Current Affairs - 2019-20

Notes:
The eight-session of the Governing Body of International Treaty of Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA) is being held in Rome, Italy from 11-16 November 2019. The Governing Body sessions are biennial.

ITPGRFA is also known as the International Seed Treaty. It aims to guarantee food security through exchange, conservation, and sustainable use of the world’s plant genetic resources for food and agriculture (PGRFA). The treaty was signed in the year 2001 with effect from 2004. The first session of the governing body was held in Madrid in June 2006.

Notes:
Newly elected Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on November 20,2019 named his brother Mahinda as Prime Minister, cementing the grip on power of a clan credited with crushing the Tamil Tigers a decade ago. Mahinda, a two-term president himself, is due to be sworn in as premier on November 21 following the resignation of Ranil Wickremesinghe after his party suffered a humiliating defeat at the weekend’s presidential polls.

Notes:
Microsoft’s India-born Chief Executive Officer Satya Nadella has occupied the top spot in Fortune’s Businessperson of the Year 2019 list, an annual compilation that also includes Mastercard CEO Ajay Banga and Arista head Jayshree Ullal. Fortune’s annual Businessperson of the Year list features 20 business leaders “who tackled audacious goals, overcame impossible odds, found creative solutions”.

Notes:
NASA scientists have detected water vapor above the surface of Jupiter’s moon Europa for the first time. Overall, the moon may hold twice as much water as Earth. An upcoming NASA spacecraft will travel to Europa to hunt for more clues about possible alien life.

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The Assam Cabinet approved the Rs.800 crore per year under the Arundhati scheme. The scheme will come to effect from 1 January 2020. The State aims to reduce child marriage and strengthen women empowerment. The scheme also aims to have a society which is full of educated boys and girls. Under the scheme, every bride in the state will get Rs.30,000 from the state government to purchase gold. The scheme will provide one tola (10gm) of gold to the bride if a marriage is solemnized and registered.

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The World Health Organization on November 22, 2019 published its study about physical activity of adolescents aged between 11 and 17 years. The study was conducted across 146 countries with the help of data from 298 school-based surveys. The assessment included physical education, active play, recreation and sports, walking, planned exercises and cycling.
India was ranked eighth reporting lowest level of physical activity. Though, India was one of the top performers around 74% of adolescents showed insufficient physical activity.
In India the overall insufficient physical activity in 2001 was 76.6% and has now decreased to 73.9% in 2016.

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Exports of handmade carpets from India stood at US$ 1.47 billion in 2018-19, export of silk carpet stood at US$ 16.1 million.  Total export for carpets stood at US$ 1.51 billion in 2018-19.

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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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Bapu Nadkarni, who recently passed away, was associated with Cricket. He was an all-rounder Indian cricketer. He made a record of 21 consecutive maiden overs in a test match against England.

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The state of Maharashtra performed the highest number of organ donations in 2019. It helped 449 patients. Maharashtra also received the best state award in the field of deceased organ donation by the National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation.