Daily GK Updates – 25th Sept, 2020

 

NATIONAL UPDATES:

 

1. National webinar on “Curriculum Reforms & NCF and Pedagogy”: A National webinar on “Curriculum Reforms & National Curriculum Framework (NCF) and Pedagogy” was organized under Shikshak Parv initiative. The webinar was organized to highlight the salient features of the New Education Policy (NEP 2020). The targeted beneficiary group for this session were: Pre-school & Lower Primary Teachers, Heads of Schools, Parents, All States/UTs Education Department. Shikshak Parv is being celebrated from 8th September- 25th September, 2020 to felicitate the Teachers and to take New Education Policy 2020 forward.

Note: Union Minister for Education: Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’.

 

2. PM Modi launched ‘Fit India Age Appropriate Fitness Protocols’: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has launched the ‘Fit India Age Appropriate Fitness Protocols’ at Fit India Dialogue. These fitness protocols have been prepared with the help of fitness enthusiasts for fitness and good health. It has been prepared for three age categories which include: 5-18 years category; 18-65 years category; 65 plus age category. The Fit India Movement was envisioned and launched by PM Modi on August 29, 2019. The Fit India Dialogue is another effort to involve citizens of the country to draw out a plan to make India a Fit Nation. PM Modi interacted with fitness experts, citizens and influencers from across the country during a nation-wide online Fit India Dialogue on 24 September 2020, to mark the one-year anniversary of Fit India Movement. Cricketer Virat Kohli, model, actor and runner Milind Soman, and nutritionist Rujuta Diwekar were among the various fitness influencers who participated in the event.

 

3. Government Increases SDRF Spending Limit by States from 35 percent to 50 percent to tackle COVID situation: Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a virtual meeting with chief ministers of six states and one Union Territory on 23 September 2020. These states and UTs are those where the coronavirus cases are higher. They are: Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi. During the meeting, PM announced that for these 7 states and UTs, the  limit of using the State Disaster Response Fund is being increased from the current 35 percent to 50 percent to help them further strengthen health infrastructure to tackle COVID.

 

4. AYUSH Ministry partners Industry Bodies for Medicinal Plants cultivation: The National Medicinal Plants Board (NMPB), Ministry of AYUSH has signed an MoU with the major AYUSH and Herbal industry bodies to promote medicinal plant cultivation. Through this, Ministry of AYUSH would provide the sustainable supply of quality raw material to AYUSH, Nutraceutcial and Herbal industry. The industry assured the NMPB that they will provide the buy-back guarantee to the farmers / gatherers on the NMPB supported medicinal plant cultivation and collection programs.

The industry bodies which signed the MoU include ADMA (Ayurvedic Drug Manufacturer’s Association), Mumbai; AMAM (Association for Manufactures of Ayurvedic Medicines), New Delhi; AMMOI (Ayurvedic Medicines Manufacturers Organization of India), Thrissur; AHNMI (Association for Herbal and Nutraceutical Manufacturers of India), Mumbai; FICCI (Federation of Indian Industries), New Delhi and CII (Confederation of Indian Industry), New Delhi.

Note: Minister of State (I/C) of Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy (AYUSH): Shripad Yesso Naik.

 

5. EESL appoints Rajat Sud as its new Managing Director: A Joint Venture (JV) of Public Sector Undertakings, under the Ministry of Power, Government of India, Energy Efficiency Services Ltd (EESL) has appointed Rajat Sud as its new Managing Director from immediate effect. He takes charge from S Gopal, director (commercial), who was given the additional charge as interim MD. Prior to joining EESL, he worked as an executive vice president at Sterlite Power Transmission Ltd.

Note: Energy Efficiency Services Ltd HeadQuarters: New Delhi, India; Energy Efficiency Services Ltd Chairman: Rajeev Sharma.

 

6. Antyodaya Divas Observed Across India on 25th September: Every Year on September 25 India observes Antyodaya Diwas to mark the birth anniversary of Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya. The day was declared by the Modi Government on September 25, 2014. Antyodaya means uplifting the poorest of the poor. Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya, born in Mathura in 1916 was one of the key leaders of Bharatiya Jana Sangh from which the BJP later emerged. He was the leader of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh from 1953 to 1968.

 

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

 

1. India-UK sign MoU on Water Partnership through video conferencing: India and the United Kingdom held a virtual Water Partnership meeting on 22 September 2020 to discuss ways to work together on issues pertaining to water conservation and building better water infrastructure. The programme was inaugurated by the Indian High Commissioner to UK, Gaitri Issar Kumar with the Ministry of Jal Shakti Secretary UP Singh. The delegations from both the countries signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on strategic water partnership to develop better water infrastructure in India. Several issues which were discussed during the meeting included India’s water conservation schemes like Namami Gange programme, Jal Jeevan Mission, and Swachh Bharat Mission.

 

2. EAM Dr S Jaishankar attends Special Ministerial Meeting of FMs of CICA: The Union Minister of External Affairs, Dr S Jaishankar participated in the Special Ministerial Meeting of Foreign Ministers of the CICA on 24 September 2020. CICA stands for the ‘Conference on Interaction & Confidence Building Measures in Asia’. CICA is an inter-governmental forum for enhancing cooperation towards promoting peace, security and stability in Asia. The Secretariat of CICA is based at Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan. It has 27 member states including India; 8 observer states and 5 observer organizations.

