Current Affairs Notes Daily

 1. 4th edition of Business Reform Action Plan (BRAP) ranking of states announced recently by the Department of Industrial Promotion and Internal Trade (DPIIT). The top states under State Reform Action Plan 2019 are: 1. Andhra Pradesh, 2. Uttar Pradesh, 3. Telangana Meetings of the SCO defence ministers and foreign ministers were recently held in Russia. SCO is a permanent intergovernmental international organisation. It’s creation was announced on 15 June 2001 in Shanghai (China). 3.The General Assembly of United Nations on 19 December 2019 adopted a resolution to observe the International Day of Clean Air for Blue Skies on 07th September every year starting from 2020. The Climate and Clean Air Coalition (CCAC) worked with UNEP and the Republic of Korea to advocate for the day in the lead up to the decision. In 2014, the Air Quality Index (AQI) was launched which currently tracks the levels of pollution on eight parameters. These parameters are ground-level ozone, Particulate Matt

1.CSIR-CMERI has developed the World’s Largest Solar Tree, which is installed at CSIR-CMERI Residential Colony, Durgapur. The installed capacity of the Solar Tree is above 11.5 kWp. It has the annual capacity to generate 12,000-14,000 units of Clean and Green Power. According to the recent National Statistical Office (NSO) data, India’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth contracted by 23.9% in the first (April-June) quarter of 2020 compared to the same period (April-June) in 2019. GDP is a measure of economic activity in a country. It is the total value of a country’s annual output of goods and services. It gives the economic output from the consumers’ side. 3.The output of eight core infrastructure sectors dropped by 9.6% in July 2020. It has been a continued contraction for the past five months. The eight core sector industries include coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertiliser, steel, cement, and electricity. These comprise 40.27% of the weight of items include

  1.   Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana: Completes six years of successful implementation. Announced on 15th August 2014, PMJDY is National Mission for Financial Inclusion to ensure access to financial services, namely, Banking/ Savings & Deposit Accounts, Remittance, Credit, Insurance, Pension in an affordable manner. 2. First ever RORO service of South Western Railway from Nelamangla (near Bengaluru) to Bale (near Solapur) has been started. This shall be the only privately operated RORO train services on Indian Railways. Roll On Roll Off (RORO) is a concept of carrying road vehicles loaded with various commodities, on open flat railway wagons. 3. Recently, the 41st Goods and Services Tax (GST) council meeting was held to discuss the issue of compensating states on account of revenue loss due to implementation of GST and fall in  cess  collections. It is a constitutional body (Article 279A) for making recommendations to the Union and State Government on issues related to Goods and S

  1.Department of Food &Public Distribution issues directions to States/UTs to include all eligible disabled persons under the National Food Security Act 2013. The objective of the act  is to provide for food and nutritional security in human life cycle approach, by ensuring access to adequate quantity of quality food at affordable prices to people to live a life with dignity. 2.Nuakhai Juhar is the agricultural festival is also called Nuakhai Parab or Nuakahi Bhetghat. It is one of the most ancient festivals celebrated in Odisha, Chhattisgarh and areas of neighbouring states to welcome the new crop of the season. 3. The Centre has constituted the national council for transgender persons. The council is India’s first and formed under Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019. Council is Headed by the Union social justice minister and comprising representatives from 10 central departments, five states and members of the community.   4. Ministry of Tourism recently organis

  1.The Punjab Chief Minister asked the Central government to be cautious on the contentious Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) canal issue, saying it has the potential to disturb the nation’s security. The Satluj Yamuna Link Canal is a proposed 214-kilometer long canal to connect the Sutlej and Yamuna rivers. However, the proposal met obstacles and was referred to the Supreme Court. 2.The Atal Rankings of Institutions on Innovation Achievements (ARIIA) 2020 has been released. Atal Ranking of Institutions on Innovation Achievements (ARIIA) is an initiative of Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) (Now, it is the Ministry of Education), Govt. of India to systematically rank all major higher educational institutions and universities in India. IIT Madras under the category of Institutes of National Importance, Central Universities, and Centrally Funded Technical Institutes becomes first. 3.Digital quality of Life index 2020 Index  is prepared by Surfshark, a virtual private network (VPN) pr

