Today News detail on 3 December 2020

Zenith Academy

IMPORTANT DAYS

National Pollution Control Day 2020 – December 2

National Pollution Control Day is annually observed across India on 2nd December to honour the people

who lost their lives in the Bhopal Gas Tragedy in 1984. The day is observed to create awareness among

the general public about the pollution level of India and the rate on which the harmful substance level in

the environment has been increased every year.

2nd December 2020 marks the 36th anniversary of the Bhopal Gas Tragedy.

The theme of the 2020 National Pollution Control Day is “raise awareness about the importance of

pollution control and educate people on how to prevent pollution”.

Aim:

The day aims to create awareness about the importance of preventing air, soil, noise, and water

pollution.

Objective:

To educate people about the importance of pollution control act and create awareness about the

industrial disasters.

1984 Bhopal Gas Tragedy:

i.In December 1984, the accidental gas leak at the Union Carbide India Limited (UCIL), a pesticide plant

in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh released methyl isocyanate (MIC) gas.

ii.The methyl isocyanate (MIC) gas, a toxic gas spread across Bhopal and more than 5 lakh people were

exposed to the gas and around 3700 people died due to the exposure.

iii.The survivors of the gas leak experienced the aftereffects, increased the cases of cancer and birth

defects.

iv.The Bhopal tragedy is considered as one of the world’s worst industrial disasters.

Key Points:

i.The data of the National Health Portal of India states that more than 7 million people in India die every

year due to air pollution.

ii.It also states that globally 9 out of 10 people do not have access to clean and safe air.

iii.The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) was constituted in India in September 1974 to work

towards the protection of the environment.

iv.According to the State of Global Air 2020 report, the long term exposure to outdoor and household air

pollution accounts to more than 1.67 million deaths due to stroke, heart attack, diabetes, lung cancer,

chronic lung diseases and neonatal diseases in India in 2019.

World Computer Literacy Day 2020 – December 2

The World Computer Literacy Day is annually observed on 2nd December to increase the awareness

about the advanced gap and increase the access to computer and information technology. The day

promotes the enhancement of the technology skills of women and children.

Aim: To ensure the awareness about computers and technologies among the general public. Objective:

To promote the use of technology and computers among women and make them more informed on the

functions of computers.

Background:

i.NIIT(National Institute of Information Technology) Indian Computer Company, launched the World

Computer Literacy Day in 2001, to mark its 20th Anniversary.

ii.The day was first observed on 2nd December 2001, the 20th anniversary of NIIT.

Computer Literacy:

i.Computer literacy is the knowledge and ability to effectively use computers and other technologies

related to computers.

ii.These skill levels vary from basic use of computer programming to advanced problem solving using

computer programming.

About National Institute of Information Technology (NIIT):

NIIT(National Institute of Information Technology) was established by Rajendra Singh Pawar and Vijay K.

Thadani in 1981in Delhi.

Chairman & Co-Founder– Rajendra S Pawar

Vice Chairman & Managing Director– Vijay K. Thadani

CEO– Sapnesh Lalla Headquarters– Gurgaon, Haryana

NATIONAL AFFAIRS

10th National Science Film Festival 2020 Organised by VigyanPrasar Virtually

The 10th National Science Film Festival 2020 was jointly organised by VigyanPrasar, an autonomous

agency under the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India and the Tripura

State Council of Science and Technology, Government of Tripura. The four-day long film festival was

held from 24th to 27th November 2020. The event was inaugurated on 24th November 2020 by

JishnuDevVerma, Deputy Chief Minister of Tripura.

Aim: The National science film festival provides a unique platform for the professionals, amateurs and

student filmmakers to showcase their science films made under various themes. 10th National Science

Film Festival (2020):

i.10 Jury members under the chairmanship of Girish Kasaravalli shortlisted 115 films from 372 films &

these 115 shortlisted films were screened during the virtual event of the 10th National Science Film

festival.

ii.The 115 films includes films in Hindi, English, Urdu, Malayalam, Kashmiri, Bengali, Marathi, Punjabi and

Tamil.

iii.The entries include, documentaries, biography, short films, docu-dramas, science fiction and

animation films.

Awards 2020: On 27th November 2020, the best films were awarded in different categories.

• Under the Interface-Films, fusion and Out of the Box categories the 3 Beaver awards – Gold, Silver and

Bronze were awarded along with cash rewards of Rs. 1.5 lakh, Rs. 1 lakh and Rs.75000 respectively.

• Under the Rainbow category 8 films were awarded with a cash reward of Rs.25000 each.Incredible

Tale of a Water Warrior directed by Mahesha received the Jury Special Mention award carrying Rs.

50,000 prize money.

New categories: This year, 2 new categories of awards were introduced: Poonam Chaurasia Memorial

Award, instituted in the memory of Poonam, a talented cameraperson, to encourage female science film

makers and the Destination Award given to one of the best films from the region where the National

Science Film Festival is organized. Click here to know more about the winners

MOP&NG Minister, Dharmendra Pradhan launched India’s 1st 100 Octane Petrol, ‘XP-100’ developed

by IOC

On 1st December, 2020 Ministry of Petroleum and Natural gas(MOP&NG) Minister Dharmendra

Pradhan launched the India’s first 100 Octane Petrol also known as XP 100 manufactured by Indian Oil

Corporation(IOC). XP 100, the premium grade petrol is manufactured at IOC’s Mathura refinery in Uttar

Pradesh, and will be rolled out in two Phases at selected Petrol stations.

Phase1(10 cities)– Delhi, Gurgaon, Noida, Agra, Jaipur, Chandigarh, Ludhiana, Mumbai, Pune and

Ahmedabad Phase2– Planned to roll out in Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Kochi and Kolkata

About 100 Octane Petrol:

i.Octane ratings are provided based on the measure of fuel stability, indicating the superior quality of

fuel & it is the measures of fuel’s ability to avoid Knock.

ii.Knocking occurs when fuel is prematurely ignited, it leads to degraded efficiency leading to damage to

the engine.

iii.Higher the octane number, higher the resistance to knock by the petrol.

iv.Luxury vehicles demanding high performance prefer 100 Octane petrol.

Octane Grades available in India:

87(Regular), 89(mid-grade) and 91-94(premium). Recently Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd.(HPCL)

has launched Octane 99.

