Sitharaman released the Smuggling in India Report 2019-20 which analyses organized smuggling trends on Gold, Foreign Currency, Narcotic Drugs. It detected 412 cases of smuggling & seizure of contraband worth ₹1,949 cr in FY20. DRI- Dept of Revenue Intell.
Minister of State for Finance: Anurag Singh Thakur.
Indian Navy has undertaken a Passage Exercise with Russian Federation Navy in the Eastern Indian Ocean Region. PASSEXs are conducted regularly by IN with units of friendly foreign navies, whilst visiting each other’s ports/during a rendezvous at sea.
IN & RuFN conduct INDRA exercise biennially.
Minister of Science &Technology Dr HarshVardhan virtually inaugurated the 2nd TCGA 2020 conference in New Delhi. It is a joint effort between the US- National Cancer Institute & the National Human Genome Research Institute began in 2006.
TCGA generated over 2.5 petabytes of genomic data.
RBI has proposed to enhance the limit for contactless card transactions from Rs 2000 to Rs 5000 from Jan 1, 2021. Transaction limit on e-mandates for recurring transactions through cards/UPI has been proposed to be increased from Rs 2000 to Rs 5000.
AFA stands for Additional factor authentication.
RBI has allowed regional rural banks to access liquidity adjustment facility, marginal standing facility & call/notice money market, aimed at facilitating better liquidity management for these lenders. As of now, RRBs are not permitted to access these.
LAF: allows banks to borrow money through repurchase agreements.
Uday Shankar, the outgoing chairman of Star & Disney India and president of The Walt Disney Company, Asia Pacific, is the newly elected president of FICCI for the year 2020-21. He will succeed Sangita Reddy, current president of FICCI.
He spearheaded the launch of Aaj Tak in 2000.
Lakshadweep Administrator Dineshwar Sharma, who earlier headed the Intelligence Bureau & was also the Interlocutor for Jammu & Kashmir, died in Chennai. He was 66. Retired IPS officer of Kerala cadre, he was appointed administrator of Lakshdweep in 2019.
Intelligence Bureau is India functions under Home Ministry.
International Volunteers Day, is an international observance that was mandated by the UN General Assembly in 1985. The Day is an opportunity for us all to promote volunteerism, encourage governments to support volunteer efforts to realize SDGs.
United Nations Volunteers HQ: Bonn, Germany.
Every year December 5 is celebrated as World Soil Day to bring people’s focus & attention on the importance of healthy soil as well as stress on the importance of sustainable management of soil resources. First official Soil Day was observed in 2014 by UN.
Food & Agriculture Organisation
HQs: Rome, Italy
Head: Qu Dongyu
Union Minister RK Singh launched the 'Green Charcoal Hackathon' with aim to create a conducive environment by reducing carbon emissions, nurture technology solutions. Aim is to achieve clean air by eliminating farm fire & produce enregy from agri wastes.
NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam launched the event.
Amul, a brand of dairy cooperative major Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd (GCMMF) is ranked 8th in the list of top 20 global dairy processors released by the International Farm Comparison Network (IFCN).
By 2022, both India and Amul will turn 75.
FM Sitharaman delivered a Keynote Address at inauguration of the 20th Sri Lanka Economic Summit 2020 in virtual format organised by Ceylon Chamber of Commerce. Theme of the event was “Roadmap for Take-off: Driving a People-Centric Economic Revival”.
Capitals: Colombo, Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte
Currency: SL Rupee.
World Health Organization on March 11 declared the novel coronavirus outbreak a pandemic. That same day, searches for the word were 115,806% higher than on the same date last year. Coronavirus,Quarantine were among runners up for the 2020 Word of the year.
Pandemic: Outbreak of a disease that occurs over wide geography.
Alfredo Covelli, an Italy based author today launched his new book Vahana Masterclass for children and Young Audience in the Indian market. Targeted towards readers' age (from 8 to 12 years) the books will be illustrated and published by Scholastic India.
Italy Capital: Rome
Currency: Euro
Ramayan Cruise Tour’ on the Saryu river in Ayodhya will be launched soon as per Mansukh Mandaviya, Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways. It will be the first-ever luxury Cruise service on the Saryu river (Ghagra/National Waterways-40).
UP Capital: Lucknow;Governor: Anandiben Patel, CM: Y Adityanath.
DBS Bank India Limited (DBIL) received a capital infusion of Rs 2,500 crore from DBS Bank Limited, Singapore to support its amalgamation with Lakshmi Vilas Bank (LVB). The scheme of amalgamation came into effect on November 27, 2020.
DBS Bank Ltd is headquartered in Marina Bay, Singapore.