Daily Current Affairs 26 August 2020 for Banking/Insurance/SSC and other related exams.
NATIONAL NEWS
APEDA signs MoUs with AFC India Ltd and NCUI, Delhi to utilise their expertise in agri sector
Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) is engaged with State governments for the implementation of agri export policy. Several States, including Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Kerala have also finalised the action plan for the implementation of policy.
- APEDA signed MoUs with AFC India Ltd, and National Cooperative Union of India (NCUI), Delhi to utilise their expertise in the agri sector.
- The agriculture export policy was framed with a focus on agriculture export oriented production, promotion of outbound shipments, better price realisation to farmers and synchronisation within policies and programmes of the central government.
Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath launches NRI unified portal
UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath launched a portal for NRIs named ‘NRI unified portal’ , especially for those from Uttar Pradesh, that will help not only in bringing in investment but also assist those seeking jobs abroad.
- The website nri.up.gov.in will also provide a platform for NRIs keen to know about their roots or those seeking help from the UP government related to their homes or families in the state.
- The NRI department of state will use festivals to connect with Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) in other countries
IIT Madras, Stuttgart University develop method to dispose pharma waste
Indian Institute of Technology(IIT), Madras along with German researchers have developed ‘co-composting’ methods that can be used to safely dispose of toxic pharmaceutical waste water and sludge.
- Their method converts the waste into compost of high quality and within just 20 days.
- The research team led by Ligy Philip, Department of Civil Engineering, comprised research scholar Anu Rachel Thomas from the Institute and Martin Kranert from the Germany-based Institute for Sanitary Engineering, Water Quality and Solid Waste Management, Stuttgart University.
Tech Mahindra partners with Niti Aayog to empower women entrepreneurs
IT major Tech Mahindra announced collaboration with NITI Aayog to empower women entrepreneurs in the country.
- Tech Mahindra will provide mentorship, co-create solutions leveraging new age technologies and support in developing a go-to-market strategy.
- As part of the collaboration, Tech Mahindra has partnered with the winners of Women Transforming India (WTI) Awards, an initiative of the Niti Aayog, to recognise women leaders in entrepreneurship across various sectors.
MCX launches Bulldex, India’s first bullion index
India’s largest commodity exchange the Multi-Commodity Exchange of India Ltd (MCX) launched the country’s first bullion index, MCX iCOMDEX Bullion , or Bulldex.
- The index will track the real-time performance of the gold (1kg) and silver (30kg) futures contracts.
- The weigthage of gold is 70.52 percent and the remaining 29.48 percent is silver. The weights will be rebalanced every January.
Class 9 student from Manipur develops mobile game ‘Coroboi’ amid Covid-19 pandemic
A 13-year old boy from Manipur, Baldeep Ningthoujam has developed a mobile game named Coroboi amid COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown which became a popular android based game worldwide.
- The game which was launched in google play store has become one of the most popular search and download games.
- The game was launched on the 21st of this month and more than 20 thousand users had downloaded the game till now. It has already made a record to become number two trending mobile game app in google play store.
BANKING & FINANCE
ICICI Bank becomes first in India to use Satellite Data to assess Farmer Loans
For the first time in domestic banking, ICICI Bank is deploying satellite data to power farm credit assessment, which it claims will reduce cost for both farmers as well as the lender.
- The satellite data will replace physical visits that have been done hitherto to assess a host of parameters on land location, irrigation levels and crop quality patterns to forecast future revenues of the farmers.
- The second-largest private sector lender said it has been piloting the project in a few select villages for the past two years and is extending the same to 500 villages in Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat now.
SBI General Insurance Launches ‘Shagun – Gift an insurance’ policy
SBI General Insurance has launched first-of-its-kind insurance product called ‘Shagun – Gift an Insurance”, which is a unique gift of Personal Accident policy.
- The unique feature of this policy is that it can be gifted to anyone, which means it is not necessary for the policy buyer to be related to the insured.
- A Gift giver (policy buyer) can gift this product to anyone like family, friends, extended family and even domestic helpers, chauffeurs, drivers, cook, etc
- Gift Receiver (insured) should be in the age group of 18 years to 65 years.Policy can be availed for up to 1 Year.
BUSINESS & ECONOMY
Nabard introduces credit guarantee programme for NBFC-MFIs
The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard) introduced a dedicated debt and credit guarantee programme in a bid to ensure uninterrupted flow of credit in rural areas affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
- The product- Structured Finance and Partial Guarantee Programme to NBFC-MFIs -entails providing partial guarantee on pooled loans extended to small and mid-sized micro finance institutions (MFIs).
- Nabard signed a pact with Vivriti Capital and Ujjivan Small Finance Bank earlier this month to roll out the initiative.
RBI projects country’s growth rate at (-) 4.5 per cent for 2020-21
The Reserve Bank has projected India’s growth rate at (-) 4.5 percent for 2020-21. In its annual report, RBI projected global growth rate between (-) 6.0 per cent and (-) 7.6 per cent.
