September 1st Week 2020 Current Affairs Online Test English

Union Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari has inaugurated and laid foundation stones of as many as 45 Highway Projects in Madhya Pradesh. The project outlay is Rs 11427 crore and it includes projects include road length of 1361 kilometres. The Minister also announced Rs 700 crore from Central Road Fund (CRF) for Madhya Pradesh to be utilised in the road sector.

Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences (ARIES), Nainital is to organise an online international conference on ‘Aerosol Air Quality, Climate Change and Impact on Water Resources and Livelihoods in the Greater Himalayas’. ARIES, an autonomous research institute under the Department of Science and Technology (DST) is organising the conference along with Hemvati Nandan Bahuguna Garhwal University between 14^th–16^th September 2020.

Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) has recently distributed over 700 bee boxes, to provide Self–Employment for Migrant Workers. The boxes have been distributed to the workers of Uttar Pradesh at the KVIC’s training center in Panjokera. The Honey Mission was launched by KVIC before 3 years, to create employment for farmers, tribal people, women and unemployed youth.

Indian Navy’s longest serving warship, the Indian Naval Ship (INS) Viraat, that was earlier decommissioned and laid at the Naval dockyard in Mumbai, is to be dismantled at Alang yard, Gujarat. INS Viraat is a 27,800–tonne Centaur class aircraft carrier. It had originally served in the British Navy for 25 years till 1984. It was commissioned into the Indian Navy in the year 1987 and was operating Harrier fighter jets.

The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) has introduced a product Structured Finance and Partial Guarantee Programme to NBFC–MFIs. This is intended to promote unhindered flow of credit in rural areas, which has been affected by COVID 19 pandemic. The product provides partial credit guarantee on pooled loans extended to small and mid–sized micro finance institutions (MFIs).

The COAS (Chief of Army Staff) Unit Appreciation was conferred to NSG’s (National Security Guard) 51 Special Action Group (SAG).

The appreciation was conferred to the unit for the group’s exemplary achievements in combating terrorism. The most important operation undertaken by the unit is “Operation Black Tornado” which was launched against the terror strikes in Mumbai in November 2008.

German golf player ‘Sophia Popov’ became the first German women to win a major tournament victory by clinching AIG British Women’s Open at Royal Troon. The 27–year–old player holds a world ranking of 304. She finished two strokes clear of her opponent Jasmine Suwannapura of Thailand. Popov had won the International European Ladies Amateur Championship in 2010.

Rare fish called Mahseer, whose scientific name is Tor, has been spotted in the upper part of river Sileru in Andhra Pradesh. It has been spotted by a team of researchers of the Department of Zoology, Andhra University. This fish is listed under the endangered category by IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature). It is usually found in the Himalayan region in the rivers running through Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Nepal and Bhutan.

The country’s longest river crossing ropeway has been built and opened across river Brahmaputra. It is a 1.8 km long ropeway built across the river extending from central to northern Guwahati. It will reduce the time of travel to 8 minutes. The cost of the project is Rs.56 crore and has been completed after 11 years of starting the work.

Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA), has signed a MoU with AFC India Limited, to mutually work together in the field of agriculture and allied sectors. AFC India Ltd, formerly known as Agricultural Finance Corporation Ltd., is wholly owned by Commercial Banks, NABARD and EXIM Bank. APEDA has also signed a MoU with National Cooperative Union of India (NCUI), Delhi.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has recently announced that the African continent is completely free of Polio. A commission headed by Rose Gana Fomban Leke has certified that no wild Polio cases occurred in the African region for the past four years. The threshold for eradication of poliovirus is also four years. Africa had earlier eradicated smallpox disease.

The NITI Aayog has recently released a report on Export Preparedness Index 2020, in partnership with the Institute of Competitiveness. It ranked states on four key parameters namely Policy, Business Ecosystem, Export Ecosystem and Export Performance.

As per the report, Gujarat has topped the index, followed by Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu. Among the top ten places of the list, six out of the country’s coastal states found place. Rajasthan topped among the landlocked states and Uttarakhand topped among the Himalayan states.

