Daily GK Updates - 1st Aug, 2020

 

NATIONAL UPDATES:

 

1. SIDBI partners with TransUnion CIBIL to launch financial knowledge platform ‘MSMESaksham’: The Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) has partnered with TransUnion CIBIL to launch a comprehensive financial education and knowledge platform for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) named MSMESaksham. The portal MSMESaksham, will act as a one-stop knowledge platform to guide MSMEs in seeking seamless and quick access to finance and will also support them in managing their credit obligations. MSMESaksham will provide MSMEs quick access to finance and empower them by making them financially aware and loan-ready so that timely and affordable financial support is realised. The portal will help MSMEs across their credit lifecycle, ranging from availing credit to start and grow their businesses, manage credit lines, sustain and build structural strength of the business as well as ensuring timely closures and renewals of credit facilities.

Note: Chairman of Small Industries Development Bank of India: Mohammad Mustafa.

 

2. Green-Ag project launched in Mizoram: Green-Ag, a project funded by Global Environment Facility (GEF), which aims to catalyze sustainable transformation of Indian agriculture sector without compromising the country’s food security and farmers’ income, has been launched in Mizoram. Mizoram is among five Indian states where the project will be implemented. The other four states are Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Rajasthan and Uttarakhand. In Mizoram, the project will be implemented in Dampa Tiger Reserve in west Mizorams Mamit district and Thorangtlang Wildlife Sanctuary in Lunglei district in the southern part of the state covering more than 30 villages. The project seeks to bring transformative change in India’s agricultural sector for achieving national and global environmental benefits and conservation of critical biodiversity and forest landscapes.

 

3. Centre extends deadline for filing income tax returns till September 30: The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has further extended the deadline for filing income tax returns for the fiscal 2018-19 by two months till 30 September 2020. Earlier, the last date was 31 July 2020. This extension has been given in view of the constraints due to the Covid pandemic & to further ease compliances for taxpayer. It is the third extension given by the government for taxpayers to file both original and revised tax returns for 2018-19 fiscal. Earlier, in March 2020, the due date was extended from March 31 to June 30. Then again in June 2020, the date was extended by a month till July 31, 2020.

 

4. Bombay Flying Club becomes India’s first DGCA-approved drone training school: The Bombay Flying Club (BFC) in Mumbai has become the first Director-General of Civil Aviation (DGCA)-approved drone training school in India. The BFC club’s will now be eligible for conducting remote pilot training for remotely piloted aircraft systems. The organisation’s status as a drone training school will be valid for a period of one year from the date of issue of the letter, or until the Digital Sky Platform goes live, whichever is earlier.

 

5. Commerce Minister inaugurates CII National Digital conference: Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal inaugurated the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) National Digital conference on Ease of Doing Business for Atmanirbhar Bharat. The conference highlighted a single-window system for industrial approvals which will soon be in place. Highlights: Under this the industry and government will work as partners and urged the industry to play a proactive role in helping the government identify the tax evaders and violators; India's service sector to serve global clients was discussed; India’s exports are almost 88% of the last year’s level while imports are almost 75% of the same period in 2019; The government of India is working with States for easier labour law, the soft launch of land bank portal, single-window clearance for investments; Merchandise Export from India Scheme (MEIS) aims to find a way that does not impact exports; The Ministry aims to promote finance for investments in the country as it has already identified 20 industrial sectors for giving focused push.

Note: Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) President: Uday Kotak; CII HQs: Delhi

 

6. SNBNCBS develops ‘AJO-Neo’ device for bilirubin level screening: S. N. Bose National Centre for Basic Sciences (SNBNCBS), Kolkata, an autonomous research Institute under the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India has developed “AJO-Neo”, a No-touch and Painless device for non-invasive screening of bilirubin level in new-borns. SNBNCBS hosted a Technical Research Centres (TRC) funded by DST and in scientific collaboration with Nil-Ratan Sircar (NRS) Medical College and Hospital, Kolkata.

