Hello and welcome to exampundit. Here are the important Current Affairs Today 2nd September 2020. These are important for the upcoming Exams. Candidates who were preparing for the examination can use these current affairs and also you can download the same as PDF.
Current Affairs Today – 2nd September 2020
NEWS AT A GLANCE
- National Nutrition Week (NNW) is an annual nutrition event observed in India during the First week of September from 1st September to 7th September.
- World Coconut Day is observed on September 02 every year since 2009.
- The RBI announced a host of steps, including term repo operations totalling Rs 1 lakh crore in mid-September to ease pressure on the liquidity and maintain congenial financial conditions with a view to ensuring sustainable recovery of economic growth.
- Indian Bank has announced a cut of 5 basis points in its marginal cost of funds-based lending rate (MCLR) for one-year tenure.
- The European Investment Bank (EIB) will invest 650 million-euro (€) in the construction of Kanpur’s (Uttar Pradesh) 1st city metro line.
- After the country’s economy contracted by a record 23.9 per cent in April-June quarter, real GDP for FY21 is expected to shrink by 10.9 per cent, according to State Bank of India’s research report – Ecowrap.
- Union Department of Fertilizers, Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers, is observing Swachhta Pakhwada from 1st to 15th September 2020.
- Government of India is aiming for 100 million tonnes (MT) coal gasification by 2030.
- The Minister of State (IC) Power and New & Renewable Energy & Minister of State (Skill Development and Entrepreneurship), Shri R. K. Singh, launched pan-India Green Term Ahead Market (GTAM) in electricity through video conference in New Delhi on 01 September 2020.
- Government gave its nod to 27 projects today under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan SAMPADA Yojana for development of integrated cold chains and value addition infrastructure in the country
- Coal India Ltd (CIL) will invest over 1.22 lakh crore rupees on development of nearly 500 projects related to coal evacuation, infrastructure, project development, exploration and clean coal technologies in the country.
- Indian government plans on coming up with forensic accounting and investigation standards (FAIS) as it aims at setting the basic quality parameters for conducting investigations.
- India’s first toy manufacturing cluster to come up at Koppal, Karnataka, has the potential to create 40,000 jobs in five years and attract over Rs 5,000 crore investment.
- Seaplane service to provide air connectivity from Sabarmati Riverfront in Ahmedabad to Statue of Unity in Kevadia in Gujarat is scheduled to start from October 31, the birth anniversary of Sardar Patel.
- Nagaland is observing month long Rashtriya Poshan Abhiyan in the State
- Uttar Pradesh government has decided to set up exclusive anti-electricity theft police stations in every district of state to address the problem of frequent cases of power theft.
- Australia-India-Japan Economic Ministers’ Joint Statement on Supply Chain Resilience was held on 1st September.
- The Cycling Federation of India (CFI) is all set to host the first-ever Cycling Summit in 2021, with an aim to promote the culture of cycling in the country.
- Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has invited the US business and industry to work with their Indian counterparts to take the bilateral trade to greater heights.
- India and France are in discussions to provide Mission Alpha-like equipment to astronauts involved in the ‘Gaganyaan’ mission.
- India’s government has approved Brookfield Asset Management Inc.’s proposal to acquire a 252 billion rupees ($3.4 billion) stake in a trust that manages the wireless infrastructure of the nation’s biggest mobile-phone service provider Reliance Jio Infratel Pvt. through Tower Infrastructure Trust.
- The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has set up a three-member committee to review the effective utilisation of the Armed Forces Headquarters Civil Services (AFHQ CS) cadre.
- Jayanti Behera and Deep Grace Ekka received Biju Patnaik Sports Award for outstanding performance in sports and games. Both of them received Rs. 2 lakh cash award each.
- Rajeev Kumar on September 1, 2020 took charge as the new Election Commissioner of India.
- Retired Commodore Hemant Khatri succeeds Rear Admiral L V Sarat Babu (Retd) and assumed charge as the Chairman and Managing director (CMD) of Hindustan Shipyard limited (HSL), Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh.
