All in One Current Affairs

Economic survey likely to peg GDP growth at 6-6.5% in 2020-21

India’s economic survey for 2019-20 is likely to peg GDP growth at 6-6.5 per cent in 2020-21. The GDP growth is expected to improve next year due to a series of fiscal measures to revive demand that the government is likely to announce in the Union Budget for 2020-21. GDP growth fell to 4.5 per cent during July-September 2019. The government has estimated the economy to grow by five per cent in 2019-20.

Pine Labs launches Paper PoS, merged QR product

Pine Labs, a leading merchant commerce platform, on Wednesday announced the launch of Paper PoS (point of sale) for its merchants, which can be used to accept Unified Payments Interface (UPI) and Bharat QR payments through a merged static QR at the point of sale. Merchants can use Paper PoS to accept payments across different kinds of UPI and Bharat QR payments, including Amazon Pay, Google Pay, PayZapp, PhonePe and YONO. Using countertop POS machines, merchants can print a customer charge slip.

Bharti Airtel removed from DGFT blacklist

Bharti Airtel’s name has now been removed from the denied entry list, after it highlighted the relevant details and documents submitted to the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT). The DGFT, which is under the Commerce Ministry, had put the company under the list, commonly known as blacklist, for non-fulfilment of export obligation in respect of certain Export Promotion Capital Goods (EPCG) authorisation issued to it.

Nasscom partners with Japan to bring more startups and tech firms

Industry body National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom) and the Japan External Trade Organisation (JETRO) have partnered to bring more startups and technology firms in contact with Venture Capitalists and strategic partners from Japan. Three startups have already received funding as part of the first round of interactions held.

Madhya Pradesh govt launches revised version of Yuva Swabhiman Yojana

The Kamal Nath-led Madhya Pradesh government has launched a revised version of Yuva Swabhiman Yojana (YSY), with an increased monthly stipend and annual number of working days. The scheme is for unemployed, ensuring 100 days of employment every year to economically weak urban youth at a stipend of Rs 4,000 per month. In the revised version the amount of monthly stipend has been increased to Rs 5,000 from Rs 4,000, while the days of employment will be increased to 365 days from 100 days.

Nagoba jatara festival concludes in Telangana

A month-long Nagoba Jatra festival has come to an end in Telangana. Nagoba Jatara is a tribal festival held in Keslapur village, Indervelly Mandal, Adilabad District, Telangana. It is the second biggest tribal carnival and celebrated by Mesram clan of Gond tribes for 10 days. Tribal people from Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Orissa and Madhya Pradesh belonging to the Mesram clan offer prayers at the festival. Gusadi dance performed by Gondi dancers during the celebrations is a major attraction. 

First Snow Leopard conservation center to be opened in Uttarakhand

India’s first ‘Snow leopard conservation center‘ is set to be constructed in Uttarakhand. The project aims at protection and propagation of the species in higher reaches of the hill state which happens to be the natural habitat of the elusive big cat. The center has been designed by experts from the Netherlands with a budget of Rs 5.30 crore. It will be built under central government scheme ‘SECURE Himalaya’, at the entry point of Gangotri National Park above 2800 meters sea level.

UN appoints Gita Sabharwal as Resident Coordinator in Thailand

The UN has appointed India’s Gita Sabharwal, has been appointed as the Resident Coordinator in Thailand. UN Resident Coordinator, the highest-ranking representative, reports to the UN chief. It leads UN Country Teams and coordinates the world body’s support to countries in implementing the 2030 Agenda. Gita has over two decades of experience in peace building and social policy. She most recently served the UN in Sri Lanka as the Peace building and Development Adviser for nearly seven years.

Odia army officer Lt Gen CP Mohanty takes charge of Southern Army Command

Odia Army Officer Lieutenant General Chandi Prasad Mohanty assumed command of Southern Army on Thursday, in a ceremony at the National War Memorial, Pune, wherein he paid tribute to the fallen soldiers, followed by traditional Guard of Honour at Headquarters Southern Command. Before this, he commanded the Trishakti Corps in Sukna in eastern sector. An alumnus of Rashtriya Indian Military College (RIMC) Dehradun and National Defence Academy, Lt Gen Mohanty is a June 1982 batch Infantry Officer from the Rajput Regiment and is currently also the Colonel of the Regiment.

Anurag Dahiya appointed as chief commercial officer of ICC

The International Cricket Council (ICC) appointed media professional Anurag Dahiya, as its Chief Commercial Officer. He had spent 14 years with Fox International Channels as senior vice president, strategy and business development. He also launched India’s first international cricket-only channel STAR Cricket and oversaw the launch of ESPN STAR Sports’ first 24×7 sports news channel ESPNEWS and OTT platform ESPN Play

Dr Partap Chauhan awarded with Ayurveda Ratan in Belgium

Dr Partap Chauhan, the pioneer of Ayurvedic Telemedicine, has Conferred with Prestigious Ayurveda Ratan Award 2020 in Brussels, Belgium. A meeting was organised at the European Parliament in Brussels, Belgium by the All-Party Parliament Group on Traditional Medicines with the objective of devising a roadmap to legalize Ayurveda in Europe and to integrate it with their healthcare systems.

Two online national level services launched by NCRB

National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB) launched two citizen services on CCTNS platform – ‘Missing Person Search’ and ‘Generate Vehicle NOC’, which will be available online to Citizens. These online services will help Citizens in Searching their Missing Persons and Generating Vehicle NOC. The services can be accessed through ‘digitalpolicecitizenservices.gov.in’ portal or through a link in the existing ‘Digital Police Portal’.

Uttar Pradesh: Chandauli tops aspirational districts list by NITI Aayog

Government think tank NITI Aayog has released the list of aspirational districts. Chandauli district in Uttar Pradesh has topped the list followed by Belangir in Odisha on 2nd position and YSR in Andhra Pradesh on 3rd position. Sahibganj in Jharkhand has been ranked at the 4th spot and Hailakandi in Assam at the 5th. The delta rankings took into account incremental progress made by over 112 aspirational districts across six developmental areas in December 2019 on the basis of Health and nutrition, education, agriculture and water resources, financial inclusion, skill development and basic infrastructure.

Ayonika Paul and Vijayveer Sidhu wins at National Shooting trials

Olympian Ayonika Paul has won the women’s 10m Air Rifle T1 event in the National Shooting trials held at Thiruvananthapuram, while Chandigarh’s Vijayveer won the junior men’s 25m Pistol T2 event with an aggregate score of 585. He had three inner 10s, more than second-placed Rajkanwar Singh Sandhu of Punjab.

Ayonika registered a score of 252.0 enroute to victory. Her effort was just 0.9 behind Apurvi’s world record of 252.9. Himachal’s Zeena Khitta, stood in second place with a score of 251.1, while Apurvi came third with a score of 229.8. Zeena also won the junior women’s trials in the same event and also had the best qualifying score on the day with a 630.0 to show after 60 shots.