DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS : Aug 30 & 31, 2020

Daily Current Affairs (Aug 30 & 31 2020) like many other sections is inevitable and this also helps to score in the Banking awareness, Static GK and Financial Awareness sections. Remember, Banking Awareness and Static Awareness Questions are asked from the General Awareness section. This will also help you to ride your preparations for the forthcoming exams.

Also, Don’t forget to attend the Daily Current Affairs Quiz : Aug 30 & 31, 2020 now @ our Bankersdaily Tests.

Current Affairs Quiz – Aug 30 & 31, 2020

Important Days

International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances- 30 August:

UN General Assembly welcomed the adoption of the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, & decided to declare 30 August the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances since 2011.

National News:

Union Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad launches completely wireless BSNL Bharat AirFibre for rural areas in Bihar:

Union Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad inaugurated a next-generation network telephone exchange at New Bihar Vidhan Mandal compound and Bharat Air Fibre service at Danapur Telephone Exchange in Bihar through video conferencing from New Delhi.

Bihar:

Capital: Patna
Chief Minister: Nitish Kumar
Governor: Fagu Chauhan

First newspaper for kids ‘The Young Minds’ launched in Assam:

Two Guwahati-based women entrepreneurs have launched a newspaper specifically designed for kids, to promote creative thinking among children and inculcate in them the habit to read and write. It is the brainchild of Neelam Sethia and Neha Bajaj. The Young Minds, will cater to kids of 4-14 years of age.

Assam:

Capital: Dispur
Chief Minister: SarbanandaSonowal
Governor: Jagdish Mukhi
National Parks: Orang National Park, Manas National Park or Manas Wildlife Sanctuary, Dibru-Saikhowa National Park, Kaziranga National Park, Nameri National Park.

Assam Government to set up Skill University worth Rs 900 Crore at Darrang district:

Assam Cabinet has approved the Assam Skill Development University Bill which allows for setting up a state-of-the-art skill University at Mangaldoi in Darrang district of Assam. The University at Mangaldoi will be the Centre of Excellence and first ever Skill University in north eastern states of the country.
The total cost of setting up the University is estimated at Rs 900 crore with financial assistance from the Asian Development Bank. Assam government has also inked a memorandum of understanding recently with the ITE Education Service Singapore for training resource persons of the university.

Union Education Minister addresses inaugural session of World Urdu Conference organized by NCPUL:

Education Minister made an important announcement and said that Urdu writers and literators will be honoured with awards and honours in the name of important personalities of Urdu like Amir Khusrow, Mirza Ghalib, Agha Hashar, Ram Babu Saxena, etc.
It was organized by National Council for Promotion of Urdu Language (NCPUL).

Department of Economic Affairs & UNDP India Launched Sustainable Finance Collaborative to Promote Sustainable Finance in India:

Department of Economic Affairs Ministry of Finance in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) India launched the Sustainable Finance Collaborative (SFC).
In this regard, a three days consultation centered on the broad scope of Sustainable Finance architecture in India was held to accelerate Green Finance by bringing together leading experts and organizations.

President Ram Nath Kovind honours 74 sportspersons with National Sports and Adventure Awards:

President Ram Nath Kovind virtually conferred the National Sports & Adventure Award 2020 namely- Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award, Arjuna Award, Dronacharya Award, Dhyan Chand Award, Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Award & Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puraskar.
Twenty-seven sportspersons were honoured with the Arjuna Award.

51^st International Film Festival India to be held in Goa from Nov 20:

51^st IFFI will be held in Goa, from November 20th to 28th. This film festival being a hybrid film festival due to Covid 19, would screen films on official digital platform along with the theatrical screenings. The festival is an annual event since 1975.

Goa:

Capital:Panaji
Chief Minister:Pramod Sawant
Governor: Bhagat Singh Koshyari (Additional Charge)

Utter Pradesh government launches ‘Major Dhyan Chand Vijaypath Yojana’ to Build Roads to 19 International Player’s houses:

Deputy Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Keshav Prasad Maurya launched the Major Dhyan Chand Vijaypath Yojana under which 19 international players from the state will get road connectivity to their houses.
Indian pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar, former pacer Praveen Kumar, Piyush Chawla and Mohammad Kaif are among the 19 athletes who will be benefited from the scheme.

Uttar Pradesh:

Capital: Lucknow
Chief Minister: Yogi Adityanath
Governor: Anandiben Patel
National Park: Dudhwa National Park (Tiger Reserve)
Zoological park: Shaheed Ashfaq Ullah Khan Prani Udyan(Gorakhpur), Kanpur Zoological Park, Nawab Wajid Ali Shah Zoological Garden.

International News

Togo is first African country to end sleeping sickness as a public health problem:

Togo has received validation from the World Health Organization (WHO) for having eliminated human African “Trypanosomiasis” or “sleeping sickness” as a public health problem, becoming the first country in Africa to reach this milestone.
Sleeping sickness is caused by parasites which are transmitted by infected tsetse flies and is only found in 36 countries in sub-Saharan Africa.

India withdraws from multilateral military exercise Kavkaz 2020 in Russia:

India has announced that it is withdrawing from multilateral Military Exercise Kavkaz 2020 to be held in Russia. In view of Pandemic & consequent difficulties in exercise, including arrangements of logistics, India has decided not to send a contingent.

Russia:

Capital: Moscow
Currency: Russian Rouble
President: Vladimir Putin
Prime Minister: Mikhail Mishustin

Piyush Goyal Attends 8th East Asia Summit Economic Ministers’ Meeting:

8^th East Asia Summit Economic Ministers’ Meeting was held virtually to strengthen the regional supply chains, become resilient during this challenging time of Covid-19 pandemic, and to spur economic growth.
The meeting was attended by the Economic ministers from the 10 ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) members and eight other nations, including India, the US, China, Japan, South Korea, Russia, Australia and New Zealand.

Banking and Economy

Canara HSBC OBC Life Insurance & Andhra Pragathi Grameena Bank Entered into a Strategic Partnership to Offer Life Insurance:

Tie up with the bank will provide an opportunity & onus to create awareness in the rural market about the need of having life insurance, health insurance and pension plans. The distribution tie up is for selling Life insurance, health and pension products.

State Bank of India gets global recognition for HR initiative ‘Nayi Disha’:

State Bank of India to receive Brandon Human Capital Management (HCM) Excellence Award(also known as the Academy Awards of Learning & Development)2020 a global recognition for its HR initiative, “Nayi Disha”.
SBI has won the award in The HCM Spring Program under ‘Excellence in Learning and Development’ in 3 categories.

Acquisitions and Mergers:

Reliance buys Kishore Biyani’s Future retail for Rs 24,713 crore:

Reliance Retail Ventures Limited (RRVL), subsidiary of Reliance Industries Limited will buy Kishore Biyani’s Future retail for Rs 24,713 crore.
The first step in this acquisition will be the merger of five Future Group’s listed entities including Future Retail, Future Lifestyle and Future Consumer – into Future Enterprises (FEL).

Science and Technology

IIT Bombay students launch AI-powered document scanning app:

AIR Scanner app does not collect any information about the user and all the documents are stored in the phone’s local storage. Any cloud storage to store the documents of the users has not been used. The app guarantees complete user security.

CISF launches ‘Pension Corner’ app for its retired personnel:

With the help of this new digital initiative, pensioners will get connected to the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) units spread across the country, and receive invitations, over SMS, on important occasions in the nearest unit.

Appointments

Mustapha Adib set to be become Lebanon’s new Prime Minister:

Lebanon’s Ambassador to Germany, Mustapha Adib is set to become the country’s next Prime Minister. Adib was named by four former Lebanon Prime Ministers as their choice for the post.
His designation will come on the eve of French President Emmanuel Macron’s second trip to Lebanon in under a month.

Retired IAS Officer Utpal Kumar Singh Appointed Secretary In Lok Sabha:

Retired Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer Utpal Kumar Singh has been appointed as Secretary in Lok Sabha with effect from September 1. The appointment was approved by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla. Utpal Kumar Singh was earlier the chief secretary of Uttarakhand.

Awards and Recognitions

Noor Inayat Khan Becomes First Indian-Origin Woman To Be Honoured With Blue Plaque:

Noor Inayat Khan was an undercover radio operator in Nazi-captured France in 1943 working for Britain’s Special Operations Executive (SOE). The memorial plaque will be installed at her family home in central London, 4 Taviton Street at Bloomsbury where she lived.

Panjab University wins prestigious Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Trophy for 2^nd consecutive year:

The Panjab University has been conferred with the Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (MAKA) Trophy for the year 2019. This is the second consecutive year in a row that Panjab University has won this coveted trophy, which is given to overall top performing University in Inter-University Tournaments.

Para swimmer Satyendra Singh 1st Divyang sportsperson of country to get prestigious Adventure Award:

Satyendra Singh Lohia of Madhya Pradesh is the 1st Divyanga Indian sportsperson of the country, to be awarded with Tenzing Norgay Adventure Award. He is also the 1^st Asian Divyang swimmer to cross the 42-km Catalina Channel in US in just 11 hours 34 mins.

