DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS
DECEMBER 7 AND 8, 2020
BY- ANUJ JINDAL
KEY BENEFITS OF OUR COURSES
Our course structure includes a lot of perks that are otherwise
unavailable elsewhere.
It is a comprehensive guide to help you crack the paper & secure your
dream position.
We provide personal solutions all queries using a Telegram group wherein Anuj Jindal himself
will clarify your doubts.
We curate the learning strategies of past year toppers to help you learn from the success
of the best
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NATIONAL NEWS
1. J&K government decided to declare all the actions taken under the Jammu and Kashmir
State Land (Vesting of Ownership to the Occupants) Act, 2001, also known as the Roshni
Act as “null and void”.
• Under the act, ownership title of state / govt lands were given to the illegal occupants.
• Now, the administration has decided to retrieve the land within six months.
2. Ministry of AYUSH, Commerce and Industry, and Finance have decided to set up the
Export Promotion Council for AYUSH products.
• Purpose: to facilitate more export of AYUSH products by standardizing their HS
(Harmonized System) products.
3. Maharashtra govt has announced to change the names of residential colonies whose
names are on the basis of caste to general names to maintain harmony and national unity.
4. Uttarakhand CM Trivendra Singh Rawat inaugurated the Suryadhar lake at Doiwala,
Dehradun district to address the drinking water and irrigational needs of nearly 20 villages
around it.
• It is set to become a major tourist and water sports destination in future.
5. Space start-up Pixxel has signed an agreement with NewSpace India Limited (NSIL) to
launch India’s first private remote-sensing satellite on an ISRO PSLV rocket in early 2021.
• Pixxel is building a constellation of earth imaging small satellites that will provide global
coverage every 24 hours once fully deployed.
6. Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved $190 million loan for Bengaluru Smart
Energy Efficient Power Distribution Project.
• This loan is a combined sovereign and non-sovereign loan. This is the first time that the
combination of sovereign and non-sovereign loans is being given to India.
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• The loan is divided into $100 million sovereign loans and $90 million without sovereign
guarantee loan.
7. 7th WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) Conclave was organized by UNICEF and the
National Institute of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj (NIRDPR) virtually.
• Theme of the conclave - “Hygiene Matters”
• Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, and Karnataka emphasized to achieve the target to provide
safe drinking water to all households by 2024.
• State-level programme initiatives such as ‘Manam Mana Parisubrtha’ in Andhra Pradesh,
‘Swacchotsava Nityotsava’ in Karnataka and ‘Palle Pragathi’ in Telangana have been
contributing in a long way towards achieving WASH resilience and a healthy society.
8. India and Russia conducted the Passage Exercise (PASSEX) in the East Indian Ocean
Region (IOR).
• In September, India and Russia conducted Indra 2020 exercise.
9. Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the phase one of the construction of Agra Metro
project, which will be built by Uttar Pradesh Metro Rail Corporation (UPMRC) by 2022.
10. Central govt has announced to rename the second campus of Rajiv Gandhi Centre for
Biotechnology (in Kerala) after late RSS ideologue MS Golwalkar.
• New name - Shri Guruji Madhav Sadashiv Golwalkar National Centre for Complex Disease
in Cancer and Viral Infection.
11. Indian Air Force has successfully test fired the Akash Missiles at Suryalanka test firing
range in Andhra Pradesh during the Combat Guided Weapons Firing 2020 exercise.
• Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL) has manufactured Akash Missile and it was designed
and developed by DRDO.
• The missile is supported by the indigenously developed radar called 'Rajendra'.
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12. Uttar Pradesh govt has announced to expand its homestay scheme to the Tharu Villages in
the districts of Balrampur, Bahraich, Lakhimpur and Pilibhit bordering Nepal.
• Purpose: to bring Tharu tribal villages on world’s tourism map in order to promote Tharu
culture.
• Tharu tribes live in both India and Nepal in the Terai lowlands, amid the Shivaliks or lower
Himalayas. In the Indian terai, they live mostly in Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, and Bihar.
• Tharus make up a significant portion of scheduled tribes in Uttar Pradesh.
13. Maharashtra has announced to declare eight areas in the western part of the state and two in
Vidarbha as conservation reserves.
• Also, Kanhalgaon forest has been declared as the Wildlife Sanctuary. With this, the state
has 50 wildlife sanctuaries.
• Kanhalgaon is a corridor for tigers moving to Kawal tiger reserve in Telangana and
Indravati reserve in Chhattisgarh.
