Daily GK Update 24 January 2020: Read Daily GK-Current Affairs Update

Table of Contents

Daily GK updates are incorporated with the important news that made the current affairs headlines for banking or other competitive exams. Daily GK Update is the complete bag of the important news that held all day long. One should have complete knowledge about the banking terms, current affairs news, etc. So, here is the GK update of 24 January 2020 to help you prepare the Current affairs part. After reading this section, you can successfully attempt Current Affairs Quiz.

National Current Affairs

1. India’s 1st Mahatma Gandhi convention centre inaugurated in Niger

Union External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and President of Niger Mahamadou Issoufou have inaugurated India’s first Mahatma Gandhi convention centre in Niger. It is the first convention centre established in Africa by India to honour the memory of Mahatma Gandhi.

Important takeaways for all competitive exams:

Capital of Niger: Niamey; Currency of Niger: West African CFA franc.
Prime Minister of Niger: Brigi Rafini.

International

2. Greece’s parliament elects Katerina Sakellaropoulou as its 1st woman president

Katerina Sakellaropoulou has been elected the Greece’s first female president.

Important takeaways for all competitive exams:

Capital of Greece: Athens; Currency of Greece: Euro.

Banking News

3. Vodafone m-pesa’s Certificate of Authorisation cancelled by RBI

The Certificate of Authorisation (CoA) of Vodafone m-pesa has been cancelled by Reserve Bank of India. Vodafone Idea closed the m-pesa after getting merged with the Aditya Birla Idea Payments Bank Limited in 2019.

Important takeaways for all competitive exams:

Vodafone M-pesa Limited Formation: 13 September 2014.
Vodafone M-pesa Limited Headquarters: Mumbai, Maharashtra.

4. RBI has raised the Investment limit for FPIs in government & corporate bonds to 30%

The Reserve Bank of India has increased the investment limit for Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) from 20% to 30% in government & corporate bonds.

Important takeaways for all competitive exams:

RBI 25th Governor: Shaktikant Das; Headquarters: Mumbai; Founded: 1 April 1935, Kolkata.

Ranks & Reports

5. Economist Intelligence Unit released Democracy Index 2019

Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) has released the 12th edition of the “Democracy Index 2019: A year of democratic setbacks and popular protest”. Norway topped the Index while North Korea was placed at the bottom of the list. India has been placed at 51st position among 167 countries in the Index and was included in flawed democracy.

Important takeaways for all competitive exams:

Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) Founded: 1946.
Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) Headquarters: London, England.

Defence News

6. DAC approves the procurement of about Rs 5100 crore Indigenous Equipments

The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC), headed by Raksha Mantri Rajnath Singh has approved the procurement of Indigenous Equipments valued at Rs 5100 crore. These indigenous equipments have been manufactured by the Indian industry and designed by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) for the Indian Army.

Important takeaways for all competitive exams:

28th Chief of Army Staff: General Manoj Mukund Naravane.
Indian Army Day is observed on January 15.

Sports News

7. Maharashtra has topped the medal tally of Khelo India Youth Games 2020

Maharashtra has topped the medal tally of the 3rd season of the Khelo India Youth Games concluded in Guwahati. The state clinched 256 medals including 78 gold while Haryana stood at 2nd position with a total of 200 medals. Assam’s swimmer Shivangi Sharma won five gold and two silver medals and became the most successful female player of the tournament.

Important takeaways for all competitive exams:

Capital of Assam: Dispur; Governor of Assam: Jagdish Mukhi.

Science and Technology

8. ‘Vyommitra’ a half-humanoid robot has been unveiled by ISRO for Gaganyaan Space Mission

‘Vyommitra’ or “friend in the sky” a half-humanoid robot for Gaganyaan Space Mission has been unveiled by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). ISRO has planned to execute two unmanned missions before the Ganganyaan mission.

Important takeaways for all competitive exams:

ISRO Director: K. Sivan; Headquarters: Bengaluru; Established: 1969.

Important Days

9. National Girl Child Day celebrated by India on 24th January

National Girl Child Day celebrated by India every year on 24th January with an aim to focus on the inequalities faced by girls, to promote the education, health & nutrition of the girl child, and to spread awareness about the rights of a girl child.

10. 24th January celebrated globally as International Day of Education

24th January was celebrated globally as International Day of Education with the theme ‘Learning for people, planet, prosperity and peace’. It was celebrated for the first time on 24 January 2019.

Miscellaneous

11. Taxi service ‘Women with Wheels’ launched at Indira Gandhi International Airport

A unique taxi service ‘Women with wheels’ which will be only available for the female commuters and will be driven by women drivers only, has been launched at the Indira Gandhi International Airport, New Delhi. It is an initiative by ‘Sakha cabs’.

Important takeaways for all competitive exams:

CEO of Sakha Consulting Wings: Arvind Vadera.

12. 44th International Kolkata Book Fair will be held with Russia as focal theme country

The 44th International Kolkata Book Fair (IKBF) will be held with Russia as the focal theme country. It is the world’s largest non-trade book fair, Asia’s largest book fair and the most attended book fair in the world.

Important takeaways for all competitive exams:

Jagdeep Dhankhar is the governor of West Bengal.
Mamta Banerjee is the CM of West Bengal.

13. Reliance Jio becomes 1st Telecom to launch UPI Payments Feature

Reliance Jio has become the 1st telecom operator to facilitate UPI payments feature through its platform after launching the feature on the MyJio app and will be now competing with other private UPI payment providers such as Paytm, Google Pay and PhonePe.

Important takeaways for all competitive exams: