17th July 2020 Current Affairs - Today Current Affairs
NATIONAL AFFAIRS
NITI Aayog & USAID Co-chaired Sustainable Growth Pillar Meeting; India Energy Modeling Forum Launched
ii.During the meet, an India Energy Modeling Forum (IEMF) was launched which will provide a platform to examine important energy and environmental related issues, and facilitate exchange of ideas.
iii.Notably, in the initial stage, NITI Aayog will coordinate the activities of the forum and finalize its governing structure.
About United States Agency for International Development (USAID):
Headquarter– Washington, D.C., United States (US)
Administrator– John Barsa
About NITI Aayog:
Chairman– Narendra Modi
Chief Executive Officer (CEO)– Amitabh Kant
Headquarter– New Delhi
Defence Minister of State Shri Shripad Naik inaugurated 5th edition of conference on Aerospace and Defence Manufacturing Technologies
Theme of 5th edition: Empowering India with ‘Atma Nirbhar Bharat Mission’.
About Ministry of Defence:
Union Minister of Defence- Rajnath Singh
Minister of State Defence- Shri Shripad Yesso Naik
Defence Ministry Entrust Power to Armed Force to Make Emergency Purchase Worth Rs.300 crores
About Ministry of Defence:
Union Minister– Rajnath Singh
Minister of State– Shripad Yesso Naik
15th India-EU (Virtual) Summit held virtually; co-chaired by Narendra Modi, Charles Michel & Ursula von der Leyen
i.On 15th July 2020, the 15th
summit between India and the European Union (EU) was held virtually
where India was represented by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the EU was represented by Charles Michel, President of the European Council, and Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission.
ii.During the meet India and the
European Union were stated as “natural partners” and encouraged cultural
exchanges and educational cooperation between India and the EU.
- India, EU adopted declaration on Resource Efficiency and Circular Economy
- India-EU endorsed Strategic Partnership: A Roadmap to 2025
- High-level dialogue set up Piyush Goyal and Phil Hogan to address trade issues
- COVID-19: India, EU to enhance cooperation on health security, pandemic crisis response
-India to have G20 (Group of 20) Presidency in 2022 and its membership in the UN Security Council in 2021-2022.
-The fifth International Conference on Chemical Management to be held in Bonn, Germany in 2021.
-The 27 nation EU is India’s largest trading partner for goods with trade exceeding 100 billion dollars, while India is the E.U.’s ninth biggest trading partner.
Minister of State for Shipping Mansukh Mandaviya reviews deployment activities of Vallarpadam Terminal, Cochin Port
On 15th July 2020, Mansukh Laxmanbhai
Mandaviya, Minister of State (I/C) for the Ministry of Shipping
reviewed the development activities of the Vallarpadam Terminal of Cochin Port which is proposed to develop as India’s first and Asia’s leading trans-shipment port to ensure that Indian cargoes are trans-shipped through Indian Port.
Key points:
i.Mansukh Mandaviya directed the
officials to outline a strategy to solve the challenges in achieving the
vision of Trans-Shipment hub of India.
ii.Resolving the issues faced in
the development of the Trans-shipment terminal is considered as one of
the top priority of the Ministry.
Vallarpadam Terminal:
i.The Kochi International Container Trans-shipment Terminal (ICTT),
is known as the Vallarpadam Terminal is located in the Indian Coastline
which satisfies the criterias required for the development of
trans-shipment hub.
Criteria:
- Proximity to international sea routes and hinterland markets.
- Infrastructure to manage large ships and capacity to scale up as per requirement.
- Located at an average nautical distance from all Indian feeder ports.
- Connectivity to various weekly feeder ports on the West & East coast of India (From Mundra to Kolkata).
Note:
The first phase of the Rs.6250 crore ICTT in the Special Economic Zone(SEZ) at Vallarpadam, Kerala was commissioned by former Prime minister Manmohan Singh in February 2011.
About Ministry of Shipping (MoS):
Minister of State (I/C)– Mansukh Laxmanbhai Mandaviya
Atal Innovation Mission Teams with Ministries to Support Startups with COVID-19 Solutions
ii.The initiative was launched under the directions of Dr Vijay Raghavan, Principal Scientific Advisor to the Government of India and Dr Vinod Paul, Member Health of NITI Aayog.
About NITI Aayog:
Chairman– Narendra Modi (Prime Minister)
CEO– Amitabh Kant
Headquarters– New Delhi
Govt to Increase Public Health Expenditure to 2.5% of GDP by 2025
In a meeting with the 15th Finance Commission the Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan highlighted that the government aims to gradually increase the public health expenditure to 2.5% of Gross Domestic Product(GDP) by 2025.
Statements made by Harsh Vardan
i.The National Health Policy 2017 anticipates to raise public health spending to 2.5% of GDP by 2025.
ii.The policy recommends that the state govt must spend nearly 8% of their total budget on the health sector by 2020.
To establish 1.5 lakh health and wellness centres by 2022
i.The government under the
Aayushman Bharat programme proposes to establish 1.5 lakh health and
wellness centres by 2022. Of this about 19,000 have been already
established.
ii.These centres will enhance healthcare facilities in the rural and Urban areas.
