National
Mission Karmayogi
Mission Karmayogi or National Programme for Civil Services Capacity Building (NPCSCB), aimed at capacity building of government employees to make them more "creative, proactive, professional and technology-enabled" was approved by Union Cabinet on 2 September 2020. It is the biggest human resource development programme in the government. To cover around 46 lakh central employees, a sum of Rs. 510.86 crore will be spent over five years from 2020-21 to 2024-25 on this program.
Pranab Mukherjee passed away
13th president of India Pranab Mukherjee died on 31 August 2020. He was one of the most admired and respected political figures, a seven-time parliamentarian and the recipient of Bharat Ratna in 2019, India's highest civilian honour.
His life-long political career spanned about five decades, during which he held various key posts in the Congress party as well as in the governments led by Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, P V Narasimha Rao and Manmohan Singh. After a long political career in which he held several top posts including that of Finance, Foreign and Defence Minister and some other dignified posts, Pranab Mukherjee became President in 2012 and served till 2017. Popularly known as ‘Pranab Da’, he lent dignity to the high office and brought to bear his scholarly and humanitarian outlook on national and international affairs. He authored several books on the Indian Economy and Nation Building.
National Council for Transgenders
The Union government constituted the National Council for Transgender Persons, headed by the Union Social Justice Minister and comprising representatives from 10 central departments, five states and members of the community. The national council advise the central government on the formulation of policies, programmes, legislation and projects for transgender persons and monitoring and evaluating the impact of policies and programmes designed for achieving equality.
‘Harit Path'
National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) developed a mobile App called ‘Harit Path' to monitor location, growth, species details, maintenance activities, targets and achievements of each of its field units for each plant under all plantation projects.
To commemorate 25 years of its service to the nation NHAI recently undertook ‘Harit Bharat Sankalp’, a nation-wide plantation drive which is in line with its commitment to promote environmental protection and sustainability. Under this initiative, NHAI planted over 25 lakh plants in 25 days along the stretches of the National Highways between 21st July to 15th August 2020. The drive takes the total cumulative number of plantations done during the current year to 35.22 lakh.
EnglishPro mobile app
EnglishPro, a free mobile app, developed by the English and Foreign Languages University (EFLU) Hyderabad launched on 31 August by the Union Minister of Education Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’. The App developed under University Social Responsibility (USR) is the first-of-its-kind initiative by any university in the country and will help learners develop Indian English Pronunciation in the unique “Indian” way. It is a useful digital tool and an educational resource for the teachers, students and people from varied backgrounds.
Others
International Booker Prize
The prestigious International Booker Prize for the year 2020 conferred on Dutch author Marieke Lucas Rijneveld for her debut novel ‘The Discomfort of Evening’. It has been translated from Dutch by Michele Hutchison. Rijneveld has become the youngest author to win the prestigious award. The book centres around a 10-year-old girl Jas who is infuriated with her brother Matthies for not being permitted to go for ice-skating with him. This occurs at the onset of the novel. Her wish turns true and he dies. The debut novel then is a fascinating case study of grief. The coveted honour is given annually to a book translated to English and published in the UK or Ireland. The award money is divided between the author and the translator.
Online FIDE Chess Olympiad
India and Russia were announced the joint winners of Chess Olympiad after the controver
sial finish. India was initially declared to have lost the final round, but they lodged an appeal saying their players lost internet connection due to a server failure. India's Nihal Sarin and Divya Deshmukh lost connection to their games in the second round and had to forfeit. This was the first time that the Olympiad was conducted online. Originally, Russia was declared as the winners, but India filed an appeal and after investigation, both India and Russia were announced as joint winners.
PoshanMaah
The month of September observed as ‘PoshanMaah’ or ‘Nutrition Month’ across the nation. In the monthly radio programme ‘Mann kiBaat’ aired on 30 August 2020, the Prime Minister Narendra Modi talked about the importance of a nutritious diet. He said that people’s participation is very crucial and will play a key role in the nutrition movement. PM also said that a Bharatiya Krishi Kosh is being set up which will have complete information about the crops that are grown in each district and their related nutritional value.