- Vice Admiral S R Sarma today assumed charge as the Chief of Materiel of the Indian Navy.
- Defence Minister Rajnath Singh launched “Chhavni COVID: Yodha Sanrakshan Yojana” a group life insurance scheme through the Life Insurance Corporation (LIC), for more than 10000 employees working in the 62 military cantonment areas across India.
- Naveen Patnaik, Chief Minister of Odisha, launched two citizen-centric mobile applications Ama Sahar and Swachha Sahar Odisha on the occasion of Local Self Government Day which was observed at the Lok Seva Bhawan over a virtual platform.
- Bollywood filmmaker Karan Johar has announced his first children’s book titled ‘The Big Thoughts of Little Luv’.
- Indian astronomers have discovered one of the farthest Star galaxies in the universe in a landmark achievement.
NEWS IN DETAILS
IMPORTANT DAYS AND THEMES
National Nutrition Week 2020- 1st September to 7th September
- National Nutrition Week (NNW) is an annual nutrition event observed in India during the First week of September from 1st September to 7th September.
- The events of NNW are organised by the Food and Nutrition Board of the Ministry of Women and Child Development (WCD), Government of India to educate the importance and role of nutrition in the human body.
Extra Shots:
Ministry of Women and Child Development:
- Cabinet Minister: Smriti Zubin Irani
- Minister of State: Sushri Debasree Chaudhuri
World Coconut Day observed on 02 September 2020
- World Coconut Day is observed on September 02 every year since 2009.
- It is observed to tell people about the benefits of the coconut fruit.
- The theme of World Coconut Day 2020 is ‘Invest in coconut to save the world’.
BANKING & FINANCE
RBI Announces Steps to Ease Pressure on Liquidity
- The RBI announced a host of steps, including term repo operations totalling Rs 1 lakh crore in mid-September to ease pressure on the liquidity and maintain congenial financial conditions with a view to ensuring sustainable recovery of economic growth.
- The RBI said that in order to reduce the cost of funds, banks that had availed of funds under long-term repo operations (LTROs) may exercise an option of reversing these transactions before maturity.
- The banks may reduce their interest liability by returning funds taken at the repo rate prevailing at that time (5.15 per cent) and availing funds at the current repo rate of 4 per cent.
- The last date for paying the second instalment of advance tax is September 15.
Extra Shots:
RBI
- Governor: Shaktikanta Das Trending
- Headquarters: Mumbai
- Founder: British Raj
- Subsidiaries: Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation, Bharatiya Reserve Bank Note Mudran
Indian Bank announces cut of 5 basis points in MCLR for one-year tenure
- Indian Bank has announced a cut of 5 basis points in its marginal cost of funds-based lending rate (MCLR) for one-year tenure.
- The bank has decided to reduce the MCLR for one-year tenure by 5 basis points to 7.30 per cent effective from September 3, 2020, Indian Bank said in a regulatory filing.
Extra Shots:
Indian Bank
- Headquarters: Chennai
- CEO: Padmaja Chunduru
- Founders: S. Rm. M. Annamalai Chettiar, V. Krishnaswamy Iyer, S. Rm. M. Ramaswami Chettiar
BUSINESS & ECONOMY
European Investment Bank to Invest € 650 Million in Kanpur’s 1st City Metro Line
- The European Investment Bank (EIB) will invest 650 million euro(€) in the construction of Kanpur’s(Uttar Pradesh) 1st city metro line.
- The 32.4 km urban rail line, with 18 elevated and 12 underground stations is EIB’s 2nd biggest operation outside the European Union (EU) till date.
- It is the 2nd metro rail project supported by the EIB in Uttar Pradesh (UP).
Extra Shots:
EIB:
- President: Werner HOYER
- Headquarters: Luxembourg
Real GDP likely to contract by 10.9 per cent in FY21: SBI Ecowrap
- After the country’s economy contracted by a record 23.9 per cent in April-June quarter, real GDP for FY21 is expected to shrink by 10.9 per cent, according to State Bank of India’s research report – Ecowrap.
- It had earlier estimated real gross domestic product (GDP) at (-) 6.8 per cent for the current fiscal.