  1.India celebrates 74th Independence Day on 15 August. 2.Israel and the United Arab Emirates have announced an agreement that will lead to a full normalisation of diplomatic relations between the two states, a move that reshapes the order of West Asia politics from the Palestinian issue to Iran. The agreement will be known as the Abraham Accords. Under the accord, Israel has agreed to suspend annexing areas of the occupied West Bank as it had been planning to do. West Bank is a landlocked territory near the Mediterranean coast of Western Asia, bordered by Jordan to the east and by the Green Line separating it and Israel on the south, west and north. UAE is the first Gulf Arab country to establish diplomatic relations with Israel. 3. ISRO pays tribute to Dr Vikram Sarabhai by announcing that Chandrayaan 2 Orbiter has captured the Moon images of “Sarabhai” Crater. Based on his persuasion, the Indian government agreed to set up the Indian National Committee for Space Research (INCOSPAR)

  1.Union Minister of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare virtually launched the Krishi Megh (National Agricultural Research & Education System -Cloud Infrastructure and Services). Krishi Megh is the data recovery centre of ICAR (Indian Council of Agricultural Research).It’s built to mitigate the risk, enhance the quality, availability and accessibility of e-governance, research, extension and education in the field of agriculture in India. 2.The Union Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has put calls for proposals to  the ‘One Sun, One World, One Grid (OSOWOG)’  initiative on hold till further notice. OSOWOG initiative was proposed by India to set up a framework for facilitating global cooperation which aims at building a global ecosystem of interconnected renewable energy resources that can be easily shared. 3.World Elephant Day was observed on August 12. 4. Papum Reserve Forest  It is an Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas (IBAs) in Arunachal Pradesh.  A study based on

  1.78th anniversary of Quit India movement was observed on August 8th, 2020. After the failure of the Cripps Mission, Gandhiji gave the call “Do or Die”’. Aruna Asaf Alipopularly known as the ‘Grand Old Lady’ of the Independence Movement is known for hoisting the Indian flag at the Gowalia Tank Maidan in Mumbai during the Quit India Movement. Female leaders like Usha Mehta has helped set up an underground radio station which led to the awakening about the movement. The immediate cause for the movement was the collapse of Cripps Mission. The British assumption of unconditional support from India to British in World War II was not taken well by the Indian National Congress. 2.Pradeep Kumar Joshi has been appointed as the chairman of the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC). The Chairman and other members of a Public Service Commission shall be appointed by the President, and in the case of a State Commission, by the Governor of the State. Article-316– Appointment and term of office of

  1.The grand temple at Rama Janmabhoomi in Ayodhya will follow the Nagara style of temple architecture. The Nagara style of temple architecture is found in northern India. 2.The Andhra Pradesh high court has stayed the notifications issued by the YSR Congress government on the formation of three capitals for the state till August 14. 1. Amaravati– legislative capital. 2. Visakhapatnam– executive capital. 3. Kurnool– judicial capital. 3. Parivar Pehchan Patra (PPP) -Launched by Haryana government. PPP will enable the citizens to get the benefits of various central and state government schemes at their door-step in a fair and transparent manner. 4. Beirut is the capital and largest city of Lebanon.  Located on a peninsula at the midpoint of Lebanon’s Mediterranean coast,  Beirut is an important regional seaport. A huge explosion recently devastated the port area of the capital Beirut. The blast was caused by 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate stored unsafely in a warehouse. Ammonium nitra

  1.Ministry of Tribal Affairs (MoTA) has received SKOCH Gold Award for its “Empowerment of Tribals through IT enabled Scholarship Schemes” project. Award is Instituted in 2003, it is the highest civilian honour in the country conferred by an independent organisation. It recognises people, projects and institutions that go the extra mile to make India a better nation. 2. Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak’s 100th death anniversary was observed on August 1st. Bal Gangadhar Tilak was called ‘father of the Indian unrest” by British colonial rulers. Jawaharlal Nehru called him the ‘father of Indian revolution’. His slogan ‘Swaraj is my birth right and I shall have it’ . 3. China has recently completed its BeiDou Navigation Satellite System constellation. It is Chinese Satellite Navigation System. The GPS is owned by the US government and operated by the US Air Force. Russia has its navigation system called GLONASS. The European Union (EU) has Galileo. India’s navigation system is called Navigati