AJO-Neo: AJO-Neo is based on non-contact and non-invasive spectrometry-based techniques for the measurement of neonatal bilirubin level as an alternative of total serum bilirubin (TSB) test without limitations of other available bilirubin meters; The device is reliable in measuring bilirubin levels in preterm, and term neonates irrespective of gestational or postnatal age, sex, risk factors, feeding behavior, or skin color; The device is found to deliver an almost instantaneous report (about 10 seconds) to a concerned doctor, who is sitting 10,000 km away from the point of care; The new methods has showed improved output when compared to the conventional “blood test” method, which takes more than 4 hours to generate the report.

 

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

 

1. NASA Launches Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover Mission to seek signs of ancient life: On 30 July 2020, the NASA launched its boldest-ever Mars 2020 Perseverance rover mission. Purpose: Search for signs of ancient life on the planet, collect and store a set of rock and soil samples that could be returned to Earth in the future and deploy a miniature helicopter to benefit future robotic and human exploration of Mars. Launch Location: The car size Perseverance rover was launched atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida; Landing: The rover will land on the Red Planet on February 18, 2021; Landing Site: The landing will take place on 28-mile-wide (45 kilometers) Jezero Crater, Mars; Mission Duration: It will spend at least one Mars year (around two Earth years (687 days)), exploring the landing site region; Technology Demo: Perseverance is accompanied by a 4-foot-long (1.8 kilograms) helicopter called Ingenuity, making the journey to Mars on the rover’s belly. Ingenuity is going to be a tech demonstrator for this particular mission, and attempt a few short flights.

Note: Administrator of National Aeronautics and Space Administration: Jim Bridenstine; Headquarters of NASA: Washington D.C., United States.

 

2. Ivory Coast Defence Minister Hamed Bakayoko becomes new Prime Minister: Hamed Bakayoko, the Defence Minister of Ivory Coast, has been appointed as the Prime Minister of the country on 30 July 2020. However, he will continue to serve his defence role also. The 55-year-old Bakayoko had been acting as the interim prime minister of the country since the sudden death of Amadou Gon Coulibaly on July 8. He has been holding the defence portfolio since 2017, after serving as interior minister from 2011. Bakayoko was a founding member of the Rally of the Republicans (RDR) party and was also in charge of the party’s daily newspaper, Le Patriote.

Note: President of Ivory Coast: Alassane Ouattara; Capital: Yamoussoukro.

 

3. Reliance Power & JERA inks loan agreement for Bangladesh’s power plant: Reliance Power and Japanese energy major JERA have signed an agreement with a group of banks for their new gas-fired thermal power generation project in Bangladesh. The signed agreement will provide full finance of about $642 million (approx Rs 4,798 crore) for a new 745 MW natural gas combined-cycle power project in Meghnaghat in Bangladesh. This is one of the largest funding tie-ups for a project in Bangladesh’s power sector. With this agreement, Reliance Power and JERA will focus on full-scale construction and aims to work steadily towards achieving commercial operation in 2022. The electricity generated from the 745 MW natural gas combined-cycle power project will be sold under a long-term power purchase agreement with the Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB).

Note: Chairman of Reliance Power: Anil Ambani.

Prime Minister of Bangladesh: Sheikh Hasina; Capital: Dhaka; Currency: Taka.

 

4. World Breastfeeding Week 2020: 1-7 August: The World Breastfeeding Week is marked every year in the first week of August, between 1 to 7 August to raise awareness on the importance of breastfeeding for mothers and infants. The theme of World Breastfeeding Week 2020 is “Support breastfeeding for a healthier planet”. The annual week is organized by WABA, WHO and UNICEF since 1991.

