Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 19 December 2020

SSC CGL Current Affairs

Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 19 December 2020

::NATIONAL::

Over 3.9 million people facilitated via Vande Bharat Mission

Union Minister for Civil Aviation Hardeep Singh Puri informed that more than 3.9 million people were facilitated international travel ever since the Vande Bharat Mission was launched.
Taking to Twitter, Puri shared data that showed that on December 18 (Friday) itself 8,546 Indians returned from various locations such as Sharjah, Dubai, London, Toronto, San Francisco, among others.
Now in Phase-7, the mission with 23 active air bubbles has transformed into the largest repatriation mission of its kind, he said.
However, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson AnuragSrivastava earlier informed that Phase 8 of Vande Bharat Mission has been extended till December 31.
The Vande Bharat Mission started in early May to evacuate Indians stranded abroad due to coronavirus -induced travel restrictions.

We moved from ‘Why India’ to ‘Why not India’: PM Modi says at Assocham

Prime Minister NarendraModi said reforms brought in by his government have changed the perception about India on the global platform. “This is the time to plan and act and focus on nation-building as the next 27 years will decide India’s global role,” Prime Minister Modi said during his virtual keynote address at the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India’s (Assocham) ongoing foundation week.
The Prime Minister also talked about the importance of industry in India’s growth. “There is so much positivity in the world regarding the position of India and this positivity is because of the hopes and dreams of 130 crore Indians,” he said.
PM Modi also presented the “Assocham Enterprise of the Century Award” to Ratan Tata, who received the award on behalf of the Tata Group. PM said that the Tata group has contributed to the development of the country under the able leadership of Ratan Tata.
You have been the carrier of leadership in this tough period and for this, we should be much obliged to you,” Tata said. “If we all stand together and follow what you have said and what you have shown, we will have a situation where the world will look at us and say this Prime Minister said it could happen and he made it happen.
Assocham was established in 1920 by promoter chambers representing all regions of India. It has over 400 chambers and trade associations in its fold and serves more than 450,000 members across India. The organisation represents the interests of trade and commerce in India and acts as an interface between issues and initiatives with a goal to promote both domestic and international trade and reduce trade barriers.

::ECONOMY::

L&T Emerges Lowest Bidder For Steel Bridges Order In Bullet Train Project

Infrastructure conglomerate Larsen and Toubro (L&T) emerged as the lowest bidder for the recent order of steel bridges for the country's first high-speed bullet train project. The National High-Speed Rail Corporation Limited (NHSRCL) had opened the financial bids for the procurement and fabrication of 28 steel bridges for crossing over railway lines, rivers, roads, highways, and other structures for the Mumbai Ahmedabad high-speed rail corridor on Friday, December 18.
According to NHSRCL, an estimated 70,000 MT of steel will be required for the fabrication of the steel bridges. This is likely to provide a boost to the country's steel industry and the allied supply chains.
For the steel bridges order, a total of eight bidders had participated, out of which four were qualified after technical evaluation. The qualified bidders were Tata Projects Limited, Afcons Infrastructure Limited, NCC Limited, and Larsen & Toubro – IHI Infrastructure Systems Consortium
The National High-Speed Rail Corporation Limited, responsible for the development and execution of the bullet train project, has already sensitized the steel industries to cater to the demand for the Mumbai-Ahmedabad high-speed rail corridor.

::INTERNATIONAL::

Pompeo accuses CCP of blocking WHO investigation, spreading misinformation

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Friday slammed the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) for continuing to spread disinformation regarding Covid-19, and obstructing the investigation of the World Health Organization (WHO) in finding out the origin and spread of the virus.
In a press statement, Pompeo said: “Even today, nearly a year after the world first learned of the outbreak, the CCP is still spreading disinformation regarding the virus and obstructing a WHO investigation into its origin and spread. It is also peddling vaccines that lack essential data on safety and efficacy, due to a fundamental disregard for transparency and accountability regarding results from clinical trials. Both actions put Chinese citizens, and the world, at risk.”
He further pointed out that the CCP has punished scientists, doctors and journalists who tried to alert the world to the dangers of the virus, which allowed a ‘controllable outbreak’ to become a global pandemic.
The Secretary of State also called for other nations to demand transparency from Beijing regarding the origin of Covid-19, adding that if not done, China’s record of public health crises makes another future pandemic originating from the country ‘depressingly likely’.

Science and Tech

Supercapacitors step-up voltage window using organic nanofibres

Scientists have developed energy storage devices with stepped-up voltage window using organic nanofibres, which can serve as miniaturized energy source for supplying small packets of energy to the various electronic gadgets that would be needed for the lifestyle of the future.
While tiny batteries could provide the desired supply of energy, they are incapable when it comes to energy requirements in the form of a power pulse, which capacitors could deliver only if their energy storage capacity is increased. Supercapacitors are poised to fill the gap in between providing desirable energy and power densities in one go.
It is critical to enhance the operable voltage window of supercapacitors to step up their efficiency above present-day supercapacitors, which operate with voltages typically below 3 V.
In this direction, Prof G U Kulkarni and his group from Centre for Nano and Soft Matter Sciences, Bangalore, an autonomous institute under the Department of Science & Technology, have come up with a simple method for the fabrication of a planar supercapacitor using organic nanofibres as solid-state electrolyte drop coated on low-cost titanium metal microelectrodes. The present work has been recently published in the scientific journal ‘Nano Energy’.

Sports

Australia vs India 1st Test: Australia Win in Two and Half Days as India Record Lowest Score in Tests

The Indian cricket team under ViratKohli faced its worst hour of embarrassment while collapsing to its lowest Test score of 36 as a rampaging Australia cruised to an emphatic eight-wicket victory inside two and half days in the opening Day/Night Test on Saturday.
There were no demons in the pitch but Josh Hazlewood (5-3-8-5) and Patrick Cummins (10.2-4-21-4) displayed fast bowling of highest quality, the impact of which will be far-reaching with three more Tests to go. India's earlier lowest score was 42 at the Lord's in 1974 against England, known in Indian cricket parlance as the "Summer of 42".