Current Affairs - 2019-20

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Union Cabinet has approved the proposal for merger of State Bank of Bikaner & Jaipur (SBBJ), State Bank of Patiala (SBP), State Bank of Mysore (SBM), State Bank of Travancore (SBT), and State Bank of Hyderabad (SBH) with the parent, State Bank of India. This merger will create a banking giant, having 1/4 of market share in India’s banking sector (in terms of loans and deposits), with an asset base of about Rs 40 lakh crore from Rs 23 lakh crore.

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Indore ranked first, Bhopal occupied the second spot  and Visakhapatnam the third spot as per the Swachh Survekshan 2017. 

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The Whitley Awards also called Green Oscars are given annually by the Whitley Fund for Nature (WFN) to recognise and celebrate effective national and regional conservation leaders across the globe. In 2017, there are two Indians among the awardees- Purnima Devi Barman from Assam and Sanjay Gubbi from Karnataka. Purnima Devi Barman is a renowned environmentalist from Assam and has won the Green Oscars, for her efforts in conserving greater adjutant storks, an endangered bird species found in Assam. Sanjay Gubbi is a scientist with the Nature Conservation Foundation in India, and has received the award for helping to expand the protected area network in Karnataka.

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Recently, NTPC started the power generation from India’s largest floating solar power plant at Kayamkulam in Kerala. Kerala was chosen for the installation due to abundant availability of water bodies and lack of enough land. The 100 kWp floating solar generation plant is the largest of its kind in India, and was indigenously developed as a part of ‘Make in India’ initiative, at Rajiv Gandhi Combined Cycle Power Plant (RGCCPP) in Kerala’s Kayamkulam district. Solar panels mounted on floating boards hold them in place saves land usage. The solar panels in water have been found to be efficient than the ones installed on land. These floating platforms were indigenously developed by NTPC Energy Technology Research Alliance, the R&D arm of NTPC Ltd BSE -0.30 %, in collaboration with Central Institute of Plastic Engineering & Technology (CIPET), Chennai and a patent has been applied for. 

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In recent report of World Bank titled “South Asia Economic Focus – Globalisation Backlash”, it said eliminating tax evasion and corruption-the most talked objectives of junking old 500 and 1000 rupee notes. The report said that the demonetisation move will limit tax evasion and corruption, will help to curb black money, to eliminate counterfeit notes, increase transparency and promote the use of electronic payments in India.

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Scientists of the National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS), Bengaluru and the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University, Japan have discovered two new ant species. The two new ant species have been named as Tetramorium krishnani and Tetramorium jarawa respectively in honour of late scientist K.S. Krishnan of the NCBS, and after the Jarawas, an indigenous people of the islands. The newly discovered ants are found in leaf litter in the evergreen forests of Havelock Island and are endemic to the Andamans.

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The member states of Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) are: Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Armenia.
Moldova has been granted the Observer Status in April 2017.

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The BRICS nations have adopted the “New Delhi Declaration on Education”, resolving to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote life-long learning opportunities for all. The declaration was adopted at a conference of Education Ministers of the BRICS nations-Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

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The Indian government announced to adopt ‘Swiss Challenge’ method for development of railway stations and national highways in India. "Swiss Challenge" is a model of auctioning infrastructure projects in India.

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First is the correct answer. The 68th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) has declared year 2016 as the International Year of Pulses (IYP). It was launched under the slogan ‘nutritious seeds for a sustainable future’. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of UN has been nominated to facilitate the implementation of the Year in collaboration with all stakeholders.Year 2015 was declared as International Year of Soils.