- The first quarter GDP contraction compares with 3.1 per cent growth in the preceding January-March quarter and 5.2 per cent expansion in the same period a year back.
Extra Shots:
SBI
- Chairperson: Rajnish Kumar
- MD: Ashwani Bhatia
- Headquarters: Mumbai
- Founded: 1 July 1955
NATIONAL CURRENT AFFAIRS
Dept of Fertilizers to observe Swachhta Pakhwada from 1-15th September
- Union Department of Fertilizers, Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers, is observing Swachhta Pakhwada from 1st to 15th September 2020.
- All Public sector undertakings (PSUs) and other Organizations under the Department are participating in the Swachhta Abhiyan.
- Swachhta Pakhwada initiative was launched to bring a fortnight of intense focus on the issues and the practices of Swachhata by engaging the Government of India Ministries/Departments in their jurisdictions.
- The Ministries/ Departments observing Swachhata Pakhwada are monitored closely with the help of the online monitoring system of Swachhata Samiksha.
India to achieve 100 MT coal gasification target by 2030 year
- Government of India is aiming for 100 million tonnes (MT) coal gasification by 2030.
- The announcement was made by Pralhad Joshi, Union Minister of Coal and Mines at a webinar organized by the Ministry of Coal (MoC) in New Delhi.
- To achieve the target, Centre is to invest over Rs.4 lakh crores.
- The aim of the revised target is to boost the production of synthetic natural gas, energy fuel, urea for fertilizers, and the production of other chemicals.
Centre launches pan-India GTAM in electricity to make Indian Power Market go Green
- The Minister of State (IC) Power and New & Renewable Energy & Minister of State (Skill Development and Entrepreneurship), Shri R. K. Singh, launched pan-India Green Term Ahead Market (GTAM) in electricity through video conference in New Delhi on 01 September 2020.
- The GTAM platform is the first Exclusive product for the renewable energy sector in the world and is a step towards Greening the Indian short term power Market.
- The market would bring down the burden on Renewable Energy (RE) rich States and incentivize them to develop RE capacity beyond their own Renewable Purchase Obligations (RPO).
- Green Term Ahead Market contracts will allow additional avenues to the RE generators for the sale of renewable energy; enable Obligated entities to procure renewable power at competitive prices to meet their RPO and provide a platform to environmentally conscious open access consumers and utilities to buy green power.
- This initiative will also help the Government of India to achieve its target of 175 GW RE Capacity by 2022.
Govt. gives nod to 27 integrated cold chain development projects under PM Kisan SAMPADA Yojana
- Government gave its nod to 27 projects today under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan SAMPADA Yojana for development of integrated cold chains and value addition infrastructure in the country.
- The new integrated cold chain projects will generate direct and indirect employment for over 16,000 people and benefit nearly 2,57,000 farmers.
- The projects will help in streamlining the agricultural supply chain and generate direct and indirect employment opportunities in rural areas.
- These 27 new projects will leverage a total investment of Rs 743 crore for the creation of modern, innovative infrastructure and effective cold chain facilities for the food processing sector across various states including Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh.
- 85 Cold Chain Projects have also been considered for financial assistance under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan SAMPADA Yojana.
Coal India to invest over Rs 1.22 lakh crore on 500 projects by 2023-24
- Coal India Ltd (CIL) will invest over 1.22 lakh crore rupees on development of nearly 500 projects related to coal evacuation, infrastructure, project development, exploration and clean coal technologies in the country.
- The investment aims at making India self-reliant in terms of coal and achieve the production target of 1 billion tonnes by 2023-2024.
Extra Shots:
Coal India Ltd (CIL)
- CEO: Anil Kumar Jha
- Headquarters: Kolkata
- Owner: Government of India (70.96%)
- Director: Pramod Agrawal
India plans to release forensic accounting and investigation standards
- Indian government plans on coming up with forensic accounting and investigation standards (FAIS) as it aims at setting the basic quality parameters for conducting investigations.
- A committee has been constituted by The Institute of Chartered Accountant of India (ICAI) to deliberate on FAIS, which can be expected to be framed by the end of 2020.
