DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS : SEP 18, 2020

Daily Current Affairs (SEP 18 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.

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Important Days:

International Equal Pay Day- 18 September:

• International Equal Pay Day observed for the 1st time this 18 September, 2020 under an initiative by the United Nations, aims at highlighting the importance of achieving equal pay for work of equal value. In India, women earn 19 per cent less than men, according to a survey.

World Bamboo Day- 18 September:

• World Bamboo Day is observed every year on 18 September to raise awareness of the benefits of bamboo and to promote its use in everyday products.
• Theme for 11^th edition of WBD 2020 is “BAMBOO NOW”.

World Water Monitoring Day- September 18:

• World Water Monitoring Day is observed every year on September 18 since 2003 to increase public awareness and involvement in water monitoring and protecting water resources around the world.
• Theme: “Solve Water”.

National News:

Parliament approved the Institute of Teaching and Research in Ayurveda Bill:

• Rajya Sabha has given its approval to implement the Institute of Teaching and Research in Ayurveda Bill. as per the New Bill, Institute of Teaching and Research in Ayurveda (ITRA) will be built at Jamnagar, Gujarat.
• The Bill will also provide the status of Institution of National Importance (INI) to the Institute.

Mizoram, Punjab, Andaman and Nicobar Islands Top List; India Happiness Report 2020:

• India Happiness Report 2020 has been released and it covers all States and Union Territories in India. The survey was conducted and covered 16,950 people between March 2020 and July 2020.
• Among smaller states Mizoram, Sikkim, and Arunachal Pradesh all from the Northeast are the top three states in happiness rankings. Among the big states, Punjab, Gujarat, and Telangana are among the top three states. Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Puducherry, and Lakshadweep are the top three union territories in the happiness rankings.
• Maharashtra, Delhi and Haryana have shown the worst possible impact of COVID-19 on happiness.

Telangana minister KT Rama Rao launches farm cooperative society website:

• Telangana IT and Industries Minister KT Rama Rao (KTR) launched the Primary Agricultural Co-Operative Society (PACS), Pothgal web portal. He launched the web portal pacspothgal.com. This society is located in Pothgal village of Mustabad Mandal in Rajanna Siricilla District.

Telangana:                      

• Capital:Hyderabad
• Chief Minister:K. Chandrashekar Rao
• Governor:TamilisaiSoundararajan
• National Parks(NP):KasuBrahmananda Reddy NP, Mahaveer Harina NP, Mrugavani NP.

 Prakash Javadekar attends G20 Environment Ministerial Meeting virtually:

• Environment Minister Shri Prakash Javadekar represented India in G20 Environment Ministerial Meeting was held through video conferencing. The meeting was chaired by Saudi Arabia.

Karnataka Govt launches loan disbursal programme “Arthika Spandana”:

• Karnataka Chief Minister S. Yediyurappa launched the “Arthika Spandana” programme which loans worth Rs. 39,300 crore would be disbursed through various cooperative institutions, for helping people during the times of COVID-19 and floods.
• Of the total amount approved under the scheme, 15,300 crore would be disbursed to the agriculture sector while Rs. 24,000 crore would be earmarked for the non-agricultural sector.

Karnataka:               

• Capital: Bengaluru
• Chief Minister: B. S. Yeddyurappa
• Governor: VajubhaiVala
• National Park: Anshi NP, Kudremukh NP, Bandipur NP, Bannerghatta NP, Rajiv Gandhi (Nagarahole) NP.

Union minister Harsimrat Badal resigns over protest against agri bills:

• Minister of Food Processing Industries Harsimrat Badal resigned and the President of India, as advised by Prime Minister accepted her resignation from the Union Council of Ministers with immediate effect, under clause (2) of Article 75 of the Constitution. Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar given additional charge of Food Processing Industries Ministry.

Tamil Nadu to launch SkillTech varsity for varied courses:

• Tamil Nadu is taking the lead in imparting students with training on future skills with plans to launch a SkillTech University to offer courses in different sectors, including automotive and power. SkillTech University will be an online platform and will be beneficial to all stakeholders, including government, industries and students.

Tamil Nadu:                     

• Capital: Chennai
• Chief Minister: Edappadi K. Palaniswami
• Governor: Banwarilal Purohit.
• National Park: Mukurthi NP, Guindy NP,Gulf of Mannar Marine NP, Indira Gandhi (Annamalai) NP, Mudumalai NP.

International News:

New Zealand becomes first country to mandate climate risk disclosures:

• New Zealand has become the first country to pass legislation requiring financial firms to declare their climate-related risks. New Zealand minister for climate change James Shaw, hailed the passage of the law as a step towards a “cleaner, safer planet”.
• Financial firms will now be expected to comply with the framework laid down by the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD). The rule will apply to banks, insurers, all listed debt and equity issuers.

New zealand

• Capital: Wellington
• Currency: New Zealand dollar
• Prime Minister: Jacinda Ardern

Mexico issues world’s first sovereign bond linked to UN sustainable goals:

• Mexico has become the first country in the world to issue a Sovereign Bond linked to the sustainable development goals set by the United Nations. It has raised EUR 750 million ($890 million) by such bonds.
• The SDG bond will mature in September 2027 and offers a yield to maturity rate of 1.603% and a coupon rate of 1.350%.