 

OTHER UPDATES:

 

SPORTS

 

1. Domestic allrounder Rajat Bhatia announces retirement: Veteran Indian domestic allrounder, Rajat Bhatia has announced his retirement from all forms of cricket. He started his career with Tamil Nadu in 1999-2000 but played most of his cricket for Delhi. Bhatia played 112 first-class games, scoring 6482 runs at an average of 49.10 and taking 137 wickets at a shade under 28. He also played 119 List A games and 146 T20s. He last played a First-Class match in 2019 and scored 700 runs in the 2018-19 season in Ranji Trophy. Bhatia has also been a regular in the IPL having played for Delhi Daredevils, Rajasthan Royals, Kolkata Knight Riders and Rising Pune Supergiants.

 

BANKING AND FINANCE

 

1. Axis Bank launches AI-powered conversational voice BOT for IVR: Private sector lender Axis Bank unveiled as Automated Voice Assistant ‘AXAA’, which is an artificial intelligence-powered conversational voice BOT. AXAA operates like a humanoid and has power to change the paradigm of customer experience from conventional Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system to a new era of call steering and precise response with very high degree of accuracy and consistency. It can converse in English, Hindi and Hinglish and is capable of handling one lakh customer queries and requests per day

 

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY

 

1. Reliance overtakes Exxon to become world’s No. 2 energy company: Reliance Industries Ltd., controlled by Asia’s richest man, toppled ExxonMobil Corp. to become the world’s largest energy company after Saudi Aramco, as investors piled into the conglomerate lured by the Indian firm’s digital and retail forays. Reliance, which manages the biggest refinery complex, gained 4.3% in Mumbai adding $8 billion to take its market value to $189 billion, while Exxon Mobil erased about $1 billion. Aramco with a market capitalization of $1.76 trillion is the world’s biggest energy company.

 

AWARDS AND HONOURS

 

1. Ministry of Tribal Affairs receives SKOCH Gold Award: SKOCH Gold Award has been awarded to the Ministry of Tribal Affairs (MoTA) for its “Empowerment of Tribals through IT enabled Scholarship Schemes” project. The project was launched to show Government of India’s commitment to realize the dreams of Digital India and bringing transparency as well as ease in the delivery of services. MoTA integrated the 5 Scholarship Schemes with DBT Portal under the guidance of DBT Mission in order to align with the larger vision of ‘Digital India’. The 66th SKOCH 2020 Competition was held with name “INDIA RESPONDS TO COVID THROUGH DIGITAL GOVERNANCE”. The Ministry of Tribal Affairs (MoTA) participated in the DIGITAL INDIA & E-GOVERNANCE-2020 Competition.

Note: Union Minister for Tribal Affairs: Arjun Munda.

 

OBITUARIES

 

1. Former Taiwanese President Lee Teng-hui passes away: Former Taiwanese President Lee Teng-hui (97-years) passed away due to multiple organ failure in Taipei. He served as president of Taiwan from 1988 to 2000. Lee Teng-hui became president in 1988 after the demise of predecessor, Chiang Ching-kuo. Lee also led constitutional changes towards a democratic political layout, including direct presidential elections. He also served as the mayor of Taipei (1978-81) and the provincial governor of Taiwan (1981-84). Lee was nicknamed “Mr. Democracy” because, as the president of Taiwan, Lee Teng-hui led its transformation from an island in the grip of authoritarian rule to one of Asia’s most vibrant and prosperous democracies.

Note: President of Taiwan: Tsai Ing-wen.

 

2. Former Samajwadi Party leader and Rajya Sabha MP Amar Singh passes away: Former Samajwadi Party leader and sitting Rajya Sabha MP Amar Singh has passed away in Singapore, where he was undergoing kidney transplant treatment.  He was 64. Amar Singh, who hailed from Aligarh district of Uttar Pradesh, was elected to the Rajya Sabha for the first time from Uttar Pradesh in 1996 and got re-elected in 2003. Singh was a key leader in the Samajwadi Party in 2008, however, was expelled from the Samajwadi Party in February 2010 for alleged anti-party activities. In 2016, Mr. Singh elected to Rajya Sabha from Uttar Pradesh as an independent member by the support of Samajwadi Party.