Countries with 100 Octane petrol: Only 6 Countries have 100 Octane Petrol, they are USA, Germany,

Greece, Indonesia, Malaysia and Israel. About Bharat Stage VI: On 1st April, 2020 India moved from

Bharat stage IV or BS-IV to BS-VI, an initiative to reduce the level of emission from vehicles. The Rollout

of Premium grade fuel, a cleaner and greener fuel reduces the Pollutant emitted from vehicles.

CERT-In, Kasperksy in Strategic Pact to Improve Mutual Cybersecurity Capabilities

On November 30, 2020, a cyber security firm, Kaspersky and the Indian Computer Emergency Response

Team (CERT-In) announced a strategic partnership for improving mutual cybersecurity capabilities by

working together in order to create a safe and secure cyberspace in India.

• This was announced on the lines of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed on October 22,

2020 by Kaspersky with CERT-In, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) and the

Government of India (GoI) for collaboration in the area of cybersecurity.

• Both entities will cooperate in detection of latest cyber threats affecting the information assets and

privacy of the general users and will devise appropriate security measures for the same.

Key Features of Kaspersky-CERT-In Partnership

–As a part of partnership, Kaspersky will assist CERT-In in the areas of cyber incident management,

critical information protection, capacity building and enhancing users’ trust in digital technologies.

–CERT-In will execute training programs within the framework of Kaspersky Global Transparency

Initiatives such as Code Review and Assessment Training.

–CERT-In and Kaspersky will also jointly execute projects such as supporting awareness initiatives.

–CERT-In will also partner with the Kaspersky Innovative Arm (Kaspersky iHub) through mentorship and

accelerator programs for supporting Indian start-ups with innovative cybersecurity projects.

Tribal Affairs Minister, Arjun Munda launched the 1st virtual Aadi Mahotsav in Madhya Pradesh

On 1st December, 2020 Cabinet Minister of Tribal Affairs, Arjun Munda launched the first ever virtual

edition of Aadi Mahotsav, at Madhya Pradesh. Aadi Mahotsav also known as National Tribal festival is

conducted to promote the tribal, products, culture thereby increasing Tribal income.

Aim- To showcase various tribal crafts and diverse cultural practices to Urban India by way enhancing

Tribal income through the sales of these products.

Organiser- Festival is Jointly organised by the Ministry of Tribal Affairs, Government of India and Tribal

Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India (TRIFED).

The 2020 virtual edition of the festival is organised virtually across India

• 1-10 December focusing on Madhya Pradesh

• 11-20 December focus shifts to Gujarat

• 21-30 December, planned to focus on West Bengal

About Aadi Mahotsav:

Aadi Mahotsav initiated in 2017 is the Nation Tribal Craft Expo, an exhibition cum sales of the works by

individual tribal artisans, tribal Self Help Groups(SHG), and other related agencies.

Products- Various Tribal Cuisines, handicrafts, arts, paintings fabric, jewellery also includes the

showcasing of tribal dances and music.

In 2020, Virtually hosted on the Tribes India website(www.tribesindia.com)

Sales of products organised by TRIFED will be done by Tribes India E-Marketplace.

Key Highlight:

Between 2019-20, TRIFED has organised 16 Aadi Mahotsav across India, the recent one was at New

Delhi in November, 2020.

To widen the spread of tribal artifacts, TRIFED also participates in few international trade fairs and

exhibitions.

About Ministry of Tribal Affairs:

Cabinet Minister- Arjun Munda Minister of State– Renuka Singh Saruta

Power Minister RK Singh Launches ‘Green Charcoal Hackathon’ to focus on technology to convert

Farm Residue into Green Charcoal

On December 1, 2020, Minister of State (MoS) (Independent Charge) for Power and New & Renewable

Energy, Raj Kumar Singh virtually launched ‘Green Charcoal Hackathon’ to deliberate on technology to

convert Farm Residue into Green Charcoal. The hackathon has been organised by Energy Efficiency

Service Limited (EESL) & NVVN (NTPC (National Thermal Power Corporation Limited) Vidyut Vyapar

Nigam).

Objective:

The hackathon has been launched with an aim of attaining clean air through elimination of farm fire and

producing renewable energy out of the agro residue making use of the innovative Indian Minds.

Dignitaries Present:

Ashish Upadhyay, Additional Secretary of Power, Gurdeep Singh, Chief Managing Director (CMD) of

NTPC (National Thermal Power Corporation Ltd), AK Gautham, Chairman of NVVN, Mohit Bhargava,

Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of NVVN were present during the virtual event.

Combating Air Pollution:

i.Burning of Stubble and Agro residue by Local Farmers is one of the major contributors for Air Pollution

in Delhi and other parts of India.

ii.In order to tackle it, NVVN is looking for technologies to convert agricultural waste into a form to be

used by Power Plants.

iii.NVVN is considering the option of Torrefaction (a thermal process to convert biomass into a coal-like

material) to convert agro residue to Green Charcoal.

Highlights from the Launch:

i.The Hackathon has been launched to reduce India’s Carbon footprint.

ii.Emphasis is on Commercial Model (Cost of Machine & Charcoal Production) & Lesser emission during

the process of conversion of agro residue into green charcoal.

iii.Cash Prizes of up to INR 24 Lakhs have been announced to encourage the participants.

iv.The Hackathon also has 3 Categories. They are

• Category – I –Technology for Production of 100 kg per day of Torrefied Biomass Pellets

• Category – II – Technology for Production of 1000 kg per day of Torrefied Biomass Pellets

• Category – III – Technology for Production of 10 Tonnes per day of Torrefied Biomass Pellets

Capacity of India’s Power Plants:

Power Plants are the biggest consumers of Charcoals. A 1, 000 MegaWatt (MW) is capable of consuming

5 Million Tonnes of Coal annually.

i.India’s total coal-based power generation capacity is around 2 Lakh MW consuming around 1, 000

Million Tonnes of coal annually.

ii.If India replaces 10 % of 1, 000 Million Tonnes of Coal with Green Charcoal it will require about 160

Million Tonnes of Agro residue and Municipal waste, which will wipe out the entire unused agro residue

in India.

iii.Green Charcoal is capable of generating 20, 000 MW of renewable power and generates a revenue of

INR 50, 000 Crore per year.

