Current Affairs - September 20, 2020 Current Affairs

Indian teenager Udit Singhal has been named in the 2020 Class of 17 Young Leaders for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). He has been named in the 2020 list of young leaders who promote sustainable development goals.

In order to prepare a roadmap for regularisation of land leasing in the agriculture sector, the Centre has set up a high-level committee headed by Ajay Tirkey,secretary of the department of land resources under the ministry of Rural Development. The reform will lay down rights of landless farm workers who are deprived of welfare benefits. The proposed framework will recognise the right of landowners and cultivators and farm workers.

Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) formed a 7-member task force for framing guidelines/provision for vegan foods in the country .Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) Chief Executive Officer(CEO) is Arun Singhal.

The 11th World Bamboo Day(WBO) was observed on September 18, 2020 to increase the awareness of the Bamboos globally by the World Bamboo Organisation. The Theme for this edition of World Bamboo Day is "BAMBOO NOW". The World Bamboo Day is observed annually on September 18. It was established by Mr. Kamesh Salam, Former President of World Bamboo Organization, during the 8th World Bamboo Congress(WBC) at Prachan Buri,Bangkok Thailand in 2009.

Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar said on September 19, 2020 that eight beaches of the country have been recommended for the 'Blue Flag' international eco-label. The minister said this on the eve of 'International Coastal Clean-Up Day' that is being celebrated across 100 countries since 1986.

Singapore has topped the Institute for Management Development (IMD) Smart City Index for the second consecutive year, followed by the Finnish capital Helsinki and Swiss city of Zurich. The ranking, launched last year, is based on citizens' perception of the impact that technology has on their quality of lives as well as economic and technological data.

Balli Durga Prasad Rao ,Tirupati (Andhra Pradesh) Lok Sabha MP(Member of Parliament) passed away of COVID- 19 at Apollo Main Hospital in Chennai , Tamil Nadu. He ws around the age of 64. He belongs to Yuvajana Sraika Rythu Congress Party(YSRCP). He was born in Nellore district, Andhra Pradesh on June 15,1956. The first time MP from Tirupati (schedule Caste) reserved constituency served as the School Education Minister in the Chandrababu Naidu Cabinet in the undivided Andhra Pradesh during 1995-1996.

Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar has been given the additional charge of Food Processing Industries Ministry. He has been given the additional charge as President Ram Nath Kovind has accepted the resignation of Smt. Harsimrat Kaur Badal from the Union Council of Ministers, with immediate effect, under clause (2) of Article 75 of the Constitution.

Bandhan Bank has set up a new vertical called "Emerging Entrepreneurs Business (EEB)". The new vertical has been launched to support the emerging needs of the unbanked and underbanked segment of customers. The vertical will focus on supporting this segment of customers in their journey to becoming entrepreneurs. In addition to micro loans, the vertical will also manage micro home loan, micro bazaar loan and micro enterprise loan.

On 15th September 2020, on the occasion of National Engineers Day, Ramesh Pokhriyak 'Nishank', Union Minister of Education presented the first ever "AICTE Visvesvaraya Best Teachers Award 2020" to the 12 faculty members of All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) approved institutions over a virtual ceremony.

Government of India formed an Expert Committee led by National Cyber Security Coordinator(NCSC) Lt. General(retd) Rajesh Pant, India's Chief Coordinator on Cyber Security to examine the reports of digital surveillance on Prominent Indian Nationals including President, Army Chief by Chinese firm Shenzhen Zhenhua Data Information Technology Ltd.

National Jal Jeevan Mission in partnership with Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MEITY) has launched an ICT Grand Challenge to create innovative, modular, and cost-effective solution to developing a 'Smart Water Supply Measurement and Monitoring System' to be deployed at the village level. The ICT grand challenge will be inviting proposal from Indian Tech start-ups, MSMEs, Indian Companies, Indian LLPs.

In order to encourage the use of electric vehicle to prevent air pollution Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani announced subsidy scheme for electric two-wheelerand e-rickshawsduring a virtual programme on climate change to commemorate the founding day of the state climate change department. Apart from this, memorandum of understanding(MoUs) were also inked during the event. This announcement was also a part of "Panchsheel gift" of five development schemes in Gujarat to celebrate the 70th birthday of Prime minister Narendra Modi,.

The Dharwad-headquartered Karnataka Vikas Grameena Bank (KVGB) has launched a special gold loan scheme -- Vikas Laghu Suvarna -- with a reduced interest rate of 7.25 per cent. Quoting P Gopi Krishna, Chairman of the bank, a press release said on Friday that the bank has reduced the rate of interest to provide easy and affordable credit to needy customers at a cheaper cost considering the pandemic situation in the country.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will virtually inaugurate the Kosi Rail Mega Bridge in Bihar at 12pm on Friday. Apart from the bridge, the PM will inaugurate 12 other rail projects related to passenger facilities for the benefit of the state, a Railway Ministry release said.

Penguin Random House announced that the first volume of the Former President of the United States of America(USA),Barack Obama's memoir " A Promished Land" is set to hit the stores on 17th November2020, two weeks after Election day. The book will be released by Crown, a division of Penguin Random House around the world in 25 languages which include Spanish, Chinese,Arabicm Chenz,Finnah and Vietnamese.

Public sector lender Canara Bank has launched lead management system (LMS) - i-Lead 2.0 (Inspiring Leads System version 2.0). The system has been launched to provide its services to customers irrespective of where they reside.

The Directorate General of Foreign Trade has lifted the ban on export of onions that were in transit to all the countries including the neighbour Bangladesh. This decision was taken in a meeting between Ministry of External Affairs and Commerce.

10th Meeting of the BRICS High Representatives on National Security was held virtually. The 10th meeting of the NSAs was hosted by the current chair of BRICS i.e. Russia. National Security Advisor Ajit Doval represented India in a virtual meet of top security officials from Brazil-Russia-India-China-South Africa (BRICS) grouping.

Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri Thursday inaugurated India's first General Aviation Terminal at Delhi airport. The exclusive terminal will handle the flight operations of private jets. With the facility, Delhi Airport marks a milestone of setting up high-end infrastructure for passengers. The new terminal has been built to support the movement and processing of passengers flying through chartered flights from IGI Airport.