Daily Current Affairs 9th September, 2020

Daily Current Affairs 9 September 2020 for Banking/Insurance/SSC and other related exams.

NATIONAL NEWS

Nearly 42 crore poor receive financial assistance of Rs 68,820 Cr under Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Package

The Finance Ministry said more than 42 crore people have received Rs 68,820-crore financial assistance under the government’s Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana (PMGKP) to protect poor and vulnerable from the impact of COVID-19 crisis.

• As per the latest data, Rs 17,891 crore has gone towards payment of first instalment of PM-KISAN. Under the scheme, 8.94 crore identified beneficiaries got Rs 2,000 directly in their accounts.
• Rs 30,925 crore was credited to 20.6 crore women Jan Dhan account holders in three monthly instalment of Rs 500 each.
• The National Social Assistance Programme (NSAP) disbursed about Rs 2,814.5 crore to about 2.81 crore old-age persons, widow and differently-abled persons.
• Under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Ann Yojana, 111.6 lakh metric tonnes (LMT) of foodgrains have been distributed to about 75 crore beneficiaries during the April-June period.

CIPET to establish two new Centres for Skilling and Technical Support at Bhagalpur & Varanasi

Central Institute of Petrochemicals Engineering & