22 SEP 2020

 

UN marks 75th anniversary amid coronavirus pandemic

World leaders came together, virtually, on Monday to mark the 75th anniversary of the United Nations, as the deadly coronavirus pandemic and tensions between the United States and China challenge the effectiveness and solidarity of the 193-member body.

• UN Member States agreed in June 2019 that the UN will mark its 75th anniversary with a one-day, high-level meeting of the UN General Assembly on, 21 September 2020 on the theme, 'The Future We Want, the UN We Need: Reaffirming our Collective Commitment to Multilateralism'.
• The special UNGA event to mark the 75th anniversary of the UN kick-starts the high-level General Assembly session.
• For the week-long General Debate, Heads of State and Government and Ministers will deliver their speeches through pre-recorded video statements, a first in the 75-year history of the world organization.
• The UN was formulated and negotiated among the delegations from the Allied Big Four (the United States, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and China) at the Dumbarton Oaks Conference from 21 September 1944 to 7 October 1944 and they agreed on the aims, structure and functioning of the UN.
• The UN was established after World War II with the aim of preventing future wars.

India launches first ever cargo ferry with Maldives

The first ever Cargo Ferry Service between India and the Maldives was jointly launched, opening a new chapter in connectivity initiatives in the Indian Ocean Region.

• The Cargo Ferry Vessel MCP Linz operated by the Shipping Corporation of India (SCI) will connect Tuticorin and Cochin ports in India with Kulhudhuhfushi and Male ports in the Maldives.
• The MCP Linz is a combination vessel which can carry 380 TEUs and 3000 MT on bulk cargo, and will have a turnaround time of 10-12 days for its voyages, officials said.
• This vessel provides direct cargo connectivity between India and the Maldives on a predictable and affordable basis for the first time, and will lower costs and times for traders in both countries.

Women officers in helicopter stream of Indian Navy

In yet another first in the history of Indian naval aviation, two women officers have been selected to join as “Observers” (Airborne Tacticians) in the helicopter stream.

• They would in effect, be the first set of women airborne combatants who would be operating from warships.
• Earlier, entry of women was restricted to the fixed wing aircraft that took off and landed ashore.
• These officers, Sub Lieutenant (SLt) Kumudini Tyagi and SLt Riti Singh, are a part of a group of 17 officers of the Indian Navy, including four women officers and three officers of the Indian Coast Guard (13 officers of Regular batch and 04 woman officers of Short Service Commission batch) who were awarded “Wings” on graduating as “Observers”.

Center Approved Rs.600 Crore Outlay for Street Vendors under PM Svanidhi Scheme

Amid the Corona crisis, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs had launched Prime Minister Street Vendor’s Amta Nirbhar Nidhi Scheme (PM SVANidhi) on June 01, 2020 which aims to facilitate collateral free working capital loans upto Rs 10,000 of 1 year tenure, to about 50 lakh street vendors across the country.

• According to recent reports, the approved outlay for PM SVANidhi scheme is Rs.600.00 crores.
• It also provides for incentives in the form of interest subsidy @ 7% per annum on regular repayment of loan and cash-back upto Rs. 100 per month on undertaking prescribed digital transactions.
• Further, on timely or early repayment, the vendors will be eligible for the next cycle of working capital loan with an enhanced limit.
• For the purpose of scheme administration, an end-to-end solution through an IT platform has been developed in collaboration with Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI).

Maharashtra’s ‘e- Peek Pahani’ app will reduce hardships of farmers

Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has said that e- Peek Pahani mobile application of the State Government will reduce hardships of farmers and help them get the right price and good market for their produce.

• 'Peek pahani' roughly translates to crop survey.
• Details of farmers from nine talukas were being collected currently using the application.
• Farmers can upload images of their crop using the application and after verification of the same they can register the details.

Tamil Nadu CM orders release of water from Vaigai dam

Tamil Nadu chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami has ordered the release of water from the Vaigai dam from Sept 27, for irrigation of 1,05,002 acres of land.