4% Health and Education Cess
Government has announced 4% health and education cess on personal income tax and corporation tax. Earlier it was 3%.
INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS
India & Bhutan Opens New Trade Route to Improve Trade and Connectivity
About Bhutan:
Prime Minister– Lotay Tshering
Capital– Thimphu
Currency– Bhutanese Ngultrum
UNICEF India Partners with SAP India to Provide Career Counselling to Young People
ii.UNICEF India collaborates with YuWaah – UNICEF’s Generation Unlimited initiative to provide digital education and skills required for employment.
About UNICEF India:
UNICEF Representative in India– Dr. Yasmin Ali Haque
About SAP SE:
Chief Executive Officer (CEO)– Christian Klein
Headquarters– Walldorf, Germany
SAP India’s President & Managing Director(MD)– Deb Deep Sengupta
BANKING & FINANCE
NABARD Launched Development Projects worth Rs 44 lakhs in Andaman and Nicobar Islands
ii.The development projects include formation and development of Self-Help Groups(SHGs).
iii.The development project will help in skill development of SHGs members to promote rural entrepreneurship at the micro level.
About NABARD:
Headquarters– Mumbai, Maharashtra
Chairman– G R Chintala
About Andaman and Nicobar Islands
Capital– Port Blair
Lieutenant Governor– Admiral Devendra Kumar Joshi
AWARDS & RECOGNITIONS
The Committee to Protect Journalists Announced 2020 International Press Freedom Awardees
ii.In addition to them lawyer Amal Clooney will be honoured with the Gwen Ifill Press Freedom Award 2020.
iii.The award will be conferred to them on November 19, 2020, at CPJ’s annual benefit gala which will be virtually held.
About CPJ:
Headquarters– New York, US
Executive Director– Joel Simon
ACQUISITIONS & MERGERS
CCI Approved Acquisition of upto 58.92% Stake in HealthCare Global Enterprises Limited by Aceso
The Competition Commission of India(CCI) approved acquisition of upto 58.92% stake by Aceso Company Pte. Ltd.(Aceso) in HealthCare Global Enterprises Limited(HCG), under Section 31(1) of the Competition Act, 2002.
Proposed Combination
As per the Proposed combination, the acquisition will happen by in the following way:
- Aceso will subscribe the equity shares and warrants (representing the right to subscribe to the equity shares) of HCG.
- An offer will be made to the public shareholders as per the regulations of The Securities and Exchange Board of India(SEBI).
About Aceso
It is a forming part of the CVC Network.
The CVC Network consists of (i) CVC Capital Partners SICAV-FIS S.A.
(including its subsidiaries) and (ii) CVC Capital Partners Advisory
Group Holding Foundation (including its subsidiaries), which are
privately owned entities whose activities include providing investment
advice to and / or managing investments on behalf of certain investment
funds and platforms.
About HCG
Headquarters– Bangalore, Karnataka
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer– BS Ajai Kumar
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
DRDO developed fully indigenous P7 Heavy Drop System for IL 76 aircraft
ii.The design of this fully indigenous system has been developed by Aerial Delivery Research and Development Establishment (ADRDE), a pioneer Research & Development (R&D) lab of DRDO based in Agra, Uttar Pradesh (UP).
iii.It’s platform system was manufactured by L&T (Larsen & Toubro) while parachutes manufactured by Ordnance Factory.
About DRDO:
Headquarter– New Delhi
Chairman– Dr G. Satheesh Reddy
Union Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ E-Launched “Corosure” – World Most Affordable COVID-19 Diagnostic Kit Developed by IIT Delhi
ii.The kit was approved by Indian Council of Medical Research(ICMR) and Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI).
iii.This is the first probe-free COVID-19 diagnostic kit approved by ICMR.
About Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi(IIT-D):
Director– Prof V. Ramgopal Rao
About Ministry of Human Resource Development(MoHRD):
Union Minister– Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’
Minister of State– Sanjay Dhotre
DCGI Approves India’s 1st Fully Indigenously Developed Pneumococcal Polysaccharide Conjugate Vaccine
ii.The vaccine has been developed by M/s. Serum Institute of India Pvt. Ltd, Pune.
iii.DCGI has also granted permission to manufacture the vaccine domestically.
About MoHFW:
Union Minister– Harsh Vardhan
Minister of State– Ashwini Kumar Choubey
Static:
DCGI– V. G. Somani
Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL) to construct world’s 1st fully automatic electric ferries for Norway’s ASKO Maritime
ii.The value of two ships is Rs 125 crore, the cost does not include the value for two optional ships. The project, partially funded by the Norwegian Government, aimed at emission-free transport of goods across the Oslofjord, inlet in Norway.
iii.The vessels are designed by Naval Dynamics Norway, using Kongsberg Maritime systems, with detailed engineering to be carried out by CSL. They will be built under DNV GL Classification.
About Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL):
Chairman & Managing Director (CMD)– Madhu S Nair
Headquarter– Cochin, Kerala
About Norway:
Capital– Oslo
Currency– Norwegian krone (NOK)
Prime Minister– Erna Solberg
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