Current Affairs 2020

2020 has sure been a roller-coaster ride for all of us and a lot of unforeseen events happened this year. However, we are now going to enter the new year in just a few days but it doesn’t mean that we forget all the important events that happened this year. This year saw a lot of uncertainty and a lot of major decisions were taken in the whole world. So, in this blog we have curated a list of current affairs of 2020 in a detailed manner.

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Monthly Current Affairs

To make it easy for your reference, we have divided and segregated the current affairs around the world, month wise when they took place.

January

The current affairs for the month of January are mentioned below.

• Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the union budget for the financial year 2020-2021. The nominal GDP growth was estimated at 10% and forecast for GDP growth were between 6-6.5%.

Key takeaways from union budget-

1. The tax of only 10% will be charged to Rs 5 lakh-7.5 lakh income as against prevailing 20% rate.
2. The fiscal deficit target was set at 3.5% of 2020 GDP vs the earlier target of 3.3.%.
3. For people with Rs 15 lakh plus income, the tax will be 30%.
4. The government removed 70 exemptions; deductions with a view to further simplify the tax regime.

• The theme for the Economic Survey 2019-20 was Wealth Creation, promotion of pro-business policies, strengthening of trust in the economy.
• The chief guest for this year’s republic day parade was Brazilian president, Jair Messias Bolsonaro.
• The Reserve Bank of India revised the Know Your Customer (KYC) norms for banks and other lending institutions. New amendments in KYC norms by RBI allows banks and other lending institutions to use “Video based Customer Identification Process”.
• The Reserve Bank of India released a report “National Strategy for Financial Inclusion (NSFI): 2019-2024“. The report was formulated by RBI with the support of Financial Inclusion Advisory Committee (FIAC) and ratified by the Financial Stability Development Council (FSDC).
• The Treasury Department of the United States removed China from the designation as currency manipulator.
• The investment limit for Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) in government and corporate bonds was raised by the RBI. The decision was made in order to bring in more funds into the market. The investment limit for Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) have been raised from 20% to 30% in government & corporate bonds. 
• India moved up in ranks under the indicator “trade across Borders from 143 in 2016 to 68 in 2019”.
• The Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) announced the results of the 1st and 2nd quarters of the Swachh Survekshan 2020 under which Indore topped the cleanliness charts.
• ‘Samvidhan’ (Constitution) was named as the Oxford Hindi word of 2019 by the Oxford University Press.

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February

The current affairs for the month of February are mentioned below.

• RBI’s monetary policy committee released its 6th Bi-monthly Monetary Policy 2019-20 under which the repo rate remained unchanged at 5.15%.
• India replaced Japan to become the second largest steel producer of crude steel as per the reports of World Steel Association data, India.
• The movie, 1917 won the best film award at 2020 EE British Academy Film Awards.
• Joaquin Phoenix won an Oscar in the category of best actor for his movie Joker.
• India was ranked 40th in Global Intellectual Property Index 2020.
• The US, UK, Sweden, France and Germany remained the top five economies on the Intellectual Property Index in 2019.
• India was ranked 77th in the Sustainability Index 2020 and 131st on the Flourishing Index 2020.
• China topped the Hurun Global Rich List 2020 with 799 Billionaires and the USA stood on the 2nd position with 626 Billionaires. India was ranked 3rd in this list. Jeff Bezos was ranked the richest person with a net worth of US$ 140 Bn and Mukesh Ambani was ranked 9th in this list. Mukesh Ambani was the only asian in the top 10 list.
• The USA surpassed China in order to become the biggest trading partner of India.
• The USA removed India from their list of developing countries along with other countries such as Brazil, Hong Kong, South Africa and Argentina.

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March

The current affairs for the month of March are mentioned below.

• Union Finance minister Nirmal Sitharaman announced that 10 public banks will be merged into 4 banks. Oriental Bank of Commerce and United Bank of India were brought under the Punjab National Bank with effect from April 1, 2020. Andhra Bank and Corporation Bank and  Union Bank of India were merged as one and all of them would operate under  Union Bank of India. Allahabad Bank and Indian Bank were merged and they would operate as branches of Indian Bank. Syndicate Bank started operating as Canara Bank from April 1, 2020.
• The repo rate under the liquidity adjustment facility was reduced by 75 basis points from 5.15% to 4.40% under the RBI’s 7th bi-monthly monetary policy statement.
• A Janta Curfew on 22nd March,2020 was announced by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the view of the spread of coronavirus in the country.
• A 21-day lockdown was announced by the Prime Minister on the 25th March,2020 due to the threat posed by the wide spread of coronavirus in the country.
• Whole country was living in a pandemic and the use of masks, sanitizers and social distancing was being promoted widely.
• Only essential activities were allowed during the lockdown period.
• Top tech giants like Facebook, Google, LinkedIn, Microsoft, Reddit, Twitter and YouTube joined hands in order to jointly fight against Covid-19 misinformation.
• Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced a relief package of Rs 1.7 lakh crore named Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Scheme for the migrant workers and poor people affected by the lockdown amid COVID-19 outbreak.
• The State Bank of India agreed to buy shares worth Rs 7250 crore of the cash-strapped Yes Bank.
• Most of the world experienced a massive outbreak of Covid-19 and went under a state of complete lockdown.

