Test: August 2020 Weekly Current Affair - 3 - UPSC MCQ

The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) formed a 5-member panel headed Captain S S Chahar to investigate the circumstances of the Air India Express Dubai-Calicut flight IX 1344Crash at the Kozhikode airport, Kerala on 7th August 2020. The 5-member team will probe and determine the cause and contributory factors that led to the accident. The team will also make recommendations to avoid similar accidents in the future. Captain S S Chahar, the in charge of the investigation will submit his reports within next 5 months.

The 584th meeting of the Central Board of Reserve of Board(RBI) under the Chairmanship of Governor Shaktikanta Das approved the transfer of Rs 57,128 crore in surplus as dividend to the Central government for the accounting year 2019-20. The board decided to maintain the Contingency Risk Buffer at 5.5%.

Team of researchers of Indian Institute of Science (IISc) Bengaluru, Karnataka and Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) developed a sustainable process for making brick-like structures named “Space Bricks” on the surface of the moon. The process uses the lunar soil, bacteria and guar beans to make the space brick. The process uses the Urea – sourced from human urine and lunar soil as the raw materials for the construction on the lunar surface which reduces the overall expenditure.

Former Indian cricketer and Uttar Pradesh (UP) Cabinet Minister of Sainik Welfare, Home Guards, Prantiya Rakshak Dal and Civil Security Chetan Chauhan (Full Name- Chetan Pratap Singh Chauhan) passed away at 73 in Medanta hospital, Gurugram, Haryana due to COVID-19. He belongs to Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). He was honoured with the Arjuna award in 1981. He was born on July 21, 1947 in Bareilly, UP.
Sarabhai’s 100th birth century was observed on 12th of August, 2020.

A book titled “A Bend in Time: Writings by Children on the COVID 19 Pandemic” was released in July 2020, the introduction of which is written by award-winning children’s author Bijal Vachharajani. The book is published by Talking Cub (children’s imprint of Speaking Tiger). Bijal Vachharajani is the winner of the AutHer Children’s Book Award 2020 and also named in the Parag Honour List 2020 of TATA Groups.

On the final day of Atma Nirbhar Week celebration between August 7-14, 2020 of the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and to boost Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan (self-reliant India movement), Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh virtually launched Department of Defence Production (DDP) portal SRIJAN as a part of “opportunities for Make in India in Defence”. This portal provides information about defence equipment and items which are being imported currently or are going to be imported by the Defence Public Sector Undertakings (DPSUs)/Ordnance Factory Board (OFB)/ Service Headquarters (SHQs) so that they can be taken up for indigenisation by Indian companies that can design, develop and manufacture as per their capability or through joint venture with original equipment manufacturers (OEMs).

Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) approved the renaming of Manduadih Railway Station in Uttar Pradesh (UP) as ‘Banaras’. In 2019, Former Union Minister Manoj Sinha had written to UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath requesting the change in name of the Manduadih Railway Station. Manduadih is a place in Varanasi situated about four kilometres from Varanasi Cantonment Station.

Partial Credit Guarantee Scheme (PCGS) 2.0 which was launched on May 20, 2020 as a part of Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan has been extended by three months i.e. till November 11, 2020 in order to widen the coverage to include a larger number of non-banking financial companies (NBFCs), housing finance companies (HFCs) and microfinance institutions (MFIs) With regard to portfolio level, the maximum headroom permissible for purchase of bonds and CPs (Commercial paper), rated AA/AA-, by PSBs under the Scheme is also extended to 50% from the earlier 25% (i.e. Rs 11,250 crore).

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, and Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the United Arab Emirates, have agreed for the Israel–United Arab Emirates peace agreement, or the Abraham Accord to establish full diplomatic ties. In this regard, Israeli will halt further annexation of Palestinian lands. This announcement was made by the United States (US) President Donald John Trump, who acted as mediator of this agreement. With this, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) became the first Gulf Arab state and only the third Arab nation after Egypt and Jordan to have active diplomatic ties to Israel.

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy launched the digital payment services through Unified Payments Interface (UPI) in 15, 004 village and ward secretariats through video conference. The Government of Andhra Pradesh has entered into a tie-up with National Payment Corporation of India (NPCI) and Canara Bank for this digitalisation process.

Ram Nath Kovind, President of India appointed Satya Pal Malik, Goa Governor as the Governor of Meghalaya. Meanwhile, Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari was given the additional charge as Governor of Goa. Satya Pal Malik replaced Tathagata Roy who completed his 5-year term by serving as governor of Tripura for 3 years and remaining in Meghalaya. The appointments will be effective from the dates they assume charge of their respective offices.

Pandit Jasraj, an Indian classical vocalist, belonging to the Mewati gharana (a musical apprenticeship tribe of Hindustani classical music) passed away at 90 in his home in New Jersey, New York, United States(U.S.) due to cardiac arrest. He was born on January 28, 1930 in Pili Mandori, a village in the Hisar district of Haryana. He is a recipient of the Padma Shri (1975), Padma Bhushan (1990) and Padma Vibhushan (2000).

