Digital wallet company MobiKwik has launched ‘mpay.me’, a UPI-powered payment link service, that will enable users to send and receive money from any UPI payment app. Through mpay.me, users and merchants can set up their own mini personal payment link using their mobile number.

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has formulated a draft Defence Production and Export Promotion Policy 2020 (DPEPP 2020). To achieve a turnover of Rs 1,75,000 Crores (USD 25 Billion) including export of Rs 35,000 Crore (USD 5 Billion) in Aerospace and Defence goods and services by 2025.

Axis Bank, India’s third largest private sector lender has launched an Artificial Intelligence powered conversational voice BOT called‘AXAA’.

Paris-based UNESCO has recognised two coastal villages of Odisha as being “Tsunami Ready”, for their overall preparedness to face the calamity. The two coastal villages are Venkatraipur (Boxipalli) village of Rangeilunda block in Ganjam district and Noliasahi village of Ersama block in Jagatsinghpur district. With this recognition from the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of UNESCO, Odisha has become the first state in the country to have Tsunami Ready villages.Also, India has become the first country in the Indian Ocean region to have such villages.

The Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting, Shri Prakash Javadekar unveiled an e-version of the book titled ‘Connecting, Communicating, Changing’. The book chronicles Shri M Venkaiah Naidu’s three years in office as the Vice President of India.

India has been ranked at 48th position in the Global Innovation Index 2020. The report has been prepared by World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), along with Cornell University and the INSEAD Business School.

Rajnath Singh, on behalf of India finalised a major deal with Russia on 3rd September 2020 for the manufacturing of AK-47 203 rifles.

Pierre Gasly (Scuderia AlphaTauri, France) has won the Formula One Italian Grand Prix 2020 held on September 06, 2020. This is his first Grand Prix win.

Veteran British broadcaster and natural historian, David Attenborough has been awarded the prestigious Indira Gandhi Peace Prize for 2019 by the Indira Gandhi Memorial Trust.

Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana has been launched in 21 states with an outlay of Rs 20,050 crore for a period of 5 years (during 2020-21 to 2024-25). The scheme aims to bring about the Blue Revolution through the sustainable and responsible development of fisheries sector in India.The government aims to double fish exports in the coming 3-4 years.

Dominic Thiem (Austria) defeated Alexander Zverev to win the US Open 2020 Men’s Single title and also his first Grand Slam title.

Indian boxers Amit Panghal, Sanjeet and Ashish Kumar have claimed gold medals at the 2020 Alexis Valentine International Boxing Tournament held in Nantes, France.

The incumbent President of Ivory Coast, Alassane Ouattara, has won a third 5-year term in a landslide victory, gaining more than 94 percent of the votes polled.

Côte d’Ivoire Capital: Yamoussoukro; Currency: West African CFA franc

15 MoUs/Agreements were signed during the Summit in various sectors such as energy, fisheries, ship building, design etc.

The Pakke Tiger Reserve (PTR) in Arunachal Pradesh has become the first reserve from the Northeastern region to provide insurance cover against COVID-19 for its ‘Green Soldiers’.

India successfully test-fired the Quick Reaction Surface to Air Missile (QRSAM) system off the coast of Balasore in Odisha on 13 November 2020. The system achieved a major milestone by a direct hit on to a Banshee Pilotless target aircraft at medium range and medium altitude.

The Reserve Bank of India has created a Reserve Bank Innovation Hub (RBIH). The aim of RBIH is to promote innovation across the financial sector by leveraging on technology and creating an environment which would facilitate and foster innovation.Reserve Bank Innovation Hub (RBIH) would be managed by a Governing Council (GC) consisting of 10 members (including a chairperson). Shri Senapathy (Kris) Gopalakrishnan, co-founder and former co-Chairman, Infosys, has been appointed as the first Chairperson of the RBIH.