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

Union Minister Prakash Javadekar represents India at the 2020 Industry Transition Leadership Virtual

Summit organized by LeadIT

On December 1, 2020, Union Minister for Environment, Climate Change and Forest Minister (MoEFCC),

Prakash Javadekar represented India at the 2020 Industry Transition Leadership Summit organized by

Leadership Group for Industry Transition (LeadIT). The Summit was held in Virtual Mode due to Covid-19

Pandemic.

The Meeting was held ahead of the 5th Anniversary of the signing of the 2015 Paris Agreement.

Participants:

i.The event was attended by heads of Global Companies such as Scania, FLSmidth, LKAB, LafargeHolcim,

SSAB, Vattenfall. Indian Companies like Dalmia, Mahindra Group also participated in the event.

ii.Global Think Tanks and Ministers/Representatives of the United Kingdom, Luxembourg, European

Union and Germany also attended the event.

Objective:

i.The summit focuses on aligning public and private action for implementation of the agendas and

targets under the Paris Agreement.

ii.To tackle the climate crisis, create decent and green jobs, ensure gender equality, maintain

competitiveness and deliver prosperity and sustainable development for all.

Key Points from Javadekar’s Address:

i.Industries contribute directly around 30 % of Global CO2 emissions.

ii.He emphasized on mobilizing funds at a larger scale & use of technology to deal with climate change.

iii.Developed Countries should share affordable technologies and research studies with developing

countries in order to work in the direction of saving the environment.

Coordinating structure for Paris Agreement:

i.India is also working on establishing a new coordinating structure for implementation of the Paris

Agreement.

ii.The structure will also include issues like Internal Carbon Pricing, Sustainable Lifestyle, Cross-Border

Carbon Leakage.

Swedish Deputy Prime Minister Isabelle Levin’s Address:

i.Isabelle Levin stated that India and Sweden need to work together to deal with climate change.

ii.She reiterated India’s view that Best practices and experiences should need to be shared to cut down

carbon emissions and argued for mobilizing finances to deal with carbon emissions.

Commitments made in the Summit:

i.To Create stable and reliable markets for green industrial products, and identifying targeted

interventions to enable the transition of whole value chains.

ii.To enhance Charging infrastructure to support energy efficiency in transport and electrification of

heavy good transport

iii.To Collaborate with new and existing platforms such as Mission Innovation, multilateral development

banks and the Multilateral Climate Investment

iv.Funds to increase access to and application of emerging technologies.

v.To Share know-how between countries and companies, and reach out to developing economies to

facilitate industry transition.

vi.It called on WTO (World Trade Organization) Ministerial Conference 12 to seize the opportunity to

facilitate trade through the reduction or appropriate elimination of tariff and non-tariff barriers on

environmental goods and services to achieve industry transition and tackle climate change.

India’s NDCs Targets:

India has 3 Quantitative Climate Change Goals. They are:

• Reduction in emissions intensity of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by 33-35 % by 2030 from 2005 level.

• Achieving 40% cumulative electric power installed capacity from non-fossil fuel based energy

resources by 2030.

• Creating Additional Carbon Sink of 2.5 to 3 Billion Tonnes of Carbon Dioxide equivalent through

additional forest and tree cover by 2030.

Leadership Group for Industry Transition (LeadIT):

It was launched by India, Sweden during the United Nations Secretary General Climate Action Summit in

2019 as a commitment towards low carbon industry transition.

LeadIT is supported by the World Economic Forum (WEF), Stockholm Environment Institute, Energy

Transitions Commission, Mission Innovation, Stockholm Environment Institute and European Climate

Foundation.

About Leadership Group for Industry Transition (LeadIT):

The Members of the group are 13 Countries and 15 Companies

Member Countries – India, Sweden, Argentina, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Luxembourg,

Netherlands, South Korea, United Kingdom & Northern Ireland, Australia & Denmark.

Member Companies – Dalmia Cement, Mahindra Group, DSM, Heathrow Airport, LKAB, Royal Schiphol

Group, Scania, SpiceJet, SSAB, ThyssenKrupp, Vattenfall, CarbFix, FLSmidth, Hybrit, LafargeHolcim &

Volvo

Amul becomes World’s 8th Largest Milk Processor: IFCN Dairy Processors Report 2020

According to The International Farm Comparison Network (IFCN) Dairy Processors Report 2020

(Biennial), Amul (Anand Milk Union Limited) a brand of dairy cooperative major Gujarat Cooperative

Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF) emerged as the 8th Largest Milk Processor globally in the list of

Top 20.

i.The rankings are based on the parameters of Milk Intake per annum.

ii.Amul has reported an intake of 10.3 Billion Kg of Milk annually, it is more than double growth from the

4.54 Billion Kg of Milk Intake reported by Amul in 2013.

Rank/Company/Milk Intake

8/Amul (India)/10.3 Billion Kg

1/Dairy Farmers of America (DFA) (USA)/29 Billion Kg

2/Fonterra (New Zealand)/21.9 Billion Kg

3/Lactalis (France)/20 Billion Kg

Key Points:

i.Amul has moved one rank upwards to 8th in 2020 ranking from the 9th Rank in 2018. The Dairy

Processors Report has been released since 2000.

ii.Dairy Farmers of America (DFA) topped the list with 29 Billion Kg, New Zealand’s Fonterra with 21.9

Billion Kg of intake grabbed the second place and French Major Groupe Lactalis came third with 20

Billion Kg intake.

iii.The report also shows how milk processors contribute to Three dimensions of Sustainability i.e

people, planet and profit.

iv.In September, 2020, Amul became the first Indian Dairy Company to enter Rabobank’s Annual listing

of Global Dairy Top 20, 2020 Companies.It was ranked 16th with an annual turnover of USD 5.5 billion

(approximately Rs 40,240 Crores).

Anand Milk Union Limited (AMUL):

i.It is apex organization of Dairy Cooperatives of Gujarat and aims to provide remunerative returns to

the farmers and also serve the interest of consumers by providing quality products.

ii.Its Tagline is “The Taste of India”.

iii.Amul was founded by Tribhuvandas Patel in 1946, and Dr. V. Kurien is credited with the success of

Amul’s Marketing.