14. Uttar Pradesh launched Mera Covid Kendra app to help people get information about nearby
testing labs.
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15. DRDO developed the howitzer Advanced Towed Artillery Gun System (ATAGS) which was
tested in Maharashtra's Ahmednagar.
• It has a striking range of around 50 km.
• Advanced Towed Artillery Gun System (ATAGS) project was started in 2013 by DRDO to
replace older guns in service in the Indian Army with a modern 155mm artillery gun.
16. Dandupur railway station situated between Pratapgarh and Badshahpur on Lucknow-
Varanasi rail section will now be named Maa Barahi Devi Dham.
17. PM Modi attended the IIT-2020 Global Summit, organised by PanIIT USA.
• Theme - 'The Future is Now'.
18. 4th edition of India Mobile Congress 2020 will be organized by Department of
Telecommunications and Cellular Operators Association of India from December 8-10,
2020.
• Theme - “Inclusive Innovation-Smart, Secure, Sustainable”.
• It aims to align to the prime minister's vision to promote 'Atmanirbhar Bharat', 'digital
inclusivity', and 'sustainable development, entrepreneurship and innovation'.
19. Two historic fort cities of Madhya Pradesh – Orchha and Gwalior – have been included in
the UNESCO World Heritage cities list.
• This has been done under the Urban Landscape City programme of UNESCO.
20. Rajgir Zoo Safari in Nalanda, Bihar and the Ashfaque Ullah Khan Prani Udyaan of
Gorakpur, Uttar Pradesh have been granted recognition during the 37th general body meeting
of Central Zoo Authority.
• The meeting was chaired by Union Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change
Prakash Javadekar.
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21. Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) has launched the “Global understanding of
India project" under which the organization is studying the portrayal of India in the school
books of other countries.
• So far, textbooks taught in the schools of more than 200 countries have been surveyed.
• ICCR is an autonomous body under the Ministry of External Affairs.
• ICCR president, Vinay Sahasrabuddhe, is also head of the parliamentary committee on
education.
• An online portal namely Universalisation of Traditional Indian Knowledge Systems
(UTIKS) to offer short term courses on Indian cooking, Indian dances, arts, music, craft,
skills such as Mehendi and rangoli/ kolam will be launched shortly by ICCR.
22. ISRO has claimed that Gaganyaan mission might be delayed by one year due to Covid-19.
The expected date of launch was December 2021 but now it can be delayed.
• Accordingly, the unmanned missions were slated for launch in December 2020 and July
2021, and the first manned mission scheduled in December 2021 can get delayed.
23. Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has notified the third amendment to the Cigarettes
and other Tobacco Products (Packaging and Labelling) Rules, 2020 to mandate states to
enforce pictorial warnings strictly.
• As per the Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS) 2016-17 of the Union health ministry,
62% of cigarette smokers and 54% of bidi smokers thought of quitting because of the
pictorial warnings.
• Likewise, 46% of smokeless tobacco users thought of quitting because of the warnings on
the products.
• The pictorial warnings created awareness about the ill health effects of smoking and
tobacco consumption.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
1. QS Asia University Ranking 2021 was released in association with King Abdulaziz
university, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
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• Total – 650 universities (including 107 from India)
• Parameters – 11
• Top – National University of Singapore at 1st, Tsinghua University, China at 2nd, and
Nanyang Technological University, Singapore at 3rd
• India – Only 8 were in the Top 100 institutes.
o IIT-Bombay was at the top rank at 37th rank, followed by IIT-Delhi at 47th rank and
IIT-Madras at 50th rank.
2. 7th meeting of the India-Mongolia Joint Committee on Cooperation was held virtually.
• Mongolia decided to join the International Solar Alliance (ISA).
• Both countries agreed to establish AYUSH Information Cell in Ulaanbaatar (capital of
Mongolia).
• The Ministers also reviewed the progress of ongoing developmental partnership projects
including the USD 1.236 billion Line of Credit Oil Refinery Project and the USD 20 million
Atal Bihari Vajpayee Centre of Excellence in ICT and Outsourcing in Mongolia.
• 2020 marks the 65th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between India
and Mongolia.
3. 4th South Asia Forum on the SDGs – a preparatory meeting for Asia Pacific Forum on
Sustainable Development (APFSD) and the High-Level Policy Forum (HLPF) was formed.
• Organizers – South and South-West Asia office of United Nations Economic and Social
Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) in collaboration with South Asian member
States and Maldives govt.