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April

The current affairs for the month of April are mentioned below.

• The Government of India amended Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) policy in order to curb the opportunistic takeovers/acquisitions of Indian companies due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. 
• RBI announced a set of measures to mitigate the effect of COVID-19 such as to maintain adequate liquidity in the system and its constituents and to minimize the financial stress.
• An ordinance was approved by the Union Cabinet amending the salary, allowances and pension of Members of Parliament Act, 1954, to reduce the allowances and pension by 30% starting April 1, 2020, for a year.
• The Asian Development Bank projected India’s growth to slow down to 4% in the current fiscal year i.e. 2020-2021.
•  Jack Dorsey, CEO of Twitter pledged to donate $1 billion in order to help the world fight this pandemic.
• Government of India allocated Rs.15000 crores for ‘India COVID-19 Emergency Response and Health System Preparedness Package’.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the extension of lockdown until 3rd of May 2020.
• Norway topped the World Press Freedom Index 2020 for the fourth time in a year.
• The Ministry of Home Affairs extended the lockdown till 17th May, 2020.
• Stockholm International Peace Research Institute released its report “Trends in World Military Expenditure, 2019” which stated that the global military spending in 2019 was 2.2% of the global gross domestic product

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May

The current affairs for the month of May are mentioned below

• An economic relief package of Rs 20 Lakh crore was announced by the prime minister and Atma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyan was called for by the Prime Minister.
• An IIT Madras Professor Thalappil Pradeep was selected for the Nikkei Asia Prize 2020 in the category of ‘Science and Technology‘ for his astonishing work in nanotechnology-based water purification.
• China tried to grow its presence in the Indian Ocean region and did many efforts to expand its territory.
• The International Energy Agency  released its “Global Energy Review 2020” report which comprises estimates for how energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions trends are expected to develop over the rest of 2020.
• WHO released the “State Of The World’s Nursing Report-2020” which stated that nursing is the largest occupational group in the health sector which accounts for around 59% of the health professionals. According to the report, the global nursing workforce is 27.9 million.
• China successfully launched a new rocket named “Long March 5B” into space as it steps up Moon landing plans.
•  Government of Iran took a decision of changing the name of its currency to a “Toman”
• Slovenia became the 1st coronavirus-free country in Europe
• Benjamin Netanyahu won the Israeli national elections.

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June

The current affairs for the month of June are mentioned below.

• Environmental Performance Index was released by Yale University along with Columbia University and ranked 180 countries across 11 issue categories such as- Air Quality, Sanitation & Drinking Water, Heavy Metal, Waste Management, Biodiversity & Habitat, Ecosystem Services, Fisheries, Climate Change, Pollution Emissions, Agriculture, Water Resources.
• Denmark topped the Environmental Performance Index with an EPI score of 82.5.
• The World Bank released Global Economic Prospects which assesses the impressions of the pandemic and also examines the possible courses and outcomes.
• QS World University Ranking 2021 was released in which. Massachusetts Institute for Technology (MIT) grabbed the first spot in this list followed by Stanford University at 2nd position and Harvard University at 3rd.
• 3 IIT’s made it to the top 200 in QS World University Ranking 2021.
• India signed an MOU on “Energy Cooperation” with Denmark.
• The Government of India banned 59 chinese apps in India which were prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India and defence of India. The biggest app that was banned was tiktok.
• India was elected as the non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council.
• India was ranked 12th in the Nature Index table 2020.

July

The current affairs for the month of July are mentioned below.

• Government of India approved the Special liquidity scheme of Rs 30,000 crore for NonBanking Financial Company (NBFCs)/ Housing Finance Companies.
• India and Bangladesh signed an agreement for the formation of a 50:50 Joint Venture Company for the LPG business in Bangladesh.
• The World Bank signed a loan agreement of $400 million with the Government of India in order to provide support for the Namami Gange programme.
• India Ranked 31st in INFORM Risk Index 2020.
• Global Real Estate Transparency Index (GRETI) was released by Jones Lang LaSalle. India ranks 34th in GRETI 2020 by JLL.
• India ranked 3rd in Global Manufacturing Risk Index 2020.
• The Consumer Protection Act, 2019 was implemented in India from 20th July 2020. 
• The new act involves Consumer Protection Councils, Consumer Disputes Redressal Commissions, Mediation, Product Liability and punishment for manufacture or sale of products containing adulterant / spurious goods.