Amul (16th) becomes first Indian dairy company to be in Rabobank’s Global Top 20 list; Top- Nestle:

Amul, Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF) has been ranked 16^th in the Rabobank’s Global Top 20 Dairy Companies list. Amul has achieved an annual turnover of $5.5 billion.
Switzerland’s Nestle topped the list with a turnover of US $22.1 billion. Amul is the first Indian company to enter the top 20 ranking of Rabobank’s Global Top 20 Dairy Companies list.

Books and Authors

Army Chief releases book titled “National Security Challenges: Young Scholars’ Perspective”:

Indian Army Chief, General Manoj Mukund Naravane has released a book titled “National Security Challenges: Young Scholars’ Perspective” penned by university students, ranging from the undergraduate level to doctoral candidates. The book published by the Army think-tank Centre for Land Warfare Studies (CLAWS).

Indian Cricket Coach Gurcharan Singh Co-authored his Memoir “Pitching It Straight” with MS Unnikrishnan:

Indian Cricket Coach Gurcharan Singh penned his memoir titled “Pitching It Straight” which is co-authored by sports journalist MS Unnikrishnan and published by
The book portrays the personal and professional life of Gurcharan Singh, who trained numerous young talents.

Rankings

India ranks 72nd on global list with average monthly wage of Rs.32,800; Reported by Picodi.com:

With an average monthly wage of 32,800 (USD 437), India has been ranked at 72^nd position among 106 countries surveyed by Picodi.com. Picodi.com is an international e-commerce platform, headquartered in Poland, provides discount coupons.
The ranking has been topped by Switzerland, where the average wage converted into rupees amounts to Rs 4,49,000 (USD 5,989).

Obituary News

Congress MP and Vasanth & Co founder H Vasanthakumar dies at 70:

Tamil Nadu Congress Committee Working President and MP from Kanyakumari H Vasanthakumar, died. He was 70. He was the founder of Vasanth & Co, a successful chain of consumer electronics and home appliances stores.

Former Indian TT Player Nipjyoti Barua Passed away:

Assam’s Nipjyoti Barua, who represented India in various Table Tennis championships, passed away. He played for India in the IVth Junior Asian Cup TT Championship 1989 held at New Delhi and the US Open TT 1990 held at Baltimore USA.

‘Scooby Doo’ Co-Creator Joe Ruby Passes Away at 87:

Joe Ruby who helped invigorate children’s television as the co-creator of Scooby-Doo, the long-running animated franchise about a group of teenage private eyes and their chicken-hearted, snack-guzzling Great Dane, died. He was 87.

Veteran Athletics coach Purshottam Rai passes away at 79:

The veteran athletics coach Purshottam Rai has passed away due to a cardiac arrest. Rai was to be conferred the prestigious Dronacharya Award in the lifetime category on 29 August 2020, on the ocassion of the National Sports Day.

Former Supreme Court judge Justice AR Lakshmanan passes away at 78:

Justice AR Lakshmanan served at the Supreme Court from 2002-2007. Prior to his elevation, he was a judge at the Madras and Kerala High Court. He also served as Chief Justice of the Andhra Pradesh & Rajasthan High Courts. He was 78 years old.

Sports News

India and Russia declared joint winners of the Chess Olympiad:

India team at the FIDE Online Olympiad created history by winning its first ever gold. However, in another first, this was shared with Russia, following an internet failure that affected two games.
India No. 2 Grandmaster Vidit Gujarati was Captain of the Indian Team. Teenage grandmasters (GM) Nihal Sarin and R Praggnanandhaa led them to the quarterfinals; Koneru Humpy, women’s chess.

Lewis Hamilton wins Belgian Grand Prix to secure 89th victory of career:

Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton dominated the Belgian Grand Prix to take his fifth victory in seven races this year and the 89^th of his career.
Hamilton headed team-mate Valtteri Bottas to a Mercedes one-two, from Red Bull’s Max Verstappen. He is two victories away from Michael Schumacher’s all-time record and sets to equal his seven titles.

Chennaiyin FC Appoint Csaba Laszlo As Head Coach For 2020-21 Season:

Csaba Laszlo has more than two decades of coaching experience at the club and international level. The Romania-born Laszlo had coaching stints in eight countries, including two national teams — Uganda and Lithuania. Laszlo replaced Owen Coyle.

Arsenal beat Liverpool on penalties to win 2020 FA Community Shield:

Arsenal beat Premier League champions Liverpool by 5–4 on penalties to claim the 2020 FA Community Shield after a 1–1 draw. The annual football match was played between the winners of the previous season’s Premier League, Liverpool, and the previous season’s FA Cup, Arsenal at the Wembley Stadium in London.

Daily Current Affairs Quiz : Aug 30 & 31, 2020