- Atul Kumar Gupta, President of the Chartered Accountants body informed during a virtual conference.
STATE CURRENT AFFAIRS
India’s first toy cluster to come up in Karnataka
- India’s first toy manufacturing cluster to come up at Koppal, Karnataka, has the potential to create 40,000 jobs in five years and attract over Rs 5,000 crore investment.
- With the eco-system to support toy cluster in place, this 400 acres SEZ will have top-class infra and generate 40,000 jobs in 5 years.
Extra Shots:
Karnataka:
- Statehood Day: 1st November 1956
- Capital: Bengaluru
- Chief Minister: B. S. Yediyurappa
- Governor: Vajubhai Vala
- National Park: Anshi NP, Bandipur NP, Bannerghatta NP, Kudremukh NP, Rajiv Gandhi (Nagarahole) NP.
Seaplane service in Gujarat to start from 31 October
- Seaplane service to provide air connectivity from Sabarmati Riverfront in Ahmedabad to Statue of Unity in Kevadia in Gujarat is scheduled to start from October 31, the birth anniversary of Sardar Patel.
- The service will be operated by Spicejet Airline.
Extra Shots:
Gujarat:
- Capital: Gandhinagar
- Chief Minister: Vijay Rupani
- Governor: Acharya Devvrat
- State formed on: 1 May 1960
- Literacy Rate: 79.31%
- National Park: Vansda NP, Blackbuck NP, Gir Forest NP, Marine NP, Gulf of Kutch
Nagaland to observe month long Rashtriya Poshan Abhiyan
- Nagaland is observing month long Rashtriya Poshan Abhiyan in the State.
- Celebrated in the month of September every year since 2018, Rashtriya Poshan Abhiyan is the Prime Minister’s overreaching scheme for holistic nourishment.
- Poshan Abhiyaan is a multi-ministerial convergence mission to address malnutrition with a targeted approach by 2022.
- It aims to achieve improvement in the status of nutrition of women and children.
Extra Shots:
Nagaland
- Capital: Kohima
- Chief Minister: Neiphiu Rio
- Governor: RN Ravi
UP govt decides to set up exclusive anti-electricity theft police stations in every district
- Uttar Pradesh government has decided to set up exclusive anti-electricity theft police stations in every district of state to address the problem of frequent cases of power theft.
- One police station dedicated to deal with the issue of power theft will be opened in all 75 districts out of which 63 has already started functioning.
- The government has also raised the number of enforcement teams from 33 to 88 to launch a crackdown against those involved in power pilferage.
- As many as 53 teams are already functioning.
Extra Shots:
Uttar Pradesh:
- Statehood Day: January 26, 1950
- Capital: Lucknow
- Chief Minister: Yogi Adityanath
- Governor: Anandiben Patel
- Literacy Rate: 67.68%
- Nation Park: Dudhwa National Park
INTERNATIONAL CURRENT AFFAIRS
India, Japan, Australia agree to launch a resilient supply chain initiative in the Indo-Pacific region
- Australia-India-Japan Economic Ministers’ Joint Statement on Supply Chain Resilience was held on 1st September.
- The virtual meeting comprised of India’s Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal, Australia’s Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment, Senator Simon, and Japan’s Minister of Economy, Trade, and Industry, Kajiyama Hiroshi.
- India-Japan-Australia has agreed to launch an initiative to build a resilient supply chain in the Indo-Pacific region.
- The aim is to create a free and transparent trade & investment environment.
Extra Shots:
Australia (Capital/Currency): Canberra /Australian dollar
- Prime Minister: Scott Morrison
Japan (Capital/Currency): Tokyo/ Japanese yen
- President: Shinzo Abe
SUMMITS AND CONFERENCES
CFI to host first-ever Cycling Summit in 2021
- The Cycling Federation of India (CFI) is all set to host the first-ever Cycling Summit in 2021, with an aim to promote the culture of cycling in the country.
- This one-day summit is designed to promote the culture of cycling and exchange knowledge with budding and professional cyclists.