The Union Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment is to launch a new toll–free helpline for Mental health rehabilitation. The new helpline will provide support to the callers regarding first–aid, psychological support, distress management among others in as many as 13 major languages. Several issues regarding the mental health of people are noted during the COVID–19 crisis.

Jammu & Kashmir has recently launched a new e–auction portal to promote e–trading of GI–tagged ‘Kashmir Saffron’ and provide access to quality saffron. The Agriculture Department of the UT is under the aegis of India International Kashmir Saffron Trading Centre (IIKSTC). The portal has been developed in collaboration with NSE–IT, a wholly–owned subsidiary of the National Stock Exchange of India.

Bajaj Allianz General Insurance has launched a new insurance product for pet animals, called ‘Bajaj Allianz Pet Dog Insurance Policy’. This is said to be the first and only retail comprehensive pet insurance cover for pet dogs. It will provide a complete coverage to all breeds of pet animals over their life time from 3 months to 10 years. It also covers the treatment costs of specified diseases or deaths due to illness.

‘Char Dham Pariyojana’ is a project of the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH), that aims to connect major pilgrimage sites in Uttarakhand.

Recently, the High–Powered Committee (HPC) appointed by the Supreme Court of India and headed by Ravi Chopra said that the project has caused a long–term damage to the Himalayan ecology. It involved cutting trees, hills and dumping excavated material without proper permits.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has recently released its annual report 2019–20, in which it has estimated that India would have a negative growth of (–) 4.5 % for the year 2020–21. The central bank has also projected the global growth rate between (–) 6.0 per cent and (–) 7.6 per cent. It also said that the supply of banknotes during 2019–20 was also lower by 23.3 % than that of the previous year.

From 3^rd September 2020, India and Bangladesh would commence commercial operation of riverine trade route. Both the countries signed Addendum to the Protocol on Inland Water Transit and Trade (PIWTT) in May 2020. As per the agreement, the Sonamura (Tripura) – Daudkandi (Bangladesh) route is being operationalised. This move would enhance the regional connectivity to North Eastern India and reduce the transportation cost.

Every Year, Women’s Equality Day is observed in the United States of America and other parts of the world on August 26. This day is observed in memory of the American Women getting the constitution right to vote. It is proclaimed each year by the President of the United States. This year marks the 100th anniversary of the Women’s Equality Day since on August 26 1920, right to vote was secured by women in America.

As per a CRISIL report, the average income earned by MGNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) workers have doubled during the COVID lockdown. As per the report, the income for unskilled labourers has doubled to around Rs.1000 per month during April to July 2020 from Rs.509 in the previous year. Also, this period witnessed growth in work execution by 46% in person–days.

The state Government of Assam has extended the AFSPA (Armed Forces Special Powers Act, 1958) in the state for a period of 6 more months, from August 28 Assam has been declared a “disturbed area” due to various insurgent attacks on the security forces in the near past. The AFSPA is in force in Assam since 1990 and is renewed every 6 months. The Act empowers the security forces to make security operations, arrest anyone anywhere without prior notice.

The Union Culture Ministry has announced the formation of seven new circles of Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). This has been announced following the Prime Minister’s call to preserve and register archaeological monuments. The new circles are – Trichy (Tamil Nadu), Raiganj (West Bengal), Rajkot (Gujarat), Jabalpur (Madhya Pradesh), Jhansi (Uttar Pradesh), Meerut (Uttar Pradesh) and Hampi (Karnataka). Earlier there were 29 circles of ASI in India.

Rosatom, the Russian nuclear energy agency, has recently released a documentary footage, titled ‘Top Secret: Test of a clean hydrogen bomb with a yield of 50 megatons’, that shows the detonation of the Tsar Bomba or Tsar’s bomb. It is claimed to be the world’s most powerful hydrogen bomb and it is over 3000 times as destructive as the bomb used in the Hiroshima attack. Tsar’s bomb was initially tested over Novaya Zemlya islands.