Dr Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister of Health & Family Welfare; Science & Technology and Earth Sciences virtually addressed the inaugural session of the two-day long CII Public Health Conference, where he inaugurated “India Healthcare Week” with the theme “Redefining Healthcare Ecosystem” from 17th – 21st August 2020. The week has been initiated by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in partnership with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) and the Ministry of AYUSH (Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy).

The International Labour Organization (ILO) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) released the joint report titled “Tackling the Covid-19 youth employment crisis in Asia and the Pacific”, which stated that due to the COVID-19 pandemic, around 41 lakh youths have lost their jobs in India.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a USD 1 billion (about Rs 7,485 crore) loan to construct the modern, high-speed 82-kilometer Delhi – Meerut, Uttar Pradesh Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS) in India, a first of its kind in India. The finance of the Delhi- Meerut RRTS project will be given in 4 tranches between August 2020 and May 2025. The NCR Transport Corporation (NCRTC) will execute the project.

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) released the “Framework for authorisation of Pan-India Umbrella Entity for Retail Payments” on the lines of the feedback received on the “draft framework for authorisation of a Pan-India New Umbrella Entity for Retail Payment Systems” which was placed on Reserve Bank’s website on February 10, 2020 for public comments. The Board for Regulation and Supervision of Payment and Settlement Systems (BPSS), will be the final authority to issue authorisation for setting up umbrella entity / entities for retail payments comprising of Automated Teller Machines (ATMs), White Label PoS (point of sale system), Aadhaar-based payments and remittance. The minimum paid-up capital of the umbrella entity should be Rs 500 crore. All entities eligible to apply as promoters of the umbrella entity should be owned and controlled by resident Indian citizens under the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 (FEMA).

Luis Rodolfo Abinader Corona has been sworn in as the 54th President of Dominican Republic. Luis Rodolfo Abinader is a businessman who has never held any other elected office. He succeeds Danilo Medina of Liberation Party. The capital and currency of Dominican Republic are Santo Domingo & Dominican Peso respectively.

Vice-President of India, Muppavarapu Venkaiah Naidu, e-released the Atal Ranking of Institutions on Innovation Achievements (ARIIA) 2020 from New Delhi. He was the chief of the virtual ceremony while Union Minister of Education, Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ and Minister of State (MoS) for Education Sanjay Shamrao Dhotre were the Guest of Honour. Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras topped the category of Institute of National Importance while Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT), Khordha (Odisha) topped the category of Private or Self-Financed Universities.

State of Punjab has secured first rank in the list of best performing states in operationalisation of Health and Wellness Centers (HWCs) released by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare(MoHFW), Government of India.

Reliance Retail Ventures Ltd (RRVL), a subsidiary of Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) has acquired 60% equity stake in Vitalic Health Pvt Ltd(Vitalic) and 100% direct equity ownership of its subsidiaries namely Tresara Health Private Limited, Netmeds MarketPlace Limited and Dadha Pharma Distribution Pvt Limited (collectively known as Netmeds) for a cash consideration of around Rs 620 crore (USD 83.08 million). The deal values Netmeds around Rs 1,000 crore. RRVL’s investment is aligned with its commitment to provide digital access to everyone in India.

The Union Cabinet has approved the proposal to set up the National Recruitment Agency (NRA) that will conduct a Common Eligibility Test (CET) for non-gazetted posts (Group B and C) of Staff Selection Commission (SSC), the Railway Recruitment Boards (RRBs) and the Institute of Banking Service Personnel (IBPS).  Candidates who qualify CET can apply to any recruitment agencies for higher level of examination.  Therefore, CET will be a first level test (preliminary) to shortlist candidates which will be held twice a year with score validity of three years. NRA will be a Society registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860.

The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) – National Centre for Disease Informatics & Research (NCDIR), Bengaluru released a new Report of National Cancer Registry Programme 2020. The report estimates that cancer in India will rise by 25% in 2020 and may rise 12% from the 1392179 cases in 2020 to 1569793 cases in 2025 and tobacco related cancers are estimated to constitute around 27% of all cancers.

The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has launched a wholly-owned subsidiary, NPCI International Payments Limited (NIPL) to internationalize (or export to foreign markets) NPCI’s indigenously developed offerings and technological acumen, i.e. real-time payment system, Unified Payments Interface (UPI) and card payment network, RuPay along with a few more offerings of NPCI. It is also responsible to co-create payment technologies with other countries. NPCI has appointed Ritesh Shukla as Chief Executive Officer(CEO) of NIPL.

Iran (officially the Islamic Republic of Iran) has inaugurated a locally made surface-to-surface ballistic missile, called Martyr Qassem Soleimani, which has a range of 1,400 kilometers-km (870-mile) and a new cruise missile, called Martyr Abu Mahdi which has a range of over 1000 km(620-mile).

In a major boost for Make in India, the first ever Pinaka rockets fully manufactured by the private sector company “Economic Explosives Ltd (EEL)” have been successfully test fired by the army at a firing range in Pokhran, Rajasthan. Six Pinaka rockets were test fired as part of the final developmental trials and are the first munition of its kind made by the private sector in India. These rockets have been manufactured on the lines of the transfer of technology (ToT) agreement between Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and private sector, five years ago. With the entry of private sector, the single source dependency on Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) will be reduced.