NATIONAL UPDATES:
1.
Lok Sabha passes bill to cut salaries of MPs by 30%: The Lok Sabha has
passed the Salary, Allowances and Pension of Members of Parliament (Amendment)
Bill, 2020 on 15 September 2020. The bill seeks to cut salaries of all Members
of Parliaments (MPs) by 30 per cent for a period of one year commencing April 1,
2020, to meet the urgent financial need arising out COVID-19 pandemic. The
Salary, Allowances and Pension of Members of Parliament (Amendment) Bill, 2020
will replace the Salary, Allowances and Pension of Members of Parliament
(Amendment) Ordinance, 2020. This ordinance was cleared by the Union Cabinet on
April 6, 2020.
2. PM
Modi inaugurates & lays foundation stones for seven projects related to
urban infrastructure worth Rs 541 cr in Bihar: Prime Minister
Narendra Modi inaugurated and laid the foundation stones for seven projects
related to urban infrastructure in Bihar through video conferencing on 15
September 2020. The overall cost of these seven projects is Rs. 541 crore. Of
the total projects, four projects are related to water supply, two to sewerage
treatment and one to riverfront development. These projects have been launched
under ‘Namami Gange’ Yojana and ‘AMRUT’ Yojana. These projects will be
implemented by BUIDCO under Urban Development and Housing Department of Bihar.
3.
Indian Railways to run 40 clone trains for waitlisted passengers from September
21: The
Ministry of Railways has decided to run 20 pairs (40 trains) of clone Special
trains from September 21, 2020, to meet the need of passengers with waitlist
ticket and who do not get confirmed reservations on the regular trains. Clone
Trains are being run for the first time by the India Railways. They will
operate on the high traffic routes that have a long waiting list, so that the
passengers with such tickets can travel. The reservation for these trains will
start on September 19 and advance reservation period (ARP) will be 10 days. The
clone trains will run ahead of the already operating special trains. These
trains will be fully reserved trains with operational halts only and will operate
at speeds higher than those of the existing special trains. The Clone Special
trains are in addition to the 310 pairs of trains currently in operation.
4.
Webinar on “Faculty Development for Quality Education”: The Ministry of
Education organized a webinar on Faculty Development for Quality Education
under Shikshak Parv Initiative. The webinar was organised to reflect on the
roles and responsibilities of teachers in the light of National Education
Policy (NEP) and to understand various aspects of capacity development and
career progression of the faculty. Shikshak Parv is being celebrated by
Ministry of Education from 8th September-25th September, 2020 to felicitate the
Teachers and to take New Education Policy 2020 forward.
Note: Union Minister of Education: Ramesh
Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’.
5.
Great Learning appoints Virat Kohli as brand ambassador: Great Learning, an
ed-tech company for professional and higher education, has appointed Indian
cricketer Virat Kohli as its brand ambassador. Great Learning is a leader in
the professional learning space and has built a reputation for delivering
high-quality education and career transformations. Virat will lead the brand’s
latest ‘Power Ahead’ campaign, which underlines the importance of lifelong
learning.
INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:
1. M
Venkaiah Naidu inaugurated 4th Global Ayurveda Summit virtually: The 4th edition of
Global Ayurveda Summit was virtually inaugurated by Vice-President Muppavarapu
Venkaiah Naidu on the theme “Emerging Opportunities for Ayurveda during
Pandemic”. The objective of the summit is to showcase the Ayurveda immunity
model to the global level as a solution named ‘Health as One’ and ‘Immunity
through Ayurveda’.
Global Ayurveda Summit is being organized
by the CII (Confederation of Indian Industry)-Kerala in partnership with
Ministry of Ayush (Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and
Homeopathy), and with the support of Ayurveda Medical Association of India
(AMAI), Ayurvedic Medicine Manufacturers Organisation in India (AMMOI) and Ayurveda
Hospital Management Association (AHMA). It is also supported by the National
Ayurvedic Medical Association (NAMA) in the United States (US), Association of
Swiss Ayurveda Doctors and Therapists in Switzerland, Association for Ayurvedic
Medicine in the Netherlands.
