Current affairs notes on August 23-27

 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 organised the 50th webinar titled “Cultural heritage of Hyderabad”under DekhoApnaDesh  series. The Ministry of Tourism is organizing the DekhoApnaDesh webinars with an objective to create awareness about and promote various tourism destinations of India. Hyderabad is popularly known as the “City of Pearls” and the “City of Nizams”,

 

5. The Supreme Court has issued notice on a plea filed by the State of Nagaland for a direction to its Lokayukta to cease exercising his powers and functions and transfer all his work to the Upa-Lokayukta. Lokayukta is an anti-corruption authority or ombudsman – an official appointed by the government to represent the interests of the public. The Lokpal and Lokayukta Act, 2013, commonly known The Lokpal Act was passed by the Parliament of India in December 2013. It also called for establishment of Lokpal at the Centre. The Lokayukta is usually a former High Court Chief Justice or former Supreme Court judge and has a fixed tenure.

6. Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) is a multilateral development bank with a mission to improve social and economic outcomes in Asia and beyond. It is headquartered in Beijing. It is a development bank with a mission to improve the economic and social outcomes in Asia. Membership in AIIB shall be open to members of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development or the Asian Development Bank.

7. Guwahati Ropeway in news: It will be the country’s longest river ropeway that will connect two banks of the Brahmaputra. It will cover a distance of 1.8 km.

8. Maharashtra is known for its Warli folk paintings. They bear a resemblance to those created in the Rock Shelters of Bhimbetka. Women are mainly engaged in the creation of these paintings.It has showed  Maharashtra’s famous Warli painting on the outer walls of its Corporate Office in Noida.

9. China is “actively considering the establishment of a BRICS innovation base in China, in order to strengthen practical cooperation with the BRICS”. To take forward 5G and Artificial Intelligence (AI) cooperation among the five countries.

10. India’s multi-wavelength orbiting telescope, AstroSat discovers one of the earliest galaxies to have formed called AUDFs01, in the extreme-ultraviolet (UV) light. AstroSat: It is India’s first multi-wavelength space telescope.

11. The National Green Tribunal has slammed the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) over its report on the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) which proposes 20-30% reduction of air pollution by 2024. Under the NCAP, the target is to achieve norms in 10 years and reduce load to the extent of 35% in first three years with further reduction of pollution later.

 

12. ICICI Bank has announced the introduction of usage of satellite data-imagery from earth observation satellites—to assess credit worthiness of its customers belonging to the farm sector. ICICI will be the first bank in India to do so.

13. One of the biggest ship recyclers at Alang — Shree Ram Group — has purchased the aircraft carrier ‘INS Viraat’. INS Viraat is the Guinness record holder for being the longest-serving warship of the world.

14. Hurricane Laura has made landfall in southwestern Louisiana in US as one of the most powerful storms to hit the state. Hurricanes are large, swirling storms. They produce winds of 119 kilometers per hour (74 mph) or higher. They form over warm ocean waters. 

 

15. NITI Aayog in partnership with the Institute of Competitiveness has released the Export Preparedness Index (EPI) 2020.EPI is the first report to examine export preparedness and performance of Indian states. Top 3 states: Gujarat, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu.

16. NITI Aayog has launched the India Component of the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC)–Transport Initiative for Asia (TIA). It is a joint programme, supported by the International Climate Initiative (IKI) of the German Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU). It aims to promote a comprehensive approach to decarbonize transport in India, Vietnam, and China.