- The report says that expected headline inflation will remain elevated in the current quarter, but likely to ease in the second half of the fiscal. It adds that the growth is likely to turn positive from January-March quarter 2020-21.
- The report also notes that government consumption spending has provided a measure of relief, with the central government’s revenue expenditure, having risen by 33.7 per cent in the first quarter.
MasterCard, Goals101.ai team up to offer more personalised experience
Mastercard has entered an alliance with Goals101.ai, a bank-tech and AI company connecting merchants and issuers using big data, artificial intelligence, and automation to create targeted and personalized offers for bank cardholders.
- With Goals 101.ai, Mastercard’s customer banks will now benefit from the increased customer engagement with personalization.
- The platform identifies a consumer’s purchase patterns to help banks offer a more targeted, relevant, and measurable service.
SPORTS
Australia all-rounder Cameron White announces retirement from professional cricket
Former Australia captain and all-rounder Cameron White has announced his retirement from all forms of professional cricket.
- Cameron White played 4 Tests for Australia, all against India on their 2008 tour. He also featured in 91 ODIs and 47 T20Is, leading the limited-overs team in 7 international games as well.
- White scored 146 runs in Tests, 2072 in ODIs and 984 runs in the shortest format with 5, 12 and 1 wicket in the three formats respectively.
APPOINTMENTS
DRDO chief G Satheesh Reddy gets two-year extension
Dr. G. Satheesh Reddy, Head of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), has been given a two-year extension as the Secretary, Department of Defence Research and Development and Chairman DRDO beyond his tenure of August 26, 2020.
EX Managing Director and CEO Rajiv Srivastava resigns
Rajiv Srivastava, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Indian Energy Exchange (IEX) resigned aside citing personal reasons.
- He was relieved from his position with immediate effect from 24th August 2020.
- Satyanarayan Goel, the current non-executive chairman of the board of IEX was given additional charges as the interim MD and CEO of the company.
AWARDS
NLCIL bags “Swachhta Hi Seva award” for transforming Neyveli Township
The Government of India Navratna, NLC India Limited (NLCIL) has bagged the award for making an extremely valuable contribution in the implementation of the “Swachhta Hi Seva Programme”.
The Swachhta Hi Seva Award was conferred to the following three units of NLCIL
1.Township Administration Office – First rank
2.Thermal Power Station-1 – Second rank
3.Mines Sub-Stores—Third rank
- The Swachhta Hi Seva programme, an initiative of the Swachch Bharat Mission, was launched by Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi in September 2019.
21-year old Neelakanta Bhanu Prakash bags ‘World’s Fastest Human Calculator’ title
Neelakanta Bhanu Prakash, a 21-year-old Hyderabad boy, has become the world’s fastest human calculator after winning the first gold for India in the Mental Calculation World Championship at Mind Sports Olympiad (MSO) in London.
- He also holds world records and 50 Limca records for being the fastest human calculator in the world.
- He has broken world records of Scott Flansburg and Shakuntala Devi.
- He has even won the International Abacus Champion ’13 and National Abacus Champion ’11 and ’12.
BOOKS
‘Running Toward Mystery: The Adventure of an Unconventional Life’ Book by Tenzin Priyadarshi and Zara Houshmand
Thr book titled ‘Running Toward Mystery: The Adventure of an Unconventional Life’ is an account by Tenzin Priyadarshi, president and CEO of The Dalai Lama Center for Ethics and Transformative Values at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, of his lifelong journey as a seeker.
Co-written with Iranian American author and literary translator Zara Houshmand.
In “Running Toward Mystery, Priyadarshi shares his thoughts on science and technology, meditation and spiritual disillusionment, and the relationship between Buddhism and the modern world.
OBITUARIES
‘Dom Raja’ of Varanasi Jagdish Chaudhary passes away
The Dom Raja of Kashi, Jagdish Chaudhary, passed away following a long illness. He was 55.
- Chaudhary, who occupied the ritually significant position of ”Dom Raja” (king of cremators), was one of the proposers of Prime Minister Narendra Modi”s candidature from Varanasi constituency in the 2019 Lok Sabha election.
Former Congo president Pascal Lissouba passes away
Former Congolese president Pascal Lissouba died in France after an illness at the age of 88.
- He was president of the Republic of Congo also called Congo-Brazzaville, to distinguish it from the neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) from 1992 to 1997.
IMPORTANT DAYS
World Gujarati Day
August 24 is celebrated as World Gujarati Day which dedicated to Gujarati language and literature and is Poet Narmad’s birthday
- Veer Narmad is a visionary creator, philosopher, pioneer of social justice. The poet Narmad, who is considered to be ‘the first in modern times’, introduced his fearlessness and creativity through ‘Dandio’.