About Amul:

Managing Director – RS Sodhi

Headquarters – Anand, Gujarat, India

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman delivers Keynote address at the Inauguration of 20th Edition of

SLES 2020

On December 1, 2020, Union Minister for Finance & Corporate Affairs, Nirmala Sitharaman delivered the

Keynote Address virtually at the inauguration of the 20th Edition of Sri Lanka Economic Summit (SLES)

2020.

It was organized by the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce (CCC).

i.President Gotabaya Rajapaksa was the Chief Guest at the inaugural session.

ii.The Theme for SLES 2020 is ‘Roadmap for Take-off: Driving a People-Centric Economic Revival’.

iii.During the address, Nirmala Sitharaman highlighted measures taken by India to address challenges

due to the Pandemic. She stated that India’s ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan’ & Sri Lanka’s vision of ‘Self

Reliant Sri Lanka’ can be used as a bridge for strengthening economic cooperation between the two

countries.

iv.The Cooperation between the 2 countries will be essential towards building sustained growth for

people centric development of both countries. India expresses interest to continue economic

cooperation for mutual benefit of both countries.

v.She emphasized regulatory consistency and policy certainty for the growth of Industry & Private

sector.

About Ministry of Finance:

Union Minister – Nirmala Sitharaman Minister of State – Anurag Singh Thakur About Sri Lanka: Prime

Minister – Mahinda Rajapaksa Capital – Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte (legislative), Colombo (Executive and

Judicial) Currency – Sri Lankan Rupee (LKR)

India 8th Most Affected Country in the World due to Terrorism in 2019; Afghanistan tops the List – 8th

Edition of GTI 2020

According to the 8th Edition of ‘Global Terrorism Index (GTI) 2020: Measuring the Impact of Terrorism’

released by Institute for Economics & Peace (IEP), India with a score of 7.353 is the 8th Most Affected

Country in the World due to Terrorism in 2019.Afghanistan (9.592), Iraq (8.682) & Nigeria (8.314) are

top 3 countries which are the most affected by Terrorism.

i.Qatar (0.014) took the 133rd Rank followed by Uzbekistan (0.010) in the 134th Rank and around 29

Countries (score of 0.000) took the 135th Rank which means they are Least Affected Countries or Face

No Impact due to Terrorism.

ii.GTI is a complete analysis of impact of terrorism for 163 countries covering 99.7% of the World’s

Population.

Countries Most Affected by Terrorism:

Rank/Country/Score

8/India/7.353

1/Afghanistan/9.592

2/Iraq/8.682

3/Nigeria/8.314

Countries Least Affected by Terrorism:

Rank/Country/Score

135/29 Countries/0

134/Uzbekistan/0.01

133/Qatar/0.014

Regarding India:

i.India recorded 277 Deaths, 439 Injuries & 558 Incidents due to Terrorism in 2019.

ii.According to report, Maoists, the Communist Party of India (Maoist) and Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM)

were responsible for over Two Thirds & half of the total attacks in India in 2019.

iii.Jammu and Kashmir was the most affected Region due to terrorism, it reported 165 attacks and 103

deaths. The Three most active groups in Kashmir were Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), Hizbul Mujahideen &

Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT)

iv.Chhattisgarh was the second most affected Region in India with 85 attacks and 53 deaths all from

Maoist Extremists.

v.India recorded Lowest Number of deaths due to terrorism among the Top 10 countries affected by

Terrorism. It also has the lowest lethality rate of attacks (0.5 deaths per attack).

Pulwama Terror Attack:

The Suicide Attack carried on the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) in Lethpora, Pulwama by HeM was

listed in the report among the 20 Most Fatal Terrorist Attacks in 2019.

Key Points:

i.Deaths due to Terrorism have fallen for the 5th Consecutive year in 2019 (13, 286 deaths). Russia,

Eurasia, South America & South Asia recorded a fall of atleast 20 % in deaths due to terrorism.

ii.Burkina Faso recorded the largest increase in terrorism in 2019 the deaths increased by 593, it was

followed by Sri Lanka where the terrorism deaths increased to 266 in 2019 from 1 in 2018.

iii.Global Economic impact of Terrorism in 2019 amounted to USD 26.4 Billion, Afghanistan recorded

highest economic impact on Economy due to Terrorism (16.7% of GDP).

iv.South Asia (5.829), North America (4.216) & Middle East (3.95) were the most affected regions due to

Terrorism.

Other Important Rankings:

United States of America – 29, France – 38, China – 53, Pakistan – 7, Sri Lanka – 20, Nepal – 27, Bhutan –

135, Bangladesh – 33.

About Institute for Economics & Peace (IEP):

Founder & Executive Chairman – Steve Killelea AM

Headquarters – Sydney, Australia

BANKING & FINANCE

ADB Approved a $430 Million Multitranche Financing Facility for UP Power Distribution Network

Rehabilitation Project

On December 1, 2020 The Asian Development Bank (ADB) approved a $430 million (about Rs 4,143

crore) Multitranche Financing Facility(MFF) for Uttar Pradesh(UP) Power Distribution Network

Rehabilitation Project.

Objective

To improve the quality and reliability of electricity supply in Uttar Pradesh

Points to be Noted

i.The MFF is enhanced by a $2 million Technical Assistance (TA) grant from TA Special Fund and the

Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction(JFPR) of ADB

ii.This is to reinforce UP power sector’s gender inclusivity and institutional capacity building.

Note

Indian govt’s vision of ‘Power for All’ is fully supported by the project in a sustainable and inclusive way

in the largest and one of the poorest states in India.

About the Project:

Finances

i.The project finances the conversion of 65,000 kilometers (km) of rural low-voltage distribution lines

from bare conductors to aerial bundle conductors.

• This benefits around 70 million people in 46,000 rural villages.

ii.It also finances the construction of a parallel network of 11-kilovolt feeders with a total length of

17,000 km.

• This is to separate the electricity distribution between residential consumers and agriculture

consumers.

• This helps in utilizing solar energy to meet agricultural demand, increase the period of supply of

electricity to rural residential consumers, and energy and water conservation.

Benefits

i.The project enhances the efficiency and sustainability of UP’s power supply.

ii.It improves the corporate governance and financial management capacity of Uttar Pradesh Power

Corporation Limited (UPPCL).

