Current Affairs Today 11th August 2020-Download in PDF

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Current Affairs Today – 11th August 2020

NEWS AT A GLANCE

  1. The Finance Ministry said 15 proposals worth Rs 6,400 crore of stressed NBFCs and HFCs have been sanctioned under the special liquidity scheme announced as part of the Rs 20.97 lakh crore ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ package.
  2. RBI has permitted banks to invest in debt instruments through mutual funds or exchange traded funds without allocating additional charges.
  3. The Reserve Bank of India has barred banks from opening current accounts for customers who have availed cash credit or overdraft facilities, with a view to improve credit discipline.
  4. The e-commerce major in India, Flipkart, has launched its own startup accelerator program in the country in order nurture and fund the startups in the country.
  5. The Centre has released Rs 553 crore to states under a scheme to promote mechanization in the agriculture sector.
  6. The Government is set to launch a National Clinical Registry for COVID-19.
  7. Tribal Affairs Minister Arjun Munda flagged off “Medicine Van” for flood victims of Bihar.
  8. The Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel launched” Indira Van Mitan Yojana” on 9 August 2020, on the occasion of the World Tribal Day, to bring prosperity to forest dwellers (especially tribal) by opening up self-employment opportunities.
  9. The Andhra Pradesh government has announced its new industrial policy that has a focus on the MSME sector.
  10. The Rajasthan government has announced that it is going to provide free foodgrains to the beneficiaries under the National Food Security Mission till November 2020.
  11. A “state of environmental emergency” has been declared by the island nation of Mauritius.
  12. Bangladesh has taken a decision to construct a monument for the Indian soldiers.
  13. The Prime Minister of Lebanon, Hassan Diab announced his resignation from the top post of the country following outrage over the catastrophic blast in the capital of the country, Beirut, on August 4.
  14. President of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko has won his sixth consecutive term with 80.23 per cent of the vote at the country’s presidential election.
  15. Mohamed Ould Bilal has been appointed as the new Prime Minister of Mauritania.
  16. Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a coronavirus vaccine, touted as the world’s first such vaccine too.
  17. The India-Canada IC-IMPACTS Annual Research Conference was held on August 6-7, 2020 in order to discuss the ways for taking cooperation between the two countries to a new level.
  18. An agreement was signed between CSIR (Council of Scientific & Industrial Research) and FSSAI (Food Safety and Standards Authority of India) for collaborative research and information dissemination in the area of food and nutrition.
  19. Researchers from the Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, India, and Imperial College London, UK, have developed a tailored ‘meta-grid’ of nanoparticles that could make light-emitting diodes (LEDs) brighter, energy-efficient and durable
  20. The Bihar State Pollution Control Board has signed a ‘Memorandum of Agreement’ (MoA) with IIT Delhi to set up geographical information system (GIS) based platform to check air quality management in the state.
  21. The Boston Group has signed an MoU with the Andhra Pradesh government to set up an IT company in Visakhapatnam.
  22. A group of researchers from IIT Kharagpur has conferred the ‘Gandhian Young Technological Innovation Awards 2020’ for developing a mechanism for generating electricity from wet clothes left under sunlight to dry.
  23. Equitas Small Finance Bank announced that it has been appointed as the official retail banking partner for Chennai Super Kings (CSK) IPL team with effect from August 1, 2020.
  24. The Red Bull racer, Max Verstappen has won the 70th Anniversary Grand Prix.
  25. On the occasion of the 6th National Handloom Day, Smt Smriti Irani launched the Mobile App & Backend Website for Handloom Mark Scheme (HLM).
  26. The Union Finance Minister has launched the dashboard of the National Infrastructure Pipeline in order to manage and integrate all the details regarding the projects at one place.
  27. The Union Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change has launched National Portal on Human-Elephant conflict situation so that it can resolve the dispute the human and the elephant.
  28. Former India footballer Manitombi Singh passed away in Imphal after long illness.
  29. Legendry American WWE player, James Harris, popularly known as James “Kamala” Harris, has passed away at an age of 70.

