Current Affairs - 2019-20

Notes:
Suryoday Small Finance Bank with its tagline “A Bank of Smiles”, has recently launched its first branch in Belapur, Navi Mumbai.

Notes:
The Part VI of constitution of India is applicable to all the states of India. Earlier it was not applicable to Jammu & Kashmir. After Jammu & Kashmir converted to Union Territory in 2019, the 6th part extends to all states of India.

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The 90th edition of Annual General Meeting (AGM) of Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) has started in New Delhi, which was addressed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on December 13, 2017. It was the Mr Modi’s first address to an AGM of a national business association after becoming the Prime Minister. It was his first major interaction with India Inc since the launch of GST. The theme of this year’s AGM is, ‘Indian Business in a New India’. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and senior Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia are also scheduled to address different sessions of the AGM. Finance Ministers of Bihar, West Bengal, Kerala and Jammu and Kashmir will speak on GST at a special session during the AGM.

Notes:
AirAsia is a low-cost airline based in Malaysia. It is the largest airline in Malaysia by fleet size and destinations, and it has a significant presence in Southeast Asia, East Asia, South Asia, and Australia. AirAsia was founded in 1993 and began operations in 1996. The airline is known for its low-cost business model and its frequent flyer program, AirAsia BIG. AirAsia has been awarded numerous accolades, including being named the “World’s Best Low-Cost Airline” by Skytrax for 10 consecutive years from 2009 to 2018.

Notes:

Area of sectors
=> Area of square = 4 4 = 16 sq.cm.
∴ Area of the remaining portion = (16 – 4π) sq.cm.
Hence option [B] is the right answer.

Notes:
The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has constituted a 2-member monitoring committee to oversee the Yamuna rejuvenation project. The committee, comprising former Delhi Chief Secretary Shailaja Chandra and retired NGT expert member Bikram Singh Sajwan, has been directed to submit the first action plan by September 2018 and report by December 2018. The green panel also directed the Haryana and Uttar Pradesh governments to assist the committee on the project. The Tribunal directed the authorities to take strict action against encroachments on the Yamuna floodplains. It also directed the Delhi Development Authority and the Delhi Jal Board to hold a meeting on July 30 for identifying land for setting up of a sewage treatment plant on a drain which falls under phase-II of the Yamuna cleaning programme. The current chairperson of the NGT is Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel, retired Supreme Court Judge.

Notes:
India signed the Stockholm Convention and had agreed to phase out the use of Endosulfan by 2017. Stockholm Convention is first ever-concerted global effort to save mankind from the adverse impact of Persistent Organic Pollutants (POP). The Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants was signed by India on May 14, 2002. It focuses on reducing and eliminating the production / use of 12 highly hazardous substances including eight pesticides (aldrin, chlordane, DDT, dieldrin, endrin, heptachlor, mirex and toxaphene); two industrial chemicals (poly chlorinated biphenyls and hexachlorobenzene) and two unintended by-products (poly chlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzo furans, commonly referred to as dioxins and furans).

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Astrosat is India’s first dedicated multi-wavelength space observatory. It has recently accomplished the extremely strenuous job of X-ray polarisation, putting up a strong challenge to prevailing theories of high energy radiation from pulsars. The 18-month old study of the Crab Pulsar in the Taurus constellation and measurement of the variations of polarisation as this highly-magnetised neutron star spins around 30 times every second is a commendable task. A pulsar is a celestial body, believed to be made up on neutrons, and rotates 30 times per second. Even though they are comparatively tiny in size, they have mass more than that of the entire Sun, and hence are known as compact objects. Scientists and astronomers, who participated in the project hail from the country’s top scientific institutes — the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), Mumbai; the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Thiruvananthapuram; ISRO Satellite Centre (ISAC), Bengaluru; The Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA), Pune; and Physical Research Laboratory (PRL), Ahmedabad.

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Khangchendzonga National Park (KNP) in Sikkim has been named a world heritage site by the World Heritage Committee (WHC) of UNESCO. This is a National Park and a Biosphere reserve located in Sikkim, India. It was inscribed to the UNESCO World Heritage Sites list on July 17, 2016, becoming the first "Mixed Heritage" site of India.

Notes:
Gujarat’s Dahej is all set to get India’s first roll on-roll off (Ro-Ro) vessel passenger ferry services around April 2017. The Rs 550 crore projects being executed by the Gujarat Maritime Board (GMB), and is expected to bring down travel time between Saurashtra regions in Gujarat with its Southern parts significantly. From Ghoga in Saurashtra to Dahej in South Gujarat takes around 10-12 hours for trucks and buses, and even by cars it is not less than 6-8 hours. Once the Ro-Ro ferry service commences, this time would be dramatically shortened to one and a half hours. Roll-on/roll-off (RORO or ro-ro) ships are vessels designed to carry wheeled cargo, such as cars, trucks, semi-trailer trucks, trailers, and railroad cars that are driven on and off the ship on their own wheels or using a platform vehicle, such as a self-propelled modular transporter. This is in contrast to lift-on/lift-off (Lolo) vessels, which use a crane to load and unload cargo. Roll-on/Roll-off or ‘Ro-Ro’ services for freight transport have being proposed to be introduced at five places – Kolkata, Sahibganj, Varanasi, Patna and Bhagalpur besides setting up small terminals at a cost of Rs 1,000 crore.