Current Affairs Daily Digest – November 07 & 08 2020

Current Affairs Daily Digest – November 07 & 08 2020. Read and Download daily, monthly Current Affairs Daily Digest 2020 for competitive exams like UPSC, SSC, IBPS, SBI etc,. Download month wise Current affairs 2020 PDF and Current affairs quiz PDF .

1. Joe Biden wins the US presidential election

Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. has defeated Donald Trump to become the 46th U.S. president. Biden will become the oldest president-elect in U.S. history and the first to oust a sitting commander-in-chief after one term since Bill Clinton defeated George H.W. Bush in 1992.

Biden’s electoral college vote to 290, surpassing the 270 needed to win the White House. Biden’s running mate, California Senator Kamala Harris, becomes the first Black and Indian-American woman to serve as vice president.

2. AAI Signs MoU With NTPC Subsidiary, NVVN

The Airports Authority of India (AAI) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with a subsidiary of NTPC Ltd, NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam (NVVN), to promote usage of electric vehicles and set up solar power plants at the airports managed and operated by AAI.

Highlights

• Airports Authority of India Headquarters: New Delhi.
• Airports Authority of India Founded: 1 April 1995.
• Chairman of Airports Authority of India: Arvind Singh.

3. Whatsapp Partners with 5 Banks for UPI Payment

WhatsApp has partnered with five Indian banks to process its payment services. These are State Bank of India, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank and Jio Payments Bank.

The Facebook-owned messaging platform, WhatsApp Inc., has received the approval from the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) to launch its Unified Payments Interface (UPI) based payments services in India, to let users send or receive money across the country.

4. SEBI increases Overseas Investment limits for Mutual Funds

Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has enhanced the investment limits for Mutual Fund companies for overseas investments. Mutual Funds can make overseas investments subject to a maximum of US $ 600 million per Mutual Fund, within the overall industry limit of US $ 7 billion. Earlier it was USD 300 million.

Highlights

• Securities and Exchange Board of India Founded: 12 April 1992.
• Securities and Exchange Board of India Headquarters: Mumbai.
• Securities and Exchange Board of India Agency executive: Ajay Tyagi.

5. Dharmendra Pradhan co-chairs 4th Meeting of the OPEC-India Dialogue

The 4th High-Level Meeting of the OPEC-India Dialogue was hosted by the OPEC Secretariat. The Meeting was co-chaired by HE Mohammad Sanusi Barkindo, Secretary-General of OPEC and Shri Dharmendra Pradhan, India’s Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas and Minister of Steel.

6. PM Modi to launch Ro-Pax Ferry Service in Gujarat

PM Modi is to launch Ro-Pax ferry service between Ghogha and Hazira in Gujarat through video conferencing. The Ro-Pax ferry vessel called the “Voyage Symphony” is a three-deck vessel. It has a load capacity to load thirty trucks, 100 passenger cars and 500 passengers.

7. ISRO launches PSLV C49 with 10 satellites

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)  has launched the 51st mission of Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV). This is the first mission by ISRO in 2020. The carrier vehicle PSLV C49 will deliver 10 satellites in all with EOS-01 as the primary one.

It is the 51st mission of Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV). The carrier was launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh.

Highlights

• ISRO Chairman: K.Sivan.
• ISRO Headquarters: Bengaluru, Karnataka.

8. India-Italy Virtual Bilateral Summit 2020

The Bilateral Summit between India and Italy was held virtually on 6th November 2020. The Summit was attended by the Indian Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi and Prime Minister of Italy Prof. Giuseppe Conte.

The two leaders reviewed the broad framework of the bilateral relationship and reaffirmed their commitment to strengthen cooperation against common global challenges, including the Covid-19 pandemic.

Highlights

• President of Italy: Sergio Mattarella.
• Prime Minister of Italy: Giuseppe Conte.
• Capital of Italy: Rome; Currency of Italy: Euro.

9. National Cancer Awareness Day 2020

The National Cancer Awareness Day is observed annually in India on November 7, to spread awareness on cancer, its symptoms and treatment. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), cancer is the second leading cause of death globally.

10. Manipur’s Gyanendro Ningombam becomes new president of Hockey India

Manipur’s Gyanendro Ningombam was elected unopposed as the President of Hockey India, while former President Mohd Mushtaque Ahmad is back in the Hockey India Executive Board after being Elected Unopposed for the Senior Vice President post. Earlier, Gyanendro Ningombam has been serving as the Officiating President of Hockey India since July 2020.

Highlights

• Hockey India Founded: 20 May 2009.
• Hockey India Headquarters: New Delhi.

11. Two-day joint coastal security exercise ‘Sagar Kavach’ begins

A two-day joint coastal security exercise, “Sagar Kavach” was launched at Paradip Coast, Odisha. The exercise is being carried out by a joint effort of the state of Odisha and West Bengal governments.

12. Udyam Scheme: 11 lakh MSMEs registered

The Government of India announced that over 11 lakh MSMEs have registered on the new online system of Udyam Registration. It was launched in July 2020. According to GoI, over 3.72 lakh have been registered under manufacturing category and 6.31 lakh have registered under service sector.

Of these registered enterprises, 93.17% were micro enterprises, 5.62% were small enterprises and 1.21 were medium enterprises. Around 7.98 lakh enterprises were owned by male, 1.73 lakh enterprises were owned by female entrepreneurs. Around 11,188 enterprises were owned by Divyangjan.

13. Metro Neo

The Government of India is planning to approve national standard specifications and rules for Metro Neo targeted at tier 2 & tier 3 cities. Metro Neo is a no-frills, low-cost urban rail transit system.

This Metro opts for traffic demand places where there are 8,000 passengers or above one way in peak time. These Metro systems are smaller and lighter than conventional Metro trains.

14. Indian Diplomat Elected To UN Advisory Committee

In a significant victory for India at the United Nations, Indian diplomat Vidisha Maitra was elected to the UN Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ), a subsidiary organ of the General Assembly.

In the Group of Asia-Pacific States, Maitra, First Secretary in India’s Permanent Mission to the UN, obtained 126 votes.