seamlessly and securely as the information of the card is tokenised and the digital token is linked to the phone.
  • Users can avail one-click payment experience during checkout, as they do not have the need to re-enter the payment data.
  • OTP is read automatically and the payment is processed instantly, without redirections to third party sites.
  • It is the process of protecting sensitive data by replacing it with an algorithmically generated number called a token. Tokenised payments offer a highly convenient, safe, and friction-free payment experience to the customers.

About PayU:

  • Headquarters- Netherlands
  • CEO- Laurent le Moal
  • CEO, India- Anirban Mukherjee

NPCI Introduced RuPay Contactless (Offline) feature

  • National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has introduced RuPay Contactless (Offline) feature, that also provides reloadable wallets within RuPay Card, for daily transit payments.
  • NPCI has also introduced RuPay Contactless (Offline) feature for retail payments on pilot basis.

India's Retail inflation Declined to 6.93% in November 2020: CPI Data

  • As per the Consumer Price Index(CPI) data released by the Government of India, India's retail inflation based on the CPI declined to 6.93% in November 2020 from 7.61% in October 2020. The inflation rate for rural area was 7.20% and urban area 6.73% in November 2020 against 7.75% and 7.33% in October 2020.

Award of Merit' in the 2020 UNESCO Asia-Pacific Awards for Cultural Heritage Conservation

  • Amar Singh College, Srinagar, Jammu & Kashmir received the 'Award of Merit in the 2020 UNESCO(United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) Asia-Pacific Awards for Cultural Heritage Conservation. It is one of the 7 award winners of the 2020 awards. It is the first international award given to cultural heritage in Kashmir.
  • Award of Merit was also received by Pingyao Diesel Engine Factory, Shanxi, China and Malabari Hall Building, Seva Sadan Society Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
  • UNESCO introduced 'Special Recognition for Sustainable Development' in the 2020 awards. This award was received by the innovative revitalization of the Lai Cho Wo Rural Cultural Landscape in HongKong SAR, China and the transformative management of the historic Sunder Nursery of New Delhi, Mumbai.
  • Sunder Nursery was also recognised with the Award of Excellence, the highest recognition presented to projects.
  • It is the first heritage complex in Delhi to receive 2 UNESCO Asia-Pacific awards for Cultural Heritage Conversation.

Sukhbir Singh Sandhu Chairman of NHAI gets 2nd Extension of 6 Months

  • The Appointment committee of the cabinet approved the 6 month extension of Sukhbir Singh Sandhu's Central deputation as the Chairman of National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), Ministry of Road, Transport and Highways. His term as the chairman has been extended beyond 21st January 2021 to 21st July 2021.
  • Sukhbir Singh Sandhu, IAS officer of 1988 batch from Uttarakhand Cadre took over as the Chairman of NHAI in 2019, replacing Nagendra Nath Sinha, IAS who was reassigned as the Secretary, Department of Border Management.
  • He received his first extension in July 2019 which is due to end on 21st January 2021.

Defence Minister, Rajnath Singh hands 3 DRDO Developed systems to Chiefs of 3 Armed Forces

  • Union Minister for Defence, Rajnath Singh handed over 3 New Indigenous Systems - Border Surveillance System (BOSS), Indian Maritime Situational Awareness System (IMSAS) & ASTRA MK-I Missile all developed by Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO) to the Chiefs of 3 Armed Forces
  • BOSS was handed over to Chief of Army Staff General, MM Naravane, IMSAS was handed over to Admiral Karambir Singh, Chief of Naval Staff & ASTRA Mk I Missile handed over to Rakesh Kumar Singh Bhadauria, Air Chief Marshal.

Border Surveillance System (BOSS):

  • It is an all-weather electronic surveillance system designed for automatically detecting the intrusion in harsh high-altitude sub-zero temperature areas
  • It has a 20 Kilometre remote operation capability and has been deployed to Ladakh border for Day & Night surveillance.
  • Designed and Developed by Instruments Research & Development Establishment (IRDE), Dehradun and will be produced by Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL), Machlipatnam, Andhra Pradesh.

