Today Current Affairs - 21st August 2020 Current Affairs
We are here for you to provide the important Recent and Latest Current Affairs 21 August 2020, which have unique updates of Latest Current Affairs 2020 events from all newspapers such as The Hindu, The Economic Times, PIB, Times of India, PTI, Indian Express, Business Standard and all Government official websites.
NATIONAL AFFAIRS
NSC, JCI Sign MoU for Supply of Certified Jute Seeds to Farmers in 2021-22
i.On 19th August, 2020 National Seeds Corporation (NSC) and Jute Corporation of India (JCI) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to improve the production and productivity of raw Jute in the country.ii.The MoU was signed virtually in the presence of Union Minister for Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, Narendra Singh Tomar and Union Minister for Textiles, Smriti Zubin Irani.
About NSC:
Chairman, Managing Director – Vinod Kumar Gaur
NSC Quality Control Laboratories – New Delhi, Secunderabad, Bhopal & Suratgarh
About JCI:
Chairman, Managing Director – Ajay Kumar Jolly
Headquarters – Kolkata
Report of NCRP 2020: Cancer in India may rise from 13.9 Lakh in 2020 to 15.7 lakh in 2025
i.On 18th August 2020, The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and the National Centre for Disease Informatics & Research (NCDIR), Bengaluru released a new Report of National Cancer Registry Programme 2020.ii.The report estimates that cancer in India will rise by 25% in 2020 and may rise 12% from the 1392179 cases in 2020 to 1569793 cases in 2025 and tobacco related cancers are estimated to constitute around 27% of all cancers.
iii.The report contains data of 5 years (2012-2016) from 28 Population Based Cancer Registries (PBCRs) and 58 Hospital Based Cancer registries (HBCRs) working under NCRP.
About Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR):
Secretary & Director General– Dr. Balram Bhargava
Headquarters– New Delhi
IIT Roorkee, BIS Sign MoU to Cooperate in Standardisation and Conformity Assessment
i.Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Roorkee and Bureau of India Standards (BIS) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for collaboration in areas of Standardisation and Conformity Assessment based on equality and reciprocity.ii.The collaboration will include several fields like Civil, Electrical, Mechanical, Chemical, Earthquake Engineering, Development and Management of Water Resources and Renewable Energy Projects, Infrastructure Development, Medical Biotechnology and Nanotechnology biomaterials.
About IIT Roorkee:
Director – Professor Ajit Kumar Chaturvedi
State – Roorkee, Uttarakhand
L&T Hydrocarbon Engineering Signed MoU with NTPC Ltd for CO2 to Methanol Demonstration Plant
i.L&T Hydrocarbon Engineering (LTHE), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Larsen & Toubro (L&T) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding(MoU) with power utility major NTPC Ltd(formerly known as National Thermal Power Corporation Limited), a Maharatna PSU. ii.As per the MoU LTHE will be the engineering, procurement and construction management partner to build a carbon dioxide (CO2) to methanol demonstration plant in NTPC Power Station.iii.Under this MoU, LTHE and NTPC will further collaborate to accelerate the development and then commercialise CO2-to-methanol plants.
About LTHE:
Headquarters– Mumbai, Maharashtra
Independent Non-Executive Chairman– Vikram Singh Mehta
CEO & MD– Mr. Subramanian Sarma
About NTPC:
Headquarters– New Delhi, India
Chairman & Managing Director(CMD)– Gurdeep Singh
NRDC and NAL Partners to Establish Incubation Centre for Startup in Aerospace Technologies
On 19th August 2020, The National Research Development Corporation (NRDC) under the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR) and the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research- National Aerospace Laboratories (CSIR-NAL), an institute under the partnered to establish an innovation cum incubation center to promote in the startup in the field of aerospace technologies.About National Research Development Corporation (NRDC):
Chief Managing Director– Dr. H. Purushotham
Location– New Delhi
About National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL):
Director– Dr. Jitendra J. Jadhav
Location– Bengaluru, Karnataka
INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS
India Ranked 57th in Digital Quality of Life 2020, Denmark tops: DQL Index 2020 by SurfShark
i.In accordance with the 2nd edition of global research “Digital Quality of Life (DQL) Index 2020” released by online privacy solutions provider SurfShark, India ranked 57th out of 85 countries in terms of overall category “Digital Quality of Life 2020” with 0.5 index points which has been topped by Denmark with 0.79 points.ii.The DQL Index 2020 analyzes 85 countries around the world covering 6.3 billion people or 81% of the global population in terms of five core pillars: internet affordability, internet quality, e-infrastructure, e-security, and e-government, and results are premised on 12 different factors.