NEWS IN DETAILS

BANKING & FINANCE 

15 Proposals of Stressed NBFCs, HFCs Worth Rs 6,400 Crore Sanctioned Under Special Liquidity Scheme

  • The Finance Ministry said 15 proposals worth Rs 6,400 crore of stressed NBFCs and HFCs have been sanctioned under the special liquidity scheme announced as part of the Rs 20.97 lakh crore ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ package.
  • 37 more applications seeking financing of up to Rs 11,037 crore are under process.
  • The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has provided funds for the scheme by subscribing to government-guaranteed special securities issued by a trust set up by SBI Capital Markets Ltd (SBICAP).

Extra Shots:

SBI Capital Markets

  • CEO: Varsha Purandare
  • Parent organization: State Bank of India
  • Founded: August 1986
  • Headquarters: Mumbai
  • Subsidiaries: SBICAP (Singapore) Limited, Sbi Cap (UK) Ltd., SBICAP Securities Ltd., SBICAP Trustee Company Ltd.

RBI permits banks to invest in debt instruments through mutual funds

  • RBI has permitted banks to invest in debt instruments through mutual funds or exchange traded funds without allocating additional charges.
  • As per RBI’s extant Basel III guidelines, if a bank holds a debt instrument directly, it would have to allocate lower capital as compared to holding the same debt instrument through a mutual fund- or exchange traded fund.
  • It has been decided to harmonise the differential treatment existing currently.
  • This will result in substantial capital savings for banks and is expected to give a boost to the corporate bond market.

RBI bars banks from opening current accounts for customers having availed cash credit or overdraft facilities

  • The Reserve Bank of India has barred banks from opening current accounts for customers who have availed cash credit or overdraft facilities, with a view to improve credit discipline.
  • In a notification, the Central Bank said, rather than opening a new current account, all transactions should be routed through a Cash Credit or OverDraft account.

BUSINESS & ECONOMY

Flipkart unveils Startup promotion programme

  • The e-commerce major in India, Flipkart, has launched its own startup accelerator program in the country in order nurture and fund the startups in the country.
  • The platform, named as ‘Flipkart Leap’, will open for opportunities for startups in the country.
  • This is a 16-week long program will prepare the startups to prepare something market-ready and innovative to some problem statement.
  • The venture will provide an equity-free grant of $25000.
  • The main objective of the company is to promote scalable startups in the country.

Extra Shots:

Flipkart

  • Founded: October 2007, Bengaluru
  • CEO: Kalyan Krishnamurthy
  • Founders: Sachin Bansal, Binny Bansal
  • Parent organization: Walmart

NATIONAL CURRENT AFFAIRS

Centre Releases Rs 553 Crore to States for Agricultural Mechanization

  • The Centre has released Rs 553 crore to states under a scheme to promote mechanization in the agriculture sector.
  • The Sub-Mission on Agricultural Mechanization (SMAM) was launched in April 2014 with an aim to have inclusive growth of farm mechanization to boost productivity.
  • In the year 2020-21, budget of Rs 1,033 crore has been provided for the scheme, out of which Rs 553 crore has been released to state governments

Govt proposes to launch National Clinical Registry for data collection

  • The Government is set to launch a National Clinical Registry for COVID-19.
  • The main objective of this registry is to collect real time clinical data which will help in evidence based clinical practice, research, formulation of guidelines and policy making.
  • The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and All India Institute of Medical Sciences have proposed to establish a COVID-19 clinical registry for data collection from 100 hospitals across the country.
  • The duration of the study will be one year and any COVID-19 lab confirmed and hospitalized patient will be enrolled.

Extra Shots:

ICMR:

  • Headquarters: New Delhi
  • Secretary & Director General: Dr. Shriram Bhargava
  • Leader: Balram Bhargava
  • Founder: Government of India
  • Founded: 1911
  • Subsidiary: RMRIMS Agamkuan, Patna, Bihar

 STATE CURRENT AFFAIRS

Arjun Munda flags off “Medicine Van” for Bihar flood victims

  • Tribal Affairs Minister Arjun Munda flagged off “Medicine Van” for flood victims of Bihar.
  • The medicine support of 15 Lakh rupees has been provided by the Thakurdwara Trust, of Jorbhag Delhi.
  • Around two thousand volunteers are working on ground to serve the flood victims.

Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel launches Indira Van Mitan scheme to make forest-dwellers self-reliant

  • The Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel launched” Indira Van Mitan Yojana” on 9 August 2020, on the occasion of the World Tribal Day, to bring prosperity to forest dwellers (especially tribal) by opening up self-employment opportunities.
  • Under the ‘Indira Van Mitan scheme, a dedicated group of youth will be constituted in around 10,000 villages in tribal-dominated areas to manage forest-based economic activities.
  • Each group will consist of 10 to 15 members.
  • Each of the youth groups will look after procurement, processing and marketing of forest produce in scheduled areas.
  • The state government will set up forest produce processing units in every development block of the scheduled areas, at an estimated cost of Rs 10 lakh for each unit.
  • An amount of Rs 8.50 crore will be spent for forest produce processing units in 85 development blocks.

Extra Shots:

Chhattisgarh:

  • Statehood Day: November 1, 2000
  • Capital: Raipur
  • Chief Minister: Bhupesh Baghel
  • Governor: Anusuiya Uikey
  • Literacy Rate: 60.21%
  • National Park: Indravati (Kutru) National Park, Kanger Valley National Park, Guru Ghasi Das (Sanjay) National Park

Andhra Pradesh announced its new Industrial Policy 2020-23

  • The Andhra Pradesh government has announced its new industrial policy that has a focus on the MSME sector.
  • The policy explicitly supports the MSME sector in the state for its development and growth in the state. This policy will be effective till the year 2023.
  • The state will set up 30 skill development centres and two skill development universities in order to make skilled labour available in the state.

Extra Shots:

Andhra Pradesh:

  • Capital: Amravati
  • Chief Minister: Y. S. Jaganmohan Reddy
  • Governor:  Biswabhusan Harichandan
  • Literacy rate: 67.4%
  • National Park: Sri Venkateswara National Park, Sri Venkateswara National Park, Papikonda National Park

Rajasthan to provide free food grains till November

  • The Rajasthan government has announced that it is going to provide free foodgrains to the beneficiaries under the National Food Security Mission till November 2020.
  • The beneficiaries will be provided five kg of wheat per person and one kg of gram per family under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Ann Yojana as well as the National Food Security Act.

 INTERNATIONAL CURRENT AFFAIRS

“state of environmental emergency” declared by Mauritius

  • A “state of environmental emergency” has been declared by the island nation of Mauritius.
  • The environmental emergency has been declared as a Japanese bulk carrier “MV Wakashio” ran aground on a reef in Mauritius and began leaking oil into the ocean.
  • The ship stranded two weeks ago is leaking tons of fuel into the surrounding waters.

Extra Shots:

Mauritius (Capital/Currency): Louis/ Mauritian rupee

  • Prime Minister: Pravind Jugnauth

Bangladesh to construct War Memorial for Indian soldiers

  • Bangladesh has taken a decision to construct a monument for the Indian soldiers. The country will establish monument for the Indian soldiers who died in 1971 during the Bangladesh’s struggle for independence from Pakistan.
  • The announcement was made by the Bangladesh War Liberation Minister Mozammel Haque.
  • The government of Bangladesh has selected 3.5 acres in Ashuganj of Brahmanbaria district, bordering Tripura.

Extra Shots:

Bangladesh (Capital/Currency): Dhaka/Taka

  • Prime Minister: Sheikh Hasina
  • Official Language: Bengali

Prime Minister of Lebanon resigns after outrage over blast

  • The Prime Minister of Lebanon, Hassan Diab announced his resignation from the top post of the country following outrage over the catastrophic blast in the capital of the country, Beirut, on August 4.
  • The Prime Minister has announced his resignation at the cabinet meeting and has also intimated the President.
  • The President of the country Michel Aoun will now determine the next steps.
  • The PM along with his council of ministers will be interim head till the new government is installed in the country.

