Current Affairs - 2019-20

Notes:
Tirunellai Narayana Iyer Seshan, the man behind several electoral reforms passed away due to a cardiac arrest. He was 87 years old and was not well for the past couple of years. He was the 10th Chief Election Commissioner (CEC). He served between 1990 and 1996. Tirunellai Narayana Iyer Seshan, the man behind several electoral reforms passed away due to a cardiac arrest. He was 87 years old and was not well for the past couple of years. He was the 10th Chief Election Commissioner (CEC).
TN Seshan was a 1955 batch retired IAS officer of Tamil Nadu cadre. He was born in Palakkad district of Kerala. Before becoming a CEC, he served around 18 cabinet secretaries. He has also won the Ramon Magsaysay Award for his services in 1986. The award is considered as Asia’s Nobel Prize.

Notes:
World Pneumonia Day is being marked every year November 12. The day was hosted by the Global Coalition against Child Pneumonia for the first time in 2009. The coalition includes several organizations across the world like CARE, Save the Children, PATH, UNICEF, WHO, etc. This year global organizations have come together and created an initiative “Stop Pneumonia”. Theme for 2019 is “Healthy Lungs for all”.

Notes:
Famous mathematician Vashishth Narayan Singh passed away in Patna on 14 November 2019. He was 77 years old. He was suffering from mental illness schizophrenia for 40 years. He earned world recognition as he challenged Einstein’s theory of relativity.

Notes:
The Chit Funds (Amendment) Bill, 2019 was passed by the Lok Sabha on November 20, 2019.The Bill raises the monetary limits for chit funds by three times. The maximum chit amount raised from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 3 lakh for those managed by individuals or less than four partners, and from Rs 6 lakh to Rs 18 lakh for firms with four or more partners. The maximum commission for the person managing the fund raised to 7% from the current 5%. The bill removes the limit of Rs 100, and allows the state governments to specify the base amount over which the provisions of the Act would apply.

Notes:
Bangladesh celebrated its 49th Victory Day on 16 December 2019. The event marks the day when Bangladesh attained liberation from Pakistan and became an independent nation in 1971. It became a nation under the leadership of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.On 16 December 1971, the commander of the Pakistani forces in Bangladesh, General AAK Niazi along with more than 90,000 soldiers surrendered before the Indian Army and Mukti Bahini in Dhaka. The victory over the Pakistan army was achieved after the Liberation War carried by the people of Bangladesh and supported by the Indian Armed Forces. During the war, nearly 3 million people in Bangladesh and nearly 2,000 Indian soldiers lost their lives.

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BBPS covers repetitive payments for everyday utility services such as electricity, water, gas, telecom (mobile postpaid, landline postpaid, broadband) and Direct-to-Home (DTH). Gradually, the scope would be expanded to include other types of repetitive payments like insurance premium, mutual funds, school fees, EMI”s, municipal taxes etc.

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India is the third-largest producer and exporter of coffee in Asia and the sixth-largest producer and fifth-largest exporter of coffee in the world.
The country accounts for 3.14 percent (2018-19) of global coffee production.

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PM Fasal Bima Yojna was launched in 2016. It is under the ministry of agriculture. It is a Crop Insurance Scheme is in line with One Nation – One Scheme theme.

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The total export of chemicals which include dyes and dye intermediates, organic and inorganic chemicalsof India is US$ 19.09 billion during 2019-20. India is 6th largest producer of chemicals globally.

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India ranked 73 in the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development’s Business-to-Consumer (B2C) E-commerce Index 2019. India is the world’s fifth largest global destination in the retail space and it is ranked 63 in World Bank’s Doing Business 2019.