• 8th APFSD will be held in 2021, which in turn contributes towards the HLPF 2021.
4. “Global Wage Report 2020 / 21” has been released by International Labour Organization.
• The report looked at wage trends in 136 countries in the four years (2016-19) preceding
the pandemic.
• It found that global wage growth fluctuated between 1.6% and 2.2%.
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• Estimates found that without wage subsidies, women would have lost 8.1% of their wages
in the second quarter of 2020 compared to 5.4% for men.
• Globally, 266 million people (15% of all wage earners) were earning less than the hourly
minimum wage even before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
5. HL-2M Tokamak reactor is China’s “artificial sun” nuclear fusion reactor.
• It is the largest and most advanced nuclear fusion experimental research device.
• It can reach temperatures of over 150 million degrees Celsius.
6. US State Department has ended Mutual Educational and Cultural Exchange Act, 1961 that
was signed by President John F. Kennedy to boost academic and cultural exchanges with
foreign countries.
• Now, the US govt has "terminated" following programs with China which were launched
under the act:
o Policymakers Educational China Trip Program,
o US-China Friendship Program,
o US-China Leadership Exchange Program,
o US-China Transpacific Exchange Program and,
o Hong Kong Educational and Cultural Program.
7. China has launched Gaofen-14 Earth observation satellite which can take high-resolution
pictures of ground objects across the globe.
• The satellite was launched on Long March-3B carrier rocket from the Xichang Satellite
Launch Centre.
• Geofen-14 is an optical stereo mapping satellite.
8. Climate Change Performance Index 2021, covering the year 2020, has been released by
Germanwatch, NewClimate Institute (Germany) and Climate Action Network (CAN
International).
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• The index assesses the climate protection efforts and progress made by countries.
• Total – 57 countries and European Union (as a whole)
o These 57 countries and the EU collectively are responsible for about 90% of global
GHG emissions.
• Parameters – greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions (40%), renewable energy (20%),
energy use (20%) and climate policy (20%).
• Top – Sweden at 4th rank
• India’s rank – 10th
• Bottom – USA
• China (biggest current emitter of GHG) at 33rd rank and US (largest historical polluter) is at
the bottom of the list.
• According to the index, only two G20 countries – India and UK performed well while the
remaining six such as Saudi Arabia, USA, South Korea, Australia and Russia were at the
bottom of the index.
9. IUCN World Heritage Outlook 3 report has mentioned that Western Ghats (a world heritage
site) is under threat due to population pressure.
• The IUCN World Heritage Outlook provides a global assessment of every natural site on
the world heritage list.
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• The new report presents the main findings from the 2020 conservation outlook
assessments providing the overall results for all 252 natural sites currently listed in the
world heritage sites.
10. Argentine govt has approved to impose tax on the country’s richest to help the government
fund COVID-19 measures.
• The tax is dubbed as “millionaires’ tax”.
• President of Argentine - Alberto Fernandez
BANKING AND ECONOMY
1. According to data from DPIIT, FDI equity inflows into India crossed the $500 billion milestone
during April 2000 to September 2020 period.
• The actual inflows during the period stood at $500.12 billion.
2. Government has launched the Quarterly Return filing & Monthly Payment of Taxes
(QRMP) scheme for small taxpayers under GST system.
• Taxpayers with aggregate annual turnover of up to ₹5 crore in the preceding financial year
and those have filed their October GSTR-3B (sales) return by 30 November, 2020, are
eligible for this scheme.
• Now, the taxpayers with ₹5 crore turnover have the option to file their GSTR-1 and GSTR-
3B returns quarterly beginning January-March period.
3. Private equity firm Everstone Capital has announced to acquire a controlling stake in Calibre,
a specialty ingredients manufacturer of pharmaceutical, nutritional and personal care products.
• Calibre was founded by Ranjit Bhavnani in 1984.
4. Karnataka Vikas Grameen Bank has launched an overdraft (OD) facility named as ‘Kirishi
OD’ for farmers.
• The facility can be used for working capital requirements by farmers.
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5. Minister of Finance, Nirmala Sitharaman, inaugurated the 63rd founding day celebrations of
the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), the apex anti-smuggling intelligence under the
aegis of the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC).
• "Smuggling in India Report 2019-20" was released by Finance Minister.
• DRI Utkrisht Seva Samman, 2020 was awarded to B. Sankaran (an officer).
• Bravery Awards were conferred upon Najimudheen T S of DRI Cochin Zonal Unit and
Sumer Sen, an independent witness of a case booked by DRI, Jaipur.