Note: Minister of State (IC) of the
Ministry of AYUSH: Shripad Yesso Naik.
S
Jaishankar chairs IBSA Foreign Ministers’ Virtual Meeting: External Affairs
Minister of the Republic of India, Shri S. Jaishankar, chaired the customary
meeting of IBSA Foreign Ministers through video conferencing. During the meet,
India, Brazil and South Africa emphasized the need for the international
community to redouble efforts to achieve tangible progress for accelerated and
comprehensive reform of the UN Security Council. The ministers adopted the IBSA
Joint Ministerial Statement on the Reform of the UN Security Council, as a
common endeavour of the Global South. During the meet, the ministers exchanged
views on furthering IBSA cooperation. They exchanged views on various issues of
global significance including peace, security, countering terrorism, climate
change, sustainable development, multilateral trading system, disarmament,
non-proliferation issues and South-South Cooperation.
3.
Environment Ministerial Meeting of G20 held virtually: The Environment
Ministerial Meeting (EMM) of the G20 countries was held through video
conferencing under the Presidency of Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Union
Environment, Climate Change and Forest Minister Shri Prakash Javadekar
represented India in the meeting. Global Initiative to reduce Land Degradation
and Coral Reef program was launched at G20 Environment Ministers Meet. It aims
to strengthen the implementation of existing frameworks to prevent, halt, and
reverse land degradation within G20 member states and globally.
Note: The Group of Twenty (G20) is the
premier forum for international economic cooperation which brings together the
leaders of both developed and developing countries from every continent.
The members of the G20 group are Argentina,
Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy,
Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Republic of Korea, Turkey,
the United Kingdom, the United States and the European Union (EU).
4. Singapore
Tops IMD’s Global Smart City Index 2020, Hyderabad top Indian City: The Institute for
Management Development, in collaboration with Singapore University for
Technology and Design (SUTD), has released the Smart City Index 2020. In 2020
Smart City Index, 109 cities were surveyed. The index ranks cities based on
economic and technological data, as well as by their citizens’ perceptions of
how “smart” their cities are.
The index has been topped by Singapore,
followed by Helsinki and Zurich as top three smart cities. In the 2020 Smart
City Index, Hyderabad was the top Indian city, placed at the 85th position. The
Indian cities have witnessed a significant drop in their rankings in the Smart
City Index 2020.
List of Indian cities in the index:
Hyderabad: 85 (67th in 2019);
New Delhi: 86 (68th in 2019);
Mumbai: 93 (78th in 2019);
Bengaluru: 95 (79th in 2019).
5.
Fiumicino International Airport in Rome becomes World’s First Airport to earn
“COVID-19 5-star airport rating” from Skytrax: The Fiumicino
International Airport (FCO) in Rome, Italy, has become the first airport in the
world to be certified with “COVID-19 5-star airport rating” from Skytrax, a
U.K.-based airport and airline review firm. FCO, also known as the Leonardo Da
Vinci International Airport, is the busiest airport in Italy. The COVID-19
ratings for hygiene by Skytrax was based on a combination of procedural
efficiency checks, visual observation analysis and ATP sampling tests.
Fiumicino Airport earned the 5 star rating for the hygiene processes and other
preventative measures in place to help reduce the spread of Coronavirus.
6.
World Patient Safety Day: 17th September: The World Patient Safety Day is
observed globally on 17th September to create a global awareness for patient
safety and urge people to show their commitment to making healthcare safer. The
theme for World Patient Safety Day 2020: Health Worker Safety: A Priority for
Patient Safety. The 72nd World Health Assembly adopted resolution WHA 72.6
‘Global action on patient safety’ on 25 May 2019. The resolution recognizes
patient safety as a global health priority and endorses the establishment of
World Patient Safety Day, to be observed annually on 17 September. The World
Health Organization (WHO) observed the first WPSD in 2019.
