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Category: All Current Affairs

Maharashtra: “Advantage Maharashtra expo 2020” inaugurated

January 9, 2020

Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray will inaugurate “Advantage Maharashtra expo 2020” in Aurangabad today. The four-day exhibition has been organised by the Marathwada Association of Small Scale Industries and Agriculture (MASSIA).

This Exhibition showcase the growth of Marathwada industries in technology and innovation and the products produced and exported from the region will be showcased in this exhibition. This exhibition will provide an opportunity for businesses and will serve the platform for small entrepreneurs.

Former Western Army Commander Lt. General P N Hoon passes away

January 8, 2020

Former Western Army Commander Lieutenant general Prem Nath Hoon, who played an important role in the war against Pakistan in 1984, passed away at the age of 90. Lt Gen Hoon was admitted in Command Hospital, Chandimandir, Panchkula for the past two days due to illness.

Born in pre-partition India on October 4, 1929, Lt Gen Hoon had joined the Indian Army and led Operation Meghdoot, the code-name for the Indian Armed Forces operation to capture the Siachen Glacier in the Kashmir region, precipitating the Siachen Conflict. The action resulted in Indian troops gaining control of the entire Siachen Glacier.

77th Golden Globe award winners 2020

January 8, 2020

77th Golden Globe Awards honouring the best films and television of calendar year 2019 was held at Beverly Hills, California in the USA.

CategoriesWinners
Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series — Musical or ComedyRamy Youssef (“Ramy”)
Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series — Musical or ComedyPhoebe Waller-Bridge (“Fleabag”)
Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series — DramaBrian Cox (“Succession”)
Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series — DramaOlivia Colman (“The Crown”)
Best Performance by an Actor in a Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for TelevisionRussell Crowe (“The Loudest Voice”)
Best Performance by an Actress in a Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for TelevisionMichelle Williams (“Fosse/Verdon”)
Best Television Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television“Chernobyl”
Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for TelevisionPatricia Arquette (“The Act”)
Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for TelevisionStellan Skarsgård (“Chernobyl”)
Best Television Series — Drama“Succession”
Best Television Series — Musical or Comedy“Fleabag”
Best Motion Picture — Musical or Comedy“Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”
Best Motion Picture — Drama“1917”
Best Motion Picture — Foreign Language“Parasite”
Best Screenplay — Motion PictureQuentin Tarantino (“Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”)
Best Original Song — Motion Picture“(I’m Gonna) Love Me Again” (“Rocketman”)
Best Original Score — Motion PictureHildur Guðnadóttir (“Joker”)
Best Actor in a Supporting Role in Any Motion PictureBrad Pitt (“Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”)
Best Actress in a Supporting Role in Any Motion PictureLaura Dern (“Marriage Story”)
Best Actor in a Motion Picture — Musical or ComedyTaron Egerton (“Rocketman”)
Best Motion Picture — Animated“Missing Link”
Best Actor in a Motion PictureJoaquin Phoenix (“Joker”)
Best Actress in a Motion Picture — DramaRenée Zellweger (“Judy”)
Best Actress in a Motion Picture — Musical or ComedyAwkwafina (“The Farewell”)
Best Director — Motion PictureSam Mendes (“1917”)

Equitas Small Finance Bank waives non-maintenance charges

January 8, 2020

Equitas Small Finance Bank stated it has waived non-maintenance charges on all savings accounts besides offering lower transaction charges to customers. The bank offers upto 5 per cent per annum on savings and upto 8.25 per cent per annum on fixed deposits and 0.60 per cent extra for senior citizens.

They intend to further strengthen the  liability franchise with a focus on growing the  retail deposit and CASA deposit base to provide with a stable and low-cost source of funding. Premature closure of accounts and partial withdrawal is also permitted for senior citizens.