Extra Shots:

Lebanon (Capital/Currency): Beirut/ Lebanese pound

Belarusan President Alexander Lukashenko wins sixth term

  • President of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko has won his sixth consecutive term with 80.23 per cent of the vote at the country’s presidential election.
  • A former English teacher Svetlana Tikhanouskaya, who emerged as Lukashenko’s main rival at the elections gets 9.9 per cent of the vote.

Extra Shots:

Belarus (Capital/Currency): Minsk/Belarusian Rouble

  • President: Alexander Lukashenko

Mohamed Ould Bilal becomes new Prime Minister of Mauritania

  • Mohamed Ould Bilal has been appointed as the new Prime Minister of Mauritania.
  • The appointment was made by the Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould Ghazouani.
  • Mohamed Ould Bilal is a veteran public administrator and has served as the head of the country’s national water agency, a presidential aide and a cabinet minister.

Extra Shots:

Mauritania (Capital/Currency): Nouakchott/Mauritanian ouguiya.

  • President: Mohamed Ould Bilal

Russia announces world’s first Covid-19 vaccine

  • Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a coronavirus vaccine, touted as the world’s first such vaccine too.
  • The registration of the vaccine lays ground for mass inoculation even as the final stages of clinical trials to test safety and efficacy continue.
  • Russia’s first coronavirus vaccine is developed jointly by Gamaleya Research Institute and the Russian Defence Ministry.
  • The vaccine is based on adenovirus and contains dead COVID-19 particles which cannot multiply.

Extra Shots:

Russia (Capital/Currency): Moscow/ Russian Rouble

  • President: Vladimir Putin

SUMMITS AND CONFERENCES

‘India-Canada IC-IMPACTS Annual Research Conference’

  • The India-Canada IC-IMPACTS Annual Research Conference was held on August 6-7, 2020 in order to discuss the ways for taking cooperation between the two countries to a new level.
  • This conference is organized virtually by the India-Canada Centre for Innovative Multidisciplinary Partnership to Accelerate Community Transformation and Sustainability (IC-IMPACTS).

Extra Shots:

Canada (Capital/Currency): Ottawa/ Canadian dollar

  • Prime Minister: Justin Trudeau

AGREEMENTS AND MOU SIGNED

CSIR, FSSAI sign MoU for collaborative research on food and nutrition

  • An agreement was signed between CSIR (Council of Scientific & Industrial Research) and FSSAI (Food Safety and Standards Authority of India) for collaborative research and information dissemination in the area of food and nutrition.
  • The two organisations will collaborate towards strengthening the quality assurance of laboratory networks across the country aimed at development and validation of methods for reliable reporting on quality and safety of food products.

Extra Shots:

FASSAI:

  • Founded: August 2011
  • Sector: Food safety
  • Jurisdiction: India
  • Headquarters: New Delhi
  • Chairperson: Rita Teaotia
  • Parent agency: Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India

IT Guwahati, in collaboration with Imperial College London, develops nanoparticle ‘meta-grid’

  • Researchers from the Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, India, and Imperial College London, UK, have developed a tailored ‘meta-grid’ of nanoparticles that could make light-emitting diodes (LEDs) brighter, energy-efficient and durable.
  • Meta-grid’ or ‘metamaterial grid’ is a specifically patterned array (grid) of nanoparticles acting as metamaterials, capable of exhibiting extraordinary optical properties.

Bihar Pollution Control Board Signs MoA with IIT Delhi for air quality management

  • The Bihar State Pollution Control Board has signed a ‘Memorandum of Agreement’ (MoA) with IIT Delhi to set up geographical information system (GIS) based platform to check air quality management in the state.
  • IIT Delhi will help the state to set up a comprehensive architecture for scientific analysis of air pollution and monitoring and provide know-how to develop in-house capacity for data analysis.
  • The project will help in identifying sources and transport (local hot spot) of particulate matter PM 2.5 in the non-attainment cities like Patna, Gaya and Muzaffarpur and help the board to identify effective mitigation measures.
  • The project will not only identify geographical areas with poor air quality based on statistical and spatial data, but will also enable to locate the source of air pollutants in those areas.