About Technical Assistance

i.The innovative bill collection strategies will be pilot tested by TA.

ii.The strategies involve rural women self-help groups, pilot tests, gender-sensitive workplace practices

and reinforce the project management and safeguard compliance capacity of UPPCL.

Additional Info

ADB, on November 3, 2020 has approved a USD 132.8 million loan to Modernize Power Distribution

Network in Meghalaya.

About Asian Development Bank (ADB):

Headquarters– Mandaluyong, Manila, Philippines

President– Masatsugu Asakawa

Membership– 68 countries(Including India)

Formed– 1966

PNB Launched Loan Management Solution, ”PNB LenS-The Lending Solution”

On December 1, 2020 Punjab National Bank (PNB) developed and launched ‘PNB LenS-The Lending

Solution’, an IT(Information Technology) based lending solution for loan management.

Aim: To increase the speed and maintain accuracy in online processing of loans and sanctioning of credit

proposals.

Main Purpose of PNB LenS

• To standardise the system, process and assess formats for credit processing

• To auto-generate the loan documents for each type of credit facilities

• To reduce delay, cost and human errors involved in manual processing, digital record maintenance,

security & data privacy.

• Ready to use monitoring and MIS reports for better tracking and transparency.

Important Info

i.Under the Mudra scheme, the processing and sanction of credit proposals up to Rs 10 lakh including

MSME(Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises) loans (fresh, renewal, enhancement and review) will be

done by LenS.

iii.This is effective from December 1, 2020.

About PNB LenS:

• It enables field functionaries in uniform and consistent appraisal methodology. This improves the due

diligence standards.

• The system is expected to be implemented in a phased manner for all kinds of loans(MSME,

agriculture, retail and other credit).

PNB Launched OTP Based Cash Withdrawals

PNB launched OTP(One Time Password) based cash withdrawals, effective from 1st December 2020.

i.The PNB account holders if withdraws Rs 10,000 and above from PNB ATMs(Automated Teller

Machines), at a time between 8 pm and 8 am, will require a OTP.

ii.At the process of withdrawal at ATMs, an OTP will be sent to the account holders registered mobile

number.

iii.This launch is to ensure a secured transaction.

About Punjab National Bank (PNB):

PNB is India’s 1st Swadeshi bank. With effect from April 1, 2020, the bank was merged with Oriental

Bank of Commerce(OBC) and United Bank of India(UNI)

Managing Director(MD) and Chief Executive Officer(CEO)– CH S.S. Mallikarjuna Rao

Headquarters– New Delhi, India

Commenced Operations– April 12,1895

Tagline– The name you can bank upon

SBI along with NPCI & Japan’s JCB launched “SBI RuPay JCB Platinum Contactless Debit Card”

On December 1, 2020, State Bank of India (SBI) in collaboration with National Payments Corporation of

India (NPCI) and Japan’s JCB (formerly Japan Credit Bureau) International Co. Ltd. unveiled “SBI RuPay

JCB Platinum Contactless Debit Card” with a unique dual interface feature.

• It enables the customers to use it for both contact and contactless transactions as well as for domestic

and overseas transactions.

• The card has been launched on the RuPay network by SBI in partnership with JCB.

Key Features:

–This card will be used to transact on ATMs (Automatic Teller Machines) & PoS (Point of Sale) terminals

across the globe under JCB network.

–It can also be used for online shopping from JCB partnered international e-commerce merchants.

–It supports RuPay offline wallet-based transactions, enabling its utilization for transit in India (bus and

metro) and retail (merchant) payments.

–It also provides access to JCB PLAZA Lounge in city exclusive lounges for JCB card members in

prominent travel destinations such as Bangkok (Thailand), Orchard Road (Singapore) and Paris (France),

which is a one-of-a-kind feature provided by JCB.

About JCB International Co. Ltd:

JCB is a major global payment brand and a leading credit card issuer and acquirer in Japan.

Chairman & Chief Executive Officer (CEO)– Ichiro Hamakawa

Headquarter– Tokyo, Japan

About National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI):

Managing Director (MD) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO)– Dilip Asbe

Headquarter– Mumbai, Maharashtra Founded – 2008 Established by – RBI & IBA (under Section 8 of the

Companies Act 2013) Regulator – RBI

YES Bank Relaunches ‘YES Premia’ with Premium Banking Services to Customers

On December 1, 2020 YES Bank relaunched ‘YES Premia’ with a premium banking program. It offers

personalized solutions focusing on particular needs of key consumer segments, i.e., from small business

owners to salaried professionals and senior citizens. Note During ‘Truly Yours’ Week, from December 1 –

7, 2020 Yes Bank will celebrate the launch of the program, across India with several customer centric

programs and partnered activations through dealer, OEM(Original Equipment Manufacturer) and

bancassurance partners.

YES Premia Program

i.YES Premia has been designed to provide customized banking solutions that fits the lifestyle and

expectations of different consumer groups.

ii.The programme meets their financial and lifestyle needs through a mix of products, services, portfolio

benefits and partnerships.

Benefits

The following are the benefits of using YES Premia Program:

i.Salaried individuals– Complimentary Emerge Debit Card is given with benefits of over Rs 50,000,

Complimentary Times Prime annual membership is also given with benefits worth over Rs 60,000, etc.,

ii.Self Employed– An automated sweep facility from Current Account to Savings Account or Fixed

Deposit, Easy payment solution for vendors and staff of MSME clients with YES MSME Group Payments,

etc.,

iii.Senior Citizens- Broad range of Fixed Deposits(FD) with high interest rate and overdraft facility.

Additional Info

• Recently, YES Bank in partnership with Worldline launched SMS Pay functionality on PoS(Point of Sale)

Terminals.

• The bank has also launched YES ONLINE, all-new retail NetBanking.

About YES Bank:

HeadQuarters– Mumbai, Maharashtra

Managing Director(MD) and Chief Executive Officer(CEO)– Prashant Kumar

Incepted– 2004

Tagline– Experience our expertise

ECONOMY & BUSINESS

OECD Revised India’s FY21 GDP Forecast to -9.9% from -10.2%

The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in its December 2020 Economic

Outlook titled “A Brighter Outlook But Recovery Will Be Gradual” has revised the India’s Gross Domestic

Product (GDP) rate upwards to -9.9% from -10.2% projected in September for FY21.

