September 2nd Week 2020 Current Affairs Online Test English

• A new species of freshwater fish named ‘Systomus gracilus’ has been identified in the Ganges river. The researchers from Kerala and West Bengal have identified the edible fish species, at West Bengal. It has a thin and compressed body and can be cultured in inland waterbodies. The discovery of the fish has been published in the Journal of Experimental Zoology.

• The Embassy of Poland and Polish Institute in Delhi has recently illuminated Qutub Minar in white and red, Poland’s national colours. It was done to commemorate the 40^th anniversary of the creation of Solidarity movement of Poland. This year marks the 40^th anniversary of the creation of Solidarity movement, which is a civil rights movement based on Gandhian principles of non–violence.

• Gurgaon–based Indian airline SpiceJet has recently launched a compact, portable ventilation device named ‘SpiceOxy’. The handy and affordable device can be used for patients with mild to moderate breathing issues. SpiceJet has also introduced a fingertip pulse oximeter, which can be used to measure the oxygen level of the blood.

• The Supreme Court of India has imposed a penalty of Re 1 on lawyer cum activist Prashant Bhushan as a punishment for his criminal contempt of the Supreme Court. This judgment was pronounced by a bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra. The bench ordered that Prashant Bhushan should deposit Re 1 by September 15 else he will be imprisoned for 3 months and would be debarred from practice for a period of 3 years.

• 74 % stake in Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL) has been acquired by the Multinational conglomerate company, Adani Group. With the purchase of 50.5% stake of GVK group and 23.5% stake of other minority partners in MIAL, the Adani Group becomes the second largest Airport operator in the country after GMR Group that operates Delhi and Hyderabad airports.

• The 17^th ASEAN–India Economic Ministers Consultations was held virtually and was co–chaired by Piyush Goyal, the Union Minister for Commerce and Industry & Railways. The virtual meeting was attended by the Trade Ministers of 10 ASEAN countries. The discussion was focused on ASEAN India Trade in Goods Agreement (AITIGA).

• Onam is the most important festival celebrated in the state of Kerala. It is also called as “Thiruvonam” and is celebrated at the beginning of the month Chingam of Malayalam calendar. One important aspect of the celebration is “Onapookolam” which is a floral carpet similar to rangoli that is decorated with flowers and petals. The celebrations also include “Vallamkali” (boat race) and “Onasadaya” (banquet).

• Mustapha Adib has been nominated for the position of Lebanon’s Prime Minister. He has been Lebanon’s ambassador to Germany, since 2013. He is proposed to replace Hassan Diab, whose Government resigned following the aftermath of August 4 blast at Beirut Port. The President of Lebanon Michel Aoun designated him to form a new government after he secured the support of a majority of MPs.

Under the Swachh Bharat Mission of the Ministry of Jal Shakti, an event with a duration of a fortnight is observed to focus on the issues of Swachhata.

Named as ‘Swachhata Pakhwada’, the event was started in the year 2016 and an annual calendar is provided to the Ministries with a fortnight allotted to them. Recently, the Department of Fertilizers is observing Swachhta Pakhwada from September 1–15.

• Indian Union Minister for Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal, and his counterparts from Australia and Japan attended the Australia–India–Japan Economic Ministers’ Joint meeting on Supply Chains Resilience. As per the joint statement released, the countries have decided to launch an initiative to build a resilient supply chain in Indo–Pacific region. They have also decided to keep their markets open and thereby creating a transparent trade environment. This is expected to reduce China’s dominance.

• ICICI Prudential Life Insurance has recently launched an AI–powered voice chatbot named ‘LiGo’, on Google Assistant. The customers and policy holders can use this service to resolve their queries on products by giving simple voice commands. As per the company, customers can activate ‘Google Assistant’ on their Android smartphones and say their policy number or mobile number for details on their policies.

• As per the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, the CEO of the leading space company SpaceX, Elon Musk is now the third–richest person in the world. The 49–year old billionaire has surpassed Facebook co–founder Mark Zuckerberg. Elon Musk’s net worth raised to USD115.4 billion while that of Zuckerberg is USD 110.8 billion. The first and the second positions were featured by Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos respectively.

• As per the recent data released by National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), the Unified Payments Interface (UPI)–based payments clocked 1.62 billion transactions in August.
• This mode of payment has been rising around 8 per cent and during the same month last year, there were 918 million transactions. The transaction recorded last month was worth Rs 2.98 trillion which is also greater than Rs 1.54 trillion a year ago.

• The Indian–origin politician of Singapore has created history by taking charge as the first Leader of the Opposition in Singapore. Though there have been de–facto leaders of the Opposition in the past, this is the first time the position is being officially recognised. Pritam belongs to the Workers’ Party that had won 10 parliamentary seats out of the 93 seats.