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August

The current affairs for the month of August are mentioned below.

• The Prime Minister delivered his speech on the New Education Policy 2020 and emphasized on the transformational reforms of the New Education Policy.
• Naval Innovation and Indigenisation Organisation (NIIO) was launched by the Defence Minister Rajnath Singh. 
• Dwayne Johnson topped the forbes list of highest paid actors in 2020.
• Akshay Kumar ranked 6th in the forbes list of highest paid actors in 2020.
• NITI Aayog released their reports on Export Preparedness Index (EPI) 2020 and Gujarat, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu grabbed the top three spots.
• HDFC Bank launched “Shaurya KGC Card” for Indian armed forces personnel. The card offers agriculture loans for military and paramilitary professionals. 
• National Bank of Bahrain (NBB) selected Infosys Finacle to digitally transform its transaction banking business. 
• India was ranked 57th in Digital Quality of Life Index 2020. 

September

The current affairs for the month of September are mentioned below.

• The 13th edition of Global Innovation Index was released and India was ranked 48th in the Global Innovation Index.
• The World University Rankings 2021 were released by the Times Higher Education which assessed 1527 higher institutions from 93 countries.
• 14 Indian universities made it to the list of World University Rankings as compared to the previous year.
• The Priority Sector Lending Guidelines were reviewed by RBI in order to align them with the national interest.
• The new guidelines will make better credit penetration into credit deficient areas and increase the lending to small as well as marginal farmers and weaker sections.
• An India Happiness Report 2020 was released which covered all the states and U.T’s and measured the impact of Covid-19 on happiness.
• Mizoram, Punjab, Telangana, Andaman and Nicobar Islands came out on the top of the list, whereas Mumbai, Delhi Haryana have shown the worst possible impact of COVID-19 on happiness.
• ‘Succession’ series won the 72nd Emmy Award 2020 in the category of best drama series.
• PM Narendra Modi got featured in Time Magazine’s ‘100 most influential people of 2020’ list

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October

The current affairs for the month of October are mentioned below.

• The Government of India appointed three new economists as members of the Monetary Policy Committee of the RBI.
• The new members are- Prof. Ashima Goyal, Prof. Jayanth R Varma and Dr. Shashanka Bhide.
• World’s longest highway tunnel i.e. Atal Tunnel was given to the nation by the Prime Minister of India on 3rd October 2020.
• The tunnel is the world’s longest highway tunnel above 10,000 feet from the Mean Sea Level (MSL).
• The total length of the tunnel is 9.02 km and at an elevation of 3,100 metres (10,171 ft).
• Russia gave regulatory approval to a second Covid19 vaccine called ‘EpiVacCorona.’
• India conducted the night trial of its nuclear-capable Prithvi-2 missile at Chandipur near Balasore, off Odisha coast.
• India was ranked 94th in the Global Hunger Index 2020 out of 107 nations.

November 

The current affairs for the month of November are mentioned below.

• Joseph Robinette Biden Jr won the 46th US presidential elections.
• Kamala Harris became the first first Black and Indian-American woman to serve as vice president of the United States of America.
• Azim Premji, founder of WIPRO topped the EdelGive Hurun India Philanthropy List 2020. 
• RBI placed Lakshmi Vilas Bank under moratorium for a period of one month and restricted withdrawals of maximum Rs 25,000.
• Delhi Crime won the best drama series at 48th International Emmy Awards 2020.
• The Airports Authority of India handed over the Lucknow airport to Adani group on lease for 50 years.
• Whatsapp messaging service launched its Unified Payments Interface (UPI) based payments services in India which allows users to send or receive money directly.
• Mumbai Indian won the 2020 IPL trophy.

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Field-Wise Current Affairs

Sports

All the current affairs related to Sports that took place round the year are mentioned below.

• Rafael Nadal won the French Open 2020 Men’s Singles title.
• MS Dhoni became the first player to play 200 games in IPL.
• Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju flagged off the 200-km long fit India walkathon at Jaisalmer.
• Shane Watson announced retirement from all forms of cricket.
• Lewis Hamilton won the Bahrain Grand Prix 2020.
• Nihal Sarin won the 2020 Junior Speed Online Chess Championship in Chennai.
• Courtney Walsh appointed as head coach of West Indies women’s cricket team.
• Union Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju unveiled the new logo of Sports Authority of India (SAI) at Delhi’s Major Dhyan Chand Stadium.
• Novak Djokovic became the winner at Italian open 2020.
• Naomi Osaka won the 1st prize in the US open finals.

