Daily Current Affairs 02 January 2020: We have collected the latest current affairs for 02 January 2020 that are important for all competitive exams like Bank, SSC, IBPS, SBI exams. The GK current affairs will help you score more in these competitive exams. Improve your general knowledge with our daily online current affairs. You can also read the daily current affairs on our mobile app.
Current Affairs 02 January 2020
RBI launches Mobile Aided Note Identifier (MANI) app for visually impaired persons
- Reserve Bank of India has launched a mobile application named “Mobile Aided Note Identifier (MANI)” for aiding visually impaired persons to identify the denomination of Indian Banknotes.
- The app MANI contains the following features:
- Capable of identifying the denominations of Mahatma Gandhi Series and Mahatma Gandhi (New) series banknote by checking front or reverse side/part of the note including half folded notes at various holding angles and broad range of light conditions (normal light/day light/low light/ etc.).
- Ability to identify the denomination through audio notification in Hindi/English and non-sonic mode such as vibration (suitable for those with vision and hearing impairment).
- After installation, the mobile application does not require internet and works in offline mode.
- Ability to navigate the mobile application via voice controls for accessing the application features wherever the underlying device & operating system combination supports voice enabled controls.
- The application is free and can be downloaded from the Android Play Store and iOS App Store without any charges/payment.
- This mobile application does not authenticate a note as being either genuine or counterfeit.
Interest Rates for Small Savings Schemes Unchanged for the Fourth Quarter 2019-20 (Jan-Mar)
- The government has kept the interest rates on small savings schemes unchanged for the fourth quarter of FY 2019-20 (January-March).
- The interest rates on small savings schemes are reviewed every quarter by the government.
- The formula to arrive at the interest rates of the small savings scheme was given by the Shyamala Gopinath Committee.
- Accordingly, the Rates of Interest on various Small Savings Schemes for the Fourth Quarter of the Current Financial Year 2019-20 is as given below:
|
Instrument
|
Interest Rate (January 2020-March 2020)
|
Compounding frequency*
|
|
Savings Deposit
|
4.0
|
Annually
|
|
1 Year Time Deposit
|
6.9
|
Quarterly
|
|
2 Year Time Deposit
|
6.9
|
Quarterly
|
|
3 Year Time Deposit
|
6.9
|
Quarterly
|
|
5 Year Time Deposit
|
7.7
|
Quarterly
|
|
5 Year Recurring Deposit
|
7.2
|
Quarterly
|
|
5 Year Senior Citizen Savings Scheme
|
8.6
|
Quarterly and paid
|
|
5 Year Monthly Income Account
|
7.6
|
Monthly and paid
|
|
5 Year National Savings Certificate
|
7.9
|
Annually
|
|
Public Provident Fund Scheme
|
7.9
|
Annually
|
|
Kisan Vikas Patra
|
7.8 (will mature in 113 months)
|
Annually
|
|
Sukanya Samriddhi Account Scheme
|
8.4
|
Annually
|
28th New Delhi World Book Fair to focus on Gandhi as writer
- The 28th edition of the annual New Delhi World Book Fair will begin at the Pragati Maidan on January 4, 2020.
- The nine-day fair will conclude on January 12.
- The fair is being organised by National Book Trust (NBT) in association with ITPO.
- The Union Human Resource Development (HRD) Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank will inaugurate the event.
- The 2020 edition of the fair will focus on how Mahatma Gandhi influenced generations of writers through his writings.
- Among every thing, the fair will witness an exclusive exhibition of 500 books on and by Gandhi in different languages.
- The number of countries at the book fair 2020 has come down from 20 to 15.
- Also, the fair will not be hosting any ‘guest country’ this year, due to the ongoing construction and the subsequent lack of space in Pragati Maidan.
Bengaluru set to host 107th Indian Science Congress from 03 January 2020
- The 107th edition of the Indian Science Congress is scheduled to be held at the University of Agricultural Sciences (UAS), Bengaluru from January 3 to 7, 2020.
- It is the ninth time that Bengaluru is hosting the annual convention.
- The vent will be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
- The theme of the congress is ‘Science and Technology: Rural Development’
- For the first time, a Farmer’s Science Congress will also be part of the event, providing a platform for innovative farmers.
India to Host 36th International Geological Congress in New Delhi in March 2020
- The 36th International Geological Congress will be held in New Delhi from March 2-8, 2020.
- India is the only Asian country to host the Congress twice. The 22nd session of IGC was held in New Delhi in 1964
- The International Geological Congress, described as the “Olympics of Geosciences,” is aimed at the development of Earth Sciences.
- The theme of the 36th IGC is Geosciences: The Basic Science for a Sustainable Future.
- The event will be jointly funded by the Ministry of Mines and the Ministry of Earth Sciences, Government of India and supported by the Indian National Science Academy (INSA) along with the science academies of Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
- The first session of IGC took place in France in 1878.
Pragati Maidan Metro Station in Delhi to be Renamed as Supreme Court Metro Station
- The Delhi government’s naming committee has on January 1, 2020, decided to rename Pragati Maidan metro station as Supreme Court metro station.
- The entire renaming process including changing of audio in metro train announcements will take around a month to be completed.
- The Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia has announced that the committee has also decided to rename Mukarba Chowk and its flyover as Captain Vikram Batra Chowk, Mehrauli Badarpur Road as Acharya Sri Mahapragya Marg and the Lajpat Nagar flyover as Shri Jhulelal Setu among others.
UPSRTC Launches Dedicated Women Helpline Number Damini
- The Uttar Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (UPSRTC) has launched a dedicated women helpline called ‘Damini’ for the safety of women.
- The unique number “81142-77777” is a calling as well as a WhatsApp service, and is an extension of the ‘Nirbhaya Yojana’ that aims to ensure safety of women.
- The service will be functional from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. every day.
- After 6 p.m., women passengers can lodge their complaints on the general helpline number, 1800-180-2877.
- The service will be exclusively handled by women officers at the UPSRTC headquarters and regional offices.
- The helpline number will be made functional 24-hours a day after three months, depending on the response.
ECI Launches online Political Parties Registration Tracking Management System Effective From 01 January 2020
- The Election Commission of India (ECI) has launched an online system called Political Parties Registration Tracking Management System (PPRTMS), that will allow political parties to track the progress of their applications on a real-time basis.
- The new norms is effective from 01 January 2020.
- The Political Parties Registration Tracking Management System (PPRTMS) will enable applicants, applying for the party registration to be able to track the progress of their application and get the status update through SMS and e-mail.
- Note: The registration of political parties is governed by the provisions of section 29A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951.
Palau Becomes World’s First Nation to ban ‘Reef-toxic’ Sun Cream
- In a bid to safeguard and protect coral reef and other sea life from declining, the Pacific nation of Palau has announced to ban sun cream containing chemicals linked to coral bleaching, thus becoming the first country in the world to do so.
- From January 01, 2020, sunscreen that includes ingredients such as oxybenzone and octinoxate (chemicals that absorb ultraviolet A rays) would no longer be allowed to be applied or sold in the country to safeguard the island nation’s environment from tourists.
- Earlier, in 2018, Hawaii also announced similar legislation to impose ban against sunscreen that contained the toxic chemicals. The law in Hawaii will come into effect from January 1, 2021.
- As per the International Coral Reef Foundation, the banned chemicals are ‘known environmental pollutants’ which are incredibly toxic to juvenile stages of many wildlife species.