Daily GK Updates - 31st July, 2020

 

NATIONAL UPDATES:

 

1. Government sets up Central Consumer Protection Authority to promote, protect and enforce the rights of consumers: The government has set up the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA), under Consumer Protection Act, 2019 with the objective to promote, protect and enforce the rights of consumers. The CCPA has been set up under the section 10 of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019, which came into force on 20 July, 2020. Smt. Nidhi Khare, the Additional Secretary in the Department of Consumer Affairs, has been appointed as the Chief Commissioner of CCPA. The CCPA will begin its functioning in the premises of Indian Institute of Public Administration (IIPA). Objective of Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA):

(1) Promote, protect and enforce the rights of consumers as a class.

(2) Conduct investigations into violation of consumer rights and institute complaints / prosecution, order recall of unsafe goods and services, order discontinuation of unfair trade practices and misleading advertisements,

(3) Impose penalties on manufacturers/endorsers/publishers of misleading advertisements among other things.

 

2. Atal Innovation Mission launches ‘AIM-iCREST’, in partnership with Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Wadhwani Foundation: NITI Aayog’s Atal Innovation Mission (AIM), has launched ‘AIM-iCREST’, a first of its kind initiative, for advancing innovation to enable the incubation ecosystem, at scale in India. AIM iCREST is an Incubator Capabilities enhancement program for a Robust Ecosystem focused on creating high performing Startups. AIM has collaborated with Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Wadhwani Foundation, which will lend credible support and expertise in the entrepreneurship and innovation space. The AIM iCREST initiative will act as a growth hack for AIM’s Atal and Established incubators across the country. Under the initiative, the AIM’s incubators are set to be upscaled and provided requisite support to foster the incubation enterprise economy that will help them to significantly enhance their performance. This will enhance innovation at scale in India along with global expertise and best practices. The program will provide training to entrepreneurs, through technology driven processes and platforms.

 

3. Hardik Satishchandra Shah Appointed as Personal Secretary to PM Modi: Hardik Satishchandra Shah, a 2010 batch IAS officer from Gujarat cadre has been appointed as the Private Secretary (PS) to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Shah has been appointed on co-terminus basis. He will take over from Rajeev Topno. Topno, a 1996 batch IAS officer, has been appointed as senior advisor to the World Bank Executive Director in June, 2020 and is expected to assume his new assignment after 15 August, 2020. Currently, Hardik Satishchandra Shah is serving as deputy secretary in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO). Before moving to the PMO last year, he worked as the PS to Environment, Forest and Climate Change Minister Prakash Javadekar.

 

4. DIAT develops ‘Aashray’ to combat COVID-19: Defence Institute of Advanced Technology (DIAT) has developed ‘Aashray’, a medical bed isolation system to combat COVID-19 by preventing or minimising the spread of the virus. This medical bed isolation system developed by Defence Institute of Advanced Technology, (DIAT) is a low cost, reusable solution to maintain proper isolation of COVID-19 patients by creating a suction or negative pressure near exhale, further filtering and disinfecting the aerosol. As per prototype manufacturer, the cost of the setup for a unit of 10 beds is Rs 1 lakh approximately and for home, the quarantine will be around Rs 15,000 for a single bed. The bed isolation system envelopes are made up of specialised material and manufacturing process with transparent and translucent supported on medical grade materials structure.

Note: Vice-Chancellor of DIAT: CP Ramnarayanan; Headquarters of DIAT: Pune, Maharashtra.

 

5. Chhattisgarh’s Bijapur tops Niti’s aspirational districts ranking: Bijapur district in Chhattisgarh has topped the list of aspirational districts in Overall Delta Ranking by government think-tank Niti Aayog for the February-June 2020 period. Ri-Bhoi (Meghalaya) and Bahraich (Uttar Pradesh) have been placed at the second and third positions. The delta rankings took into account incremental progress made by over 112 aspirational districts across six developmental areas during February-June this year. Health and nutrition, education, agriculture and water resources, financial inclusion, skill development and basic infrastructure were the development areas that were taken into consideration for the ranking.

Aspirational districts programme:  The aspirational district’s programme, launched in January 2018, aims to transform districts that have shown relatively lesser progress in key social areas and have emerged as pockets of under-development.

Note: Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of NITI Aayog: Amitabh Kant.

 

6. First helicopter service by Pawan Hans in Uttarakhand flagged off: Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri flagged off the first helicopter service by Pawan Hans in Uttarakhand under the UDAN-RCS scheme. The launch of the heli service and opening of these new routes will bring people of the state closer and support tourism in the region. This service will enable connectivity between Dehradun, New Tehri, Srinagar and Gauchar. Commencement of the new heli services will enhance the aerial connectivity between hilly regions in Uttarakhand and bring down the average travel time to 20-25 minutes. This will also assist the Chaar Dhaam Yatra pilgrims. Pawan Hans Ltd. will operate thrice-weekly helicopter services on this route. Two more networks connecting Dehradun to Ramnagar, Pantnagar, Nainital, Almora, Pithoragarh, and Dehradun to Mussoorie will also be operationalized soon by Pawan Hans Ltd. A total of 274 UDAN routes have been operationalized so far connecting 45 airports and 3 heliports since the launch of the first UDAN flight in April 2017 by Prime Minister from Shimla to Delhi.

