Daily updates 4 November 2020

National

1.CJI inaugurates e-resource centre, virtual court in Nagpur

• The Chief Justice of India (CJI) Sharad Arvind Bobde and Justice DY Chandrachud of the Supreme Court, jointly inaugurated India’s first-ever E-resource centre and the virtual court called “Nyay Kaushal” at Judicial Officers Training Institute in
• The Nyay Kaushal will facilitate electronic-filling of cases in the Supreme Court, any High Court as well as district courts across the country to enable speedy justice for litigants, by utilising technology. The virtual court will be working from Katol in Nagpur district of Maharashtra.

2. NMCG organises three-day virtual 'Ganga Utsav 2020'

• Ganga Utsav-2020 has been organised by the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) jointly with the Ministry of Jal Shakti. The three-day-long Ganga Utsav-2020 has been organised from 02 to 04 November 2020, virtually amidst COVID-19 precautions.
• The annual event is organised to spread awareness about river Ganga and the need to keep the river clean and rejuvenated. The 2020 edition marks the 12th anniversary of Ganga being accorded the status of National River, on 4th November 2008.

Important takeaways for all competitive exams:

• Minister of Jal Shakti: Gajendra Singh Shekhawat.

International

3. Portugal’s Duarte Pacheco elected as President of IPU for 2020-23

• Portugal MP, Duarte Pacheco has won the elections for the post the President of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU).
• The term of the Duarte Pacheco will be from 2020-2023. He will be the 30th President of the IPU and will succeed Mexican MP Gabriela Cuevas Barron who completed the tenure in October 2020.

Important takeaways for all competitive exams:

• Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) is based in Geneva, Switzerland,
• Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU): founded in 1889.
• It consists of representatives from the National Parliaments of 179 countries.

State News

4. Sarbananda Sonowal lays foundation stone of Indo-Israeli CoE

• The Chief Minister of Assam, Sarbananda Sonowal has laid the foundation stone of Indo-Israeli Centre of Excellence (CoE) for Vegetables Protected Cultivation at Khetri on the outskirts of
• The Indo-Israeli Centre of Excellence for Vegetables Protected Cultivation is estimated to be set up at an investment of Rs 10.33 Crore.
• The CoE will provide exposure to the latest Israeli technologies to the farmers of Assam and help them in maximizing their production and income. It would also boost agricultural and horticultural production in Assam leading to greater economic rewards to state’s farmers.

Important takeaways for all competitive exams:

• Chief Minister of Assam: Sarbananda Sonowal; Governor: Prof. Jagdish Mukhi.
• Folk Dance of Assam: Bihu dance, Bagurumba, Bhortal Dance, Jhumur dance.

Defence

5. India-US-Japan-Australia kick-starts Malabar Naval Exercise-2020

• The Navies of India, the US, Japan and Australia began the four-day-long phase first of the Malabar naval exercise in the Bay of Bengal.
• From the Indian side, destroyer Ranvijay, frigate Shivalik, off-shore patrol vessel Sukanya, fleet support ship Shakti and submarine Sindhuraj will be part of the drill. US Navy Ship USS John S McCain (Guided-missile destroyer), Australian Navy Ship HMAS Ballarat (long-range frigate) and Japan Maritime Self Defence Ship (JMSDF) Ship JS Onami (destroyer) are participating along with Indian Navy units.
• The Malabar exercise started in 1992 as a bilateral drill between the Indian Navy and the US Navy in the Indian Ocean. Japan became a permanent member of the exercise in

6. Indian Naval Ship ‘Airavat’ reaches Port Sudan under ‘Mission Sagar-II’

• As a part of Mission Sagar-II, the Indian Naval Ship (INS) Airavat has reached Sudan with 100 tonnes of food aid. Under Mission Sagar-II, INS Airavat will deliver food aid to Sudan, South Sudan, Djibouti and Eritrea amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
• The government of India has launched this initiative to provide assistance to friendly foreign countries to overcome natural calamities and COVID-19 pandemic.
• Mission Sagar-II follows the Mission Sagar-I, which was undertaken in May-June 2020, wherein India provided food and medicines to Maldives, Mauritius, Seychelles, Madagascar and Comoros.
• It is in line with the Prime Minister’s vision of Security and Growth for All in the Region (SAGAR) and highlights the importance accorded by India to relations with her maritime neighbours and further strengthens the existing bond.

Business

7. CCI Approves Acquisition of Bharti AXA by ICICI Lombard

• The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has approved the acquisition of General Insurance Business of Bharti AXA General Insurance Company Limited (Bharti AXA) by ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company Limited (ICICI Lombard) under Section 31(1) of the Competition Act, 2002.
• The whole general insurance business of Bharti AXA will be transferred to ICICI Lombard by way of demerger, considering that ICICI Lombard will issue shares to Bharti AXA.
• The combined entity(proposed merged non-life insurance company) is likely to have a market share of 7% on a proforma basis.
• Under the proposed combination, the shareholders of Bharti AXA will receive 2 shares of ICICI Lombard for every 115 shares of Bharti AXA, held by them as on the date on which the scheme is approved by the Board of Directors of ICICI Lombard and Bharti AXA.

Important takeaways for all competitive exams:

• Bharti AXA Co. Ltd Headquarters: Mumbai, Maharashtra.
• Bharti AXA MD and CEO: Sanjeev Srinivasan.
• Bharti AXA Established: 2008.
• Bharti AXA Tagline: Suraksha ka Naya Nazariya.
• ICICI Lombard Co. Ltd Headquarters: Mumbai, Maharashtra.
• ICICI Lombard MD & CEO: Bhargav Dasgupta.
• ICICI Lombard Established: 2001.
• ICICI Lombard Tagline: Quick Easy Smart.

Agreements

8. IISc and Indian Oil R&D inks MoU for hydrogen-generation technology

• The Indian Institute of Science (IISc) and the Research and Development Centre of Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) have signed an MoU to develop and demonstrate biomass gasification-based hydrogen generation technology.
• This technology will be used for producing fuel cell-grade hydrogen at an affordable price. The IISc and IndianOil will work jointly on the optimisation of both biomass gasification and hydrogen purification processes, The developed technology will be scaled up and demonstrated at IndianOils R&D Centre at Faridabad, Haryana.
• Hydrogen generated from this demonstration plant will be used to power fuel cell buses.
• This initiative to produce fuel cell grade hydrogen from biomass is another step by IndianOil jointly with IISc to bring hydrogen fuel to the major energy matrix of India while using the agricultural forces of India.

Important takeaways for all competitive exams:

• Indian Institute of Science Headquarters: Bengaluru, Karnataka.
• Indian Institute of Science Director: Govindan Rangarajan.
• Indian Oil Corporation Limited Headquarters: New Delhi, India.
• Indian Oil Corporation Limited Chairman: Shrikant Madhav Vaidya.

Sports

9. West Indies batsman M. Samuels retires from all forms of cricket

• West Indies batsman, Marlon Samuels has announced his retirement from professional cricket.
• The 39-year-old had informed Cricket West Indies (CWI) about his retirement in June this year, having last played for his country in December 2018 against Bangladesh.
• He has played 71 Tests, 207 ODIs, and 67 T20s at the international level, has scored 11,134 international runs including 17 centuries across all formats. He also has 152 international wickets to his name.

Obituaries

10. Violin Maestro, Padma Awardee TN Krishnan passes away

• Noted violin maestro and Padma awardee, TN Krishnan passed away. His full name was Tripunithura Narayanaiyer Krishnan.
• He was born on 6 October 1928, in Tripunithura, Kerala and later around 1942, he settled in Chennai. He was conferred with many prestigious awards such as the Padma Shri (1973), the Padma Bhushan (1992) and the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (1974) among others

11. 6th & shortest served CM of Bihar Satish Prasad Singh passes away

• Former Chief Minister and Socialist of Bihar, Satish Prasad Singh passed away. He was born on January 1, 1936, in Korchakka(now known as Satish Nagar) Village, Khagaria district, Bihar.
• Satish Prasad Singh, the leader of Soshit Samaj Dal became the 6th and the shortest- served CM of Bihar for 5 days(28 January to February 1, 1968) with the support of Indian National Congress(INC).

12. Filmmaker-actor Ashish Kakkad passes away

• Noted actor, filmmaker and voiceover artiste, Ashish Kakkad, has passed away. He was one of the most prominent artists from the Gujarati film industry.
• As a filmmaker, Ashish was known for his Gujarati projects namely Better Half (2010) and Mission Mummy (2016).

Miscellaneous

13. Priyanca Radhakrishnan becomes first Indian-origin minister of New Zealand

• Indian-origin New Zealand politician, Priyanca Radhakrishnan has created history by becoming the first Indian-Kiwi woman to become a minister in New Zealand. Radhakrishnan was born in Chennai, Tamil Nadu.
• The 41-year-old was one of five new ministers inducted into the Cabinet. She was appointed as Minister for the Community and Voluntary Sector, Minister for Diversity, Inclusion and Ethnic Communities, Minister for Youth and Associate Minister for Social Development and Employment in Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s cabinet.

Important takeaways for all competitive exams:

• Prime minister of New Zealand: Jacinda Ardern.
• Capital of New Zealand: Wellington.
• The currency of New Zealand: New Zealand dollar.