The SBM Bank India, a wholly-owned subsidiary of State Bank of Mauritius, has announced to launch a ‘neo banking platform’ to reach its customers in the country with the help of technology. The neo banking service launched is called ‘Nivesh’ and is a unique Goal Based Recurring Deposit Platform.

Mastercard and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) have collaborated under Women’s Global Development and Prosperity Initiative (W-GDP) to launch ‘Project Kirana’, to help women entrepreneurs grow and thrive. Project Kirana is a two year programme, and initially it will be rolled out in select cities of Uttar Pradesh, including Lucknow, Kanpur and Varanasi.

Prime Minister of India Shri Narendra Modi and Bhutan Prime Minister Lotay Tshering virtually launched RuPay card Phase-II on 20 November 2020, to allow Bhutanese card holders to access RuPay network in India.

The 2nd edition of India, Singapore and Thailand Trilateral Maritime Exercise SITMEX-20 was conducted from 21 to 22 November 20 in Andaman Sea.The 2020 edition of the exercise is being hosted by Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN).

• India hosted the 19th meeting of the SCO Council of Heads of Government in virtual format on 30 November 2020.
• It was the first time that a Summit-level Meeting was held under the Chairmanship of India, since it gained full -membership of the organization in 2017.

Rakesh Asthana

Lucknow is the ninth city in India and first from UP, to to have raised municipal bonds for fund raising. It is also the first city to issue municipal bond after the launch of Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) scheme.

The World Soil Day is celebrated every year on December 5 to raise awareness of the importance of soil quality for human well-being, food security and ecosystems. The 2020 theme –‘Keep soil alive, Protect soil biodiversity’!

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee inaugurated the newly-built Majerhat bridge in Kolkata on 3rd December 2020. However, the bridge has been renamed as  “Jai Hind” bridge to pay tribute to Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose on the occasion of his 125th birth anniversary commemoration (23 January).

Indian-American physicist Narinder Singh Kapany, who is considered as the ‘Father of Fibre Optics’ has passed away. He was 94.

India is ranked at 10th place in the ‘Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI) 2021’, released on 7th December 2020. The overall score of India is 63.98.

Consulting firm PwC India has collaborated with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and YuWaah (Generation Unlimited in India) to upskill 300 million young Indians over the next 10 years.

Former world number one and ten-time major winner on LPGA tournaments, Annika Sorenstam, has been elected as the new President of the International Golf Federation (IGF) [Headquarters: Lausanne, Switzerland]

The Ministry of Agriculture has declared Lakshadweep as India’s first Union Territory to become 100 percent organic.

NDB Board has approved a loan of USD 500 million for the Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut RRTS Project. The National Capital Region Transport Corporation Limited (NCRTC) will use the fund for construction of a rapid rail corridor connecting the National Capital Territory of Delhi with the cities of Ghaziabad and Meerut located in the state of Uttar Pradesh.

The Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institutet announced the 2020 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine on 5th
October 2020.The award has been jointly conferred upon Harvey J Alter and Charles M Rice of America, and
British scientist Michael Houghton for the discovery of the Hepatitis C virus.

MPC committee of RBI comprises six members which includes three officials of the Reserve Bank of
India and three external members nominated by the Government of India.

India’s largest commercial bank, State Bank of India (SBI) has signed a loan agreement worth USD 1 billion

The DRIP project is financially supported by the World Bank and Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB).

Fitch Ratings Projects GDP of India at -9.4% in FY21 & 11% in FY22

The Legal Entity Identifier (LEI) is a 20-digit number used to uniquely identify parties to financial transactions worldwide. TheReserve Bank of India has introduced Legal Entity Identifier (LEI) for all payment transactions of value Rs 50 crore and above undertaken by entities (non-individuals) via Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) and National Electronic Funds Transfer (NEFT).

Duarte Pacheco of Portugal has been elected as the new President of IPU. The term of the Duarte Pacheco will be from 2020-2023..