Category: All Current Affairs

Wholesale Price Index surges to 2.59 percent in December 2019

Wholesale prices based inflation surged to 2.59 percent in December 2019, as against 0.58 percent in November due to increase in prices of food articles. Among food articles, vegetable prices surged by 69.69 percent mainly on account of onion, which witnessed around 456 per cent jump in prices, followed by potato at around 45 percent.

According to the data released by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry , the rate of price rise for food articles rose to 13.12 per cent during December 2019 as against 11 per cent a month earlier, while for non-food articles it rose nearly four-fold to 7.72 per cent from 1.93 per cent in November.

The annual inflation, based on the monthly wholesale price index (WPI), was at 3.46 per cent during December a year ago. The consumer price index-based retail inflation, as per data, spiked to over a 5-year high of 7.35 per cent in December 2019 due to costlier food products.

RBI asks issuers to provide facility to switch on and off debit/ credit cards

Reserve Bank of India has asked banks and other card-issuing companies to provide facility to customers to switch on and off their debit or credit cards. At the time of issue or re-issue, all cards (physical and virtual) should be enabled for use only at contact based points of usage (ATMs) and Point of Sale (PoS) devices within India. The move aimed at enhancing security for digital transactions.

Issuers should provide cardholders a facility for enabling card not present (domestic and international) transactions, card present (international) transactions and contactless transactions. The channels should include mobile application, internet banking, automated teller machines, or interactive voice response.

For existing cards, issuers may take a decision, based on their risk perception, whether to disable the card not present (domestic and international) transactions, card present (international) transactions and contactless transaction rights. The latest instructions, however, are not mandatory for prepaid gift cards and those used at mass transit systems.

Renowned filmmaker Manmohan Mohapatra passes away

Manmohan Mahapatra, renowned Odia filmmaker considered as the ‘Father of New Wave Odia Cinema’ and winner of eight consecutive national awards, passed away in Bhubneshwar. He was 69. He was suffering from multiple ailments.

An alumnus of the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), he had carved a niche for himself in parallel cinema. His films mainly revolved around human emotion in changing times and were highly appreciated for a truthful presentation. His film, Seeta Raati, had won the Rajat Kamal in the National Film Awards, 1982.

Odisha: Puri district receives Swachhata Darpan Awards 2019

Puri, a city of Odisha has been awarded for its initiatives for plastic waste management with the Swachhata Darpan Awards 2019. Award ceremony was held during the Open Defecation Free (ODF) Sustainability Workshop held in National Capital New Delhi.

Actor and founder of Paani Foundation, Aamir Khan presented the award to an official of the Puri district administration at a ceremony in New Delhi. The Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation (DDWS), Ministry of Jal Shakti, organised the ODF Sustainability workshop.

Ishwar Sharma honoured with ‘Global Child Prodigy Award’ 2020

A 10-year-old Indian-origin schoolboy, Ishwar Sharma from United Kingdom and under-11 yoga champion has won the Global Child Prodigy Award 2020 for achievements in spiritual discipline yoga. Ishwar Sharma, originally from Mysore, is currently based in Kent in south-eastern England.

He was chosen for the awards among 15,000 applicants from across 45 countries and 30 different categories. Sharma has participated in over 100 yoga events across the UK and worldwide.

Prof M S Swaminathan honoured with MVN National Award

Eminent Agricultural Scientist, Prof M S Swaminathan was recently chosen as the first recipient of ‘Muppavarapu Venkaiah Naidu National Award for Excellence’. Dr Swaminathan was awarded for his distinguished contributions to the field of agriculture. Dr Swaminathan is the “Father of the Green Revolution in India and the Doyen of Agricultural Science”.

At the same time, a well-known social worker, Dr Gutta Muniratnam was felicitated with ‘Muppavarapu National Award for Social Service‘. Dr Swaminathan could not attend the function, while Dr Muniratnam was present and received the award from the Vice President, Mr M. Venkaiah Naidu. Each award carries a cash prize of Rupees Five Lakh and citation.

National Highway Excellence Awards 2019′ to be presented by Nitin Gadkari

Union Minister for Road Transport & Highways and MSMEs Nitin Gadkari will present the ‘National Highways Excellence Awards 2019’ to outstanding performers in National Highways sector on Tuesday in New Delhi. The aim is to recognise companies which are performing exceptionally well in the construction, operations, maintenance and tolling stages of highway development as well as in the arena of road safety.

The awards were instituted in the year 2018. Following the success of the first cycle, the Ministry has decided to make the National Highways Excellence Awards an annual feature. The awards will be given in the following seven categories: Excellence in Project Management; Excellence in Operation and Maintenance; Excellence in Toll Management; Excellence in Highway Safety; Innovation; Outstanding Work in Challenging Conditions; and Green Highway

E-commerce company Amazon to invest USD 1 billion in India

Jeff Bezos, chief of the e-commerce company, Amazon announced USD 1 billion (over Rs 7,000 crore) incremental investment in India to help bring small and medium businesses online and committed to exporting USD 10 billion worth of India-made goods by 2025.

The new investments will help hiring talent to fill roles across Amazon in India, including software development engineering, cloud computing, content creation, and customer support.

The investments will also help in expanding growth opportunities for the more than 5,50,000 traders and micro, small, and medium-sized businesses – including local shops – through programs like Saheli, Karigar, and “I Have Space”.

India Meteorological Department’s 145th foundation Day celebrated

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) is celebrating its 145th Foundation Day on 15 January 2020. With a humble beginning in 1875, the IMD has marched forward with various milestones and paradigms to serve the society. 

It is an agency of the Ministry of Earth Sciences of the Government of India. It is the principal agency responsible for meteorological observations, weather forecasting and seismology. IMD is also one of the six Regional Specialised Meteorological Centres of the World Meteorological Organization.

Indian Army Day celebrated on 15 January

The 72nd Indian Army Day is being celebrated across the country. Army Day Parade is also organized at Parade Ground, Delhi on this day. Army of India has the dedication to the motherland by being effective responders during calamities and through the contributions to wider nation-building.

Indian Army Day is celebrated every year on 15th January to honour Field Marshal KM Cariappa who took command of the Indian Army from General Francis Butcher on the same day in 1949.