Current Affairs - October 8, 2020 Current Affairs

The 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry is awarded to Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer A. Doudna "for the development of a method for genome editing". The Nobel Prize in Chemistry is awarded by The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, Stockholm, Sweden.

Digital payments firm Paytm Monday announced the launch of an 'Android mini-app store' to help Indian developers market their apps, and in a possible attempt to fight Google's dominance in the arena. The 'mini-apps' would help "citizens to save their limited data and phone memory", Paytm said in a press release. According to the firm, mini-apps are mobile websites that can give users an app-like experience without actually downloading it.

The seventh offshore patrol vessel of the Indian Coast Guard (ICG), "Vigraha" was formally unveiled at the Kattupalli port, Chennai, Tamil Nadu. The vessel, built by Larsen and Toubro, is the last in the series of seven OPVs contracted to the company by the Ministry of Defence in 2015. It was the first time a private sector shipyard has undertaken the design and construction of offshore patrol vessel class of ships.

India and Myanmar are working towards the operationalization of the Sittwe port in the Rakhine state of Myanmar in the first quarter of 2021. The port is part of the Kaladan multi-modal transit transport project which is being viewed as India's gateway to Southeast Asia.

The Government of India has appointed three new economists as members of the six-member rate-setting Monetary Policy Committee(MPC) of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). The government had formed a committee for selection of these three new members of MPC. This search-cum-selection committee for MPC was headed by Economic Affairs Secretary Tarun Bajaj.

According to Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been signed between the Indian Sign Language Research and Training Centre (ISLRTC) and the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) to make educational materials accessible for hearing impaired children. It is a historic decision for people with difficulties in speaking or hearing and will empower differently-abled persons.

Reliance General Insurance on Monday said it has partnered with SatSure for satellite-based crop monitoring and predictive analytics support to better risk management and improve efficiency of its crop insurance business operations.

World Cotton Day (WCD) is observed globally on 7th October since 2019. The international day aims to celebrate the advantages of cotton, ranging from its qualities as a natural fibre to the benefits people obtain from its production, transformation, trade and consumption.

Senior IPS officer, M A Ganapathy has been appointed as the Director-General of Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS). He is a 1986 batch IPS officer of Uttrakhand cadre. The post of BCAS chief fell vacant after Rakesh Asthana was appointed as the Director-General of Border Security Force in August.

Railway Minister Piyush Goyal on Monday through a video link inaugurated the renaming of Naugarh railway station to Siddharthnagar railway station situated at Siddharthnagar district in Uttar Pradesh. "Naugarh railway station was named Siddharthanagar in view of public aspirations due to the birth of Mahatma Buddha in Lumbini near Naugarh and being associated with his life events from this region," Goyal said during the inauguration event. "A large number of Buddhist pilgrims come to Lumbini.

The government of India has appointed Dinesh Kumar Khara as the new Chairman of State Bank of India for a period of three years. His appointment is effective from October 7. Currently, Khara is the Managing Director in-charge of Global Banking & Subsidiaries. The Banks Board Bureau (BBB) had recommended Khara for the post of Chairman of SBI on August 28, ruling out an extension to Rajnish Kumar, whose term is ending on October 6.

Afghanistan right-handed batsman, Najeeb Tarakai passed away in a road accident. He played 12 Twenty20 Internationals (T20Is) for Afghanistan, after making his international debut in the 2014 T20 World Cup. He played his only one-day international against Ireland in 2017.

The Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) will be commissioning India's largest HPC-AI supercomputer 'PARAM Siddhi - AI'. This initiative will place India among the top countries in global AI supercomputing research and innovation. The initiative was headed by Abhishek Das, Scientist and Program Director (HPC-AI Infrastructure Development) at C-DAC, who conceived the idea and designed the architecture for the largest HPC-AI infrastructure in India.

Man-animal conflict is known to occur from time to time in India in various places, and more often than not it is the animals that are the most affected. In a much welcome move, to ensure a safe passage to wildlife and to reduce human-animal conflict, India will soon have its first-ever animal overpasses at the under-construction Delhi-Mumbai greenfield expressway.

Sports tech and events startup Hudle has announced the appointment of cricketer Ajinkya Rahane as brand ambassador and advisor of the company. Apart from being the face of the brand, Rahane will also be able to guide the team with strategic inputs through his wealth of experience in professional sport, the company said.

Google India has launched a unique initiative titled 'Make Small Strong' which aims at supporting small and local businesses, especially amid the challenging times of the pandemic. The initiative launched on 30th Sept will enable small businesses to go digital and strengthen their presence online to reach out to more people. Furthermore, Google India has also joined hands with Jagran.com to drive community-wide drive and encourage consumers to buy locally and promote local products. Citizens and local groups have also been asked to lend a helping hand to small businesses by providing their genuine reviews about local and small businesses and promote them both locally and on various digital platforms.

India and France are to launch a constellation of maritime surveillance satellites to monitor illegal spillage of oil in the Indian Ocean Region.

Veteran Bollywood actor, Vishal Anand has passed away. He came to fame with 1976 super-hit song and film 'Chalte Chalte'. His real name was Bhishmam Kohli. He has appeared in 11 Hindi films during his acting careers like Hindustan Ki Kasam and Taxi Driver. Apart from acting, Anand had also directed and produced a few films, including Chalte Chalte.

ICICI bank has launched a debit card facility for the customers availing the Loan Against Securities (LAS) from the Bank. The debit card is available on the Visa platform. With this launch, ICICI Bank has become the first bank in India to launch such a facility. The LAS debit can be used by customers across all domestic merchant establishments to make seamless POS and online transactions like payments on e-commerce portals among others, using their sanctioned LAS amount.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) announced that it has signed an agreement to invest $15 million in Avaada Energy Private Limited (AEPL) to help expand the company's solar generation capacity in the country. According to its press release, this investment will come from ADB's Ordinary Capital Resources and from Leading Asia's Private Infrastructure Fund (LEAP), with both funds investing $7.5 million each.