India and Israel Signed Cultural Agreement to Strengthen Bilateral Relations through People to People Exchange
i.On 20th August 2020 India signed a cultural agreement with Israel, which outlines a three year programme of cooperation for 2020 to 2023, to strengthen the strategic bilateral relations through promoting the people to people exchange.ii.Gabi Ashkenazi, Foreign Minister of Israel and Sanjeev Singla, India’s Ambassador to Israel signed the agreement at the foreign Ministry in Israel.
iii.This is one of a series of agreements which will be followed by the signing of a water agreement by our Ambassador in India.
About Ministry of External Affairs:
Union Minister– Dr. Subrahmanyam Jaishankar (Elected to Rajya Sabha from Gujarat)
Minister of State– V. Muraleedharan
About Israel:
Prime Minister- Benjamin Netanyahu
President– Reuven “Ruvi” Rivlin
Capital– Jerusalem
Currency– Israeli Shekel
The ILO’s “Youth and COVID-19: Impacts on Jobs, Education, Rights and Mental Well-being”: 50% of World’s Youth Are Under Anxiety or Depression
On 11th August 2020, the United Nations(UN)’s
International Labour Organization (ILO) published the survey report
titled “Youth and COVID-19: Impacts on Jobs, Education, Rights and
Mental Well-being” which found that 50% of young people across the world
are possibly subject to anxiety or depression and around 17% of them
are already affected by it. and 38% of youths do not have a clear idea
about the career or future.
Note:
Around 12000 responses from 112 countries were received with a major contribution from the educated youths.
Aim:
To identify the immediate effects of the
pandemic on the lives of the youths across the world with regards to
employment, education, mental health, rights and social activism.
Key Points:
The mental wellbeing of the younger youths and young women aged between 18 to 24 years are at the lowest.
The survey urges the actions since the youths are at risk of suffering severe and long lasting impacts of the pandemic.
Findings of the survey:
i.It also states that some youths
have experienced the direct impact of the pandemic and 1 in 6 youths
have stopped their work since the outbreak of the pandemic.
ii.Around 13% of young people,
especially the youths of low income countries do not have any access to
courses, teachings or training and even with the efforts of schools and
institutions, 65% of the youths have reported to have learnt less since
the pandemic.
About International Labor Organization (ILO):
Director-General– Guy Ryder
Headquarters– Geneva, Switzerland
ILO is a specialized body of the United Nations (UN).
BANKING & FINANCE
NPCI Launched its Subsidiary Firm, ‘NPCI International Payments Limited’; Appointed Ritesh Shukla as its CEO
ii.It is also responsible to co-create payment technologies with other countries.
iii.NPCI has appointed Ritesh Shukla as Chief Executive Officer(CEO) of NIPL.
About NPCI:
Head Office– Mumbai, Maharashtra
Managing Director(MD) & Chief Executive Officer(CEO)– Dilip Asbe
Lakshmi Vilas Bank Launched ‘LAKSHMI digiGO’, a Contactless Online Instant Savings Account Opening Facility
Lakshmi Vilas Bank(LVB) has launched ‘LAKSHMI digiGO’,
a contactless digital initiative that will enable customers to open a
savings account instantly. This initiative will help people to avail the
most required banking services instantly through the website on account
of COVID-19 pandemic.
