Daily Current Affairs 30th December 2019

Table of Contents

Dear Aspirants,

General awareness section is the most important part of every competitive exam, it can help you score well in the exam if you are updated with all the current news. Banking Awareness, Static GK and the current news are the parts that make the GA section complete. It is important to know what is happening in and outside of India. GK updates are incorporated with the important news that made the headlines today. It is the complete bag of the important news that held all day long. One should have complete knowledge about the banking terms, current affairs news, etc. So, here is the GK update of 29th and 30th December to help you prepare the Current affairs part. After reading this section, you can successfully attempt Current Affairs Quiz.

National News

1. Gen Bipin Rawat named as country’s 1st Chief of Defence Staff

Indian Army General Bipin Rawat has been named as the country’s first Chief of Defence Staff (CDS). The Chief of Defence Staff will be a 4-star General, the principal military advisor to the defence minister, and will head the new Department of Military Affairs.
The Chief of Defence Staff will ensure the jointness in training, logistics and procurement of the three services. General Rawat is the first officer to hold the post of the Chief of Defence Staff
The Defence Ministry had also amended the army, air force and navy rules by bringing in a new clause that allows the CDS to serve upto a maximum age of 65 years.
The CDS will administer all tri-services organisations, but their command will be with the Chief of the service which has a predominant role in their functioning.

International News

2. Christina Koch records longest single spaceflight by woman

NASA Astronaut Christina Koch has created a record for the longest single spaceflight by a woman. She has surpassed the earlier record of 288 days in space which was previously established by NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson in 2017.
She would return to Earth in February 2020. Till then, she would have spent more than 300 days in the space. She is onboard the International Space Station since 14th March 2019.
The world record for the single longest mission by any space explorer whether man or woman, is held by cosmonaut Valery Polyakov, who spent 438 consecutive days on board Russia’s former space station Mir from January 1994 to March 1995.

Important takeaways for all competitive exams:

Headquarters of NASA: Washington, D.C.
Established: July 29,1958.

State News

3. Hemant Soren sworn as CM of Jharkhand

Jharkhand Mukti Morcha leader Hemant Soren was sworn in as the 11th Chief Minister of Jharkhand.
Governor of Jharkhand Droupadi Murmu has administered the oath of office and secrecy to Soren, in the presence of senior political leaders and chief ministers from across states.
This will be the 44-year-old JMM leader’s second stint as Jharkhand Chief Minister. In the just-conducted Assembly elections, the JMM, Congress and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) alliance triumphed over the BJP, winning 47 seats in the 81 member House.

Important Takeaways for All Competitive Exams.

Jharkhand was created on 15h November 2000.
Babulal Marandi was the first Chief Minister of Jharkhand.
Ranchi is the capital of Jharkhand.

Summits & Conferences

4. New Delhi hosts 49th Border Coordination Conference between BSF & BGB

49th Border Coordination Conference between border guarding forces of India and Bangladesh was held in New Delhi. The Indian delegation was headed by DG Border Security Force Vivek Kumar Johri and the Bangladesh delegation was headed by DG of Border Guards Bangladesh (BGB) Md Shafeenul Islam.
The conference focused on co-operation in Border Guarding and Border Management between the two forces. During the conference, both forces agreed to make all possible efforts to curb the menace of cattle smuggling or any other criminal activity and to ensure tranquility on the borders.

Important takeaways for all competitive exams:

Director General of Border Security Force: Vivek Kumar Johri.
Bangladesh Capital: Dhaka; Currency: Taka; PM: Sheikh Hasina.

Banking & Economy News

5. Finance Minister launches an e-auction platform “eBkray”

Finance Minister has launched an e-auction platform “eBkray“. The platform will enable online auction of attached assets by banks. The platform provides navigational links to all PSB e-auction sites, property search feature.
It also presents single-window access to information on properties up for e-auction, comparison of similar properties, and also contains videos and photographs of the uploaded properties.
Indian Banks Auctions Mortgaged Properties Information (IBAPI) portal is an initiative of Indian Banks Association under the policy of the Department of Financial Services, Ministry of Finance was launched to provide a platform to give details of mortgaged properties to be auctioned online by Banks, starting with PSBs.

Important takeaways for all competitive exams:

Union Finance Minister: Nirmala Sitharaman.