• It also projected that the Indian economy will rebound to 8% in FY22 and 5% in FY23 on the condition

that GDP loss would be substantial.

• On the global front also OECD decreased the contraction rate to 4.2%(-4.2%) in 2020, from -4.5%

earlier.

Key Points:

— Only China’s GDP for FY 21 was projected with positive growth, the GDP rate of China for FY21 is

1.8%.

–World economy will bounce back to pre-pandemic levels by the end of 2021 but recovery will be

uneven in the countries.

–Global economy to grow 4.2% in 2021, from the earlier 5%.

–India’s Agriculture sector has revived from favourable weather conditions but manufacturing and

services are still facing the effects of containment measures.

About Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD):

Secretary General – Jose Angel Gurria Trevino

Headquarters – Paris, France

Member countries – 37.

They are Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia,

Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, Latvia, Lithuania,

Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovak Republic, Slovenia,

Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States.

S&P Global Ratings retains India’s growth forecast for FY21 at -9%

S&P Global Ratings (previously Standard & Poor’s), in its report on Asia Pacific stated that. it has

retained its forecast of 9% contraction(-9%) in the Indian economy for FY21 and projected that it will

grow at 10% in FY22.

• In accordance with the report Indian economy recovered faster than expected in the September

quarter due to a pick up by the manufacturing sector.

Points to be noted:

–Indian economy contracted 23.9% in April-June quarter (Q1FY21). –The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in

October, 2020 projected India’s economy to contract by 9.5% in FY21.

About S&P Global:

President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO)– Douglas L. Peterson

President of S&P Global Ratings – John Berisford

Headquarter– New York, United States (US)

AWARDS & RECOGNITIONS

Veteran Bollywood Actor Naseeruddin Shah Honoured with Aditya Vikram Birla Kala Shikhar Puraskar

2020

On November 21, 2020 Veteran Bollywood Actor Naseeruddin Shah was honoured with the Aditya

Vikram Birla Kala Shikhar Puraskar 2020 at the Sangit Kala Kendra Awards virtual function. He was

awarded in the category theatre. The 2 emerging stars of theatrics, Neel Choudhary and Irawati Karnik

were awarded the Aditya Vikram Birla Kalakiran Puraskars 2020.

Note

Rajashree Birla, President of Sangit Kala Kendra mentioned that ‘Theatre’ is the central theme for 2020

awards. Key People Kumar Mangalam Birla, Neerja Birla and the extended Aditya Birla family attended

the event.

About Naseeruddin Shah:

Acting Career

i.Apart from being a film actor, he is also a stage actor and director.

ii.He made his debut in Indian film industry, with a small role in the film Aman (1967).

iii.He made his Pakistani film debut in Khuda Ke Liye(2007).

iv.He has acted in many films including Nishant, Aakrosh, Sparsh, Mirch Masala, Ghulami, Dirty Picture

among others.

Awards

i.He received Padma Shri in 1985 for Arts and Padma Bhusan in 2003 for Arts.

ii.He has received 3 National Film Awards for the films, Sparsh, Paar and Iqbal.

iii.He also has received 3 filmfare awards for the films, Aakrosh, Chakra and Masoom.

About Aditya Vikram Birla Kala Shikhar Puraska:

i.Sangit Kala Kendra instituted this award in 1966, in memory of its Founder President, the Late Shri

Aditya Vikram Birla.

ii.It is annually presented, close to his birth anniversary, November 14th

iii.This award is bestowed upon a distinguished artist for his/her lifetime achievement in the chosen field

of the performing and visual arts.

iv.The award comprises- Cash award of Rs 2.0 lakhs, a memento and a scroll of honour.

About Sangit Kala Kendra:

Established– 1973 by Aditya Vikram Birla

Headquarters– Mumbai, Maharashtra

Merriam-Webster and Dictionary.com select “Pandemic” as Word of the Year

Merriam-Webster and Dictionary.com two of the most popular dictionary companies for the first time

have chosen a common word “Pandemic” as Word of the Year. Once the World Health Organisation

(WHO) announced COVID-19 as pandemic in early March, 2020 the word continuously peaked in the

most searched list. The announcement was made right after the Oxford Languages issued a 16-page

report explaining the urgency to the role of Lexicographer.

About the word “Pandemic”:

i.Pandemic is a word having roots in Latin and Greek, where “pan” denotes “for all” and “demos”

indicating “people or population” sometimes roots to “democracy”.

ii.Broadly the word “pandemic” denotes “universal” and more specifically to disease in a medical text in

the 1600s.

About Word of the Year:

i.Word of the Year is the most important word or expression popular in the public sphere in a specific

year.

ii.Merriam-Webster started announcing word of the year in 2008 and in 2019 the pronoun “they” is

selected as word of the year.

iii.Dictionary.com started announcing Word of the Year in 2010 where “Essential” linking to climate

change, gun violence was the Word of the year in 2019.

iv.In 2020, COVID-19 pandemic has also led to the search of words including “aerosols”, “contact

tracing”, “social distancing”, and “herd immunity”.

APPOINTMENTS & RESIGNATIONS

Govt constituted Apex Committee for Implementation of 2015 Paris Agreement

On November 27, 2020, the Government of India (GoI) has constituted a 17 members committee

namely “Apex Committee for Implementation of Paris Agreement (AIPA)” under the chairperson of

secretary, Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC)(Presently –

Mr.Rameshwar Prasad Gupta).

The committee will be responsible of formulating policies and programmes for the execution of

Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) prepared by India under Paris Agreement 2015.

• The AIPA will act as a national authority for the regulation of carbon markets in India under Article 6.2,

Article 6.4 and Article 6.8 of the Paris Agreement.

• The committee will have additional secretary, MoEFCC as the vice chairperson along with 15 members.

Purpose of AIPA:

To ensure coordinated response on climate change matters in order to keep India on track towards

meeting its climate change obligations under the Paris Agreement.

Responsibilities of AIPA:

–AIPA needs to report and communicate the NDCs to the United Nations Framework Convention on

Climate Change (UNFCCC).

–It will also define the responsibility of different government Ministries to achieve the climate change

mitigation and adaptation goals.

