DAILY GK 12 SEPT. 2020

 

DAILY GK 12 SEPT. 2020

1. INDIA POST LAUNCHES FIVE STAR VILLAGES SCHEME

·          Postman and Postal Department are a vital part of the ordinary citizen’s life.

·          India post is doing exceptional work in the implementation of Government schemes .

·          Now, in order to ensure universal coverage of flagship postal schemes in rural areas, Union Minister of State for Communications, Sanjay Shamrao Dhotre has launched a scheme namely “Five Star Villages” along with Department of Post.

 

2. NEW FDI POLICY IN DEFENCE SECTOR

·          Union Cabinet led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved the new Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) policy in Defence Sector, thereby allowing FDI through automatic approval to be increased from 49% to 74%.

·          The new policy has a ‘National Security’ clause as a condition, wherein any Foreign Investment in Defence Sector shall be subject to scrutiny on grounds of National Security.

·          The FDI policy will also attract foreign manufacturers to set up manufacturing units in India.

 

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CURRENT AFFAIRS 6, 7 SEPT 2020

 CURRENT AFFAIRS 6, 7 SEPT 2020

1)    ‘THE STATE OF YOUNG CHILD IN INDIA’ REPORT

·      Vice President of India, Venkaiah Naidu released the inaugural issue of the report ‘The State of Young Child in India’.

·      The report provides an account of challenges related to early child development (0-6 years) in India. 

·      The report has been prepared by Mobile Creches, a policy advocacy organisation which works with underprivileged children across India.

·      BEST-PERFORMING STATE:

State	Index score (2015-16)
Kerala	0.858
Goa	0.817
Tripura	0.761

WORST-PERFORMING STATE:

State	Index score (2015-16)
Bihar	0.452
Uttar Pradesh	0.46
Jharkhand	0.5

 

2)   TWO-DAYS VIRTUAL NATIONAL TRIBAL RESEARCH CONCLAVE 

·      Union Minister for Tribal Affairs, Arjun Munda virtually inaugurated the two-days National Tribal Research Conclave to be held from September 3-4, 2020 in New Delhi.

·      The conclave will be chaired by Union Minister Arjun Munda.Tribal Research helps not only to make a effort on the anthropological aspects of tribal life and culture but also help to achieve the goal “Mera Van Mera Dhan, Mera Udhyam” since forests are not only important for environment but play a major role in tribal livelihoods.

 

3)   FAO’S 35TH ASIA-PACIFIC REGIONAL CONFERENCE (APRC)

·      The Thirty-fifth Session of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Regional Conference for Asia and the Pacific (APRC 35) hosted by Bhutan at Thimphu which was held from 1-4 September 2020 through Zoom video conferencing platform amid COVID-19 pandemic and associated public health concerns. 

·      It was held to plan responses and recovery work to address the twin pandemic viz. COVID-19 and hunger.

·      From Indian side the meeting was addressed by Minister of State (MoS) for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Parshottam Khodabhai Rupala.

 

4)   PRAHLAD SINGH PATEL REPRESENTED INDIA IN 5TH BRICS CULTURE MINISTERS’ MEETING HELD VIRTUALLY

·      Prahlad Singh Patel, Union Minister of State for Culture and Tourism represented India and addressed in 5th BRICS(Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) Culture Ministers’ Meeting  held through video conference under the Chairpersonship of Russian Federation.

 

5)   WHATSAPP PARTNERED WITH CYBERPEACE FOUNDATION

·      In order to create awareness on cyber safety among students, WhatsApp Inc.(WhatsApp) and Cyber Peace Foundation have entered into a partnership. 

·      The partnership targets to reach about 15,000 students in 5 Indian states namely, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and Maharashtra by the end of 2020 under the first phase of a pan-India programme.

·      This initiative is built on a previous partnership under the ‘e-Raksha’ programme, which has reached many students.

 

6)   LONG MARCH-2F CARRIER ROCKET

·      China launched a reusable experimental spacecraft on a Long March-2F carrier rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in northwestern Chinese region Inner Mongolia.

·      The spacecraft is similar to the X-37B launched by the US.

·      This launch was the 14th mission of the Long March-2F carrier rocket.

 

7)   NATIONAL TEACHERS DAY 2020 – 5TH SEPTEMBER

·      India celebrates 5th September of every year as the National Teachers day to honour the roles of teachers in shaping the future of the nation.

