Daily Current Affairs 5th September, 2020

Daily Current Affairs 5 September 2020 for Banking/Insurance/SSC and other related exams.

NATIONAL NEWS

Assam govt re-launches SVAYEM scheme to provide self-employment to around 2 lakh youths
The Assam government re-launched a scheme to provide self-employment to around 2 lakh youths of the state. Known as Swami Vivekananda Assam Youth Empowerment (SVAYEM), it would provide 50 thousand rupees each as seed money to selected youths to start business ventures.

• The government is  launching the redesigned SVAYEM with a budget of Rs. 1000 crore which will be spent in the next three months without any banking linkage.

Uttar Pradesh to create Udyog Bandhu-like body for farmers
Uttar Pradesh (UP) is all set to create a dedicated body, on the lines of Udyog Bandhu, to assist enterprising farmer producer organisations (FPOs) in investing in projects for post-harvest infrastructure management and community farming assets with the help of the Agriculture Infrastructure Fund (AIF) that the Centre had announced in August.

• The UP cabinet is likely to clear the FPOs policy, 2020 soon in the wake of the Central government’s decision to form 10,000 such units in the country by 2023-24.
• The Central government plans to make Rs 1 lakh crore AIF available to banks that will finance these projects.

Madhya Pradesh paired with Manipur and Nagaland under ‘Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat Abhiyan’
Madhya Pradesh have been paired with Manipur and Nagaland for implementing the Centre’s ambitious scheme Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat Abhiyan.

• The people of three States are involved in various activities for understanding art and culture, education, literature and traditions of each other.
• The ‘Ek Bharat, Shrestha Bharat’ programme aims to actively enhance interaction between people of diverse cultures living in different States and Union Territories in India, with the objective of promoting greater mutual understanding amongst them.

AP Govt launches two schemes for pregnant women
Andhra Padesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy launched two new schemes ‘YSR Sampoorna Poshana and YSR Sampoorna’ for pregnant women.

• The objectives of the schemea is to providing nutritious food for pregnant women and lactating mothers along with children.
• YSR Sampoorna Poshana Plus is intended to supply nutritious food exclusively in 77 Tribal areas covering 8 ITDAs, 52 ICDS projects and 8,320 Anganwadi Centres, all the remaining urban and rural areas lying in plain lands will be covered under YSR Sampoorna Poshana.

UP govt decides to set up exclusive anti-electricity theft police stations in every district
Uttar Pradesh government has decided to set up exclusive anti-electricity theft police stations in every district of state to address the problem of frequent cases of power theft.

• One police station dedicated to deal with the issue of power theft will be opened in all 75 districts out of which 63 has already started functioning.
• The government has also raised the number of enforcement teams from 33 to 88 to launch a crackdown against those involved in power pilferage. As many as 53 teams are already functioning.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

UNEP launches “Green Nudges” programme for universities
The 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, and was drafted with The Behavioural Insights Team and GRID-Arendal.
•  It contains 40 ready-made nudges – simple measures that make it easier to make green choices which university campuses can deploy to encourage students and staff to embrace more sustainable behaviours.

Saudi Arabia chairs G20 Foreign Ministers’ Extraordinary Meeting
The G20 Foreign Ministers’ Extraordinary Meeting was held under the current Chair, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, in the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic crisis.

• The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, His Highness Prince Faisal Bin Farhan Al-Saud, chaired the virtual meeting.From India External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar represented the meeting.
• The discussions were held on strengthening international cooperation across borders in wake of COVID-19 crisis.

Indian Navy begins Mega Defence Exercise with Russia in Bay of Bengal
The Indian and Russian navies began a two-day mega military exercise in the Bay of Bengal to further consolidate their interoperability in dealing with various security challenges.

• It is part of the 11th edition of the biennial exercise Indra Navy.
• The two countries undertook the exercise at a time when India is engaged in a bitter border row with China in eastern Ladakh

China to unveil statue of Dr Dwarkanath Kotnis, the most celebrated Indian doctor in China
China is set to unveil a bronze statue of Indian doctor Dwarkanath Kotnis, one of five Indian physicians dispatched to China for medical assistance during the second Sino-Japanese war in 1938.

• The bronze statue of Kotnis, known in China as Ke Dihua, would be formally unveiled at the medical school at Shijiazhuang in September.

BANKING & FINANCE

RBI releases revised priority sector lending guidelines
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) released revised priority sector lending (PSL) guidelines to augment funding for COVID-19 impacted companies.

• The revised guidelines will enable better credit penetration to credit deficient areas, increase lending to small and marginal farmers and weaker sections, boost credit to renewable energy, and health infrastructure.
• The Reserve Bank of India has included some fresh categories eligible for finance under priority sector. These include loans to farmers for installation of solar power plants; loans for establishment of Compressed Bio Gas (CBG) plants; and bank finance to start-ups of up to Rs 50 crore.

LazyUPI’s digital credit card to let users ‘buy-now-pay-later’
PayU Finance’s popular pay-later product LazyPay launched a unique digital credit card that combines UPI and the Buy-Now-Pay-Later concept called LazyUPI.