The Union Civil Aviation Minister has recently announced that a total of 78 additional routes has been approved under the fourth batch of Regional Connectivity Scheme—Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagarik (UDAN). So far, 766 routes have been sanctioned under the UDAN scheme. 29 served, 08 unserved (including 02 heliports and 01 water aerodrome), and 02 underserved airports have been included in the list for approved routes.

The Department of Science and Technology (DST) is launching a series of exclusive interactions with experts across the country named ‘In Conversation with’. This is a part of the process of the DST and the Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser (PSA) to the Government of India, in formulating the Science, Technology and Innovation Policy (STIP 2020). This is the fifth edition of the policy and will replace the existing policy, which was formulated in 2013.

Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has launched the prototype of the ‘National GIS–enabled land bank system’. It enables the investors to get real–time information about the availability of industrial land and resources. The project is initially launched for six states and will expanded to all states/UTs by December 2020.

In order to achieve its objective of becoming 100% self sustainable for all it’s power needs and also to contribute to national solar power goals, Indian Railways organized wide ranging discussions with key stake holders under the chairmanship of Minister of Railways and Commerce & Industry Piyush Goyal.

The primary areas of discussion in this meeting were as follows: (1) Innovative solutions for setting up solar projects along the railway track. (2) Possible power procurement routes for achieving 20 GW renewable energy target, set by the Indian Railways, to become the net zero carbon emitter by 2030. and (3) Challenges in large scale deployment of solar energy projects by the Indian Railways.

What is the enhanced borrowing

The Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitaraman chaired the 41st GST Council meet, which discussed about the options that can be given to states to meet shortfall of GST compensation. Earlier in the month of May, the Centre amended the FRBM act to raise the borrowing limit of States from 3 per cent to 5 per cent of GSDP for FY21. After the meeting, the Finance Minister said, a further relaxation of 0.5 per cent in the limit will be given. This year, there is a GST compensation gap of 2.35 lakh crore rupees.

Strait Island was seen in news, as it is home to the Great Andamanese tribe. Only a little over 50 people belonging to the tribe are alive as on date. Recently, ten members of the Great Andamanese tribe were tested positive for the COVID–19 and six of them were said to have recovered. More than 5000 Great Andamanese were said to have lived in the island in the 19^th century.

Apex body on data protection in India, set up by NASSCOM, the Data Security Council of India (DSCI), along with PayPal India released a report titled ‘Fraud & Risk Management in Digital Payments’. The report suggests to safeguard payments for consumers, MSMEs, businesses, as the e–commerce market in India and UPI transactions are growing manifold during the recent times. It also discussed about the threats in the payment ecosystem and its prevention.

The United States has imposed sanctions on 24 Chinese companies and officials recently. These companies are said to be involved in building and militarization of an artificial island in South China Sea. All the 24 firms are state owned companies of China. These companies have been put under USA’s “Entity List” by which USA would block exports of materials and goods to these companies.

The Fisheries Department of the state of Kerala has acquired the first marine ambulance named “Pratheeksha”. The marine ambulance is constructed by Cochin Shipyard Ltd. The vessel can move at a speed of 14 knots per hour and will be used to rescue fishermen in distress. The vessel has inbuilt facility to provide medical support to as many as ten people at a time.

The State Government of Andhra Pradesh headed by YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has announced that Rs.22,000 crore worth residential building sites would be registered to 30 lakh women belonging to weaker sections of the state.

The Government is the process of marking layouts and selection of beneficiaries for the house sites. After favourable verdict from the Supreme Court, the state will distribute the sites.

The “Draft Health Data Management Policy” of the National Digital Health Mission (NDHM) has been released by the National Health Authority. The draft policy has been released on the official webpage of NDHM for public comments and suggestions, after which the Health Data Management Policy would be finalized. The NDHM programme was announced by the Prime Minister during his Independence Day speech.

Maldives has recently organised the Ground–breaking ceremony for development of the Hulhumalé Central Park and renovation of ‘Arrival Jetty’. The projects are being developed by the Housing Development Corporation (HDC), through 10 million Maldivian Rupee assistance from India. This is a part of the 18 grant projects being financed by India in the island country.

