Weekly Current Affairs 22nd To 30th November 2019

International News

UNSC Opposition to Chemical Weapons

• The declaration was proposed by Britain and was passed unanimously by the 15-member UNSC body (10 elected members and 5 permanent members).
• The Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons aims to eliminate weapons of mass destruction.

Ocean Dance Festival 2019

• The festival observes the participation of dancers, choreographers and scholars from 15 countries including India, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Canada, Lithuania etc.
• The theme of this year's festival is 'Bridging the distance' or Durotter Shetubandhan.

National News

Govt Approved Sale of Stakes in 5 CPSEs

• The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has approved the sale of government stake in five Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs).
• The CCEA also approved the reduction of the government's stake in select PSUs below 51 %, while retaining the management control.

Agro-based Agro-Vision Inaugurated

• Agro-Vision, an Agro-based Exhibition, aims to cater to the requirements of farmers of Vidarbha region.
• The exhibition comprises of National Agri-Exhibition Workshop for farmers and seminars and showcases new technology in farming, suggestions for allied business etc. to enhance farmer’s income.

8th International Tourism Mart

• This is the 8th edition of ITM and is organised in association with the eight North Eastern States (Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya and Sikkim).
• The 8th ITM will focus on “Sustainable Tourism an engine for Economic Growth and Employment”.

UP government to set up State's 1st Vulture Conservation

• The vulture conservation centre will be set up on the lines of Jatayu Conservation Breeding Centre at Pinjore in Haryana (first in the country).
• The new centre would be set up in association with the Bombay Natural History Society, a wildlife research organization.

Prohibition of Electronic Cigarettes Bill

• The Bill seeks to prohibit the production, trade, transport, storage and advertisement of electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes).
• As per the bill, electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) is an electronic device that creates vapour for inhalation by heating a substance containing nicotine and other chemicals.

Special Protection Group (Amendment) Bill

• The main aim of bringing the amendment is to provide better security to protect the Prime Minister.
• The bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha by the Minister of Home Affairs, Amit Shah, on 25th November 2019.

All India Police Science Congress

• The event is organised by Uttar Pradesh Police in association with the Home Ministry and the Bureau of Police Research and Development.
• Lucknow is organising the event for the 2nd time and the last time Lucknow was the host for AIPSC was in 1997.

Yuwaah Youth Skilling Initiative

• Generation Unlimited, called YuWaah in India, is a multi-stakeholder alliance that aims to provide relevant skills to the youth for productive lives and the future of work.
• Its key mission is to promote access to foundational, transferable and 21st-century skills for youth inside and outside formal education systems.

2nd India-Bhutan Development Cooperation Talks

• Government of India committed assistance of Rs. 4500 Crore for implementation of development projects in Bhutan.
• India committed Rs. 400 Crore for transitional Trade Support Facility during Bhutan’s 12th Five Year Plan (2018 - 2023).

Banking

SEBI Issued Stricter Disclosure Norms for Listed Companies

• SEBI Chairman Ajay Tyagi announced the changes focuses on the need to build trust among whistle-blowers after a whistle-blower approached the US watchdog, Securities and Exchange Commission with a complaint against IT major Infosys instead of SEBI.
• Portfolio Managers (PM) Regulations, 2019 have been amended following which net worth requirement of portfolio managers has been enhanced from 2 crores to 5 crore rupees.

Chit Funds (Amendment) Bill, 2019

• The Chit Funds Act, 1982 regulates chit funds and prohibits a fund from being created without the prior sanction of a State Government.
• The amendment has been made to streamline operations of chit funds that are popular among low-income families in India, as it offers both access to funds and save option and to protect the interests of investors.

RBI Constituted 3-Member Panel for DHFL

• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has constituted a three-member panel to advise the Administrator of Dewan Housing Finance Corporation Limited, DHFL.
• Reserve Bank of India superseded DHFL's board on 20th Nov 19 and placed the company under an administrator to help recover nearly Rs 84,000 crore and ensure that the debt-laden company’s asset quality does not worsen any further.

NK Singh Recommends Further Simplification of GST

• N K Singh, Chairman of 15th Finance Commission (FC) has called for major changes in the GST (Goods and Service Tax) structure.
• The recommendations are made to help increase revenue, foster better tax compliance, scrutinise and optimise revenue etc.

Web Portal Launched by Tax Department

• The portal will provide information about procedures related to automatic exchange of information under common reporting standards.
• The portal will be useful for domestic financial institutions, foreign tax authorities and financial institutions, and public.

Credit-linked Subsidy Services Awas Portal

• The Portal will provide a robust and transparent real-time web-based monitoring system to the beneficiaries of credit-linked Subsidy Services (CLSS).
• The Credit Linked Subsidy Scheme (CLSS) is a benefit under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana which focuses on helping the beneficiaries to bring down their housing loan EMIs by over Rs. 2,000 per month by offering an interest subsidy.