• The solution is a prudent response to the market’s demand for easy access to credit across online and offline platforms and higher ticket-size pay-later options.
• LazyUPI’s Resolve feature enables customers to have the option of making part-repayments in case they are unable to repay in a monthly billing cycle. Just like any other standard credit card, customers can pay a Minimum Amount Due (MAD) and along with a conventional interest rate transfer the total outstanding amount to the next payment cycle.

RBL Bank launches cardless cash withdrawal facility through ATMs
RBL Bank said it has launched cardless cash withdrawal facility from ATMs, leveraging the Instant Money Transfer (IMT) system.

• The private sector lender said it has tied-up with Empays Payment Systems, a global financial technology provider, to offer this service.
• RBL Bank customers can withdraw cash without their debit cards from 389 IMT-enabled automated teller machines (ATMs) of the bank or more than 40,000 other bank ATMs across the country.

ACQUISITIONS & MERGERS

Infosys acquires US-based Kaleidoscope Innovation for $42 million
Infosys acquires US-based product design and development firm, Kaleidoscope Innovation, for $42 million.

• With this acquisition, the company will be able to expand its engineering services portfolio, especially in medical devices, consumer and industrial markets across the US.

APPOINTMENTS

Sbotop ropes in Dwayne Bravo as brand ambassador
Sbotop has announced its new partnership with Dwayne Bravo, as its brand ambassador.

• Just a week ago, the brand inked a multi-year sponsorship deal with English Premier League club Leeds United as their principal club sponsor.

Bajaj Allianz Life ropes in Ayushmann Khurrana as brand ambassador
Private life insurer, Bajaj Allianz Life has announced the appointment of Bollywood actor Ayushmann Khurrana as its brand ambassador to promote its products and digital services across offline and online mediums.

• Khurrana will feature in the brand’s next campaign ‘Smart Living’ that encompasses its term plan Smart Protect Goal and the new digital service, Smart Assist.

AWARDS

Air Force Sports Control Board conferred with ‘Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puruskar 2020’
Air Force Sports Control Board was conferred with ‘Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puruskar 2020’ for the outstanding contribution in helping sportsperson to excel in their respective disciplines and implement robust sports welfare measures.

• The award is for sustained efforts towards encouragement and promotion of sports in the country and IAF in particular.

NTPC wins AIMA-Chanakya National Management Games 2020
Team NTPC Vallur from Tamil Nadu has overcome stiff challenge to emerge as winner at the recently concluded AIMA Chanakya (Business Simulation Game)National Management Games(NMG)2020, an all India competition for corporates.

• The victory was also significant since NTPC won the prestigious NMG for the first time in five years.
• The competition was organized by All India Management Association.

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

Punjab Govt launches ‘I Rakhwali’ app to make citizens ‘Greenery Saviours’
To further strengthen its drive to preserve and maintain the environment in Punjab and make people stakeholders in the process, the State Forest Department launched ‘I Rakhwali’ application to help netizens to become ‘Greenery Saviours’.

• The application has been developed to ensure greenery and to protect the environment in Punjab, and its main aim is to inspire people to plant more trees.
• With this new initiative, the Punjab government aims to safeguard the state forest area by making people a stakeholder in this process.

EFLU’s English App launched by Union Minister for Education
The Union Minister of Education Dr Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’, launched ‘EnglishPro’, a free mobile app developed by the English and Foreign Languages University (EFLU), Hyderabad.

• 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.

IIT Bombay students develop AIR Scanner, an Indian alternative to Camscanner
Giving a push to the ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ call by the Prime Minister, IIT Bombay has launched an alternative to Camscanner, a Chinese app mainly used for scanning documents, that was banned by the Government of India.

• The new app launched by IIT Bombay students is called as AIR SCANNER and is available free of cost.
• AIR Scanner app does not collect any information about the user and all the documents are stored in the phone’s local storage. The app guarantees complete user security

BOOKS

Goonmeet Singh Chauhan’s New Book ‘Invertonomics’ Talks about Transforming India
The book titled ‘Invertonomics’ authored by Mr. Goonmeet Singh Chauhan, and published by HarperCollins Publishers India, is a new way of looking at problem-solving.

• This book is a compilation of methodologies that invert problems into economic opportunities.

Memoir to authorised biography: Two books on Ma Anand Sheela to be published later this year
Two books on Sheela Birnstiel, popularly known as Ma Anand Sheela, are set to be pubslihed.

• One of the books is an authorised biography, Nothing To Lose by Manbeena Sandhu which will acquaint readers with the woman behind the strong persona. This will be published by Harper Collins, India in October.
• In November, Penguin Random House will come out with Ma Anand Sheela’s memoir titled, My Story in My Own Words. Ma Anand Sheela’s life has been rife with controversies and enigma.
• She was the spokeswoman of the Rajneesh movement and later headlined the Rajneesh commune in Wasco County, Oregon, USA till she was imprisoned for four and a half years.

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