Key Info About LAKSHMI digiGO
i.It is a savings account with select features which include internet and mobile Banking.
ii.This account can be converted
to a fully featured regular account of choice and avail cheque book,
debit card and a host of other facilities on visiting the nearest LVB
branch.
iii.It is a zero balance account and requires a Permanent Account Number (PAN) and Aadhaar card for opening the account.
iv.Customers can immediately start to transact their accounts with LAKSHMI digiGO.
Recent Related News:
i.ICICI Bank has launched ‘Insta Flexicash’,
an online overdraft(OD) facility for its pre approved salary account
customers, by which these customers can get approval for OD instantly
& in a paperless manner.
ii.In view of the ongoing lockdown in the country due to Coronavirus (COVID-19), Kotak Mahindra Bank has become the 1st bank in India to allow video Know your customer (KYC) facility for its customers opening savings account (SA) on Kotak 811 platform.
About LVB:
HeadQuarters– Chennai, Tamil Nadu
Managing Director & CEO (Interim)– S Sundar
ECONOMY & BUSINESS
Unitus Ventures Received Rs 75 Crore from SIDBI; will Strengthen the Deployment of its Fund II
i.Unitus Ventures has received an investment of Rs 75 crore (USD 10 million) under Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI)’s Fund of Funds for Start-ups initiative enabled by the Government of India.ii.The fund will strengthen the deployment of its second Rs 300 crore fund, which was launched in 2018.
iii.Unitus Ventures has recently invested Rs 8.5 crore (USD 1.1 million) in Masai School, an ed-tech platform. This investment will continue to strengthen its job-tech portfolio
About Unitus Ventures:
Founder & Managing Partner of Capria and Unitus Ventures– Dave Richards & Will Poole
About SIDBI:
HeadOffice– Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh
Chairman & Managing Director– Mohammad Mustafa
APPOINTMENTS & RESIGNATIONS
Keith Rowley Becomes Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago for a 2nd Consecutive Term
On August 19, 2020 Keith Rowley(Full name- Keith Christopher Rowley) sworn in as Prime Minister of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago for a 2nd consecutive
5 year term at the President’s House, following victory in general
elections held on August 10, 2020. In addition to him, his new cabinet
ministers were also sworn in. He is from the ruling People’s National
Movement (PNM).
Note– The new cabinet sworn in was delayed due to requests for recounts of ballots.
Key Info
i.As per the preliminary result
PNM won 22 of the 41 electoral seats, while the opposition United
National Congress (UNC) led by former prime minister Kamla
Persad-Bissessar won 19 seats.
ii.Keith Rowley’s cabinet
consisted of young and experienced politicians like Colm Imbert, Finance
minister; Franklin Khan, Minister of Energy and Energy Industries;
Camille Robinson-Regis, Minister of Planning and Development and
Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi.
iii.In addition to them, were
Stuart Richard Young- National Security Minister, Terrence Deyalsingh-
Health Minister and Dr. Amery Browne- Minister of Foreign and CARICOM
Affairs among others.
About Republic of Trinidad and Tobago:
Capital– Port of Spain
Currency– Trinidad and Tobago dollar
President– Paula-Mae Weekes O.R.T.T.,
Francisco Asue is Reappointed as the Prime Minister of Equatorial Guinea
On 19th August 2020, Francisco Pascual Eyegue Obama Asue was reappointed as the Prime Minister of the Republic of Equatorial Guinea and He was sworn in at the People’s Palace in Malabo before President Teodoro Obiang on 18th August 2020.
- On 14th August 2020, The Asue government tendered the resignation to President Teodoro Obiang, following the criticism of the president.
- The government was dissolved to resolve the economic situation.
About Francisco Asue:
i.Francisco Asue was first appointed as the Prime Minister of Equatorial Guinea on 23rd June 2016.
ii.This is the third consecutive term for Francisco Asue as the Prime Minister of the Republic of Equatorial Guinea.
Key Points:
i.Equatorial Guinea, a central
African oil producer, has suffered double economic shock due to the
COVID-19 pandemic and the drop in the price of crude, which is the
source of three quarters of the state’s revenue.
ii.According to the International Monetary Fund Figures, the country’s economy is expected to contract by 5.5% in 2020.