What are Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs)?

The Paris Agreement (Article 4, paragraph 2) mandated each of its countries to prepare, communicate

and maintain post-2020 climate actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and mitigate the impacts of

anthropogenic climate change. These are known as nationally determined contributions (NDCs).

• Notably, Article 6 of the Paris Agreement aims at assisting governments in implementing their NDCs

through voluntary international cooperation.

• This article also compels the creation of an inter-ministerial committee to replace the National Clean

Development Mechanism Authority (NCDMA) constituted under the Kyoto Protocol.

NDCs of India:

There are 8 goals in the Indian NDCs, three of which are quantitative goals while the five others are non-

quantitative. The quantitative goals are as follows:

• A 33-35% reduction in the gross domestic product emissions intensity by 2030 from 2005 levels

• A 40% share of non-fossil fuel based electricity by 2030

• Creating a carbon sink of 2.5-3 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide through afforestation programmes

The non-quantitative goals are healthy and sustainable lifestyle, climate friendly and clean path to

economic development, building capacities on climate technology and mobilise domestic and new

additional funds.

About Paris Agreement:

Signed in 2016, it is an agreement within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change

(UNFCCC). It was negotiated in 2015 by representatives of 196 state parties at the 21st Conference of

the Parties of the UNFCCC in Le Bourget, near Paris, France.

• It’s long-term temperature goal is to keep the increase in global average temperature to well below 2

°C (3.6 °F) above pre-industrial levels; and to pursue efforts to limit the increase to 1.5 °C (2.7 °F).

• Therefore, each country has to implement NCDs to reduce greenhouse emissions.

ACQUISITIONS & MERGERS

CCI Approves Acquisition of Rivigo by Spring Canter Investment Ltd & Amalgamation of Srikalahasthi

Pipes with Electrosteel Castings Ltd

On November 27, 2020 The Competition Commission of India (CCI) approved the following acquisition

and amalgamation under Section 31(1) of the Competition Act, 2002.

Approval for Acquisition of Rivigo by Spring Canter Investment Ltd

CCI gave approval to the acquisition of Rivigo Services Private Limited (Rivigo) by Spring Canter

Investment Ltd (SCIL) via subscription of compulsorily convertible preference shares.

Approval for the proposed amalgamation of Srikalahasthi Pipes Limited with and into Electrosteel

Castings Limited

i.CCI gave approval for the proposed amalgamation of Srikalahasthi Pipes Limited (SPL) with and into

Electrosteel Castings Limited (ECL).

ii.The proposed amalgamation is in accordance with the scheme of amalgamation.

iii.After the amalgamation, SPL will be dissolved and ECL will be the surviving entity.

Info about the Companies:

Spring Canter Investment Ltd

• It is an investment holding company that is incorporated under the laws of Mauritius.

• It does not have any physical presence in India.

• It is to be noted that SCIL’s shareholders are certain private equity funds managed by Warburg Pincus

LLC (Warburg).

Rivigo Services Private Limited

• It is a technology-enabled logistics company in the trucking industry.

• It makes use of the ‘driver relay’ model that allows trucks to cover more distances at a faster speed

than the industry average.

Headquarters– Gurugram, Haryana Founder & CEO– Deepak Garg

Electrosteel Castings Limited

• ECL, a publicly listed company in India, is the holding company of the Electrosteel group of companies.

• It primarily engages in the manufacturing and supply business of ductile iron pipes, ductile iron fittings

and cast iron pipes.

Headquarters–

Kolkata(formerly Calcutta), West Bengal

MD– Mr. Umang Kejriwal

CEO & Additional Director(Whole-time)– Sunil Katial

Srikalahasthi Pipes Limited

• It is also a part of the Electrosteel group.

• It engages in the business of manufacturing and supply of ductile iron pipes.

CEO- Mayank Kejriwal Headoffice– Chittoor, Andhra Pradesh

About Competition Commission of India (CCI):

Headquarters– New Delhi, India

Chairman– Ashok Kumar Gupta

Established by– The Central Government with effect from 14th October 2003

ENVIRONMENT

World’s Oldest Nanostructures Found In 6th-Century BC Pottery from Keeladi, Tamil Nadu

Scientists have discovered the oldest known human-made nano-materials in the “unique black coatings”

of ancient pottery shards dated to 600 BC that were unearthed from an archeological site in Keeladi,

Tamil Nadu. The research was published in the journal Scientific Reports and the findings have been

documented in a paper published in “Nature”.

• In accordance with the research these coatings are made of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) which have

enabled the layer to last more than 2600 years.

• It should be noted that this discovery has succeeded the old known carbon nanostructure that was

found in the Damascus blades from the 16th-18th century. Notably the technique used in the Damascus

blades was also made in India.

• Before Damascus blade discovery, the gold and silver nanoparticles were found in Islamic pottery from

the 7th-8th century CE (Common Era) and in the Roman Lycurgus Cup from the 4th century CE.

About Unique Black Coating:

The Unique black coatings observed in the inner wall of pottery shreds was analysed by the scientists

through Raman spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy.

• The analysis revealed the presence of single, multi-walled carbon nanotubes and layered sheets in the

coating.

• The average diameter of single-walled carbon nanotube found to be about 6 ± 0.05 nm (nanometer)

which is lowest among the single-walled carbon nanotubes reported from artefacts so far.

• The coating might include some vegetal fluid or extract which may have led to the formation of CNTs

during high-temperature processing i.e. nearly 1100-1400 degree Celsius.

What are carbon nanotubes (CNTs)?

CNTs are tubular structures of carbon atoms arranged in an ordered manner through high-temperature

processing. They have superlative properties, including high thermal and electrical conductivity, and

very high mechanical strength.

Why is this discovery is important?

The coatings in ancient artifacts may not usually last this long due to wear and tear caused by changing

conditions. But this newly discovered unique coating helped the layer to sustain more than 2600 years

which states that the nano structures are already present in nature from way back.

