Current affairs notes on September 1-5

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 included in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP).

4. Air Force Sports Control Board was conferred with ‘Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puruskar 2020’ for the outstanding contribution in helping sportspersons to excel in their respective disciplines and implement robust sports welfare measures. The Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puruskar scheme was introduced by the government in 2009 to encourage involvement of corporates and sports promotion boards in the development of sports in the country. The Khelo India Scheme aims to encourage sports all over the country, thus allowing the population to harness the power of sports through its cross-cutting influence, namely holistic development of children & youth, community development, social integration, gender equality, healthy lifestyle, national pride and economic opportunities related to sports development.

5. Mission Karmayogi- National Programme for Civil Services Capacity Building (NPCSCB): Approved by the Union Cabinet recently. It is a New National Architecture for Civil Services Capacity Building. It is also a Comprehensive reform of the capacity building apparatus at individual, institutional and process levels for efficient public service delivery.

6. A limit has been imposed on total rewards under the Merchandise Exports from India Scheme (MEIS). Merchandise Exports from India Scheme (MEIS) under Foreign Trade Policy of India (FTP 2015-20) is one of the two schemes introduced in Foreign Trade Policy of India 2015-20, as a part of Exports from India Scheme (The other scheme is Service Exports from India Scheme (SEIS). It to offset infrastructural inefficiencies and associated costs involved in export of goods/products, which are produced/manufactured in India, especially those having high export intensity, employment potential and thereby enhancing India’s export competitiveness.

7. 13th edition of Global Innovation Index released. The GII is co-published by Cornell University, INSEAD, and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), a specialized agency of the United Nations. India climbed four spots and is now at 48th position in the list.

8. 118 mobile apps blocked by The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology. By invoking it’s power under section 69A of the Information Technology Act read with the relevant provisions of the Information Technology (Procedure and Safeguards for Blocking of Access of Information by Public) Rules 2009. Section 69A of the IT Act, empowers the Central Government to order that access to certain websites and computer resources be blocked in the interest of the defense of the country.

9. Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has announced the reservation of 600 acres of Aarey land near Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP) as forest, claiming it as the first instance of an extensive forest blossoming within the limits of metropolis anywhere in the world.

10. The Special Frontier Force (SFF) unit, referred to as Vikas Battalion, had been said to be instrumental in preventing Chinese occupation on the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Ladakh. SFF was established on 14th November 1962 in the immediate aftermath of the 1962 Sino-India war. They are highly trained special forces personnel who can undertake a variety of tasks which would normally be performed by any special forces unit. Major Operations: Operation Eagle (1971 war with Pakistan), Operation Bluestar (clearing Amritsar’s Golden Temple in 1984), Operation Meghdoot (securing the Siachen glacier in 1984) and Operation Vijay (war with Pakistan at Kargil in 1999).

11. India and Russia are scheduled to hold Indra 2020 in the Andaman Sea, close to the Strait of Malacca instead of the Indian Ocean Region (IOR). Indra 2020 will be the first bilateral naval exercise. Andaman Sea was also the location where frontline warships of the Indian Navy conducted a Passage Exercise (PASSEX) with the USA Navy’s USS Nimitz carrier strike group in July this year.

12. Recently, the Union Cabinet has approved the Jammu and Kashmir Official Languages Bill 2020 to be introduced in the monsoon session of Parliament. The Bill will include Kashmiri, Dogri and Hindi as official languages in the newly-created Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir. Part XVII of the Indian Constitution deals with the official languages in Articles 343 to 351.

13. Chief of Defence Staff Gen. Bipin Rawat has backed the ‘Quad’ as a “good mechanism” to ensure freedom of navigation in the Indian Ocean-Pacific region — a statement that could rile up China. The quadrilateral security dialogue includes Japan, India, United States and Australia. Quad is an opportunity for like-minded countries to share notes and collaborate on projects of mutual interest.

14. Mizoram Chief Minister Zoramthanga has asked the Assam Rifles to shift its base from the heart of State capital Aizawl to Zokhawsang about 15 km away at the earliest. Assam Rifles which is also referred to as the Sentinels of North East is the oldest paramilitary force of India. Today, the administrative control of Assam Rifles lies with the Home Ministry, while the operational control is with the Defence Ministry.

15. Recently, Saudi Arabia hosted the G-20 foreign ministers meeting with focus on cross-border movement amid the Covid-19 pandemic. Currently, Saudi Arabia holds the presidency of G-20. It is the first Arab nation to take over the G20 Presidency.  The G20 is an informal group of 19 countries and the European Union, with representatives of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. It does not have any permanent secretariat or headquarters.

16. Atlantic Hurricane Nana has made a landfall on the coast of Belize. The country Belize is located on the northeast coast of Central America. A hurricane is a type of storm called a tropical cyclone, which forms over tropical or subtropical waters.

17. Teacher’s Day is observed annually on September 5. The day commemorates the birth anniversary of Radhakrishnan. His works include Indian Philosophy, (1923-27), The Philosophy of the Upanishads (1924), An Idealist View of Life (1932), Eastern Religions and Western Thought (1939), and East and West: Some Reflections (1955). He was awarded the Bharat Ratna, India’s highest civilian award, in 1954.

18. The Prime Minister announced the government’s plan to launch a Project Dolphin in his recent Independence Day Speech (15th August 2020). The proposed project is aimed at saving both river and marine dolphins. Special Conservation program needs to be taken up for Gangetic Dolphin which is a national aquatic animal and also indicator species for the river Ganga. It is in the First Schedule of the Indian Wildlife (Protection), Act 1972. Endangered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). For instance, Vikramshila Ganges Dolphin Sanctuary was established in Bihar under this Act. The National Mission for Clean Ganga celebrates 5th October as National Ganga River Dolphin Day.

19. Recently, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) released revised Priority Sector Lending (PSL) guidelines, which align with emerging national priorities and also bring sharper focus on inclusive development. Priority Sector Lending (PSL) means The RBI mandates banks to lend a certain portion of their funds to specified sectors, like agriculture, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), export credit, education, housing, social infrastructure, renewable energy among others.

20. The 5th BRICS Culture Ministers’ Meeting was held through a video conference under the Chairpersonship of Russian Federation. The delegates from Culture Ministries of the BRICS nations - Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa - participated in the meeting. During the Sixth BRICS Summit in Fortaleza (Brazil) in 2014, the leaders signed the Agreement establishing the New Development Bank (NDB - Shanghai, China). They also signed the BRICS Contingent Reserve Arrangement to provide short-term liquidity support to the members.