 

7. Inaugural Muslim Women’s Rights Day observed on 31 July 2020: In India, the first ever “Muslim Women’s Rights Day” was celebrated across the nation on 31 July 2020, to commemorate the first anniversary of the law against instant triple talaq. It was on 31 July 2019, that the triple talaq bill got the Presidential nod. The law is formally called the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Act, 2019. It prohibits the practice of instant divorce by Muslim men and any violation of the law is punishable by jail term of up to three years.

 

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

 

1. Cabinet approves MoU between India and Zimbabwe on Traditional Medicine: The Union Cabinet gave ex-post facto approval to Memorandum of Understanding signed between India and Zimbabwe on Cooperation in the field of Traditional Systems of Medicine and Homeopathy. The MoU was signed on 3rd November, 2018. It will provide a frame work for the cooperation between the two countries for the promotion of traditional systems of medicine and homeopathy and will mutually benefit the two countries in the field of Traditional Medicine. The main objective of the MoU is to strengthen, promote and develop co-operation in the field of traditional systems of medicine between the two countries on the basis of equality and mutual benefit.

 

2. Russia chaired 6th BRICS Environment Ministers’ Meeting: The 6th edition of the BRICS Environment Ministers’ Meeting was held on 30 July 2020 through a video conference. The conference was held under the presidency of Russia. The Environment Ministers of the Federative Republic of Brazil, the Russian Federation, the Republic of India, the People’s Republic of China and the Republic of South Africa participated in the meeting held via the video conference. Union Environment Minister, Shri Prakash Javadekar represented India in the BRICS Environment Ministers’ Meet. During the meet, the minister highlighted the efforts made by India in controlling Air pollution such as the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) which was launched in 2019. Now India will take over the BRICS Presidency in 2021.

Note: President of Russia: Vladimir Putin; Capital of Russia: Moscow; Currency: Russian Ruble.

 

3. World Ranger Day: 31st July: The World Ranger Day is celebrated every year on 31 July. Purpose: Commemorate the Rangers killed or injured while on duty and to celebrate the work that Rangers do to protect the world’s natural and cultural heritage. A Ranger is a person tasked with preserving and protecting parklands and natural protected areas. A Ranger typically refers to a forest ranger or a park ranger. It was on this day in 1992 that International Ranger Federation (IRF) was founded. The first World Ranger Day was observed in 2007, on the occasion of the 15th anniversary IRF.

 

OTHER UPDATES:

 

SPORTS

 

1. Harikrishna finishes 2nd at Biel Chess Festival: Indian Grandmaster, P Harikrishna has finished second in the rapid section of the 53rd Biel International Chess Festival in Switzerland. The World No. 26 scored 10 points, two less than Radoslaw Wojtaszek of Poland, who finished on top. Earlier, the Indian GM had finished on top in the ACCENTUS Chess960 tournament, with 5.5 points.

About Biel International Chess Festival: The Biel Chess Festival, the first major event to be played over the board amid the COVID-19 pandemic, is being organised by adhering to all health protocols. At the chessboard, the distance is increased by having two tables between the players. All pieces, boards and chess clocks are cleaned after each game. Also, spectators are not allowed at the venue.

 

BANKING AND FINANCE

 

1. Rating Agency ICRA appoints N. Sivaraman as MD and Group CEO: The board of directors of Indian credit rating agency ICRA Ltd has appointed N Sivaraman as the Managing Director & CEO of the Company and CEO of ICRA Group for a period of three years with effect from August 10, 2020. He will replace Naresh Takkar, whose service was terminated in August 2019 and the post was lying vacant since last one year. Chief Financial Officer Vipul Agarwal was serving as the interim CEO of the company since then. Prior to this, Sivaraman was serving as the MD & CEO of L&T Finance Holdings & IL&FS.

Note: ICRA Headquarters: Gurgaon, Haryana; ICRA Non-Executive Chairman and Director: Arun Duggal.

 

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY

 

1. MobiKwik launches personal UPI payment link mpay.me: Digital wallet company MobiKwik has launched ‘mpay.me’, a UPI-powered payment link service, that will enable users to send and receive money from any UPI payment app. Through mpay.me, users and merchants can set up their own mini personal payment link using their mobile number. This single link can then be shared anywhere with anyone over chat, SMS, email, etc to collect or send payments instantly. This means that using this link, payments can be made through any UPI app like MobiKwik, GooglePay, PhonePe, Paytm. This will simplify the payment process in case where a sender and a receiver are on different UPI apps. It will work seamlessly on mobile as well as desktop.

Note: Mobikwik CEO: Bipin Preet Singh; Mobikwik Headquarters location: Gurugram.

 

OBITUARIES

 

1. Padma Shri winning Folk musician Sonam Tshering Lepcha passes away: Folk musician and Padma Shri awardee Sonam Tshering Lepcha passed away due to old age ailments. He was 92.Sonam Tshering Lepcha was born in Kalimpong, West Bengal. He started his career as a soldier and travelled to Sikkim to complete a wide range of Indian folk and traditional Lepcha songs due to his inclination toward the culture. He had spent much of his time in Sikkim where he played pivot role in the revival of Lepcha culture, which is an indigenous one in Sikkim. He was awarded the Padma Shri for his contribution in the field of folk music.

 

2. Malayalam actor Anil Murali passes away: Famous Malayalam actor Anil Murali has passed away due to liver-related ailments. He was 56. He made his silver screen debut with Kanyakumariyil Oru Kavitha in 1993. He went on to star in over 200 movies across Malayalam, Tamil and Telugu film industries.