Note: Headquarters of WHO: Geneva,
Switzerland; Director-general of WHO: Tedros Adhanom.
OTHER UPDATES:
SPORTS
1.
Online poker platform 9stacks signs Suresh Raina as brand ambassador: Online poker
platform 9stacks has signed Suresh Raina as its brand ambassador. The
partnership will see the cricketer in the brand’s upcoming campaigns and
promote 9stacks through various engagement activities. Raina announced
retirement from the international cricket last month. He will anchor the brand
with his sports charisma and help in creating a higher brand recall amongst the
key target audience.
Note: 9stacks was founded by Sudhir Kamath,
Pratik Kumar and Rishab Mathur in 2017.
BANKING AND FINANCE
1.
SBI, Titan launch contactless payment watches “Titan Pay”: Titan Company has
partnered with the State Bank of India (SBI) to launch India’s first
contactless payment watches named “Titan Pay”. Using these watches, the account
holders of SBI can tap their Titan Pay watch on the contactless payment POS
machines for making payments. It is powered by YONO SBI. About “Titan Pay”:
(1) Under this mechanism, payments of up to
Rs. 2,000 can be made without entering a PIN, as per the RBI guidelines.
(2) A secure certified near-field
communication (NFC) chip developed by Tappy Technologies has been embedded in
the watch strap that will enable the tap and pay feature in the watch.
(3) The Titan Pay watch will act as a
contactless debit card.
(4) The payment feature on these watches
will be accessible on over 2 million contactless MasterCard enabled PoS
machines in the country.
(5) This collection of Titan watches
include three styles for men and two for women and are priced between Rs 2,995
and Rs 5,995.
Note: Chairman of Titan Company: N
Muruganandam; Titan Company Founded: 1984; Titan Company Headquarters:
Bengaluru, Karnataka.
Chairman of SBI: Rajnish Kumar; SBI
Headquarters: Mumbai, Maharashtra.
BUSINESS AND ECONOMY
1. Vi
launches integrated 4G network GIGAnet: VI (erstwhile Vodafone Idea) has launched
GIGAnet network that is an integrated 4G network. With the launch of GIGAnet,
VI aims to overcome the loss of customers and attract new customers from rivals
Bharti Airtel and Reliance Jio. GIGAnet offers faster downloads & uploads,
low latency, and real-time connectivity. It is built on many principles of 5G
architecture that help in delivering a superior network experience.
2.
UBS Securities projects India’s GDP to contract by 8.6% in FY21; For FY22=+10%:
UBS
Securities has projected India’s GDP for 2020-21 (FY21) to contact by 8.6%.
(Earlier it was -5.8%). For FY22, UBS Securities projects India’s GDP to grow
by 10%. UBS Securities is a Chinese investment bank and brokerage firm
headquartered in Beijing, China.
OBITUARIES
1.
Veteran scholar of Indian classical dance Kapila Vatsyayan passes away: Veteran scholar of
Indian classical dance, art, architecture and art history, Dr Kapila Vatsyayan
passed away. She was the founding Director of the Indira Gandhi National Centre
for the Arts. She was the former Member of Parliament and had served as
Education Secretary. Some of the prestigious honours received by Dr Kapila
Vatsyayan includes Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship, the Lalit Kala Akademi
Fellowship, and the Padma Vibhushan.
2.
Mali’s former president Moussa Traore passes away: Former President of
Republic of Mali, who was in power from 1968 to 1991, General Moussa Traore
passed away. He was born in 1936 in Kayes, Mali. He was a former military
leader, forcibly took over the reign from Modibo Keita (known as the ‘father of
independence’), after participating in a military coup. However, in March 1991,
he himself was overthrown by popular protests and a military takeover.
Note: Republic of Mali Capital: Bamako; Currency: West African CFA franc.
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