Current Affairs - 2019-20

Notes:
The National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) of India has won prestigious International Award of Asia Pacific Quality Network (APQN) titled “APQN Quality Award 2017 for International Co-operation in Quality Assurance” in Moscow, Russia on May 26, 2017. The NAAC is an organisation that assesses and accredits institutions of higher education in India. It’s headquarters is located in Bangalore, Karnataka.

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Currently (June, 2018), Apollo Global Management LLC tops the list of the world’s top 10 private equity firms, with just under $150 billion in total private equity assets under management(AUM) for 2015. Blackstone is the world’s second biggest private equity firm. 

Notes:
SDR was created by the IMF in 1969 as a supplementary international reserve asset. Technically SDR is not a currency. The value of SDR is based on the basket of the four major currencies – US Dollar, Euro, UK Pound and Japanese Yen. From 1st October 2016, Yuan will be the fifth currency in the basket. The IMF members who hold the SDR are allowed to freely exchange their SDR with any of the four currencies in the IMF’s basket. Generally countries exchange their SDR with four major currencies to meet their trade needs with other countries. 

Notes:
After 2018 amendment, the salaries of judges of higher judiciary in India are:

Chief Justice of India	Rs. 2,80,000
Supreme Court Judge	Rs.2,50,000
Chief Justice of High Court	Rs. 2,50,000
Judge of High Court	Rs. 2,25,000

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All given features are of Forest owlet

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The Department of Disinvestment has been renamed as Department of Investment and Public Asset Management or ‘Dipam’. This step is aimed at proper management of Centre’s investments in equity including its disinvestment in central public sector undertakings. The new department has been mandated to "advise the government in the matters of financial restructuring of central public sector enterprises and for attracting investment through capital markets".

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Nanaji Deshmukh was born in a Marathi-speaking Deshastha Brahmin family on 11 October 1916 in Kadoli, a small town in the Hingoli district of Maharashtra. Recently, on 11^th October, 2017, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the birth centenary celebration of Nanaji Deshmukh at IARI at Pusa in New Delhi. Prime Minister launched the Gram Samvad App which will carry information on the progress of rural development works at the Gram Panchayat level and released a commemorative postage stamp on Nanaji Deshmukh. Nanaji Deshmukh established Chitrakoot Gramodya Vishwavidyalaya, India’s first rural university. He also established Bharat’s first Saraswati Shishu Mandir at Gorakhpur in 1950. He established Deendayal Research Institute (DRI) in 1972 to validate the philosophy of Integral Humanism propounded by Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya. He launched the “Campaign for Self-Reliance” thereby carrying out a social restructuring programme in over 500 villages in the country. He passed away in 2010.

Notes:
The Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) has introduced a new star rating methodology called Indian Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio (ISEER) for air conditioners. Keeping the performance of air conditioners during higher temperature in mind, ISEER will address the different climatic zones in India and higher temperature. ISEER measures energy efficiency of air conditioners based on a weighted average of the performance at outside temperatures between 24 and 43 degree C based on Indian weather data.

Notes:
LoU (Letter of Undertaking), SWIFT (Society of Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication) and Core Banking System (CBS) were recently in news for their involvement in the Punjab National Bank fraud case. Letter of Undertaking (LoU) is a guarantee that a bank is obliged to repay the loan if the actual borrower. Officials of Punjab National Bank issued LoU to foreign banks on behalf of the PNB to sanction loan to Nirav Modi. Society of Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) is a system to send instant messages. Once the foreign bank receives SWIFT message, it disburses the loan to the borrower. SWIFT transactions are supposed to be regularly reviewed but PNB didn’t follow the same. Core Banking System (CBS) is centralised software that keeps all records across branches and is capable of generating alerts over any undue activity.

Notes:
The highest tree cover is shown by Maharashtra (9831 sq km) followed by Rajasthan (8266 sq km), Madhya Pradesh (8073 sq km) and Gujarat (8024 sq km).