The Arunachal Pradesh Assembly has recently passed a resolution to bring the state under the scope of Sixth Schedule of the Constitution. The Sixth Schedule provides protection of tribal people’s rights in the Northeast India. Under the Indian constitution, Arunachal Pradesh is the only North–eastern state without any protective provisions for its tribal communities.

Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has recently announced that it has established a new forum on Artificial Intelligence chaired by Sandip Patel. Sandip Patel is the Managing Director of India/South Asia region of IBM. The CII AI Forum will focus on building a strong AI ecosystem in India. It also seeks to generate awareness at grassroot level and reskill the Indian workforce in emerging technologies.

After the supersession of the Medical Council of India (MCI), the board of governors (BoG) announced that Pandemic management will be included in the MBBS course.

The premier medical education regulator said that the Medical students will learn this module along with its social, legal and other portions. This module will extend from foundation course to the final year undergraduate programme. This will help the doctors to meet the challenges posed by pandemics like COVID–19.

Japan’s Prime Minister (Premier) Shinzo Abe, who is also the longest–serving premier, has resigned due to poor health. The term of the ruling party leader and Premier ends in September 2021.

After his resignation, the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) will select a nominee and the winner must be formally elected in Parliament. Abe is known for his famous economic strategy named ‘Abenomics’.

UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has launched a new initiative named ‘Beirut’. The initiative seeks to raise funds to be used in rehabilitating the heritage buildings situated in Beirut. UNESCO will host a meeting for donors by the end of September. Earlier, during a massive explosion that hit Lebanon, several of is buildings were damaged.

• The Bureau of Police Research and Development, BPR&D is celebrating its Golden Jubilee Anniversary on August 28, 2020. To mark the day, a virtual event was organised with Union Minister of State for Home Affairs G Kishan Reddy as the Chief Guest. During the occasion, Central Detective Training Institute (CDTI), Jaipur and the website of Student Police Cadets were launched.

The Government of Assam has proposed to set up a Skill University at Mangaldoi in Darrang district. The new University would be set up at a cost of over Rs.850 crore. Assam Cabinet has approved the Assam Skill Development University Bill. The Director of Assam Skill Development Mission has stated that the university will be called as Skill City and it would be the first of its kind in India. It would have a capacity of 10,000 seats.

The Atal Pension Yojana (APY) has reached close to 20 Lakh (2 million) subscribers during the current financial year from April 2020. The total subscriber base under the APY scheme has reached 21 million. The APY scheme was launched in 2015, with an aim to create a universal social security system for all, especially the poor and under–privileged. The scheme is administered by PFRDA through the National Pension System (NPS).

India’s first International women’s trade centre (WTC) will be set up in Kerala. The WTC would come up in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) at Angamaly district of the state. The setting up of women trade centre aims to promote women entrepreneurship and achieve gender equality in the country. It is expected to provide a safe work place for women to start their new businesses and provide a platform for marketing their products globally.

A typhoon named Bavi made its landfall in west coast of North Korea recently. The head of North Korea Kim Jong Un said that the typhoon had caused only minimal damage. Kim stated that the scale of damage caused by the typhoon, which is referred by the country as Typhoon No. 8, is smaller than expected. Bavi had packed maximum wind speed when it made landfall. After hitting North Korea, it approached South Korea and China.

The think tank of India, NITI Aayog is set to virtually launch the India Component of the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC)–Transport Initiative for Asia (TIA). This discussion will have a main focus on the challenges faced by the Indian transport sector. This will also provide technical support on reducing Green House Gas emission. The event will inform the transport, energy, and climate stakeholders in India about planned project activities for the upcoming year.

As per the official media of China, the country is set up a bronze statue to honour the Indian doctor Dwarkanath Kotnis. The Doctor is commemorated for his contributions during the Chinese revolution headed by Mao Zedong and the World War II. The Doctor was a part of the medical team sent by the Indian National Congress to help the Chinese during World War II. He later joined the Communist Party of China.

The Punjab Assembly has unanimously passed a resolution tabled by Chief Minister Amarinder Singh against the Centre’s farm ordinances. The assembly also passed resolution against the proposed Electricity amendment Bill 2020. As per the Chief Minister and the assembly, the ordinances were against the rights of the farmers and the regime of Minimum Support Price.