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Business

All the current affairs related to Business that took place round the year are mentioned below. 

• Vodafone Idea announced their new unified brand identity by renaming all their logos and name to Vi.
• ‘Titan’ partnered with the State Bank of India in order to launch India’s first contactless payment watches named “Titan Pay”.
• Paytm launched India’s 1st Pocket Android POS (Point of Sale) Device named ‘Paytm All-in-One Portable Android Smart POS.’
• Muthoot insurance tied up with Kotak Mahindra Bank in order to offer COVID-19 insurance cover of up to Rs 1 lakh against the gold loan. 
• Qualcomm Ventures acquired 0.15% stakes in Jio Platforms.
• Google is all set to buy 7.73% stake in Reliance Industries Limited(RIL)’s Jio Platforms for Rs 33,737 crores.
• BharatPe, a leading merchant payment network announced the launch of digital gold on its platform.
• Burger King launched its IPO on 2nd December,2020 and was subscribed 156.65 times.

International

All the current affairs related to international events that took place round the year are mentioned below.

• Russia became the first country to register a coronavirus vaccine “Sputnik V” registered for use.
• Jean Castex was appointed as the new Prime Minister of France.
• Mastercard launched “Central Bank Digital Currencies” (CBDCs), a Virtual Testing Environment for Central Banks to Assess and Explore National Digital Currencies. 
• Super Typhoon Goni, claimed as the world’s strongest typhoon of 2020 hit the south of the Philippines’ main island of Luzon.
• Mexico became the first country in the world to issue a sovereign bond linked to the sustainable development goals set by the United Nations.
• Cambridge Dictionary named ‘quarantine’ as Word of the Year 2020.
• Singapore topped the charts for World Competitiveness Index 2020 released by Institute for Management Development.
• Russia successfully tested a Tsirkon hypersonic cruise missile in the Arctic.
• The USA formalized to withdraw from the World Health Organization (WHO) on July 6, 2021.
• Singapore became the First Country to attach Facial verification in the National Identification Database.

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Science and Technology

All the current affairs related to Science and Technology that took place round the year are mentioned below.

• SpaceX launched Four Astronauts to the International Space Station on the first full-fledged taxi flight for NASA by a private company.
• IIT Kanpur developed an Ultraviolet sanitizing device named Smartphone operated Handy Ultraviolet Disinfection Helper.
• NASA launched “Mars 2020 Perseverance rover mission” with United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket to the planet Mars.
• Indian astronomers collaborated with the 2020 Physics Nobel Laureate Prof. Andrea Ghez for the design of back-end instruments of the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) project.
• NASA launched the Northrop Grumman Cygnus resupply spacecraft named “SS Kalpana Chawla” after their astronaut Kalpana Chawla.
• China sent the world’s first 6G experiment satellite.
• Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) successfully tested a Hypersonic Technology Demonstrator Vehicle (HSTDV), which is an unmanned scramjet vehicle with the ability to travel at six times the speed of sound.

Banking

All the current affairs related to Banking that took place round the year are mentioned below.

• ICICI Bank launched a comprehensive banking programme for their young customers, (in the age bracket of 18 years to 35 years ), called ‘ICICI Bank Mine’ which is India’s first and unique product launched by the bank to offer a mobile-first, highly personalised and experiential led banking experience to the millennial customers.
• Indian Bank  launched a green initiative named “IB-eNote” in order to enable a total paperless working environment.
• HDFC Bank and Apollo Hospitals  collaborated in order to launch the “HealthyLife Programme”, a holistic healthcare solution.
• Kotak Mahindra Bank announced the launch of a two-month-long campaign called ‘Kona Kona Umeed offering all their customers huge offers and discounts amidst the Coronavirus pandemic.
• IDBI Bank announced the launch of banking services on WhatsApp.
• YES Bank launched a digital solution, “Loan in Seconds” for instant payment of retail loans.
• Karur Vysya Bank entered into a partnership with Star Health and Allied Insurance Co in order to provide a wide range of health insurance options to their customers.
• Axis bank launched a new initiative called ‘Giga-Opportunities’ which aims to attract skilled talent personnel that can work with the bank remotely, from anywhere in the country.

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This was all for the current affairs of 2020. We hope that this blog helped you learn many new things. Trying to choose a career path for yourself? Get in touch with  Leverage Edu experts to get complete guidance in choosing the perfect career path for yourself and securing an admission in your dream university. Sign up for a free session with us now!