Current affairs on 13/08/2020

 

Indian Railways observes Cleanliness Week to mark Independence Day

• Indian Railways is observing "Cleanliness Week" from 10th August in order to mark the Independence Day.
• The "Cleanliness Week" will include a special Cleanliness drive which will focus on cleaning the the tracks, station offices, colonies, work sites, edge of stations and other areas near railway premises.
• The Cleanliness drive will give special attention on the collection of plastic waste along with other waste.

Jal Shakti Minister launches Swachh Bharat Mission Academy

• The Swachh Bharat Mission Academy has been launched by the Union Minister for Jal Shakti, Shri Gajendra Singh Shekhawat.
• The SBM academy was launched during the current week-long behaviour change campaign ‘GandagiMukt Bharat’.
• The launch of SBM academy is a crucial part of the phase 2 of Swachh Bharat Mission (Grameen).
• It will ensure behaviour change and promote the capacity building of the key stakeholders such as Swachhagrahis, PRIs members, community-based organizations, NGOs, SHGs etc

Atal Innovation Mission & Dell Technologies launches "SEP 2.0"

• The second edition of Student Entrepreneurship Programme (SEP 2.0) has been rolled out by the Niti Aayog's Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) in collaboration with Dell Technologies.
• The Student Entrepreneurship Programme has been launched for the young innovators of Atal Tinkering Labs (ATLs) as it will enable them to work closely with Dell volunteers.

Reliance Foundation launches "W-GDP Women Connect Challenge"

• Reliance Foundation has launched the "W-GDP Women Connect Challenge" across India in association with US Agency for International Development (USAID) and Women's Global Development and Prosperity (W-GDP).
• The "W-GDP Women Connect Challenge" has been launched to bridge the gender divide as well as the digital divide in India.
• The Women's Global Development and Prosperity (W-GDP) Initiative was established by the White House in February 2019.
• This is the first whole-of-government approach to women's economic empowerment by reaching about 50 million women in the developing world by 2025.
• The initiative focuses on three pillars namely: women prospering in the workforce, women succeeding as entrepreneurs, and women enabled in the economy.

CCI approves formation of joint venture between HAMCL & HL

• The proposed combination filed by Keihin Corporation, Nissin Kogyo Co., Ltd., Showa Corporation and Hitachi Automotive Systems, Ltd has received the approval from the Competition Commission of India (CCI). The two companies have filed for the formation of a Joint Venture between Honda Motor Co. Limited (HAMCL) and Hitachi Limited (HL).

RBI announces ‘positive pay’ feature to help avert cheque frauds

• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has announced to introduce a mechanism of ‘Positive Pay’ feature for all cheques of value Rs 50,000 and above.
• This feature helps to avert cheque frauds. The limit of Rs 50,000 will cover approximately 20 per cent of transactions by volume and 80 per cent by value.
• Positive pay is a fraud-prevention system offered by most commercial banks to companies to protect them against forged, altered and counterfeit checks.

Pramod Bhasin becomes new Chairman of ICRIER

• Pramod Bhasin has been appointed as a new Chairman of Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER).
• He is currently the vice-chair of the board of governors at ICRIER.
• He will replace Isher Judge Ahluwalia, who has stepped down due to health reasons. Isher had been in this position for 15 years. She will continue as chairperson emeritus, a position specially created to honour her exceptional contributions to the Council.

PESB selects Soma Mondal as next chairman of SAIL

• Soma Mondal has been selected by the Public Enterprises Selection Board (PESB) as the next chairman of Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL). She will be taking charge when the present Chairman Anil Chaudhary.
• Mondal had taken over as Director (Commercial) of SAIL in September 2018. Prior to this, she was Director (Commercial), NALCO, Bhubaneswar which was history in making as was NALCO’s first-ever female director.

Union Home Minister’s Medal for Excellence in Investigation, 2020

• A total of 121 Police personnel have been awarded the "Union Home Minister’s Medal for Excellence in Investigation” for the year 2020.
• The award of "Union Home Minister’s Medal for Excellence in Investigation” seeks to encourage high professional standards of investigation of crime and to recognize such Excellence in Investigation by investigating officers.
• The list of Police personnel who have received the Union Home Minister’s Medal for Excellence in Investigation, 2020 includes 21 women police officers.

Forbes magazine released "The Highest-Paid Actors Of 2020" list

• Forbes magazine has released "The Highest-Paid Actors Of 2020" list. Bollywood actor, Akshay Kumar is the only Indian star to be listed among the top 10 world’s highest-paid actors of 2020.
• With total earnings of $48.5 million. Akshay is placed at sixth place in the list. Most of his income came from product endorsements.
• The list takes into account the earnings between June 1, 2019, and June 1, 2020.
• The list has been topped by Wrestler-turned-movie star Dwayne Johnson, for a second straight year, with the total earning of $87.5 million. Johnson is also known by his ring name The Rock.

LIC starts ‘Special Revival Campaign’ to revive lapsed policies

• Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) has announced a special scheme to revive lapsed policies named ‘Special Revival Campaign’. This campaign is open from 10 August to 9 October during which customers can revive their individual lapsed policies.
• The policies of specific eligible plans can be revived within five years from the date of the first unpaid premium subject to certain terms and conditions.

Dr V K Paul chairs Expert Committee meet on Vaccine Administration

• Dr V K Paul, Member Niti Aayog has chaired the meeting of National Expert Group on Vaccine Administration for COVID-19.
• The committee held a meeting to deliberate on measures to ensure availability of vaccines as well as its delivery mechanism. It also discussed the mechanisms for the establishment of a digital infrastructure for inventory management.
• The V K Paul led committee also deliberated on delivery mechanism of the vaccine including tracking of vaccination process while focusing particularly on last mile delivery.
• Broad parameters guiding the selection of COVID-19 vaccine candidates, was also a key subject of discussion during the meet.
• Other key subjects were procurement mechanisms for COVID-19 vaccine, guiding principles for prioritization of population groups for vaccination, financial resources required for procurement of COVID-19 vaccine and various options of financing the vaccine

 A book titled “Our Only Home: A Climate Appeal to the World” by Dalai Lama

• The Tibetan spiritual leader, Dalai Lama, will release a new book titled “Our Only Home: A Climate Appeal to the World” on climate change with German environmental journalist, Franz Alt in November.
• The Dalai Lama in the book calls on political decision-makers to fight against deadlock and ignorance on the issue of climate change and to stand up for a different, more climate-friendly world and for the younger generation to assert their right to regain its future.

 CII organised “India@75 Summit – Mission 2022”

• Union Minister for Micro Small and Medium Enterprises(MSME), Nitin Gadkari has addressed the “India@75 Summit – Mission 2022” organised by the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) via video-conferencing.
• The summit was focused on ‘reinventing technology in India’. The MSME Ministry and Industries should be made import substitutes, cost-effective, pollution-free and indigenous.

Veteran sports journalist GK Menon passes away

• Veteran sports journalist, GK Menon passed away. He worked with the Indian Express and The Times of India and ended his freelance career in the early 1990s.
• He played cricket at the club level and also was an active member of the Shivaji Park Gymkhana in Dadar, central Mumbai.
• He was manager of the 1952-53 Bombay University team which won the Rohinton Baria Trophy by beating Delhi in the final at Bengaluru.