About Republic of Equatorial Guinea:
Prime Minister– Francisco Asue
President– Teodoro Obiang
Capital– Malabo
Currency– Central African CFA franc
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
First Rockets Produced by Private Sector Successfully Test Fired: Economic Explosives Ltd (EEL)
i.In a major boost for Make in India, the first ever Pinaka rockets fully manufactured by the private sector company “Economic Explosives Ltd (EEL)”
have been successfully test fired by the army at a firing range in
Pokhran, Rajasthan. Six Pinaka rockets were test fired as part of the
final developmental trials and are the first munition of its kind made by the private sector in India.
ii.These rockets have been manufactured on the lines of the transfer of technology (ToT) agreement between Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and private sector, five years ago.
About Economic Explosives Ltd (EEL):
EEL is a wholly owned subsidiary of Solar Industries headed by Satyanarayan Nuwal.
Headquarter– Nagpur, Maharashtra
Dwarf Planet Ceres is now an ‘Ocean World’
Researchers have given Dwarf Planet
Ceres the status of an “Ocean World”. The scientists have analysed the
data collected by NASA’s Dawn Spacecraft and published the findings as a
series of papers in the journals Nature Astronomy, Nature Communication
and Nature Geoscience.
Key Points:
i.Studies suggest the presence of briny liquid water (saline) underneath Ceres’s surface.
ii.The findings are crucial since the ocean worlds may support life.
Iran Unveiled Locally Made Surface-to-Surface Ballistic Missile, Martyr Qassem Soleimani & Cruise Missile, Martyr Abu Mahdi
i.Amir Hatami, Iranian Defence Minister in a television speech stated that, Iran(officially the Islamic Republic of Iran) has inaugurated a locally made surface-to-surface ballistic missile, called Martyr Qassem Soleimani, which has a range of 1,400 kilometers-km (870-mile) and a new cruise missile, called Martyr Abu Mahdi which has a range of over 1000 km(620-mile).
ii.The surface-to-surface
ballistic missile is named after General Qassem Soleimani, the head of
the Quds Force and new cruise missile is named after Iraqi militia
commander Mujahideen Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis.
About Iran:
Capital– Tehran
Currency– Iranian Rial
President– Hassan Rouhani
Air Unique-quality Monitoring, an Indigenous Photonic System Developed for Real-Time Remote Monitoring of Air Quality Parameters
i.Air Unique-quality Monitoring(AUM), an indigenous photonic system for real-time remote monitoring of air quality parameters has been developed.
ii.It was developed by Prof. Rao Tatavarti,
Director of Gayatri Vidya Parishad-Scientific and Industrial Research
Centre (GVP-SIRC) & GVP College of Engineering, Visakhapatnam with
the support from Department of Science and Technology’s Clean Air
Research Initiative.
iii.The system had CATS Eco-Systems, Nashik as the technology transfer partner for commercialization.
NASA observes the Slowly Splitting South Atlantic Anomaly, a dent in Earth’s Magnetic Field
NASA observes the South Atlantic Anomaly(SAA),
a strange dent in Earth’s magnetic field over South America and the
nearby Atlantic Ocean which was there for more than 10 years is growing
and splitting this change in the magnetic field will affect the earth.
The scientists of NASA in geomagnetic,
geophysics, and heliophysics research groups observe and model the SAA
to monitor and predict its future changes to help with the challenges in
satellite missions and humans in space.
Magnetic Field:
The magnetic field around the earth blocks of the charged particles emitted from the sun from reaching the earth.
The roots of the magnetic field are the movement of the liquid metal in the Earth’s core.
South Atlantic Anomaly(SAA):
i.Currently SAA don’t have any visible impacts on the surface.
ii.The spacecraft flying through the anomaly provides the observation on the changing features of SAA to NASA.
iii.After the retirement of the
Ionospheric Connection Explorer (ICON), in 2002, it monitored the weak
spots in the field which showed that the dents are moving westwards and
splitting in two.
iv.This will affect the
protective barrier around the earth and allow more radiations to hit the
satellites over this region and will trigger occasional shutdowns to
avoid potential hardware damage.
0 Comments