• World No. 1 Novak Djokovic has won the Western & Southern Open tennis tournament against Milos Raonic, at New York. This victory is his 35^th Masters title in USA. With this victory, Djokovic has created history by becoming the only male tennis player to win every Masters event twice. The opponent Milos Raonic is from Canada and currently ranked at No. 30.

• According to a survey by World Health Organization (WHO), countries have witnessed disruptions in at least half of the 25 kinds of health services, due to COVID–19 pandemic.
• Immunisation services were the most affected while diagnosis and treatment of non–communicable diseases (NCD) was the second–most impacted. The report states that 94% of the countries in survey concentrated their efforts only on tackling COVID–19.

• State–owned Public sector undertaking Coal India announced that it is set to invest over Rs 1.22 lakh crore on various projects to achieve 1 billion tonnes of fuel output. Out of the total 500 projects to be funded, CIL will invest a major part in projects related to coal evacuation, mine infrastructure and project development by 2023–24. Coal India also posted a 7.1 per cent year–on–year growth in coal output.

• Indian ace Tennis player Sumit Nagal became the first Indian to win a Grand Slam singles main draw match in seven years. The 23–year old entered the second round of the ongoing US Open tournament. He defeated Bradley Klahn of the United States in the men’s singles first round. Prior to this achievement, Somdev Devvarman had reached the second round of the Australian Open, French Open, and US Open.

• Every year, September 2 is observed as World Coconut Day across the world. It is celebrated to create awareness about the importance of the coconut and its benefits. It also commemorates the foundation day of the Asian and Pacific Coconut Community (APCC). APCC is a body operating under the aegis of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UN–ESCAP). This year, the theme is ‘Invest in Coconut to save the world’

• The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Defence Ministers’ Meet is to be hosted in the city of Moscow, Russia. Union Defence Minister of India Rajnath Singh has recently left for Russia to attend the meet. He is also expected to hold talks with his Russian counterpart Sergey Shoigu. However, no schedule has been made for meeting with the Chinese Defence Minister.

• The Union Cabinet has recently approved the new comprehensive Civil Services reforms programme named “Mission Karmayogi”. The programme aims to create a ‘citizen centric civil service’, which focusses on behavioural change. It will be delivered by setting up an Integrated Government Online Training– iGOT Karmayogi Platform. A Public Human Resources Council under the Prime Minister, will monitor the programme.

• Two Union Territories of India Ladakh and Lakshadweep have been recently integrated to One Nation One Ration Card Scheme. With this, a total of 26 states and UTs are seamlessly integrated in the national cluster of the scheme. The UTs have successfully completed the trial of portability transactions with other States and UTs.

• Union Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MoFPI) implements Pradhan Mantri Kisan SAMPADA Yojana (Scheme for Agro–Marine Processing and Development of Agro–Processing Clusters). Recently, the Union Government has approved the implementation of 27 projects under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Sampada Yojana scheme. The projects aim to develop integrated cold chains and value addition infrastructure.

• The Central Government has added 20 more sports disciplines in the list of sports eligible for direct recruitment in Group C level government posts through sports quota. Earlier there were 43 disciplines which have now been raised to 63 disciplines.
• Meritorious sports persons who have represented their state or India in national or international competitions are eligible for government jobs, under the special quota.

• In a boost to Make in India mission in Defence Sector, the Acquisition Wing of Ministry of Defence (MoD) has signed contracts with Bharat Earth Movers Ltd. (BEML), Tata Power Company Ltd. (TPCL) and Larsen & Toubro (L&T).
• The contracts have been signed for supply of 6 Pinaka Regiments to the Artillery unit of the Indian Army. The approximate cost of the project is Rs 2580 Crores.

• The Government of India has blocked 118 Mobile Apps which are considered to be prejudicial to Sovereignty and Integrity of the nation and the Defence security of the country. The move has been made by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology by using the powers vested under Section 69A of Information Technology (IT) Act. This includes apps like PUBG and Wechat.

• The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) has released Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) operation of Metro Trains in the country. The metro services are set to restart from 7th September. It has been directed that wearing of face mask is mandatory for all passengers and staff. In order to ensure social distancing, markings at stations and inside trains will also be done.

• After the United Arab Emirates requested, Saudi Arabia announced that it will allow flights from all countries to cross its skies to reach the UAE. Before some days, Saudi Arabia allowed the first direct Israeli commercial passenger flight use its airspace to reach the UAE. It carried a high–level delegation of the Government of Israel and the USA.

• The Union Ministry of Housing and Urban affairs has released a set of guidelines for the restarting Metro services under the Unlock 4 measures. Metro trains will resume services in a phased manner across the country from September 7, except in Maharashtra.
• The state will decide on when to restart the services. As per the guidelines, the stations coming under containment zones will remain closed.

