Dear Aspirants,
The General Awareness Section plays an important role in scoring well above cut off marks in any competitive exam. The Banking Awareness and Static Awareness questions asked in the General Awareness Section are based on Current Affairs mainly. So you need to prepare well for this section to score good marks. Here is the Daily GK Update to get you acquainted with the top events that made the headlines today!
National
1. UKEIRI Mobility Programme: Study in India
i. A new India-UK bilateral pilot scheme, the UKEIRI Mobility Programme: Study in India was launched by Universities UK International (UUKi) and British Council India.
ii. It aims to generate up to 200 opportunities for undergraduate students at UK universities to visit India by March 2021.
iii. The programme will be funded by the UK and Indian governments as part of Phase 3 of the UK-India Education Research Initiative (UKEIRI).
2. Govt to Install Solar projects of 40,000 MW by 2022
i. The government has set a target for the installation of Rooftop Solar projects of 40,000 MegaWatt by 2022 in the country.
ii. The projects include installation of solar panels on the rooftop of houses. It is estimated that 1.5 million units per MegaWatt per year are generated from solar rooftop plants.
Static/Current Takeaways Important For Clerk Main 2019:
- Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy: Raj Kumar Singh.
International
3. Plastic-like Jute material developed in Bangladesh
i. Scientists in Bangladesh have developed a method to convert Jute fibre into low cost bio-degradable cellulose sheets named “Sonali”.
ii. The Eco-friendly jute poly bags made up of Sonali can be used in garments and food packaging work and they are not harmful for human health.
4. Non Aligned Movement Ministerial Meeting held in Venezuela
i. The Non Aligned movement ministerial meeting was held in Caracas, Venezuela.
ii. The ministerial meeting brought together 120 member nations as well as 7 observer countries, 10 multilateral international organisations including the United Nations (UN), and 14 specially invited nations.
iii. India’s Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Syed Akbaruddin represented India in the meeting.
Agreements
5. NPCI ties up with JCB for global RuPay card
i. National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) and JCB International have launched RuPay JCB Global Cards.
ii. RuPay JCB Global Cards can be used at all point of sales terminals which accept RuPay cards and terminals outside India which accept JCB.
Static/Current Takeaways Important For SBI Clerk Main 2019:
- CEO of NPCI: Dilip Asbe; Established in: 2008.
- CEO of JCB International: Takao Kawanishi; Established in: 1961.
Appointments
6. Ehsan Mani named chief of ICC committee
i. Pakistan Cricket Board’s chairman Ehsan Mani has been appointed as the head of the ICC’s influential Finance and Commercial Affairs committee.
ii. The F&CA assists the ICC in discharging its responsibilities in relation to all financial and commercial matters.
Static/Current Takeaways Important For RRB NTPC/IBPS RRB Main 2019:
- Chairman of ICC : Shashank Manohar; Headquarter of ICC: Dubai, UAE.
7. Mark Esper appointed as Pentagon chief
i. The U.S. Senate confirmed former soldier Mark Esper as Secretary of Defence, filling America’s longest-ever Pentagon leadership vacuum as Washington faces mounting tensions with Iran.
Static/Current Takeaways Important For Clerk Main 2019:
- President of USA: Donald Trump; Capital of the USA: Washington DC.
8. Dejan Papic appointed as India’s table tennis coach
i. The Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI) has appointed the Canadian Dejan Papic as the head coach of the Indian table tennis team. He has signed a one-year contract and will be the in charge through the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Static/Current Takeaways Important For RRB NTPC/IBPS RRB Mains:
- President of TTFI: Dushyant Chautala.
Banking and Economy News
9. RBI names Kanungo to run monetary policy portfolio
i. Reserve Bank of India has assigned deputy governor B.P. Kanungo to run the monetary policy portfolio and forecasting department. After the exit of Viral Acharya, Kanungo has become the 6th member of the RBI’s Monetary Policy Committee.
ii. Now, all the three deputy governors N S Vishwanathan, B P Kanungo and M K Jain have been made responsible for 12 departments each.
Static/Current Takeaways Important For EPFO/LIC ADO Mains:
- Governor of RBI: Shaktikant Das; Headquarters: Mumbai; Founded: 1 April 1935, Kolkata.
10. IMF lowers India’s growth outlook for FY20
i. The International Monetary Fund has lowered its annual growth forecast for India from 7.3% to 7% in financial year 2019-20.
ii. The IMF’s stance reflects a weaker-than-expected outlook for domestic demand.
Static/Current Takeaways Important For SBI Clerk Mains:
- Acting MD of IMF: David Lipton; Headquarters: Washington DC, USA.
Defence News
11. India to launch first-ever space war exercise ‘IndSpaceEx’
i. The Indian armed forces are all set to conduct the country’s first-ever simulated space warfare exercise “IndSpaceEx”.
ii. This excercise will lead to an assessment of the “imminent threats” in the expanse beyond earth and the drafting of a joint space doctrine for futuristic battles. Ministry of Defence will organize exercise with all three forces together.
Static/Current Takeaways Important For RRB NTPC/IBPS RRB Main:
- Minister of Defence: Raj Nath Singh.
Miscellaneous
12. JATAN: Virtual Museum software for Digitization of Archaeological Museum
i. JATAN: Virtual Museum software has been developed by Human Centres Design and Computing Group, C-DAC, Pune, Maharashtra for the Digitization of Archaeological Museum.
ii. JATAN is used for creating digital collections in various museums and digital archival tools that are used in background for managing National Portal.
Static/Current Takeaways Important For SBI Clerk Main:
- Director General of ASI: Usha Sharma.
Important Days
13. CBDT celebrates Aaykar Diwas 2019
i. The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) celebrating the 159th Income Tax Day (AaykarDiwas) on 24th July.
ii. On 24th July, 1860 that Income Tax was introduced for the first time in India by Sir James Wilson.
Static/Current Takeaways Important For Clerk Mains:
- Chairman of CBDT: Pramod Chandra Mody.
Sports
14. Abhay, Tanvi win Bengal Open squash titles
i. Abhay Singh of Tamil Nadu and Tanvi Khanna clinched the men’s and women’s titles respectively in the sixth Bengal Open squash tournament.
ii. Earlier under-15 category witnessed a thrilling battle between fifth seeded Tamil Nadu girl Shameena Riaz upsetting top seed Soniya Bajaj from Maharashtra.
Static/Current Takeaways Important For EPFO/LIC ADO Main 2019:
- President of Squash Rackets Federation of India: Debendranath Sarangi.
Obituaries
15. Former Chinese premier Li Peng passes away
i. Former Chinese premier and chairman of the National People’s Congress Standing Committee, Li Peng passed away. He was also known as the “Butcher of Beijing” for his role in the Tiananmen Square crackdown.
Static/Current Takeaways Important For EPFO/LIC ADO Mains:
- China Capital: Beijing; Currency: Renminbi.
Daily GK Update 14 January 2020: Read Da...
