Current Affairs Daily Digest – October 20 2019
1. Lagarde is appointed as the ECB Chief
Former IMF chief Christine Lagarde is appointed as the head of the European Central Bank (ECB). She was nominated to become the president of the European Central Bank by the European Union Council.
Christine Lagarde:
Lagarde stepped down two years before the end of her second five-year term at IMF. The 63-year-old is a French lawyer, politician, and economist. She has good leadership and institutional experience as well as political and economical experience. She is the Chairwoman of International Monetary Fund (IMF) since 2011.
2. NAM Summit, 2019
The Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) Summit is to be held in Baku, Azerbaijan. The summit is to be held between October 25 and October 26, 2019. The 18th NAM summit will be preceded by Ministerial meetings and senior official meetings.
NAM The Non-Alignment Movement was founded in 1961. It was based on Bandung principles that was adopted at the Belgrade Summit (an Afro-Asian Conference) in 1955. It was founded during the collapse of colonial system and independence struggles of Asia, Africa and Latin American countries. The movement worked towards the attainment of independence for many countries. India is a founding member of the NAM summit.
3. Sri Lanka removed from FATF’s Grey List
Sri Lanka has been removed from ‘Grey List’ of Financial Action Task Force (FATF) following the new measures taken by the country on financial security. The word ‘Grey List’ identified by FATF refers to a jurisdiction with strategic Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) deficiencies.
4. FSSAI guidelines to sweet manufacturers
Ahead of Diwali, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India issued guidelines to the sweet manufacturers. The team interacted with sweet manufacturers and tested food samples. They also gave them a 10-point guidelines.
FSSAI The FSSAI is an autonomous body under Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. It was established under Foods Safety and Standards Act, 2006. It is responsible to protect and promote public health through regulation and supervision of food safety. The headquarters of FSSAI is located in Delhi and the regional offices are located in Kolkata, Guwahati, Delhi, Mumbai, Cochin and Chennai.
5. India to host Interpol’s General Assembly in 2022
India will be hosting the 91st Interpol General Assembly in 2022. The announcement comes after a proposal in this regard received the overwhelming support of member countries at 2019’s congregation held at Santinago in Chile on 19 October 2019. The proposal was given to Interpol Secretary General Jürgen Stock by Union Home Minister Amit Shah when the two met in New Delhi during Stock’s official visit (August 2019).
6. Sultan of Johor Cup 2019: Great Britain beats India
Great Britain beats India with 2-1 in final to win men’s Sultan of Johor Cup hockey tournament held at Johor Bahru in Malaysia. The Indian junior men’s hockey team suffered defeat as Great Britain score 20 seconds before full-time. Great Britain was this years’ defending country after they were crowned champions in 2018.
7. October Big Day: International Bird Survey
The International Bird Survey is being conducted by eBird organization biennially. Once in May and once in October. The aim is to gather information in the form of checklists of birds and share it to the environmental conservation and education institutes. The Cornell University Ornithology Lab, that holds world’s largest birds’ database helped in conducting the survey.
8. Ekuverin 2019: Indo Maldives joint Exercise
Indian Army and the Maldives National Defence Force participated in a Joint Military Exercise called ‘Ekuverin’ at Aundh Military Station in Pune, Maharashtra. This year was the tenth edition of the joint military exercise which was organised from 7 to 20 October 2019.
9. World Statistics Day is observed on October 20
World Statistics Day is celebrated every five years. The United Nations Statistical Commission declared the day. As of 2010, 103 countries celebrate a national Statistics Day, including 51 African countries that jointly celebrate African Statistics Day annually on 18 November. India celebrates its statistics day on 29 June, the birthday of the legendary statistician Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis.
10. World Osteoporosis Day is observed on October 20
World Osteoporosis Day is observed annually on October 20th, and launches a year-long campaign dedicated to raising global awareness of the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of osteoporosis and metabolic bone disease.
11. Anup Kumar Singh appointed as Director-General of NSG
Senior IPS officer of Gujarat cadre Anup Kumar Singh has been appointed as Director-General of the National Security Guard (NSG). The appointment of Mr Singh, who is a 1985-batch IPS officer, was approved by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet. His appointment will be from the date of joining the post and up to 30th of September, 2020.
12. President of India Addresses India-Philippines Business Conclave and 4th Asean-India Business Summit
The President of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind, addressed the India-Philippines Business Conclave and the 4th ASEAN-India Business Summit in Manila, Philippines today (October 19, 2019).
13. IMF Members agree to double pool of money to aid distressed countries
Global Finance Ministers agreed to double a key pool of money that the International Monetary Fund can use to aid distressed countries but again put off giving more votes to major emerging economies. The IMF has been working to restructure its voting shares to give more weight to growing economies like China, India and Brazil but some traditional powers have resisted since they stand to lose influence in the institution.
14. Bajaj Allianz Life launches video calling service ‘i-SERV’ to enhance customer service experience
Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance has taken yet another step towards digital disruption by launching i-SERV, a first-of-its-kind video calling service within the life insurance industry.
15. PayPal is launching a Venmo credit card to help monetize the payment app
PayPal is partnering with Synchrony Financial to launch a credit card for Venmo users. The popular peer-to-peer mobile payments app has attracted 40 million users but hasn’t been able to turn a profit for its parent company. Venmo launched a debit card last year. “The next natural extension was to have a Venmo credit card,” says PayPal’s Darrell Esch.
16. Bharti Airtel to acquire 26 per cent stake in AMPSolar for Rs 8.4 crore
Telecom operator Bharti Airtel has signed a pact with AMPSolar Evolution to acquire 26 per cent stake in the solar power firm for Rs 8.4 crore.
The Sunil Bharti Mittal-led firm has signed an agreement with the renewable energy company to meet the green energy needs and optimise energy costs, as well as to comply with the regulatory requirement around consumption of electricity.
17. Odisha’s biggest trade fair to begin on Nov 12
Baliyatra, one of the biggest trade fairs of Odisha, is scheduled to begin on November 12. The trade fair will continue for eight days. This year’s Baliyatra will be jointly organized by the Cuttack District Administration, District Cultural Council, and the Cuttack Municipal Corporation (CMC).
18. Detention centre for illegal foreigners near Bengaluru soon
A detention centre to keep illegal foreigners till they are deported is coming up at Nelamangala in Karnataka’s Bengaluru Rural district, a police official said.
“A state-run hostel is being converted into a detention centre to keep illegal foreign nationals for deportation to their respective countries,” Bengaluru Rural Deputy Superintendent of Police Mohan Kumar told IANS on phone.