RBI buys three long-term securities worth Rs 10,000 cr in 3rd special OMO

January 8, 2020

In the third special open market operation in many weeks, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) bought three long-term securities worth 10,000 crore rupees each while selling the same amount of three short-term bonds.The RBI had announced simultaneous purchase and sale of Government Securities (G-Secs) under Open Market Operations (OMOs) for 10,000 crore rupees each.

Though the RBI offered to sell four securities in the auction, it accepted bids for three bonds. In the current OMO purchase auction, the RBI offered to purchase three securities including 10-year benchmark government bond, as against just one bond in the previous two auctions. It got bids worth 64,505 crore rupees for the three bonds but choose to accept only bids of 10,000 crore rupees under the OMO purchase auction.

Bhubaneswar declared as ODF++ city

January 8, 2020

A day before commencement of Swachh Survekshan-2020, the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) declared the Capital an open defecation-free (ODF) ++ city. BMC Administrator and Director of Municipal Administration Sangramjit Nayak stated the ODF++ status will be open for third party verification following the declaration. Nayak also pinned hope that the Smart City will do better in the Swachh Survekshan this year.

ODF++ status is accorded to a city where not a single person is found defecating and, or urinating in the open, all community and public toilets are functional and well maintained, faecal sludge and sewage are safely managed and treated with no discharge or dumping of untreated in drains, water bodies or open areas at any point of a day.

As many as 4,830 urban local bodies will participate in the survey to be carried out by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs across the country from January 4. The total mark for the survey is 6,000 of which 25 per cent will be given to cities on the basis of the performance in Swachh Survekshan League 2020 held in three different quarters last year.

Mizoram govt to organise “Zo Kutpui” to unify Mizo tribes

January 8, 2020

Mizoram government will organise Zo Festival under the banner Zo Kutpui in at least 10 different cities across the globe. The first festival would be held at Vanghmun, a hub town of Mizos in neighbouring Tripura from January 9 to 11. The event aims at re-unifying and strengthening brotherhood among different tribes of Mizo. It will also be organised in Maryland in USA, Tahan in Myanmar, Churachandpur in Manipur and Bangladesh.

Finland PM Sanna Marin proposes four-day working week

January 8, 2020

Finland’s newly elected Prime Minister has proposed a four-day working week arguing that such a measure will enable people to spend more time with their families. Marin, 34, who is the world’s youngest Prime Minister is a social democrat, assumed office in December and leads a coalition that includes greens, leftists and centrists.

She also added that the standard working day should be reduced from eight to six hours. The working week in Europe has gone through a significant transformation over the 20th century but change has been slower in recent decades with the five-day week and eight-hour workday becoming the standard benchmark.

India, top sourcing market for Sri Lankan tourism

January 8, 2020

India continued to be the top sourcing market for Sri Lankan tourism with Indian tourists constituting maximum 19 per cent of total tourist arrivals to the island nation in 2019.

The latest data released by Sri Lankan Tourism revealed that 3,55,002 Indian tourists visited Sri Lanka last year against total arrival of around 1.91 million. Over 48 thousand Indians visited Sri Lanka during last month of December alone including over thousand by sea route.

India, United Kingdom, China, Germany and Australia were Sri Lanka’s top five international tourist generating markets last year. Sea beaches and religious places connected to Ramayana circuit remain the top attractions for Indian tourists.

Indo-Iranian Writers’ Meet organized in New Delhi

January 8, 2020

In continuation of the cultural exchange programme between India and Iran, Sahitya Akademi in collaboration with Embassy of Iran organized an Indo-Iranian Writers’ Meet in New Delhi. The objective of the meet is to further deepen cultural ties between the two nations and heighten literary awareness among the readers at both sides.

The meet was also aimed at providing a platform for meaningful-dialogue between writers of both countries. Culture Counsellor of Iran Mohammad Ali Rabbani, Secretary Sahitya Akademi K Sreenivasarao and eminent writer and scholar Nasera Sharma were present in the meet. The events also witnessed a panel discussion on Indo-Iranian Cultural Bonds.