- The Cycling Summit 2021 will be hosted in Delhi, Mumbai, and Bangalore and is expected to be a unique confluence of cycling enthusiasts, renowned athletes, and businesses from all over the country.
Extra Shots:
Cycling Federation of India
- Founded: 1946
Union Minister Piyush Goyal addresses US-India Strategic Partnership Forum through virtual conference
- Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has invited the US business and industry to work with their Indian counterparts to take the bilateral trade to greater heights.
- Both countries believe in free and fair trade, and the US is India’s largest trading partner.
- The two nations can be the resilient trusted partners in the global value chain.
AGREEMENTS AND MOU SIGNED
India, France discuss to provide Mission Alpha-like equipment for Gaganyaan Mission
- India and France are in discussions to provide Mission Alpha-like equipment to astronauts involved in the ‘Gaganyaan’ mission.
- As per the National Centre for Space Studies (CNES) of France, the discussions are in the final stage.
- Mission Alpha is the name of French Astronaut Thomas Pesquet’s mission wherein he will be sent to International Space Station (ISS) on Crew Dragon spacecraft next year.
Extra Shots:
France (Capital/Currency): Paris/ Euro, CFP franc
- Prime Minister: Jean Castex
- President: Emmanuel Macron
ACQUISITION & MERGER
Brookfield gets govt’s approval for purchase of Reliance telecom tower assets
- India’s government has approved Brookfield Asset Management Inc.’s proposal to acquire a 252 billion rupees ($3.4 billion) stake in a trust that manages the wireless infrastructure of the nation’s biggest mobile-phone service provider Reliance Jio Infratel Pvt. through Tower Infrastructure Trust.
- The investment is in the form of over Rs 105 crore in equity and the remainder as debt.
Extra Shots:
RIL:
- Headquarters: Mumbai, Maharashtra
- Chairman & Managing Director: Mukesh D. Ambani
Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P
- Headquarters: Toronto, Canada
- CEO: Sam Pollock (Managing Partner of Brookfield)
RECENT COMMITTEES IN NEWS
MoD sets up a committee to review the AFHQ CS cadre
- The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has set up a three-member committee to review the effective utilisation of the Armed Forces Headquarters Civil Services (AFHQ CS) cadre.
- This step has been taken so as to enhance the military’s combat potential and also rebalance defence expenditure, by optimising the civil and military administrative appointments in the service headquarters.
- It can help save an expenditure of almost Rs 25,000 crore in defence expenditure over the next five years.
- The committee will be headed by Lt General D B Shekatkar (Retd.).
- The other two members are R Chandrashekhar, a retired AFHQ cadre officer and AN Das from the MoD finance wing.
Extra Shots:
Ministry of Defence
- Minister: Rajnath Singh
- Minister of State: Subhash Bhamre
NATIONAL & INTERNATIONAL AWARDS
Jayanti Bahera, Deep Grace Ekka receive Biju Patnaik Sports Award
- Jayanti Behera and Deep Grace Ekka received Biju Patnaik Sports Award for outstanding performance in sports and games. Both of them received Rs. 2 lakh cash award each.
- Similarly, Biju Patnaik Bravery Award was received by Purnima Giri and Sabita Giri who received cash award of rupees one lakh each, medal and citation.
- Biju Patnaik Sports Award for excellence in coaching went to Satya Ranjan Patnaik.
- Besides Siba Prasad Das received a cash award of Rs.32,50,000 for coaching to sports persons with disability.
- Among others, Padmini Rout, Hupi Majhi, Rajashree Mohapatra, Manisha Merel, Pratyasha Ray also received cash awards.
APPOINTMENTS IN NEWS
Rajiv Kumar took charge as Election Commissioner
- Rajeev Kumar on September 1, 2020 took charge as the new Election Commissioner of India.
- He will be working alongside the Sushil Chandra, the Election Commissioner and Sunil Arora, the Chief Election Commissioner.
- Kumar succeeds Ashok Lavasa, who resigned earlier.