 

3. India helds Webinar with Israel on Defence Industry Global Outreach: A webinar was held between with India and Israel, under the aegis of Department of Defence Production, Ministry of Defence through SIDM. The Theme of webinar was “Indian Defence Industry Global Outreach for Collaborative Partnership: Webinar and Expo”. During the webinar, a Sub Working Group (SWG) was created on Defence Industrial Cooperation between India and Israel with the main objective of Transfer of Technology, Co-development & Co-production, Artificial Intelligence, Innovation and Joint Export to friendly foreign countries. Defence Secretaries and other senior MoD officials from both the countries participated in the webinar and deliberated about enhancing the defence cooperation between both the nations. This webinar is the first in the series of webinars which will be organized with friendly foreign countries in order to boost defence exports and achieve defence export target of $5 billion in the next five years.

Note: Israel Capital: Jerusalem; President: Reuven Rivlin; Prime Minister: Benjamin Netanyahu; Currency: New shekel

 

4. Alexander Lukashenko sworn in as President of Belarus for 6th term: President of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko has been sworn in for a sixth term on 23 September 2020. The 66 year-old authoritarian leader won 80% of the vote in the presidential election to gain another 5 year term. Lukashenko is serving as the President of Belarus since the establishment of the office 26 years ago, on 20 July 1994.

Note: Belarus Capital: Minsk; Currency: Belarusian ruble

 

5. World Pharmacist Day: 25th September: World Pharmacist Day is observed globally on 25th September every year. This day is celebrated to create awareness about the role of a pharmacist in improving health. The day was an initiative of the International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP) along with the council of this organization. This year’s theme is “Transforming global health“. The organization announces a different theme every year so that associations and individuals in the pharmaceutical industry can organize national campaigns or local projects to showcase their outstanding work in helping improve the health of people around the world.

Note: International Pharmaceutical Federation Headquarters location: The Hague, Netherlands; International Pharmaceutical Federation Founded: 25 September 1912; International Pharmaceutical Federation President: Dominique Jordan.

 

OTHER UPDATES:

 

BANKING AND FINANCE

 

1. IDFC First Bank to launch “SafePay” contactless debit card facility: IDFC First Bank will launch “SafePay” a contactless debit card-based payment facility. This payment facility will allow contactless debit card payments by simply waving one’s smartphone against a Near Field Communication (NFC)-enabled POS terminal.

About “SafePay”: SafePay embeds Near Field Communication (NFC) technology in the IDFC First Mobile App to enable secure payments using a debit card issued by the Bank. A social distancing-friendly way to pay, SafePay completely does away with the need to hand over the card to a merchant or even carry it in the wallet. SafePay enables contactless payments of up to Rs 2,000 per transaction and up to a limit of Rs 20,000 per day, making everyday purchases easy.

Note: MD & CEO of IDFC First Bank: V. Vaidyanathan; Headquarters of IDFC First Bank: Mumbai, Maharashtra.

 

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY

 

1. Govt extends term of Uday Kotak as Chairman of Debt-ridden IL&FS by One Year: The government extended the term of Uday Kotak as non-executive chairman of debt-ridden IL&FS group by one year with effect from the 3rd day of October 2020. Kotak was appointed by the Government as the head of the lender”s board in 2018 to help the troubled company come out of difficulties, after the state took over the board.

 

AWARDS AND HONOURS

 

1. President Ram Nath Kovind confers NSS Awards for 2018-19 to 42 Awardees: The President of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind conferred the National Service Scheme (NSS) Awards for the year 2018-19 trough videoconferencing from Rashtrapati Bhawan on 24 September 2020. The 2018-19 NSS Award has been given to 42 awardees in three different categories which are: University; NSS Units and their Programme Officers and NSS Volunteers. It and consists of prize money, certificate and trophy/ silver medal.

Inspired by the ideals of Mahatma Gandhi, the NSS is a Central Sector Scheme which was launched in the year 1969 to develop the personality and character of the student youth through voluntary community service. The NSS Award is conferred every year by the Department of Youth Affairs to recognize and reward outstanding contributions towards voluntary community service such as literacy and education, health, family welfare and nutrition, environment conservation, social service programmes, rescue and relief during calamities.

 

OBITUARIES

 

1. Legendary singer S.P. Balasubramaniam passes away: National award-winning singer SP Balasubrahmanyam (74 years) passed away due to COVID-19 at MGM Health Care hospital in Chennai. He worked as a singer, actor, music director, dubbing artist and film producer in multiple languages. He has sung over 40,000 songs in as many as 16 languages including Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada, and Hindi. S.P. Balasubramaniam bagged his first national award for Sankarabharanam. The second time he won the National award for his first Hindi song, Tere Mere Beech Mein in the film Ek Duuje Ke Liye. Also won Guinness World Record for recording the highest number of songs. He was also honoured with Padma Shri Award in 2001 and Padma Bhushan in 2011.

 

2. Former Australian Cricket Legend Dean Jones passes away: Former Australia cricket commentator, coach and legendary batsman Dean Jones has passed away on 24 September 2020 after suffering a heart attack. He was 59. Jones was in Mumbai as a commentator for the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 and was in a bio-secure bubble in a seven-star hotel in Mumbai. Jones had represented Australia in 52 Tests and 164 ODIs. He was also part of Australia’s 1987 World Cup-winning squad.