• Director-General of DRI - Balesh Kumar
• Secretary-General of the World Customs Organisation – Dr Kunio Mikuriya
6. Reserve Bank of India (Digital Payment Security Controls) Directions, 2020 will be
released soon to secure digital transactions across various instruments like wallet, debit / credit
card, UPI etc.
• National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) indicates that UPI transactions for
November 2020 were at 2.21 billion, which is 6.7% more than the 2.07 billion in October.
7. ICICI Bank has opened up its iMobile Pay app for customers of any bank. The app was so far
operated as ‘iMobile’, and is being rebadged to ‘iMobile Pay’.
• Along with this, iMobile Pay will now work as a banking and payments app for customers
who do not hold an ICICI Bank account.
• India’s first mobile banking app, iMobile, was launched in 2008.
8. Kotak Mahindra AMC launched Kotak International REIT Fund of Funds, India's first
diversified REIT Mutual Fund.
• Kotak International REIT Fund of Funds is an open-ended mutual fund scheme that will
invest in units of SMAM Asia REIT Sub Trust Fund.
• This fund offers an opportunity for domestic investors to invest and benefit from growth in
real estate market without actually owning the entire asset.
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• SMAM Asia REIT Sub Trust Fund is one of the largest Asia Pacific (Ex Japan) REIT
funds investing in listed REITs in the Asia Pacific region. It is managed by Sumitomo
Mitsui DS Asset Management Company ltd.
9. Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) has mandated to mention 8-digit HSN
or tariff code for 49 chemical based products while issuing Goods and Services Tax (GST)
invoice.
• Currently, businesses mention up to 4-digit tariff code while issuing invoices.
10. Mastercard, the National Institute for Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (ni-msme) and
the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) have partnered to launch Digital Saksham to
support digitization of MSMEs.
• The program will involve three key stages over three years from the launch, including
outreach, capacity building and adoption of digital tools that will help small businesses.
• Target – over 3 lakh MSMEs
11. McAfee has released ‘The Hidden Costs of Cybercrime’ report, which mentions that
Cybercrime incidents could cost the world nearly a trillion dollars in 2020, a 50% jump from
around $600 billion in 2018.
• The annual global cost of cybercrime this year is estimated to be around $945 billion, which
is more than 1% of the global gross domestic product (GDP).
APPOINTMENTS
1. Debendranath Sarangi (President of Squash Rackets Federation of India) has been elected
as one of the three vice-presidents of the World Squash Federation.
• Ms. Zena Wooldridge (England) was elected the president.
2. Uday Shankar has been appointed as the President of FICCI for 2020-21.
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• Shankar is the President of The Walt Disney Company for Asia Pacific and the Chairman of
Star and Disney India.
3. Indian-American Doctor Vivek Murthy has been appointed as the Surgeon General in Joe
Biden's Health Team.
Health team of Joe Biden
Chief Medical Adviser to the President on Dr Anthony Fauci
COVID-19
Director of the Centers for Disease Control Dr Rochelle Walensky
and Prevention
COVID-19 Equity Task Force Chair Dr. Marcella Nunez-Smith
IMPORTANT DAYS
1. First ever International Day of Banks is observed on December 4 by UN.
2. International Volunteer Day is observed on December 5 every year by UN.
• Theme - Together We Can Through Volunteering
3. Armed Forces Flag Day is observed on December 7 every year since 1949 to honour the
martyrs and the men in uniform.
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• The month of December is celebrated as “Gaurav Maah” (pride month) to honour the
contributions of the armed forces and their veterans to the nation.
4. International Civil Aviation Day is observed on December 7 by ICAO (a UN body).
• Theme - “Advancing Innovation for Global Aviation Development”.
• International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) has decided to keep the same theme
until the year 2023.
AWARDS
1. ICAR- Indian Institute of Soil Science (Bhopal) has won the 'International King Bhumibol
World Soil Day Award' from the United Nation's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
• Reason - for raising awareness about importance of soil health. The institute also observed
Agriculture Education Day (Dec 3) with a theme to create soil health awareness amongst
the students.
• Glinka World Soil Champion prize is given to Mr Luca Montanarella from the European
Commission.
Ø ICAR designated December 3rd as the Agriculture Education Day to commemorate the
birth anniversary of first President of Independent India and Union Minister of Agriculture,
Dr. Rajendra Prasad.
Ø The day aims to create awareness among the students about agriculture. The day is
observed in ICAR institutes.