Taxation Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2019

• The bill provides an option to pay income tax at the rate of 15% to new domestic manufacturing companies, provided they do not claim certain deductions.
• Currently, 25% is the rate of income tax that is paid by the domestic companies with an annual turnover of up to Rs 400 crore and 30% is the rate for other domestic companies.

Capital Small Finance Bank raised Equity Capital from OOJIF

• OIJIF, a growth capital private equity (PE) fund has bought a 9.9% stake in Punjab-based Capital Small Finance Bank.
• Bangalore-based mid-market private equity fund Amicus Capital Private Equity and Amicus Capital Partners India Fund also invested Rs 38 crore in June and Rs 5 crore, respectively as part of the capital raise round.

RBI imposed Rs 1.50 crore penalty on Corporation Bank

• RBI has imposed the penalty in the exercise of powers vested under the provisions of Section 47 A (1) (c) read with Section 46 (4) (i) and 51 (1) of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949.
• Non-compliance with the RBI directions was revealed in the statutory inspection of the bank with reference to its financial position as on March 31, 2017, and the Risk Assessment Report (RAR).

Index and Ranking

Global Prosperity Index 2019

• Bengaluru was ranked 83rd in the list, Delhi and Mumbai stood at 101st and 107th position.
• The Index ranked 113 cities across the globe in terms of their inclusive prosperity of their economies measuring not only economic growth but its distribution across their population.

Reports

India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) Growth Forecast

• Fitch group firm India Ratings and Research lowered India’s GDP growth forecast for current fiscal for the fourth time.
• The 4.7% projection for the 2nd quarter would mark 6 consecutive quarters of slowing growth which is a first since 2012.

GDP fell to 4.5% in 2nd Quarter

• The growth rate of Private Final Consumption Expenditure (PFCE) at Constant Prices stood at 5.1% in Q2 FY20 as compared to 9.8% in Q2 FY19.
• Gross Fixed Capital Formation (GFCF) at constant prices grew at 1% in Q2 FY20 as compared to 11.8% of Q2 of FY19.

Appointments

Name of the Person	Designation
Shiv Sena President Uddhav Thackeray	Next Chief Minister of Maharashtra
H R Khan	Chairman of Code for Responsibility Lending (CRL) Committee

Important Days

Date	Day	Theme
26th November 2019	Constitution Day	--
26th November 2019	National Milk Day	--

Science and technology

Cartosat-3 Successfully Launched

• The Cartosat-3 satellite was launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh.
• The satellite was carried out by the PSLV C-47 rocket along with 13 customer payloads belonging to a US space technology firm.

Defence

NCC 71st Raising Day

• The NCC also contributes towards social causes and community development activities in the country.
• It is a tri-service organization active since 1948 in grooming the youth of the country into disciplined and patriotic citizens.

Sports

Rafel Nadal Won the 6th Davis Cup Title

• Rafael Nadal has clinched the sixth Davis Cup title in tennis for Spain over Canada at the Caja Mágica in Madrid, Spain.
• He has defeated Denis Shapovalov of Canada by 6-3, 7-6 (9-7) to clinch Spain’s 2-0 win against Canada.

63rd National Shotgun Shooting Championship

• Haryana's Sangram Dahiya and Varsha Varman of Madhya Pradesh also won the team gold for their respective States.
• The 63rd National Shooting Championship Competitions (NSCC) 2019 in Shotgun events is being held at Dr. Karni Singh Shooting Ranges, New Delhi from 16th to 30th November 2019.

Expert Committee constituted to review Draft National Sports Code

• The Ministry of Sports has constituted a 13-member expert committee to review the Draft National Sports Code.
• The expert committee will be headed by former Supreme Court judge Justice Mukundakam Sharma.

Abhishek-Jyothi claimed Gold at Asian Archery C'ships

• Jyothi, Muskan Kirar and Priya Gurjar also won the silver medal in the compound women's team event.
• Due to the suspension of the national federation Archery Association of India (AAI), the Indian archers participated as neutral athletes under the World Archery flag in the tournament.

Summits and Conferences

NuGen Mobility Summit 2019

• Minister of Heavy Industries & Public Enterprises Nitin Gadkari addressed the event and called upon the auto industry to focus on future technologies as skilled man-power in the auto sector.
• The objective of the Summit is to share global experiences, ideas, innovations and future technology for faster adoption and development of advanced automotive technologies.

5th NITI Aayog–DRC Dialogue

• The Dialogue took place under the MoU between NITI Aayog and DRC signed during the visit of Hon’ble Prime Minister of India to China in May 2015.
• Preliminary findings of joint research in the areas of WTO reform and urbanization as per the 4th Dialogue held in Mumbai in 2018 were presented in the fifth dialogue.