Current Affairs - August 9, 2020 Current Affairs

On 6th August, 2020, the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) appointed Professor Pradeep Kumar Joshi as its new Chairman. His tenure as the chairman of the UPSC will be till May 12, 2021. He succeeds Arvind Saxena who retires as the UPSC chairman on 6th August 2020.

Ram Nath Kovind, President of India as per the powers conferred on him by Section 1 of Article 148 of the Constitution of India has appointed Girish Chandra(GC) Murmu as 14th Comptroller and Auditor General(CAG) of India, with effect from the date he assumes charge of his office. He succeeds Rajiv Mehrishi who completes his term on August 8, 2020 as he attains the age of 65.

On 6th August 2020, the Sports Authority of India(SAI) announced that in association with Education Boards Council for The Indian School Certificate Examinations(CISCE) and Central Board of Secondary Education(CBSE), SAI will host an online training programme to train the Physical Education (PE) teachers and head of the institutions from CISCE schools on "Khelo India Fitness Assessment of School Going Children".

On 6th August 2020, Pradeep Kumar Jena, Additional Chief Secretary announced that the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) recognises the two coastal villages of Odisha as "Tsunami Ready" for their overall preparedness to face the tsunami.

Parliamentary elections in Sri Lanka were held on 5 August 2020 to elect 225 members to Sri Lanka’s 16th Parliament. Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) headed by Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa has won 145 (plus five more seats from allies) in the elections, securing two-thirds majority in the parliament.

On August 3rd, 2020 Export-Import Bank on behalf of Indian Government, extended a Line of Credit of USD 250 million (about Rs. 1,870 Crores) to Mozambique to improve the power supply quality of the country.

On 7th August 2020, Prime Minister Narendra Modi delivered the inaugural address at the Conclave on Transformational Reforms in Higher Education under National Education Policy(NEP) organised by the Ministry of Education in association with University Grants Commission(UGC) over a virtual platform and discussed various aspects of NEP 2020, which replaces the National Policy on Education framed in 1986 with academicians and scientists.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has signed a USD 200 million financing deal with the Reliance Bangladesh LNG and Power Limited (RBLPL) to build and operate a 718 megawatt combined-cycle gas-fired power plant in Bangladesh. The project will reduce the current energy deficit and lead to more private sector investment in the country’s electricity sector.

To state "2020-21 Resolution of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC)" a three day meeting of Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) six-member MPC, headed by Shaktikanta Das was held from August 4-6, 2020 where it was forecasted that India's real gross domestic product (GDP) will contract in the first half (H1) of FY21 as well as full FY 2020-21.

Every year the Government of India celebrates the National Handloom day on August 7 , to generate awareness about the Handloom Industry amongst the public at large and its contribution to socio-economic development. The 6th edition of the Nation Handloom Day is celebrated on August 7, 2020.

"Amazing Ayodhya" A book by Neena Rai promises to shed light on the history of Ayodhya. The book is set to give “authentic information” about the city of Ayodhya and will help in understanding the life and times of ancient Hindus. The book aims to gain knowledge of the architecture in Ayodhya, houses in Ayodhya, establishment of the city and animals which lived in Ayodhya.

On August 5, 2020 the writer and activist Sadia Dehlvi died of cancer at the age of 63 at Delhi. She was born in 1957, came from the royal ‘Shama’ family, edited the Urudu women’s journal Bano. Dehlvi, writing focuses on women, minorities, Islamic spirituality, and Delhi’s heritage and culture. Her grandfather, Hafiz Yusuf Dehlvi, founded Shama, an iconic Urdu film in 1938 and literary monthly.

The Ministry of Jal Shakti(MoJS) has launched a new version of the India Water Resources Information System (India-WRIS) with new functions and features. It is open to the public, and accessible through the web portal www.indiawris.gov.in. The MoJS has established a dedicated organization, National Water Informatics Centre (NWIC) to maintain and update India-WRIS.

In order to support the continuity of digital skilling of the Indian workforce, Simplilearn, a global provider of digital skills training joined hands with National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC). Under this collaboration, Simplilearn will host more than 1,000 hours of free learning in digital skills and technologies for learners across India under the categories of AI and Machine Learning, Big Data, Data Science & Business Intelligence, Cyber Security, Software Development, Project management, and Digital marketing.

On 29th July 2020, The Food and Agriculture Organisation(FAO) unveiled a new Platform, to support the global reduction of food loss and waste. The official launch of the platform will be on the first International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste(IDAFLW) which will be observed on 29th September 2020.

On 6th July 2020, The Government of Maharashtra announced the partnership with Google which will provide google provided learning programmes that integrate the classroom approach into online learning. Maharashtra became the first state in India to collaborate with Google India for state-wide distribution of G suite for Education and Google Classroom.

On 6th August, 2020 National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) signed an agreement with IIT Delhi to set up a Centre of Excellence (CoE) for use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in data driven decision making and Advance Data Management System for Highways (ADMS Highways).

On August 7, 2020 Piyush Goyal, Union Minister of Railways and Narendra Singh Tomar, Union Minister of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare flagged off the India’s 1st Kisan Rail, a Special Parcel Train from Maharashtra's Devlali to Bihar’s Danapur Railway station through video link. This is the 1st ever multi commodity train of Indian Railways(IR) that carries fruits like Pomegranate, Banana, Grapes etc and vegetables like Capsicum, Cauliflower etc. The train will run on a weekly basis.

In exercise of the powers conferred by clause (t) of sub-section (1) of section 196 read with section 240 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (31 of 2016), the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) amended the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (Liquidation Process) Regulations, 2016 by the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (Liquidation Process) (Third Amendment) Regulations, 2020.

Life Insurance Corporation of India(LIC) has acquired 4.23% Stake(105.98 crore shares) of YES Bank by purchasing from the open market. With this acquisition, the hold of LIC in YES Bank has increased from 0.75%(19 crore shares) to 4.98%(125 crore shares).