A.P. governent signs MoU with US Based IT Firm “Boston Group”

  • The Boston Group has signed an MoU with the Andhra Pradesh government to set up an IT company in Visakhapatnam.
  • The new IT company stated to be installed in the state according to the MoU is expected to create 250+ jobs in the IT sector.

Extra Shots:

Boston Consulting Group

  • CEO: Rich Lesser
  • Headquarters: Boston, Massachusetts, United States
  • Founder: Bruce Henderson
  • Founded: 1963, Boston, Massachusetts, United States

NATIONAL & INTERNATIONAL AWARDS

IIT Kharagpur bags innovation award for generating electricity from wet clothes

  • A group of researchers from IIT Kharagpur has conferred the ‘Gandhian Young Technological Innovation Awards 2020’ for developing a mechanism for generating electricity from wet clothes left under sunlight to dry.
  • Another team from the institute was separately granted the same award for addressing the problem of energy conservation and thermal management in wearable and flexible electronic devices.
  • The ‘Gandhian Young Technological Innovation (GYTI) Awards’ was instituted by the Society for Research and Initiatives for Sustainable Technologies and Institution (SRISTI), a voluntary organization.

SPORTS CURRENT AFFAIRS

Equitas SFB appointed as official retail banking partner for Chennai Super Kings

  • Equitas Small Finance Bank announced that it has been appointed as the official retail banking partner for Chennai Super Kings (CSK) IPL team with effect from August 1, 2020.
  • The Chennai-based bank was the principal sponsor of CSK in 2018.
  • Equitas then announced that it will be the banking partner of Team CSK for three years.

Extra Shots:

Equitas Small Finance Bank

  • Headquarters location: Chennai
  • Founded: 2007
  • Key people: Shri Arun Ramanathan; (Part-time Chairman);
  • MD & CEO:Mr. Vasudevan P N
  • Parent organization: Equitas Holding

Max Verstappen wins 70th Anniversary Grand Prix

  • The Red Bull racer, Max Verstappen has won the 70th Anniversary Grand Prix.
  • Mercedes racer Lewis Hamilton finished the race at second postion while another Mercedes racer Valtteri Bottas finished third.
  • This was Red Bull’s first victory at Silverstone since 2012.

WEB PORTALS & APP IN NEWS

Union Minister Smriti Zubin Irani launches Mobile App & Backend Website for Handloom Mark Scheme

  • On the occasion of the 6th National Handloom Day, Smt Smriti Irani launched the Mobile App & Backend Website for Handloom Mark Scheme (HLM).
  • She also inaugurated the ‘My Handloom’ portal for individual weavers and organisations for applying for various benefits under government schemes, handloom marketing assistance and awards.
  • A two-week social media campaign was also launched for the handloom weaving community.
  • Further, to promote handloom, a hashtag #Vocal4Handmade has been started.

National Infrastructure Pipeline Online Dashboard launched

  • The Union Finance Minister has launched the dashboard of the National Infrastructure Pipeline in order to manage and integrate all the details regarding the projects at one place.
  • The online portal is now showcasing 6800 live projects being implemented in the country.
  • This portal will help in providing real-time status of the ongoing projects and also the investors are going to get updates regarding the progress of the projects.

‘National portal of Project Elephant’ launched

  • The Union Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change has launched National Portal on Human-Elephant conflict situation so that it can resolve the dispute the human and the elephant.
  • The portal is aimed at collecting information on a regular basis in order to manage the conflicts between humans and elephants.
  • The National Portal has been launched on the occasion of the World Elephant Day on August 12.

OBITUARY

Former India and Mohun Bagan player Manitombi Singh passes away

  • Former India footballer Manitombi Singh passed away in Imphal after long illness.
  • He was 39.
  • Manitombi played as a side-back and represented India in two significant tournaments in 2002.
  • He was part of the team that won the LG Cup in Vietnam under the captaincy of Bhaichung Bhutia.
  • He also donned the Indian colours at the Busan Asian Games later in the year.

Legendary WWE wrestler James ‘Kamala’ Harris passes away at 70