2. 'Invest India' has won the 2020 United Nations Investment Promotion Award given by
UNCTAD.
• "Invest India" was set up in 2009 as a non-profit venture under the Department for
Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
• It is the National Investment Promotion and Facilitation Agency of India and acts as
the first point of reference for investors in India.
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3. Businessperson of the Year 2020 list was released by Fortune.
• 1st ranker – Elon Musk (Tesla CEO) for a 2nd term
• Indians in Top 10 – Shantanu Narayen (Adobe CEO) at 8th and Ajay Banga (Mastercard
CEO) at 9th rank.
4. Adar Poonawalla (CEO of Serum Institute of India), is among the six people who are named
as "Asians of the Year" by Singapore's leading daily, The Straits Times for their work in
fighting the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Pune- based SII is the world's largest vaccine manufacturer. SII has collaborated with
the University of Oxford and the AstraZeneca (British-Swedish pharmaceutical company)
for making the COVID-19 vaccine, “Covidshield”.
• Collectively, these people are referred to as "the virus busters".
• SII was founded by Poonawalla's father Cyrus Poonawalla in 1966.
Other Asians of the Year
Chinese researcher Zhang China's Major-General Chen South Korean businessman Seo
Yongzhen, who led the team Wei, Japan's Dr Ryuichi Jung-jin
that mapped and published Morishita and Singapore's
online the first complete Professor Ooi Eng Eong, for
genome of Sars-CoV-2. developing vaccines against
the virus.
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5. World record-breakers Mondo Duplantis of Sweden and Yulimar Rojas of Venezuela have
been named the male and female World Athletes of the Year at the World Athletics Awards
2020.
• Other awardees:
o Covid Inspiration Award – Ultimate Garden Clash (a pole vault competition mooted
by Renaud Lavillenie)
o President’s Award – Tommie Smith, Peter Norman and John Carlos
Note: important awards are mentioned above. The complete list is on –
https://www.worldathletics.org/awards/news/world-athletes-year-2020-duplantis-rojas
6. Anita Anand's 'The Patient Assassin' book has won the PEN Hessell-Tiltman history prize
2020. The award is given by PEN Literary Foundation.
• The book is based on Jallianwala Bagh massacre.
• Anand is a British Indian journalist and author.
SPORTS
1. Jehan Daruvala (Indian driver) has created history by becoming the first Indian to win a
Formula 2 race during the Sakhir Grand Prix, Bahrain.
• Jehan was driving for Rayo Racing.
• Formula 1 race was won by Sergio Perez (Mexico).
2. FIFA has announced Japan as the host of Club World Cup format (smaller world cup format
of 7 teams) in December 2021.
• Qatar is set to host the 2020 FIFA World Cup in February, 2021.
3. New Zealand all-rounder Corey Anderson has announced retirement.
• He joined US Major League Cricket.
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4. Kenya's Kibiwott Kandie has made a world record in men's half-marathon in Valencia,
Spain in a time of 57 minutes 32 seconds.
• Genzebe Dibaba (Ethiopian) won the women's race in 1:05:18.
MISCELLANEOUS
1. Tamil Nadu BJP is conducting the month-long ‘Vetrivel yatra’ to strengthen party ahead of
Assembly polls.
2. A memorial of Kadri Gopalnath, saxophone maestro, has been built in Karnataka.
3. A comic book series – Amar Chitra Katha – chronicling India’s maritime heritage was
launched by Navy Vice Chief Vice Admiral G Ashok Kumar on the occasion of Navy Day
(December 4).
4. Dineshwar Sharma (administrator of Lakshadweep and former Intelligence Bureau chief) has
passed away.
5. Veteran Marathi actor Ravi Patwardhan has passed away. Veteran Hindi writer Madhukar
Gangadhar has passed away.
6. SpaceX has launched a new Dragon resupply mission to send an upgraded cargo craft to
the International Space Station for NASA on Falcon 9 rocket.
7. Union Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank has presented the first copy of his
book “Pioneer of Humanity: Maharshi Arvind” to President Ram Nath Kovind.
• The book is based on Maharshi Aurobindo.
• The book is in Hindi with the title ‘Manavta ke Praneta Maharishi Arvind’.
8. First socialist president of Uruguay, Tabaré Vázquez has passed away.
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“HALL OF FAME”
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RBI
550+ Students cleared RBI Phase 1
300+ Students clear RBI Phase 2
48 Students got selected in RBI
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SEBI
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NABARD
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UGC NET JRF
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