56^th edition of Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) Programme observed in Dhaka, Bangladesh:

• The 56th Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) day was observed online by the High Commission of India in Dhaka, Bangladesh. The Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) Programme was instituted by a decision of the Indian Cabinet in

Bangladesh:

• Capital: Dhaka
• Currency: Taka
• Prime minister: Sheikh Hasina
• President: Abdul Hamid

Banking and Economy:

RBI issues draft Rupee interest rate derivatives (IRDs):

• RBI proposed allowing Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIS) to undertake exchange-traded rupee interest rate derivatives transactions subject to an overall ceiling of ₹5,000 crores. IRDs are contracts whose value is derived from one or more interest rates.

ICICI Home Finance launched “Apna Ghar Dreamz” Home Loan Scheme:

ICICI Home Finance launched “Apna Ghar Dreamz”, its new home loan scheme for skilled laborers like electricians, mechanics, painters, grocery store owners etc in the informal sector of Delhi. The credit amount of this loan ranges from Rs 2 lakh to 50 lakhs.

DBS Bank India Unveiled Online Loan Platform ‘DBS Digital Business Loans for SMEs’:

• DBS Bank India launched an online platform “DBS Digital Business Loans” for making loans available to small and mid size businesses in a hassle-free manner, with credit facility up to ₹20 crore. The platform is enabled to auto-generate an e-offer letter if the lending criteria are met.

Acquisitions and Mergers:

WhatsApp partners with Common Services Center to deliver Digital Literacy Services via Chatbot:

• WhatsApp announced that it has partnered with Common Services Centers (CSC). With this partnership, the Facebook-owned platform launched a chatbot that will enable citizens to receive digital literacy services and resources. It also aims to “bridge the digital divide and spur rural entrepreneurship”.

Science and Technology:

Byju’s launches ‘Education for All’ to empower 5 mn children by 2025:

• Bengaluru based edtech company Byju’s has launched a social initiative ‘Education for All’. Objective: To empower 5 million children from underserved communities by
• Through ‘Education for All’, millions of children from underserved and economically deprived communities will get equal access to quality learning opportunities.

IIT Kharagpur researchers develop AI-based system to detect arsenic pollution:

• Researchers from IIT Kharagpur have developed an artificial intelligence-based prediction model for detecting arsenic pollution in drinking water.
• The researchers have mapped the high and low arsenic zones across the entire Gangetic delta using Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the number of people exposed.

Awards and Recognitions:

Chef Vikas Khanna honoured with Asia Game Changer Award 2020 for feeding millions in India amid Covid crisis:

• New York-based Michelin-star chef Vikas Khanna will be honoured with the prestigious 2020 Asia Game Changer Award for feeding millions across India amid the COVID-19 pandemic through a massive food distribution drive “FeedIndia”.
• He coordinated from thousands of miles away in his Manhattan home. He is the only Indian among the six honorees named by the leading organisation.

Rajasthan Governor Kalraj Mishra felicitated “Eminent Engineers Award 2020” on the Occasion Engineer’s Day:

• Honourable Governor of Rajasthan and Chancellor of State Universities Kalraj Mishra felicitated the Eminent Engineers Awards to H. D. Charan, Vice-Chancellor, Bikaner Technical University as Visionary Leader of the Year, Dr Manish Kumar Goyal, IIT Indore, Best Researcher of the Year, and Dr. Shamsher Bahadur Singh, Birla Institute of Technology and Science Pilani, as Best Academician of the Year Award 2020 in Individual Category.

Books and Author:

A New Book titled “Azadi: Freedom. Fascism. Fiction” Authoured by Arundhati Roy:

• Booker Prize-winning author Arundhati Roy has come up with her new book titled “Azadi: Freedom. Fascism. Fiction”. The book has been published by the Penguin Books Ltd.

Rankings:

India ranked 116^th in the World Bank’s Human Capital Index: Singapore Tops;

• World Bank released the report titled “The Human Capital Index 2020 Update: Human Capital in the Time of COVID-19”. India has been ranked 116 in the list of 174 countries. Last year, India was ranked 115 in the list of 157 countries. The country of Singapore topped the score with 0.88 followed by Hong Kong at 0.81 and Japan at 0.80.

Hyderabad Placed 85^th Position in IMD’s Global Smart City Index 2020; Singapore Tops:

• Institute for Management Development in collaboration with Singapore University for Technology and Design, has released the 2020 Smart City Index. The index has been topped by Singapore followed by Helsinki and Zurich as top three smart cities.
• Hyderabad was placed at the 85th position (down from 67 in 2019), New Delhi at 86th rank (down from 68 in 2019), Mumbai was at 93rd place (in 2019 it was at 78) and Bengaluru at 95th (79 in 2019).

Obituary News:

Former RBI governor Amitabha Ghosh passed away at 90:

• Amitabha Ghosh, Re­serve Bank of In­dia (RBI) governor for 21 days, passed away at the age of 90. Ghosh had the shortest stint as RBI gover­nor, from January 15, 1985 to February 4, 1985.

Veteran Ayurveda physician from Tamil Nadu PR Krishnakumar passes away at 69:

• P R Krishnakumar, CMD of the Arya Vaidya Pharmacy (AVP) Coimbatore Limited, who had devoted his entire life to creating awareness on Ayurveda, died of Covid-19. He was also the Chancellor of the renowned Avinashilingam University in Coimbatore.

Rajya Sabha MP Ashok Gasti passé away at 56:

• Karnataka MP of Rajya Sabha Shri Ashok Gasti has taken his last breath at the age of 56. He was suffering from COVID-19. Ashok was born in the year 1965 and was from Raichur district. On July 2020, he took oath as Rajya Sabha MP.

Daily Current Affairs Quiz : Sep 18, 2020

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