• The lawmakers of Tunisia have approved Hichem Mechichi as the country’s new Prime Minister. Mechichi and his proposed government won a confidence vote, after a long debate. Earlier, the 46–year–old former Minister explained how his government would bring the country out of the economic and social crisis. This is the third Government of Tunisia since October and the ninth since the revolution held in 2011.

• The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved for signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between India and Japan for cooperation in the field of quality textiles. Under the MoU, Nissenken Quality Evaluation Centre, Japan would assign Textile Committee as their cooperative Testing and Inspection service provider in India for apparels. Improving quality and testing of Indian textile products for Japanese market is also to be focussed.

• The Government of India has appointed Kshatrapati Shivaji as the chief Statistician of India from September 1, 2020. The 1986–batch IAS officer will take charge as the Secretary in Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI). The Government has not appointed a full–time Chief statistician yet while Kshatrapati Shivaji will continue to head the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions.

• The Jammu and Kashmir Government has recently set up a 10–member council for conservation of biological diversity.
• A new council named the Jammu and Kashmir Biodiversity Council will be constituted, which will have the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests as the Chairman and five non–official members. The council shall constitute a fund named as “Jammu and Kashmir Biodiversity Council Fund”.

• The state Assembly of Assam has recently passed a bill to protect and restore Tangible Heritage in the state. This act will cover all those heritages that have been in existence for at least 75 years, which are currently not covered under any national or state law including the Assam Ancient Monuments and Records Act, 1959.

• The United States Department of Defense released its 2020 annual report to the US Congress, on Chinese military power. As per the DoD report, China has the largest navy in the world, with a battle force of around 350 ships and submarines including over 130 major surface combatants. Whereas, the U.S. Navy’s battle force is approximately 293 ships.

• Researchers of the Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology (IGIB) have developed a method to detect corona virus infection using mass spectrometer.
• In this method, the virus detection can be done with sensitivity of 90 % and specificity of 100 %. The time taken from sample to result is 30 minutes. IGIB is an institute under the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR).

• The theme of the 3^rd US India Strategic and Partnership Forum (USISPF) was “Navigating New Challenges”. Prime Minister Narendra Modi delivered the keynote address of the event in a virtual mode. The USISPF is an independent not for profit organization aimed to strengthen the US India partnership.

• The Andhra Pradesh Industrial Infrastructure Corporation Ltd (APIIC) has entered into a MoU with CSIR–Indian Institute of Chemical Technology for setting up of Bulk Drug Park in the state. As per the MoU, CSIR–IICT will act as a knowledge partner and provide technical assistance to prepare a proposal to be submitted by the Andhra Pradesh Government to the Union Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers, for seeking financial assistance.

• The Union Cabinet, headed by the Prime Minister has approved a bill which gives official language status to Kashmiri, Dogri and Hindi in the UT of Jammu and Kashmir.
• These languages are apart from the existing official languages Urdu and English. Jammu and Kashmir Official Languages Bill, 2020 would be introduced in the Monsoon session of the Parliament to legislate this bill.

• The Union Government has capped export incentives under Merchandise Export from India Scheme (MEIS), at Rs.2 crore per exporter. This incentive cap is applicable for exporters who have made outbound from September 1 to December 31, 2020. This has been announced by Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) though its notification. The DGFT also stated that MEIS scheme would be withdrawn from 1^st January 2020.

• The current President of the European Union, Germany has launched its Indo–Pacific strategy with India. The strategy launched by the Germany’s Foreign Ministry suggested dialogue with institutions such as Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi–Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC), and Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA), in the fields of maritime safety and disaster risk management.

• The Union Ministry of Shipping has directed all major ports to procure or hire tug boats, that are only made in India. All procurements that are being done by major ports will have to be carried out as per the revised ‘Make in India’ Order. Various initiatives are being taken to promote shipbuilding in India and improve self–reliance.

• The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) published a report titled ‘Enhancing Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs)’. The report identifies 16 ways to address the issue of Food loss and waste.
• It also suggests that these aspects are to be added in National climate plans, so that the ‘Mitigation and adaptation contributions’ from food systems can be improved by 25 percent.

• Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has launched “Future Business Group” initiative to support new businesses launched during the past few years. This initiative aims at creating a ‘National strategy for future businesses’, together with Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT). The initiative will also identify new growth options and help to establish international relations.

• “Chakr”, an IIT Delhi incubated start–up has developed an equipment named ‘Chakr DeCoV’ to decontaminate N95 masks. The equipment is designed in the shape of a cabinet. It uses ozone gas for cleaning the pores of N95 masks, thus ensuring complete decontamination of all layers of the mask.

