Daily GK 14 Oct. 2020

 

1. NITI AAYOG ANNOUNCED GOVERNING STRUCTURE OF INDIA ENERGY MODELLING FORUM (IEMF)

·      NITI (National Institution for Transforming India) Aayog and United States Agency for International Development (USAID) jointly launched the India Energy Modelling Forum (IEMF) under the US–India Strategic Energy Partnership (SEP).

·      Now, for its constitution, on October 8, 2020 NITI Aayog announced its governing structure consisting of an inter-ministerial and a steering committee.

 

2. RS 73,000 CR STIMULUS TO BOOST CONSUMER SPENDING AMID COVID-19 SLOWDOWN

·      Union Minister for Finance & Corporate Affairs Nirmala Sitharaman announced measures of Rs 73,000 crore to stimulate consumer spending before the end of this Financial Year (FY21) to fight the COVID-19 lockdown induced slowdown, during a press conference in New Delhi.

·      The allocation was made under the two heads- Consumer Spending and Capital Expenditure.

·      Consumer Spending

·      Leave Travel Concession (LTC) Cash Voucher Scheme

·      Special Festival Advance Scheme (SFAS)

·      Capital Expenditure

·      Special Assistance to the states; interest-free 50-year loan to States of Rs. 12,000 crore Capital Expenditure (CAPEX)

·      Enhanced Budget Provisions of Rs. 25,000 crore

 

3. PRESIDENT RAM NATH KOVIND GIVES ASSENT TO DISTURBED AREAS (AMENDMENT) BILL IN GUJARAT

·      President Ram Nath Kovind has given Assent to the Gujarat Disturbed Area  (Amendment) Bill, 2019.

·      The Act will prohibit transfer of Assets (Immovable Property) in disturbed areas and protects tenants from vacating the properties.

·      The main aim of the act is to stop polarisation and to check attempts to cause “Demographic Imbalance”.

·      Gujarat Disturbed Area (Amendment) Bill, 2019 has amended “The Gujarat Prohibition of Transfer of Immovable Property and Provision for Protection of Tenants from Eviction from Premises in Disturbed Areas Act”, 1991 commonly referred to as Disturbed Areas Act.

 

4. FIVE EYES ALLIANCE DEMAND ACCESS TO END-TO-END ENCRYPTED CHATS FROM TECH COMPANIES

·      Members of the Five Eyes Intelligence Alliance (United States of America, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.)  Along with India, Japan has asked Big Tech Companies to find a solution for Law Enforcement Agencies to access end-to-end encrypted chats.

·      The Countries highlighted that encryption has become a tool for terrorists and child traffickers, and poses risk to thousands of innocent lives.

·      India, Japan are not members of the Intelligence Alliance.

 

5. HIGH-SPEED SATELLITE CONNECTIVITY TO 5,000 REMOTE GRAM PANCHAYATS

·      Hughes Communications India Private Limited (Hughes India), a subsidiary of Hughes Network Systems, LLC (HUGHES) has been selected by Bharat Broadband Nigam Limited (BBNL) and Telecommunications Consultants India Ltd.(TCIL)

·      To provide high-speed satellite connectivity to 5,000 remote gram panchayats 15 states and UTs(including border and Naxal-affected areas) of India including Ladakh, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram & Tripura among others by August 2021.

·      Hughes India will provide internet service to the gram panchayats using the capacity from ISRO’s communications satellites, GSAT-19 and GSAT-11.

 

6. INTERNATIONAL DAY FOR DISASTER RISK REDUCTION 2020 – OCTOBER 13

·      The first International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction was observed in 1989.

·      The theme of International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction 2020 is “it’s all about governance” which is associated with the Target E of Sendai Framework.