·      The day is marked on the birth anniversary of India’s former President Bharat Ratna Awardee, renowned teacher and philosopher Dr. Sarvaepalli Radhakrishnan who was born on 5th September 1888. 

·      The first National Teacher’s Day was celebrated in 1962.

·      In the first ever virtual award ceremony, Ram Nath Kovind, President of India awarded the National Award to Teachers 2020, the highest teachers’ award in India, to the 47 teachers who were shortlisted by the Ministry of Education.

 

8)   INTERNATIONAL DAY OF CHARITY 2020:  SEPTEMBER 5 

·      The United Nations'(UN) International Day of Charity is observed annually on September 5, to raise awareness about the role of charity to ease poverty and hunger. 

·      September 5 was chosen to commemorate the death anniversary of  Mother Teresa of Calcutta (Saint Teresa of Calcutta, Mother Mary Teresa Bojaxhiu), who was the recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979.

 

9)   J&K LT GOVERNOR LAUNCHES ‘SPARROW’ –PERFORMANCE

·      Jammu & Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha launched the online portal, Smart Performance Appraisal Report Recording Online Window (SPARROW) for Jammu & Kashmir Administrative Service Officers (JKAS).

·      The SPARROW system will benefit around 1289 officers and is aimed at bringing more transparency, avoiding loss of Appraisal Reports (APR) during transition, ensuring better monitoring and timely completion of performance appraisals of JKAS officers. 

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CURRENT AFFAIRS 5 SEPT 2020

 CURRENT AFFAIRS 5 SEPT 2020

1)    12TH MEKONG GANGA COOPERATION SENIOR OFFICIALS’

·       12th Mekong Ganga Cooperation (MGC) Senior Officials Meeting took place virtually, The key areas of cooperation tourism, culture, education, transport and communications were discussed and reviewed during the meeting.

·       The meeting was attended by Senior Officials from all 6 MGC Member States (India, Cambodia, Lao PDR (People’s Democratic Republic), Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam).

 

2)    RBI ANNOUNCED ADDITIONAL OMO OF RS 20,000 CR

·       RBI announced measures in order to ensure orderly market conditions and congenial financial conditions.

·       In this regard Reserve Bank will conduct additional special open market operations (OMO) involving the simultaneous purchase and sale of Government securities (G-secs) for Rs 20,000 crore in two tranches of  Rs 10,000 crore each on September 10, 2020 and September 17, 2020.

·       The apex bank also announced term repo operations of Rs 100,000 crore (1 trillion) to infuse liquidity into the market.

·       Reserve Bank also increased the held to maturity limit (HTM) or the amount that banks invest in G-secs from 19.5% to 22%. 

·       RBI reviewed the Priority Sector Lending (PSL) Guidelines to align it with emerging national priorities amid COVID-19 impact.

·       In this regard, new categories are included under priority sector for financing viz. start-ups (up to Rs 50 crore); loans to farmers for installation of solar power plants for solarisation of grid connected agriculture pumps and loans for setting up Compressed Bio Gas (CBG) plants.

 

3)    LIGO AND VIRGO DETECTED MAMMOTH COLLISION OF ‘IMPOSSIBLE’ BLACK HOLES FOR 1ST TIME

·       For the 1st time, The Collision of ‘Impossible’ Black Holes was detected and directly observed by the Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Laboratory (LIGO) Scientific Collaboration and the Virgo Collaboration also known as LVC (LIGO Scientific Collaboration and Virgo Collaboration), which includes scientists from the Australian National University (ANU). 

·       They Initially found 2 black holes of 66 and 85 solar masses, which generated a final black hole of 142 solar masses, till now it is the largest black hole ever observed through gravitational-wave observations.

 

4)    PUNJAB GOVERNMENT LAUNCHES ‘I RAKHWALI’ APP

·       Punjab State Minister for Department of Forest & WildLife & Preservation Sadhu Singh Dharmsot launched ‘I Rakhwali’ application.

·       The app was launched to safeguard the forest areas in the state by making common citizens as stakeholders in the process.

·       It will help citizens to become ‘Greenery Saviours’.

·       The main aim is to inspire people to plant more trees and this app will help people come forward and contribute towards environment protection.

 

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