Current Affairs - 2019-20

Notes:
India and Switzerland have signed two pacts for technical cooperation in the field of Railways after delegation level talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and visiting President of Swiss Confederation Doris Leuthard in New Delhi. The aim of pacts is to cooperate in the areas of traction rolling stock, EMU and Train sets, traction propulsion equipments, freight and passenger cars, etc. To boost bilateral ties, Swiss president, Doris Leuthard is on a 3-day visit to India. The visit is significant as Switzerland is the chair of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) where India has been seeking membership. The main theme of the presidential visit is the Treaty of Friendship signed between Switzerland and India in 1948, in which the two countries gave assurances of “perpetual peace” and “unalterable friendship”.

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Police Commemoration Day is celebrated annually on October 21st to honor police officers who have lost their lives in the line of duty. The day commemorates the sacrifice of ten policemen who died while defending India’s borders with China in 1959.
The day is also known as Martyr’s Day in all police forces of India. The government of India decided to observe October 21st as Police Commemoration Day to honor all police personnel who have died in the line of duty.
The National Police Memorial was unveiled on October 21st, 2018 in New Delhi. The memorial is for those who have died from 1947 to the present.

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% Expenditure on transport and other items = (20 + 5) % = 25%.

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The required per cent = = 28.6% (approx)

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The United Nations General Assembly has proclaimed a UN Decade of Action on Nutrition, paving the way for tackling child hunger and ending all forms of malnutrition once and for all. Every country in the world in 2015, agreed to eliminate malnutrition by 2030. Brazil became the first country to make SMART commitments as part of the United Nations (UN) Decade of Action on Nutrition 2016-2025.

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'Tulaipanji' and 'Gobindobhog' are varieties of aromatic rice. Recently, the Bengal Government applied in the Office of Geographical Indications, Chennai for GI certification of products.

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The Convention on Cybercrime is also known as the Budapest Convention. It is the first international treaty seeking to address Internet and computer crime by harmonizing national laws, improving investigative techniques, and increasing cooperation among nations. It is supplemented by a Protocol on Xenophobia and Racism committed through computer systems. The Convention was adopted by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe at its 109th session in 2001 and came into effect in 2004.

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Recently, Government has planned to organise an international bird festival in this Dudhwa tiger reserve. The bird festival is being organized jointly by the state forest department and Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI). This region is home to 450 bird species, including the endangered Bengal florican and vulnerable bird species like swamp partridge, also called swamp francolin, sarus crane and herons.

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The Maharashtra government has approved Ghodazari in Chandrapur district as a new wildlife sanctuary in the state. The sanctuary, in the North East of Tadoba, will include 159 sq km of Brahmapuri forest.

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Eastern Himalaya has been declared a biodiversity hotspot by Conservation International. Our Scientists have recently claimed to have discovered a new species of Pika, a mammal belonging to the rabbit and hare family in the Eastern Himalayas in Sikkim. Pikas are members of the rabbit family and live in the mountains or in temperate regions. The common name "pika" is used for any member of the Ochotonidae family. Pikas do not hibernate unlike other mammalian species inhabiting such cold climates.