International
G20 Foreign Ministers Meeting
G20 Foreign Ministers Extraordinary Meeting was held virtually chaired by Saudi Arabia. On behalf of India, the External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar proposed the setting up of voluntary ‘G20 Principles on Coordinated Cross-Border Movement of People’ (CCBMP). The CCBMP based on three pillars. They are Standardisation of testing procedures and universal acceptability of test results, Standardisation of ‘Quarantine procedures’ and Standardisation of ‘movement and transit’ protocols.
Global Innovation Index
On 2 September 2020, the Global Innovation Index (GII) list 2020 released jointly by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), Cornell University and INSEAD Business School. India got 48th rank, first time joined in the top 50 nations club whereas Switzerland, Sweden, the US, the UK and the Netherlands lead the innovation ranking. India ranks in the top 15 in indicators such as ICT (Information and Communication Technology) services exports, government online services, graduates in science and engineering, and R&D-intensive global companies.
INDRA NAVY
INDRA NAVY 2020, the 11th edition of the biennial bilateral maritime exercise of India and Russia was held on 4 and 5 September 2020. The exercise seeks to consolidate the inter-operability built up by the navies of two countries over the years.
Russia deployed their destroyers Admiral Vinogradov and Admiral Tributs, and fleet tanker Boris Butoma of the Pacific Fleet, whereas Indian Navy deployed Ranvijay, a guided-missile destroyer, Sahyadri the indigenous frigate and Fleet tanker Shakti and few integral choppers.
India-Vietnam JC on Trade
On 17 August 2020, the 17th meeting of the India-Vietnam Joint Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific and Technological Cooperation was held via video conference. Both nations reviewed the recent developments in India-Vietnam Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and agreed to add new momentum to the economic and defence engagement.
Largest hybrid quantum computer
Indian Institute of Technology’s Alumni Council (IITAC) signed an agreement with Lomonosov Moscow State University and Russoft to access and transfer key technologies from Russia to build the world’s largest and fastest hybrid quantum computer in India. Under this deal, the Russian state-owned companies will transfer critical modules in
cryogenics, cryptography and modularised cloud management technology to India. Quantum Computing, which is several million times faster than the largest supercomputer in India, will make existing supercomputers obsolete. It will also collapse the cost of genome testing from over Rs.1 lakh per sample to under Rs.1,000, facilitating genetics-based personalised medicines to avoid unnecessary universal vaccination which may have safety issues.
The Little Book of Green Nudges
UN Environment Programme (UNEP) launched a new publication, “The Little Book of Green Nudges”, which aims to inspire up to 200 million students around the globe to adopt environmentally friendly habits and greener lifestyles. The book is UNEP’s first on behavioural science and nudge theory, which focuses on human actions and how to change them.
BRICS Sports Ministers Meet
Union Minister of Youth and Sports Kiren Rijiju attended the BRICS Sports Ministers meet 2020 held virtually on 25 August. He said that India is planning to host BRICS Games 2021, which will be aligned with the Khelo India Games 2021.
Model Questions
1. Who got two years extension as the chairman of DRDO?
1) Usha Padhee 2) Aveek Sarkar 3) G.Sateesh Reddy 4) Rajiv kumar 5) Ashok Lavasa
2. Shinzo Abe has announced his resignation as the Prime Minister of…
1) Ivory Coast 2) Guyana 3) Peru 4) Japan 5) Lebanon
3. Which state recently declared it will set up India’s first international women’s trade centre (IWTC)?
1) Andhra Pradesh 2) Goa 3) Kerala 4) UP 5) Odisha
4. Who won the prestigious Annual World Open online chess tournament held recently?
1) BaadurJobava of Georgia 2) Sergey Erenburg of USA
3) P Iniyan of India 4) Ian Nepomniachtchi of Russia 5) NyzhykIllia of Ukraine
5. Who heads the expert committee to review the charter of DRDO labs?
1) Rajnath Singh 2) Kiran Kumar 3) V.Ram Gopal Rao 4) K.Sivan 5) Madhavan Nair
KEY: 1-3; 2-4; 3-3; 4-3; 5-3
