Test: September 2020 Weekly Current Affair - 1 - UPSC MCQ

The Government of India has appointed Kshatrapati Shivaji, a 1986-batch Maharashtra cadre IAS officer, as secretary in the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) from September 1.

Aditya Birla Idea Payments Bank has ceased to be a banking company within the meaning of the Banking Regulation Act, the Reserve Bank said.
The RBI said Westpac Banking Corporation has also ceased to be a banking company.

The European Investment Bank (EIB) will invest €650 million into the construction of Kanpur’s first city metro line, enabling some 3 million people in the city of Kanpur, India, to benefit from green, safe, fast and affordable public transport.
This is the second metro rail project supported by the EIB in Uttar Pradesh, following the €450 million investment in the development of a metro rail system in the city of Lucknow.

Aveek Sarkar, the Editor Emeritus and Vice Chairman of the Ananda Bazar Group of Publications, has been elected Chairman of Press Trust of India, the country’s premier news agency.
Sarkar’s election was ratified by PTI’s Board of Directors at their meeting. He succeeds Vijay Kumar Chopra, Chief Editor of the Punjab Kesari Group of newspapers.

Under Ek Bharat Shresht Bharat, Goa is paired with Jharkhand. Lot of exchange activities are happening on this front.

In a bid to promote the usage of Solar energy, CSIR’s Central Mechanical Engineering Research Institute have developed world’s largest ‘solar tree’ which is installed at its residential complex in Durgapur in West Bengal.

Veteran producer-director Johnny Bakshi passed away after suffering a cardiac arrest at a hospital. He was 82.

Facebook-owned WhatsApp said it has partnered Cyber Peace Foundation (CPF) to create awareness on cyber safety among students.
The partners aim to reach about 15,000 students in five Indian states Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and Maharashtra by the end of this year under the first phase of a pan-India programme.

India’s GM P. Iniyan won the 48th annual world open chess tournament (online) recently. Usually held in Philadelphia, the USA, the tournament was conducted online following classical time control.

A woman was appointed as ambulance driver in Tamil Nadu, claimed to be the first in the country, as Chief Minister K Palaniswami flagged off 118 as part of an initiative to strengthen emergency services in the state.
M Veeralakshmi was appointed driver of one of the newly launched ‘108’ ambulances and it is a ‘first’ in the country.

India ranked in the top 50 countries for the first time in the Global Innovation Index, which was released recently. India jumped four positions to rank at 48th since 2019.
The index compiled by World Intellectual Property Index (WIPO), Cornell University and INSEAD Business School presented the latest global trends and annual innovation ranking for 131 countries.
Switzerland has topped the index.

The Central government has given approval for setting up a Medical college in Mon district of Nagaland.
This will be the second medical college in the state, after the Medical College in Kohima which is now under construction.

Giving a push to the ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ call by the Prime Minister, IIT Bombay has launched an alternative to Camscanner, a Chinese app mainly used for scanning documents, that was banned by the Government of India.
The new app launched by IIT Bombay students is called as AIR SCANNER and is available free of cost.

September 2 is observed as World Coconut Day. The main objective of celebrating this day is to create awareness across the globe about the importance of the coconut and its benefits.
The theme of World Coconut Day 2020 this year is – “Invest in Coconut to save the world”.

Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has notified draft notification to seek comments and suggestions from the stakeholders on making FASTag mandatory for old vehicles sold before 1st December, 2017.
The amended provision in Central Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989 is proposed to be put in force with effect from 1st January 2021.
It is also proposed to make having a valid FASTag mandatory while getting a new Third Party Insurance through an amendment wherein the details of FASTag ID will be captured. This is proposed to be put in force from 1st of April next year.

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.
The CFI said that it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with a marketing exploration firm, Contarctica, for the summit.
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.

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 Govt has given one year extension up to September 1, 2021 to LC Goyal as Chairman and Managing Director, India Trade Promotion Organisation.

The book titled “Breaking The Cocoon @ 40” authored by Radha Nair has been released recently.
“Breaking The Cocoon @ 40” is a delightful collection of select events from her life, which also holds a mirror to the time the incidents are set in.

The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) has given its approval for the appointment of S Krishnan as Managing Director and CEO of Punjab & Sind Bank.
He will replace S Harishankar, the current MD and CEO of Punjab & Sind Bank.

Union Agriculture and Farmers Welfare ministry has approved four crore rupees for up-gradation of Soil Testing labs across the Kashmir valley.

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

The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the appointment of the current chairman of the Railway Board VK Yadav as the CEO, making him the first to hold such a post in the railway’s history.

To further strengthen its drive to preserve and maintain the environment in Punjab and make people stakeholders in the process, the State Forest Department launched ‘I Rakhwali’ application to help netizens to become ‘Greenery Saviours’.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh launched a life insurance scheme that will provide a cover of Rs five lakhs each to more than 10,000 employees working in cantonment areas across India.
‘Chhavni Covid: Yodha Sanrakshan Yojana’, a group life insurance scheme through the Life Insurance Corporation will benefit permanent and contractual employees, including doctors, paramedics and sanitation staff.