6. SBI to implement OTP-based ATM cash withdrawals from January 1 2020

State Bank of India will introduce One Time Password (OTP)-based ATM cash withdrawals. The step has been taken to reduce the occurrences of unauthorised transactions happening at ATMs. SBI will introduce one-time password for every cash withdrawal of Rs 10,000 and above between 8 am and 8 pm.
The OTP-based cash withdrawal will be effective from January 1, 2020 across all SBI ATMs. When an SBI cardholder will enter the amount of cash he/she wishes to withdraw, a screen will appear asking for the OTP. The customer will then have to put the OTP that the bank will send to the registered mobile number.
OTP is a system-generated string of numeric characters that allow users to make a single transaction. The facility will not be applicable at other banks’ ATM as this functionality has not been developed in National Financial Switch (NFS).

Important takeaways for all competitive exams:

Chairperson of SBI : Rajnish Kumar; Headquarters: Mumbai; Founded: 1 July 1955.

Business News

7. HDFC Life partners with Paytm to expand its distribution

HDFC Life Insurance has partnered with Paytm to expand its distribution. The partnership is aimed to enable customers of Paytm to purchase insurance products from HDFC Life. HDFC Life Insurance is constantly exploring opportunities to create and sustain new partnerships to strengthen its distribution network.
With the partnership, HDFC Life Insurance aims to increase insurance penetration in India and to simplify the customers experience right from the purchase to the claim process.

8. Mastercard signs agreement to acquire RiskReckon

Mastercard has announced an agreement to acquire RiskRecon. RiskRecon is one of the leading providers of data analytics solutions and artificial intelligence focused on cyber-risk and security and offering solutions to mitigate cyber risks faced by the companies.
The acquisition would enhance the cyber-security systems for MasterCard which offers payment processing services on a global scale.

Important takeaways for all competitive exams:

CEO and Co-Founder of RiskRecon: Kelly White.

Obituaries

9. Vishwesha Tirtha Swami of Pejawar Mutt passes away

The pontiff of Pejawar Mutt, Vishwesha Tirtha Swami passed away in Udupi. He was born at Ramakujna in Dakshina Kannada district on April 27, 1931.
He was ordained as a monk at the age of eight in 1938, as the 33rd seer in the linage or ‘guru parampara’ of the Pejawar Mutt.
Vishwesha Tirtha Swami made history by becoming the only seer among the seers of the Ashta Mutts (eight mutts) of Udupi, which propagate the Dwaita philosophy, to have performed five biennial Paryayas.

Defence

10. Home Minister lays foundation stone of CRPF Headquarters in New Delhi

Union Home Minister laid the foundation stone of Directorate General Building of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) in New Delhi.
The new building at a cost of Rs 280 crore will have all modern facilities and green amenities. It will also have effective control and command system with modern training modules for 3.5 lakh strong force to enhance their operational capability.
The Home Minister also launched a new logo “Garud” for those engaged in providing security to the common man and VIPs.

Important takeaways for all competitive exams:

Director General CRPF: Rajeev Rai Bhatnagar.
Union Home Minister: Amit Shah.

Sports News

11. Australia paceman Peter Siddle retires from international cricket

Australian pace bowler Peter Siddle has announced his retirement from International Cricket. In his career of 11 years, he represented Australia in 67 Tests, 20 ODIs and 2 Twenty20 matches.
He took 221 wickets in 67 Test matches. He started his International Cricket career against India in 2008.

12. Kohli & Bumrah named in Wisden’s T20I Team of the decade

India skipper Virat Kohli and pace bowler Jasprit Bumrah were the only Indians in Wisden’s T20 International team of the decade.
Australia’s limited overs skipper Aaron Finch was named captain of the Wisden’s T20 International team of the decade.
Here is the complete Wisden’s T20I team of the decade: Aaron Finch (c), Colin Munro, Virat Kohli, Shane Watson, Glenn Maxwell, Jos Buttler, Mohammad Nabi, David Willey, Rashid Khan, Jasprit Bumrah, Lasith Malinga.

13. Koneru Humpy becomes women’s World Rapid champion

Indian Grandmaster Koneru Humpy wins the World Women’s Rapid Chess Championship held in Moscow, Russia. She won the title after drawing the Armageddon game against Lei Tingjie of China. Humpy lost the first tie-break game and then won the second to reach the Armageddon game.
China’s Lei Tingjie won the silver and Ekaterina Atalik of Turkey settled with bronze. Humpy is only the second Indian to win the rapid gold in the current format after Vishwanathan Anand who won it in 2017.

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