Authors of the paper:

Manivannan Kokarneswaran, Prakash Selvaraj, Thennarasan Ashokan, Suresh Perumal, Pathikumar

Sellappan, Kandhasamy Durai Murugan, Sivanantham Ramalingam, Nagaboopathy Mohan & Vijayanand

Chandrasekaran

About Tamil Nadu: Chief Minister (CM)– Edappadi Karuppa Palaniswami Capital– Chennai Governor–

Banwarilal Purohit

OBITUARY

Abhay Bharadwaj Rajya Sabha MP from Gujarat Passed away at 66

On 1st December 2020, Abhay Bharadwaj, member of BJP and Rajya Sabha MP (Member of Parliament)

passed away at the age of 66 in a hospital in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. He passed away due to post COVID-

19 complications. He hails from Rajkot, Gujarat. He was born on April 2,1954 in Uganda.

• He is the 2nd Rajya Sabha MP from Gujarat to die due to COVID-19 complications after Ahmed Patel,

Rajya Sabha MP of Indian National Congress.

About Abhay Bharadwaj:

i.Abhay Bharadwaj was a prominent lawyer who was elected to the Rajya Sabha from Gujarat in June

2020.

ii.He was a leading criminal lawyer who led the defence counsel in 2002 Gulberg Society massacre in

which 69 people including Ehsan Jafri, former Congress MP was killed.

iii.He was appointed as the Special Public Prosecutor(SPP) by the Gujarat Government for a case against

Abhay Bharadwaj, IAS former collector of Rajkot District.

iv.He starred as a Judge in the film Agneekal (1990) starring Raj Babbar.

BOOKS & AUTHORS

Italian Writer Alfredo Covelli Launched his First Kids Book “Vahana Masterclass” in India

On1st December 2020, Alfredo Covelli, Italian Writer launched his new kids book titled “Vahana

Masterclass” illustrating the Indian Mythology and Culture. The illustration of the book was done by

Indian artist Zainab Tambawalla and the book is published by Scholastic India. Vahana Masterclass is

Alfredo’s first book in English, the first book for the Indian market and his first book for kids.

About Vahana Masterclass:

i.Vahana Masterclass is a book about the adventures of four mice Anand, Karthika, Anjali and Kanu and

their journey towards becoming the next vahana of lord Ganesha under the guidance of Mooshika, the

present vahana of Ganesha.

ii.Alfredo describes the book as the Indian version of Harry Potter with mice.

About Alfredo Covelli:

i.Alfredo Covelli is also a screenwriter, film producer and teacher, and novelist based in Rome, Lazio,

Italy.

ii.He won the Italian screenwriting contest (PremioSolinas) in 2005 and started writing feature films and

TV series.

iii.He started his production company Meproducodasolo in 2012 and produced short films and feature

films for international film festivals.

iv.He produced films like Pure Hearts (2017), Goodbye Darling, I’m Off to Fight (2016) and Off Road

(2013).

v.He works as a teacher in the Italian National Film Institute (CSC, Centro Sperimentale di

Cinematografia).

STATE NEWS

Assam CM Sarbananda Sonowal launches “Orunodoi” Scheme

On 2nd December, 2020 Chief Minister of Assam Sarbananda Sonowal launched “Orunodoi” Scheme in

the state. The scheme is allocated with an annual budget of Rs. 2400 crore to provide financial

assistance to socio- economically weaker sections for a period of 5 years. Key Highlights of Orunodoi

Scheme: i.The scheme will provide financial assistance of Rs.830/month as Directly Benefit

Transfer(DBT) to the bank accounts of Women under the Jan Dhan Yojana.

ii.Provides Subsidies in medicines worth Rs. 400, Pulses worth Rs. 200, Sugar worth Rs.80 and essential

vegetables & fruits worth Rs. 150. iii. Women with family income less than 2 lakhs per annum can avail

the benefits of this scheme.

• The scheme is rolled out in 29 districts covering 17.86 lakh families

• 4 districts in the Bodoland Territorial Region are not included due to the schedule of council elections.

Schemes related to women in Assam:

1. Indira Miri Universal Widow Pension Scheme

2. Kanaklata Mahila Sabalikaran Scheme

3. Assam Gyan Deepika Scheme

4. Wage Compensation Scheme for Pregnant Women in Tea Gardens

About Assam:

Ramsar Site– Deepor Beel (Dipor Bil)

Tiger Reserve– Manas, Nameri, Kaziranga Subansiri Lower Dam a gravity dam is constructed in the

Assam-Arunachal Pradesh border.

DoT mandates ‘0’ Prefix for Landline-to-Mobile calls from 15 January, 2021

The Department of Telecom (DoT) announced that from January 15, 2021, Consumers need to prefix ‘0’

for Landline-to-Mobile calls. The decision has been taken in line with the recommendations by Telecom

Regulatory Authority of India. The process is set to generate around 2539 Million Numbering Series,

freeing up adequate numbering resources for Future use.

PowerChina, Hydropower Company of China Plans the First Downstream Dam on River Brahmaputra

China is set to construct the first downstream dam on Yarlung Zangbo River (known as river

Brahmaputra in India) in Tibet. On 29th November 2020, The authorities approved the proposal of

PowerChina, a state owned hydropower company to construct the dam.

Powerchina signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Tibet Autonomous Region(TAR) government

to implement hydropower exploitation in the downstream of Yarlung Zangbo River as a part of its 14th

5-year plan (2021-2025). This will generate an income of 20 billion Yuan (around Rs. 2.24 lakh crore) per

year for TAR.

This project will support the maintenance of the water resources and domestic security of TAR.

‘Ramayan Cruise Service,’ Becomes India’s 1st Luxury Cruise Service on Saryu River in Ayodhya, UP

The ‘Ramayan Cruise Service’ is to be launched on Saryu river (Ghagra/National Waterways-40) in

Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh. It is India’s 1st luxury Cruise service on the Saryu river. It aims to give an

attractive experience to devotees with one-of-its-kind spiritual journeys while cruising through the

famous ghats of the holy river Saryu. On the basis of the theme of Ramcharitmanas, the interiors of the

cruise and the boarding point is designed.

Indian Men’s Football team rises Four Spots to 104th Rank in FIFA ‘s November Rankings

As per the FIFA (Federation Internationale de Football Association) updated in November, 2020, Indian

Men’s Football Team rose 4 spots to 104 (1187 Points) from 108 in October, 2020 Rankings. Indian

Men’s Football Team coach is Igor Stimac (Croatia), Captain is Sunil Chhetri (From Telangana).