28 SEP 2020

  

World Rabies Day: 28 September

World Rabies Day is observed globally on 28th September every year.

• This day is observed to raise awareness about the impact of rabies on humans and animals, provide information and advice on how to prevent the disease and take efforts to control rabies.
• The day also marks the death anniversary of the French chemist and microbiologist, Louis Pasteur’, who developed the first rabies vaccine.
• 2020 theme : ‘End Rabies: Collaborate, Vaccinate’.

International Day for Universal Access to Information: 28 September

The International Day for the Universal Access to Information (commonly known as Access to Information Day) is observed globally on 28th September every year.

• Universal access to information means that everyone has the right to seek, receive and impart information for healthy and inclusive knowledge societies.
• The day was designated by UNESCO in November 2015 and was first held on 28 September 2016.
• 2020 theme: Access to Information – Saving lives, Building Trust, Bringing Hope!

Armenia, Azerbaijan clashes disturb peace in South Caucasus

Clashes erupted between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the volatile Nagorno-Karabakh region, reigniting concern about instability in the South Caucasus, a corridor for pipelines transporting oil and gas to world markets.

• Both sides, which fought a war in the 1990s, reported fatalities.
• Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh, a breakaway region that is inside Azerbaijan but is run by ethnic Armenians, declared martial law and mobilised their male populations.
• Armenia said Azerbaijan had carried out an air and artillery attack on Nagorno-Karabakh.
• The clashes prompted a flurry of diplomacy to prevent a new flare-up of a decades-old conflict between majority Christian Armenia and mainly Muslim Azerbaijan, with Russia calling for an immediate ceasefire and Pope Francis leading calls for talks.

Lebanon’s PM designate Mustapha Adib steps down

Lebanon’s prime minister-designate Mustapha Adib, quit after trying for almost a month to line up a non-partisan cabinet.

• Adib, former ambassador to Berlin, was picked on August 31 to form a cabinet.
• He had tried to form a government of specialists in a nation where power is shared between Muslims and Christians and political loyalties tend to follow sectarian lines.
• But his efforts ran into the sand over cabinet appointments, particularly the post of finance minister, who will have a crucial role in drawing up a programme to lift Lebanon out of a deep economic crisis.
• Crushed by a mountain of debt, Lebanon’s banks are paralysed and its currency is in freefall.

NCDC sanctions Rs 19444 crores in first instalment for MSP operations support to three states during Kharif season 2020-21

National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC), the apex financing organization of Union Agriculture Ministry has sanctioned as first instalment, funds amounting to Rs 19444 crores to the states of Chhattisgarh, Haryana and Telangana for Kharif paddy procurement under Minimum Support Price (MSP) operations.

• These amounts have been sanctioned to assist the States/ State Marketing Federations in undertaking paddy procurement operations in a timely manner through their respective cooperative organizations.
• Chhattisgarh gets the highest amount to the tune of Rs 9000 crores.
• Haryana has been sanctioned Rs 5444 crores and Telangana Rs 5500 crores.
• This proactive step by NCDC during the COVID pandemic will give the much needed financial support to farmers of these three states who account for nearly 75% of production of paddy in the country.

Narendra Singh Tomar inaugurates Indian Agricultural Research Institute’s Assam campus

Union Minister of Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar inaugurated the new Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), Assam campus.

• The IARI, Assam will be named after Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya.
• The Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) is India's national Institute for agricultural research, education and extension.
• The institute based in Delhi is financed and administered by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR).
• The IARI was responsible for the research leading to the "Green Revolution in India" of the 1970s.

Nation pays homage to revolutionary freedom fighter Bhagat Singh on his 113th birth anniversary

Nation pays homage to the revolutionary freedom fighter Bhagat Singh on his 113th birth anniversary.

• It was on this day in 1907, Bhagat Singh was born in Banga village of Lyallpur district of undivided Punjab province.
• He fought against British rule for the country's independence and was hanged in Lahore jail at the age of 23, along with Rajguru and Sukhdev.
• Bhagat was a prominent member of the HRA and was probably responsible, in large part, for its change of name to HSRA in 1928.
• He was involved in the fatal shooting of British police officer John Saunders and in the bombing of the Central Legislative Assembly in 1929 in New Delhi along with his associates.

Govt committed to increase public healthcare spending from existing 1.15% of GDP to 2.5 % by 2025

Health Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan said that the government is committed to increase the public healthcare spending from the existing 1.15 per cent of the GDP to 2.5 per cent by 2025.

• He added that the 15th Finance Commission’s high-level group on health has concurred that healthcare spending must be raised substantially in the next five years in view of the present pandemic.
• The minister informed that the National Health Policy 2017 envisages increasing the public health expenditure to 2.5 percent of the GDP by 2025.
• The policy recommends that State governments should spend more than 8 percent of their budget on the health sector by 2020.

Odisha Govt to launch Radio Pathshala program for students upto class 8

In view of the prevailing pandemic, the Odisha Government is launching Radio Pathshala program for students upto class 8 from.

• The program will be broadcast from All India Radio stations in the state for 15 minutes daily.
• More than ten Akshvani Kendras in the state will carry the classes between 10 to 1015 hours daily from Monday to Friday.
• The audio of the program will also be made available on the online DIKSHA platform for the students for whom schools have been kept out of bounds since March this year.

ADB approves Rs 2,200 crore loan to develop Rajasthan's secondary towns

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a 300 million dollar (about Rs 2,200 crore) loan to finance inclusive water supply and sanitation infrastructure and services in secondary towns of Rajasthan.

• The project is expected to build citywide access for improved water supply services for about 5.7 lakh people and enhanced sanitation services for about 7.2 lakh people in at least 14 secondary towns.
• These localities have 20,000 to one lakh residents.
• Through the project, water supply systems in at least eight project towns are expected to improve by 2027 with about one lakh households including all urban poor households benefiting from five new or rehabilitated water treatment plants and 1,350 km of distribution networks.
• Citywide sanitation systems based on the most cost-effective solutions will also be developed.
• The project will build on three earlier related projects and sector reforms funded by ADB in Rajasthan.

Final grand slam of the year 'French Open' begins in Paris

In Tennis, final grand slam of the year, the French Open got off in Paris with many changes in place amid COVID-19 pandemic.

• Time slot, weather conditions, match balls and the clay-court swing are all different at the Rolland Garros this year which ends on the 11th of next month.
• Rescheduled time slot of September instead of May has brought changes in weather conditions.
• The main court has a roof so that rain doesn't stop matches. Official match ball has also changed from Babolat to Wilson.
• Organisers have restricted the spectators' size to one thousand per day from the earlier 5,000.
• The French Open is also called Roland-Garros.
• It is the premier clay court tennis championship tournament in the world and the second of the four annual Grand Slam tournaments, the other three being the Australian Open, Wimbledon and the US Open.

Valtteri Bottas wins Russian GP

Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes-Finland) has won the Formula One Russian Grand Prix 2020 held at Sochi Autodrom, Russia.

• This is his second win of the season.
• Max Verstappen (Red Bull–Netherlands) came second followed by the 6-time world-champion Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes-Great Britain), who stood third because of penalties.