Extra Shots:
Election Commissioner of India
- Formed: 25 January 1950
- Objectives: Constitutional Autonomous Body conducts the elections to the offices of the President and Vice-President of India,Parliament,State Legislative assemblies and Legislative councils
- Jurisdiction: Government of India
- Headquarters: New Delhi
- First executive: Sukumar Sen
- Preceding executive: Om Prakash Rawat
Hemant Khatri assumed charge as CMD of Hindustan Shipyard Limited
- Retired Commodore Hemant Khatri succeeds Rear Admiral L V Sarat Babu (Retd) and assumed charge as the Chairman and Managing director (CMD) of Hindustan Shipyard limited (HSL), Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh.
- Previously he was serving as the Director of Strategic Projects HSL.
Extra Shots:
Hindustan Shipyard limited (HSL)
- Headquarters: Visakhapatnam
- Owner: Government of India
- Founded: 22 June 1941
Vice Admiral S R Sarma assumes charge as Chief of Materiel of the Indian Navy
- Vice Admiral S R Sarma assumed charge as the Chief of Materiel of the Indian Navy.
- Admiral Sarma during his illustrious career spanning over three and a half decades has served onboard Indian Naval ships Vindhyagiri, Rana, Krishna and Mysore in various capacities.
Extra Shots:
Indian Navy
- Vice Chief of the Naval Staff (VCNS): Vice Admiral G. Ashok Kumar, AVSM, VSM
- Deputy Chief of the Naval Staff (DCNS): Vice Admiral M. S. Pawar, AVSM, VSM
- Chief of the Naval Staff (CNS): Admiral Karambir Singh, PVSM, AVSM
DEFENCE CURRENT AFFAIRS
Rajnath Singh launched “Chhavni COVID: Yodha Sanrakshan Yojana”
- Defence Minister Rajnath Singh launched “Chhavni COVID: Yodha Sanrakshan Yojana” a group life insurance scheme through the Life Insurance Corporation (LIC), for more than 10000 employees working in the 62 military cantonment areas across India.
- The scheme will benefit the employees of all the 62 cantonment boards and will provide a cover of Rs.5 lakhs each in the event of any fatal misfortune.
Extra Shots:
Ministry of Defence:
- Union Minister: Rajnath Singh
- Minister of State: Shripad Yesso Naik
LIC:
- Chairman: M R Kumar
- Headquarters: Mumbai, Maharashtra
WEB PORTALS & APPS IN NEWS
Odisha CM launched two Citizen-Centric Mobile app – Ama Sahar And Swachha Sahar Odisha on Local Self Government Day
- Naveen Patnaik, Chief Minister of Odisha, launched two citizen-centric mobile applications Ama Sahar and Swachha Sahar Odisha on the occasion of Local Self Government Day which was observed at the Lok Seva Bhawan over a virtual platform.
- These apps enable the Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) to submit the utilisation certificates over online for the betterment of fiscal management.
Extra Shots:
Odisha:
- Statehood Day: 1st April 1936
- Capital: Bhubaneswar
- Governor: Ganeshi Lal
- Chief Minister: Naveen Patnaik
BOOKS & AUTHORS
Karan Johar pens his first children’s book titled ‘The Big Thoughts of Little Luv’
- Bollywood filmmaker Karan Johar has announced his first children’s book titled ‘The Big Thoughts of Little Luv’.
- The book is inspired by his experience of parenting his twin children Yash and Roohi.
- The picture book looks at how we impose differences between girls and boys as we raise them and how the twins try to understand gender and how we treat boys and girls differently.
- The book will be published by Juggernaut Books.
- Johar became a single father to twins, Yash and Roohi through surrogacy in 2017.
MISCELLANEOUS
Indian astronomers discover one of the farthest Star galaxies in universe
- Indian astronomers have discovered one of the farthest Star galaxies in the universe in a landmark achievement.
- India’s first Multi-Wavelength Space Observatory ‘AstroSat’ has detected extreme-UV light from a galaxy located 9.3 billion light-years away from Earth.
- The galaxy called AUDFs01 was discovered by a team of Astronomers led by Dr Kanak Saha from the Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics, Pune.
