Current Affairs - 2019-20

Notes:
David Attenborough, a renowned naturalist, has been conferred with the Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development 2019 for his tireless efforts towards awakening the humankind to the need to preserve and protect the planet’s biodiversity. Sir David Attenborough, as he is popularly known, has been recognized with the award for his lifetime worth of work to reveal the wonders of the natural world and awaken mankind to live in a sustainable and harmonious way and stop being a “plague on earth”.

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Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath inaugurated the newly established Munderwa Sugar Mill of Uttar Pradesh State Sugar Corporation Limited in Basti district. Munderwa Sugar Mill has a capacity of 5,000 Tons of Cane per Day (TCD).It will generate 27 MW of electricity. It is expected that in the crushing season 2019-20, Munderwa will work at full capacity. In the current crushing season, the approximate crushing of about 60 lakh quintals of cane is expected and will produce 6.25 lakh quintals of sugar.The Mill will benefit around 30,000 sugarcane farmers of mill area in their cane supplies.

Notes:
The last surviving Sumatran Rhino in Malaysia, Iman, died in Borneo Rhino Sanctuary. The Rhino died of cancer. With this Sumatran rhino have become extinct in Malaysia. Iman was captured in 2014 from Danum Valley in Malaysia.
The Sumatran Rhinos are the smallest of the five extant rhino species in the world. The other rhino species include Black Rhinos, White Rhinos, Greater on-horned Rhinos and Javan Rhinos.
The International Union of Conservation of Nature Red List has put the Sumatran Rhinos in the Critically Endangered category.

Notes:
Laxminarayan Nayak, centenarian freedom fighter and former MP, died at Niwari town in Madhya Pradesh due to age-related illness. Nayak (101) was ill for some time. He had represented Khajuraho Lok Sabha seat from 1997 -1980. Before that, he was elected as MLA from Niwari assembly seat in 1957. During freedom struggle, Nayak was imprisoned several times.

Notes:
Ministry of Home Affairs reported that more than 14,500 Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) have been banned in the last five years. Those NGOs were registered under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA). The report was submitted by the Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai.
The Ministry has also has cancelled FCRA registration of 1,808 NGOs so far. The certificates have been cancelled for non-submission of mandatory annual returns for 2017-18. The FCRA and rules provide that all FCRA NGOs and associations should file annual returns on time. The non-compliant NGOs are issued notices and reminders through the online mechanism.The FCRA registered NGOs in India have been given a total of Rs.2,244.77 crore in 2018-19, as on 28 November 2019, and Rs.16,902.41 crore in 2017-18.

Notes:
As per the recent announcement of the Chairman of ISRO, India will launch GSAT 30, a heavy geo-stationary communication satellite on January 17, 2020.  This mission would be the first satellite of the year 2020 for India. The satellite will be launched using Ariane-5ECA launch vehicle from Kourou space centre in French Guiana. The satellite will be used to provide communication links to government and private service providers.

Notes:
The retail inflation is measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI), which is released by the National Statistical Office (NSO) under the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI).
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) tracks the change in retail prices of a basket of essential goods and services at rural, urban and at national level. This index is measured from the perspective of household consumption. Recently in the month of December 2019, the retail inflation touched 7.35%, against the RBI’s target of 2-6%.

Notes:
Dinyar Contractor, who recently passed away, was associated with acting. He was born in Mumbai. In the year 2019, he was awarded Padma Shri. Some of the films, he appeared are Baazigar, Khiladi, 36 China Town, Chori Chori Chupke Chupke.

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In May 2020, Tata Consumer Products Limited (TCPL) acquired PepsiCo’s stake in NourishCo Beverages Limited.

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India’s contribution to the global smartphone market is 16% in 2019. It increased from 9 percent in 2016 to 16 percent in 2019.