The Ministry of Women and Child Development organises the ‘Poshan Maah’, to create awareness on the benefits of nutritional security, among the masses.

Recently, the Department of Food & Public Distribution, Food Corporation of India (FCI) and the Central Warehousing Corporation had a meeting regarding the commemoration of the Poshan Maah event.

The World Bank releases the ‘Ease of doing business’ report, to rank 190 countries on the basis of their measures to promote trade. Recently, the World Bank announced that it has paused the publication of the report amidst concerns of Data manipulation. A Wall Street Journal report said that data of four countries including and the UAE is said to have been allegedly altered.

As per the recent statement from the India Meteorological Department (IMD), India has received highest rainfall in August this year since 1976. The rainfall recorded in August is 296.2 millimetres, which is around 25 percent more than the average rainfall (237.2 millimeters). IMD also forecasted that the monsoon may slow down in September.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the College and Administration Buildings of Rani Lakshmi Bai Central Agricultural University virtually. The RLB Central Agriculture University is located in Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh. While the first academic course was started in the year 2014–15, it is operating from the Indian Grassland and Fodder Research Institute, Jhansi.

The Border Security Force (BSF) has detected a trans–border tunnel originating from Pakistan across the Samba sector of Jammu and Kashmir. After the force has discovered the tunnel, BSF is set to launch a major operation to check whether any other such tunnel has been developed. The place of opening of the tunnel is around 170 meters from the international border.

Three mega Bamboo clusters has been proposed to be set up in the Union Territtory of Jammu and Kashmir. In addition to the bamboo cluster, a bamboo technology park and a bamboo training centre will also be set up. These institutions would be set up by the Cane and Bamboo Technology Centre (CBTC) under Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER).

The India–Singapore Defence Policy Dialogue (DPD) was conducted virtually where the two parties reviewed their bilateral defence ties in a comprehensive manner. The two countries resolved to enhance their cooperation in defence and security with special focus on maritime security. The meeting was co–chaired by Defence Secretary Dr Ajay Kumar.

During the event, the Implementing Arrangement on “Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief” (HADR) was signed between the two countries.

Using the Hubble Space Telescope of NASA, scientists have discovered immense envelope of gas called halo which surrounds the Andromeda galaxy. Scientists have stated that the reservoir of gas contains fuel for future star formation within the galaxy. This nearly invisible Halo of diffuse plasma extends 1.3 million light–years from the galaxy, about half way into the Milky Way galaxy.

Dinesh Kumar Khara has been recommended as the next Chairman of State Bank of India by Banks Board Bureau (BBB). Dinesh Kumar Khara was instrumental in successfully completing the merger of SBI with its 5 associate Banks and with Bhartiya Mahila Bank. Presently, he is the Managing Director of SBI and prior to it, he was the chief executive of SBI Funds Management Pvt Limited.

Sovereign Gold Bond (SGB) is issued by the Reserve Bank India on behalf of the Government of India. The bonds are denominated in the units of grams of gold. The 6th tranche of Sovereign Gold Bond (SGB) Scheme 2020–21 has been announced by the Reserve Bank of India and the issue price of the Bond has been fixed at Rs.5117 per gram. The scheme will be open from 31^st August to 4^th September.

Telugu Language Day also called as Telugu bhasha dinotsavam is observed on August 29 every year across the country. The state of Andhra Pradesh commemorates the birthday of the Telugu poet Gidugu Venkata Ramamurthy. The Department of Culture organises various events for developing the language. Vice–President M Venkaiah Naidu addressed ‘Our Language, Our Society and Our Culture’ organised by the South Africa Telugu Community (SATC).

Noor Inayat Khan, who worked as a spy for Britain during World War II, becomes the first Indian–origin woman to get a Memorial plaque in London. The house in London, where Noor Inayat Khan once lived, got a distinct Blue plaque. She is a descendant of Tipu Sultan, and she was the first woman radio operator to be sent into occupied France under the code name ‘Madeleine’.