• The state Government of Karnataka has approved a new Information Technology (IT) policy 2020–25. The new policy is expected to help the state in retaining and leveraging its position in Information Technology segment.
• Through the policy, the state aims to achieve 1 trillion–dollar digital economy and create 6 million job opportunities.

• “Wilmington” in the US state of North Carolina has been declared as the World War 2 Heritage City. It is first of such cities to be announced. This announcement was made by the US President Donald Trump during a ceremony held to mark the 75^th anniversary of the end of World War 2. During the WW2, North Carolina Shipbuilding Company situated in Wilmington built 243 ships in 5 years as a part of the USA’s emergency ship building programme.

• A powerful Typhoon named “Maysak” (Cambodian word) hit North Korea and has brought heavy rain and floods in the region. Maysak is the second typhoon in a week to hit the Korean peninsula. Another powerful Typhoon named Bavi made a land fall in the country in the last week of August 2020. The typhoon also hit the regions in South Korea.

• A relatively low concentration of Ozone over Guwahati has been discovered by the Scientists at the Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences (ARIES), Nainital. ARIES is an autonomous research institute under the Department of Science and Technology (DST).
• The team has evaluated the near surface ozone in the Brahmaputra River Valley (BRV) and found the Ozone variation in Guwahati, compared to the other urban locations in India.

• An important meeting of the BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi–sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation) was held virtually under the chairmanship of Sri Lanka. During the meeting discussions were focussed on ways to expand cooperation among its member nations to deal with various challenges COVID–19. BIMSTEC is a multinational grouping of India, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Bhutan and Nepal.

• India has recently initiated an anti–dumping investigation on imports of Vitamin C from China, as per the recent statement from the Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR). Earlier, Bajaj Healthcare filed a complaint to DGTR that dumping is leading to a decline in its market share, profits and causing damage to the domestic industry. Vitamin–C is mainly used by the pharmaceutical companies.

• The Indian Institute of Public Administration is a Research and training organization under the Union Ministry of Personnel. Vice President Venkaiah Naidu is the ex–officio President of IIPA. The Ministry of Tribal Affairs (MoTA) and Indian Institute of Public Administration (IIPA) has recently organized a two–day ‘National Tribal Research Conclave’ through virtual platform chaired by the Union Minister of Tribal Affairs Shri Arjun Munda.

• The President of India Ram Nath Kovind has conferred the National Award to teachers on the occasion of Teachers’ Day, which is celebrated on the birth anniversary of Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan.
• As many as 47 educators across the country were conferred with the prestigious award for their selfless contribution for promoting education. Around 40 percent of the winners were women and this is the first time the event is held virtually.

• The UN Women released a report titled “From Insights to Action: Gender Equality in the wake of COVID–19”, along with UN Development Programme (UNDP). The report highlighted that the COVID–19 pandemic will immensely affect women and push 47 million more women and girls into extreme poverty by the year 2021. It also warned that the gender poverty gap will worsen in South Asia and poverty in South Asia and sub–Saharan Africa.

• The Andhra Pradesh cabinet has approved a proposal to amend Andhra Pradesh Gaming Act, 1974, to ban online games that involve money transactions. As per the proposed amendment, six months imprisonment will be awarded for those playing such games including rummy and poker and one–year jail term for those organising the games. Online real money gaming (RMG) industry is growing at 30 percent annually.

• The Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) has elected Kenichi Ayukawa as its new President. He has been the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Maruti Suzuki India since 2013. He earlier served as the Vice President of SIAM and is succeeding Rajan Wadhera. Vipin Sondhi of Ashok Leyland is elected as the Vice President.

• The Kaziranga National Park in Assam, which is home to the Asiatic one–horned rhinos, is to be expanded by 3,053 hectares. The Government of Assam has issued a notification approving 7^th, 8^th and 9^th addition to the National Park. These additional areas include encroachment–evicted areas at riverine islands that were vulnerable to encroachment.

• The Railway Ministry has proposed to amend Sec 144 of Railways Act 1989. As per the present provision in the act, begging in Railway property is an offence and makes it liable for imprisonment or a fine of Rs.2000/–. The section is proposed to be changed by stating that begging will not be allowed in properties of Railways including Trains and Railway premises.

• The Government of Assam has re–launched an old scheme named “SVAYEM” which aims to provide self–employment to 2 lakh youth in the state.
• SVAYEM stands for Swami Vivekananda Assam Youth Empowerment. The scheme would provide Rs.50,000 as seed capital to selected youth, to commence their business. The total outlay of the scheme is Rs.1000 crore.

• Indian young Grand Master P Iniyan won the 48^th annual world open chess tournament conducted recently. This tournament was conducted in an online format due to the COVID–19 pandemic. The event was conducted in 3 rounds where in 122 participants of 16 countries participated.