Indian Maritime Situational Awareness System (IMSAS):

  • The IMSAS is a modern, high performance intelligent software system which provides Global Maritime Situational Picture, Marine Planning Tools & Analytical capabilities to Indian Navy.
  • IMSAS provides an overall Maritime Operational Picture from the Naval Headquarters to each individual ship of Indian Navy to enable Naval Command & Control (C2).
  • Conceptualised and Developed by Centre for Artificial Intelligence & Robotics (CAIR), Bengaluru & Indian Navy. BEL, Bengaluru (Karnataka) has implemented it
  • IMSAS has been deployed across Indian Navy operation centers at Delhi, Mumbai, Visakhapatnam, Kochi, Port Blair, Chennai, Goa & Karwar.

ASTRA Mk I:

  • ASTRA Mk-I is an indigenously developed first Beyond Visual Range (BVR) Missile capable of being launched from Sukhoi-30, Light Combat Aircraft (LCA), Mig-29 & Mig-29K.
  • It is the first Air-to-Air missile developed by India.
  • It has been developed by Defence Research & Development Laboratory (DRDL), Hyderabad & produced by Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL),Hyderabad
  • The missile is capable of engaging targets at varying range - Short-range targets at a distance of 10 Kilometres & Long-range targets upto a distance of 110 Kilometres.

DRDO Awards Ceremony:

  • Rajnath Singh Felicitated 45 eminent Scientists from DRDO for their extraordinary research work & Contribution. Excellence awards were given to academic & industry for technology absorption. Individual awards, team awards, technology spin-off awards, tech managerial award and other categories were given.
  • DRDO Lifetime Achievement Award 2018 - N V Kadam for contribution towards development of control and guidance schemes for missiles.
  • Agni Award for Excellence in Self-Reliance 2018 - Amit Sharma, he is the youngest awardee to receive the award in the cyber-security domain. Defence Institute of High Altitude Research (DIHAR), Leh conferred Defence Technology Spin-off Award for helping increase farm productivity in Ladakh, Dr OP Chaurasia, Director, DIHAR received the award.

Russia launches 36 UK Telecom Satellite into Space

  • Russian space agency Roscosmos Space Agency launched a Soyuz rocket carrying 36 UK telecommunications and internet satellites into space from Vostochny launch site. The satellites were made by British company OneWeb.
  • This was the first launch of OneWeb satellites from the Vostochny spaceport.
  • The launch was delayed when OneWeb went bankrupt in April, 2020.
  • The UK government and Indian telecom giant Bharti took over the company with USD 500 million investment.

Wrestling-Individual World Cup 2020 in Belgrade, Serbia

  • India's Women wrestler Anshu Malik won the Silver medal in the 57 Kg category at the Individual World Cup 2020 held at Belgrade, Serbia organized by United World Wrestling (UWW). She won the first and only medal winner in the event where Indian side was represented by 24 wrestlers.
  • The Individual World Cup came a replacement to the 2020 World Championship which was cancelled due to less participants because of the pandemic.

About Serbia:

  • President- Aleksandar Vučić
  • Capital- Belgrade

VP Venkaiah Naidu Released "Oh, Mizoram", Book of English Poems by PS Sreedharan Pillai Governor of Mizoram

  • M Venkaiah Naidu, Vice President of India virtually released the book titled "Oh, Mizoram", a collection of poems written by P S Sreedharan Pillai, the Governor of Mizoram. The book is published by Indus Scrolls Press.
  • Jitendra Singh, Minister of State for Development of North Eastern Region attended the event along with P S Sreedharan Pillai, PU Zoramthanga Chief Minister of Mizoram, Prafulla Ketkar Editor-Organiser(Weekly) and other dignitaries.
  • This is the first poem collection written by P S Sreedharan Pillai.

"Reporting India:My Seventy Year Journey As A Journalist" by ANI Chairman Prem Prakash

  • External Affairs Minister(EAM) S. Jaishankar virtually launched the book 'Reporting India: My Seventy-Year Journey as a Journalist written by Asia News International (ANI) Chairman Prem Prakash. The book came as an outcome of the author's experience over the years, where he has interacted with almost all the Prime Ministers of India.
  • The book includes all key events in the history of India from a foreign policy perspective covering events over 50 years.

Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik launches PAReSHRAM portal with 22 online services of Different Labour Laws

  • Naveen Patnaik, Chief Minister of Odisha virtually launched PAReSHRAM portal with 22 online services of different labour laws and Employees State Insurance (E.S.1)Department under the 5T initiative of the state govt.
  • 5T- Technology, Transparency, Teamwork and Time Leading to Transformation.
  • The portal will provide 52 types of services shortly.
  • The online services will help in Ease of Doing Business and also contribute to Industrial development of the State.
  • The portal benefits the industries, commercial organisations, small entrepreneurs and the public.
  • The entrepreneurs get registration certificate, licence, approval of design of the plant, renewal and other relevant services from PAReSHRAM portal.

Justice S Muralidhar was Elevated as CJ of Orissa High Court

  • Justice S Muralidhar, Judge of Punjab & Haryana High Court has been elevated as the Chief Justice(CJ) of Orissa High Court(HC). Prior to his transfer to Punjab & Haryana HC he served as the judge in his parent high court in Delhi.
  • The elevation was recommended by the Supreme Court Collegium chaired by Chief Justice of India (CJI) SA Bobde Mohammad Rafiq, the current CJ of Orissa has been transferred to Madhya Pradesh HC.
  • Justice Hima Kohli, senior judge of Delhi High Court has been recommended as the CJ of Telangana HC.
  • Justice Sanjib Banerjee one of the senior judges of Calcutta HC has been elevated as CJ of Madras high court.
  • Justice Pankaj Mithal of Allahabad HC, serving as senior judge on the Lucknow Bench, has been recommended as the new CJ of Jammu and Kashmir HC.
  • Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia of Uttarakhand HC has been elevated as the CJ of Gauhati HC.

MOHF&W approves Health Data Management Policy of NDHM

  • Union Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare (MoHF&W) has approved the health data management policy of the National Digital Health Mission (NDHM) to protect and manage personal data of patients using the digital services of the scheme.
  • The policy has laid minimum standards for data privacy protection in order to ensure compliance with relevant and applicable laws, rules and regulations.
  • It will act as a guidance document across the National Digital Health Ecosystem (NDHE)
  • The government has instructed that this policy is to be read along with any applicable law, or any instrument, and not in contradiction to
  • Chief Executive Officer (CEO- Dr Indu Bhushan

India successfully test fires two Prithvi-2 Missiles from Odisha's Balasore Coast

  • India successfully fired two Nuclear Capable Prithvi-2 Ballistic Missiles from Balasore, Odisha. Prithvi-2 is a Surface-to-Surface Short-Range Ballistic Missile (SRBM).
  • The Missile is developed by DRDO (Defence Research and Development Organisation) under the Integrated Guided Missile Development Program (IGMDP) and is deployed by SFC (Strategic Forces Command).
  • Range - 350 Kilometres and can carry upto 500-1, 000 Kilograms of Nuclear Warheads.

About Defence Research & Development Organisation:

  • Chairman - Dr G Satheesh Reddy Headquarters - New Delhi

3rd Meeting of Joint Working Group on Shipping between India-Denmark held Virtually

  • 3rd meeting of Joint Working Group (JWG) on shipping between India and Denmark was held virtually to identify areas of co-operation between the two countries.
  • It was led by the Secretary, Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways (MOPSW) Dr. Sanjeev Ranjan and included Director General (DG) of Shipping Amitabh Kumar, Chairman & Managing Director (CMD) of Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL) Madhu Nair and Chairman of Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) Sanjay Sethi among other senior officials.
  • The agreement for mutual cooperation between Gujarat Maritime University (GMU) and Copenhagen Business School (CBS) was also concluded between both nations.

About Denmark:

  • Capital - Copenhagen
  • Currency - Danish krone
  • Prime Minister - Mette Frederiksen

RBI Invited Application for second Test Phase of Regulatory Sandbox on Cross Border Payments

  • After the commencement of Test Phase of First Cohort under the Regulatory Sandbox (RS) by Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has announced the opening of the Second Cohort on the theme of "Cross Border Payments".
  • The window for submission of applications by eligible entities for the Cohort will be open from December 21,2020 to February 15,2021.
  • The theme of the first cohort was "Retail Payments" while for third Cohort, the theme will be "MSME Lending".
  • This program allows the collaboration of banks, fintech and technology companies to conduct real time experimental projects under the supervision of the RBI team.
  • Reduced minimum net worth requirement from the existing Rs 25 lakh to Rs 10 lakh.
  • Participation of Partnership firms and Limited Liability Partnership (LLPs) have also been allowed.