• As the combined storage of both the Mullaperiyar dam and the Vaigai dam touched 6000 MCFT, water can be released for the single crop area of 1,05,002 acres.
• The Vaigai Dam is built across the Vaigai River near Andipatti, in the Theni district of Tamil Nadu.
• It provides water for irrigation for the Madurai district and the Dindigul district as well as drinking water to Madurai and Andipatti.

HDFC Bank launches video Know Your Customer facility

HDFC Bank has launched a video KYC (Know Your Customer) facility for its customers.

• The consent-based Video KYC facility is an alternate method of establishing the prospective customer’s identity, during the account opening process in a safe and secure environment.
• As per the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) directions, successful completion of Video KYC is equivalent to full KYC and the customers is eligible for all financial / banking products.
• It is a paperless, contactless, and recorded interaction between a Bank official and the customer.

Anil Dhasmana appointed as new chief of NTRO

Former Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW) chief Anil Dhasmana has been appointed as the chief of National Technical Research Organisation (NTRO).

• NTRO is India’s technical body that is responsible for geospatial intelligence and satellite imagery.
• Dhasmana succeeds former Intelligence Bureau officer Satish Jha, who demitted office.
• Dhasmana, a 1981 batch IPS officer, is a Pakistan expert and was the lead planner of the Balakot air strikes in February 2019.
• He had stepped down a few months later when his extended term due to the general elections ended in June 2019.

PM Narendra Modi awarded Ig Nobel Prize 2020 for medical education

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been awarded the Ig Nobel Prize 2020 for Medical Education.

• Modi was awarded the prize for "using the COVID-19 pandemic to teach the world that politicians can have a more immediate effect on life and death than scientists and doctors can".
• Besides Modi, the medical education prize was jointly awarded to Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil, Boris Johnson of the United Kingdom, Andrés Manuel López Obrador of Mexico, Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus, Donald Trump of the USA, Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey, Vladimir Putin of Russia, and Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow of Turkmenistan.
• Not to be confused with the prestigious Nobel Peace Prize, the Ig Nobel Prize is a satirical and parody award given out by a magazine Improbable Research every year since 1991.
• Modi became the second Indian Prime Minister to be awarded the Ig Nobel Prize. In 1998, then-PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif of Pakistan were awarded the Ig Nobel Peace Prize for "aggressively peaceful explosions of atomic bombs."

Novak Djokovic wins Men's Singles event in Italian Open

In tennis, world number one Novak Djokovic won a record 36th Masters title by beating Diego Schwartzman in the Italian Open at Rome.

• The Serb, playing in his first tournament since being disqualified from this month's US Open, won 7-5, 6-3 in the final to ensure he goes into next week's French Open on a high.
• The French starts, with Nadal seeking a record-extending 13th men's singles title in Paris.

Simona Halep wins Italian Open title after Karolina Pliskova retires

Top-seeded Simona Halep won her first Italian Open title when Karolína Plíšková retired midway through the final with an injury.

• Halep was leading 6-0, 2-1 when Plíšková stopped playing.
• Halep, who lost the 2017 and 2018 Rome finals to Elina Svitolina, extended her record in tennis’ restart to 10-0.
• After the tour’s five-month break because of the coronavirus pandemic, the Romanian returned by winning another trophy in Prague last month.
• She then skipped the U.S. Open because of travel and health concerns.

Nepal's legendary mountaineer Ang Rita Sherpa who climbed Everest ten times, dies

A veteran Nepalese Sherpa guide who was the first person to climb Mount Everest 10 times has died at age 72 after a long illness.

• Ang Rita, among the first Sherpa guides to receive international fame for his accomplishments, had suffered from health problems for many years and had not climbed any mountains since setting the Everest record in 1996.
• Ang Rita was a national hero known as the “snow leopard” but struggled financially and with his health, including liver illness and swelling of the brain.
• Sherpa are an ethnic group from the Himalayan region, many of whom work as guides or support staff for foreign climbers.
• They carry equipment and supplies and dig paths in the snow and ice to help their clients get to the summit, usually with little recognition.