Important Current Affairs 8th December 2020

INTERNATIONAL

China becomes second nation to plant flag on the Moon

• China has become the second country in the world to unfurl its national flag on the moon surface. Earlier this feat was achieved only by the USA when it planted its flag on the Moon during the Apollo mission in 1969. China achieved the historic feat when ‘Chang’e 5‘ probe of China, which was launched to collect soil and rock samples of the lunar surface, took off from the moon to return to earth after planting the national flag on 3rd December 2020.

• If the return journey concludes successfully, China becomes the only third country globally to have samples from the moon. Till date, this record is maintained only by the United States and the Soviet Union in the 1960s and 1970s.

SPORTS

Sergio Perez wins Sakhir Grand Prix 2020

• Sergio Perez (Mexico-Racing Point-BWT Mercedes), won the 2020 Sakhir Grand Prix at the Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir, Bahrain. Esteban Ocon (Renault-France) secured the second position, followed by and Lance Stroll (Racing Point-BWT Mercedes-Canada) at third place.

• The race was the maiden edition of the Sakhir Grand Prix and sixteenth race of the 2020 Formula One World Championship. This is the first Formula One win for Perez. He is also the first Mexican Formula One driver to win a race since Pedro Rodríguez won the 1970 Belgian Grand Prix.

Sri Lanka to host Asia Cup in 2021

• Sri Lanka will host the Asia Cup in June 2021 while Pakistan has earned the rights to host the tournament in 2022. As per the original schedule, the tournament was supposed to be hosted by Pakistan in 2020, however, it got postponed due to the C-19 pandemic.

• Now the event has been moved forward to June 2021, with Sri Lanka Cricket taking the hosting rights from PCB. As compensation, PCB has got the hosting rights for the 2022 edition.

Jehan Daruvala becomes first Indian to win F2 race

• Jehan Daruvala created history, as he became the first Indian to win a Formula 2 race at the 2020 Sakhir Grand Prix, Bahrain. This was the final race of the F2 season. The Formula 2 Championship is a second-tier single-seater racing championship.

• The 22-year-old Jehan Daruvala is currently a member of the Red Bull Junior Team and competes for Carlin Motorsport. His Japanese teammate, Yuki Tsunoda came second while Britain’s Daniel Ticktum was in a third spot. Racing legend Michael Schumacher’s son Mick Schumacher was crowned as the overall F2 champion of the season.

OBITUARY

Father of Fibre Optics Narinder Singh Kapany passes away

• Narinder Singh Kapany, also known as the father of fibre optics, passed away. The India-born American physicist was named as one of the seven “Unsung Heroes” by Fortune in their ‘Businessmen of the Century’ issue of November 1999.

• Kapany was the first to transmit images through fibre optics back in 1954 and laid the foundation for high-speed internet technology. He not only founded fibre optics but also used his own invention for the business. He founded the Optics Technology Incorporation and Kaptron Incorporation in 1960 and 1973 respectively. He studied at Agra University and then moved to Imperial College in London. He received his PhD from the University of London in 1955.

• He received ‘The Excellence 2000 Award’ from the USA Pan-Asian American Chamber of Commerce in 1998, a fellow of numerous scientific societies including the British Royal Academy of Engineering, the Optical Society of America, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

AWARDS AND RECOGNITION

Serum Institute’s Adar Poonawalla named as 1 of 6 “Asians Of The Year”

• Adar Poonawalla, the Chief Executive of the Pune-based Serum Institute of India (SII), has been named among six “The Straits Times Asians of the Year” for 2020, by Singapore’s leading daily, The Straits Times, for their work in fighting the C-19 pandemic.

• SII has collaborated with the University of Oxford and the British-Swedish pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca to develop C-19 vaccine, ‘C-19 shield’, and is conducting trials in India.

The other five Asians of the Year includes:

• Chinese researcher Zhang Yongzhen

• China’s Major-General Chen Wei,

• Japan’s Dr Ryuichi Morishita

• Singapore’s Professor Ooi Eng Eong

• South Korean businessman Seo Jung-jin

• The Straits Times has collectively referred these 6 winners as “the virus busters”, because they are heroes of a kind, having devoted themselves to the pressing cause of resolving the C-19 pandemic, each in their own capacity.

BANKING AND ECONOMY

ICICI Bank Launches iMobile Pay to offer Payments

• The private lender ICICI Bank has launched a new version of its mobile payment app called iMobile Pay, to offer payment and banking services to customers of any bank. The latest version of the app is interoperable and will now allow payments and other banking services to even those customers who do not hold an ICICI Bank account.

• Using the app, the customers of other banks can link their bank account, generate a UPI ID and start paying, shopping, transfer funds to any bank account or to any other payment apps or digital wallets; or bill payments and online recharges, among others.

• It also offers instant banking services such as savings account, investments, loans, credit cards, gift cards, and travel cards, among others.

Kotak AMC launches REIT Funds of Funds scheme

• Kotak Mahindra Asset Management Company (Kotak Mutual Fund), has launched Kotak International REIT Fund of Funds, India’s first diversified REIT Mutual Fund. REIT stands for Real Estate Investment Trust.

• Kotak International REIT Fund of Funds is an open-ended mutual fund scheme that will invest in units of SMAM Asia REIT Sub Trust Fund.

• This mutual fund scheme will have a diversified investment portfolio comprising of listed REITs which will invest in real estate projects like residential, office, data centres, warehousing, retail and hospitality.

• The Kotak International REIT Fund of Funds will invest in units of Japan-based SMAM Asia REIT Sub Trust Fund.

• The SMAM Asia REIT Sub Trust Fund is one of the largest Asia Pacific (Ex Japan) REIT funds investing in listed REITs in the Asia Pacific region.

• It is managed by Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company, which has a significant portfolio of listed Real Estate Investment Trusts in Singapore, Australia and Hong Kong.

PNB launches loan management solution ‘LenS-The Lending Solution’

• Punjab National Bank (PNB) has launched a tech-based loan management solution ‘LenS-The Lending Solution’, to speed up and maintain accuracy in online loan processing and sanctioning of credit proposals. It is envisaged to be implemented in a phased manner for all kinds of loans. Under the Mudra scheme, the processing and sanction of credit proposals up to Rs 10 lakh including Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises ( MSME) loans (fresh, renewal, enhancement and review) will be done by 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.

ADB approves $190 million loan to upgrade power distribution in Bengaluru

• The Manila-based Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a loan of $190 million (approx Rs 1,400 crore) to modernize and upgrade the power distribution system in Bengaluru, Karnataka. The financial-assistance by ADB will be used for the Bengaluru Smart Energy Efficient Power Distribution Project.

• The $190 million loan includes a $100 million sovereign loan and a $90 million non-sovereign guarantee loan to Bangalore Electricity Supply Company Limited (BESCOM). BESCOM is one of five state-owned distribution utilities and the largest in Karnataka. This combination of sovereign and non-sovereign loans is being deployed by ADB in India on a pilot basis for the first time.

RTGS system to be available on 24×7 basis from December 14

• The Reserve Bank of India has announced that the Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) system will be made available round the clock on all days of the year with effect from 00:30 hours on December 14, 2020. Presently RTGS system is available for customers between 7:00 AM and 6:00 PM.

• RTGS shall continue to be governed by the RTGS System Regulations, 2013. RTGS shall be available for customer and inter-bank transactions round the clock, except for the interval between ‘end-of-day’ and ‘start-of-day’ processes, whose timings would be duly broadcasted through the RTGS system. Intra-Day Liquidity (IDL) facility shall be made available to facilitate smooth operations.