SAIL Wins Golden Peacock Environment Management Award 2020

  • Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) won the Golden Peacock Environment Management Award(GPEMA) 2020 in the steel sector during a virtual ceremony of the 2nd cycle of Golden Peacock Awards 2020. Golden Peacock Awards 2020 were presented by The Institute of Directors(IOD). SAIL receives this award for the successive 2nd year.
  • Along with SAIL, 14 organisations received GPEMA 2020 in different categories.
  • Other awards that were given on the virtual award presentation ceremony are:

Golden Peacock Eco-Innovation Award (GPEIA)

  • Golden Peacock Occupational Health & Safety Award (GPOHSA) 3) Golden Peacock Award for Energy Efficiency (GPAEE)
  • The Golden Peacock Awards 2020 Jury was chaired by Justice M. N. Venkatachaliah, Chairman, Golden Peacock Awards Jury, Chairman of IOD, former chief justice of India.
  • The other jury members include Mr. Shekhar Dutt, IAS (Retd.), former Governor, State of Chhattisgarh & former Secretary, Ministry of Defence, Government of India among others.

About Golden Peacock Environment Management Award(GPEMA):

  • It is one of the most coveted awards in the category.
  • Taking into consideration various environmental issues that lead to global warming and climate change, the award encourages the corporates to improve their environmental performance and also to compete with peers to set benchmarks

About Golden Peacock Awards:

  • The annual Golden Peacock Awards was instituted by IOD, India in 1991.
  • It is regarded as the benchmark of Corporate Excellence around the world.
  • The winners of the award can use the logo of Golden Peacock Awards with year on all the printed and promotional materials. This is regarded as the highest commendation received by the organisation,

About Institute of Directors(IOD), India :

  • It is a Society (National Level), registered under the Societies Registration Act XXI of 1860. It was established on 12 July 1990,
  • Headquarters - New Delhi, India

About Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL:

  • Headquarters-New Delhi, India
  • Chairman with additional charge of Director (Personnel)- Shri Anil Kumar Chaudhary

ISRO's PSLV-C50 successfully launches CMS-01 satellite from SDSC, Sriharikota

  • India's communication satellite CMS-01 was successfully launched by Indian Space Research Organization's (ISRO) PSLV-C50 (Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle) from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) SHAR, Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh.CMS-01 is India's 42nd communication satellite.
  • CMS-01 is the first communication satellite that ISRO has orbited under its new satellite naming scheme.

India Pledges USD 1 Million to WADA's Scientific Research Budget

  • India pledged to contribute USD 1 Million to the World Anti-Doping Agency's (WADA) Scientific Research Budget. The amount will be India's contribution to WADA's initiative of raising a corpus of USD 10 Million.
  • India's contribution is the highest ever contribution made to WADA by a third world country which includes Saudi Arabia, China and Egypt.
  • The contribution will be used for the development of innovative anti doping testing and detection methods.

Russia's Ban:

  • The Court of Arbitration for Sport, Switzerland has banned Russia from using its name, flag and anthem at the next 2 olympics or any world championships in the next 2 years.
  • Hosting of any major sporting events for 2 years.
  • However teams and athletes from Russia are allowed to compete at 2021 Tokyo Olympics and 2022 Winter Games in Beijing & World Champions which includes 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar if they are implicated in doping or covering up positive tests.
  • Russia's ban is due to an accusation that Russian State Authorities tampered with databases (Test samples of athletes) from Moscow testing laboratory before handing it to WADA's authorities.

About World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA):

  • President - Witold Banka
  • Headquarters - Montreal, Canada

Indian Navy's Senior Most Submariner, Vice Admiral Srikant passed away

  • Indian Navy's Senior Most Submariner and the current director general of Project Seabird, Vice Admiral Srikant passed away after suffering from COVID-19 infection.
  • Previously he holded the charge of Inspector General of Nuclear Safety and Commandant of the National Defence College.
  • The 59-year-old submariner was about to retire on 31st December before he ended up with COVID linked breathing complications.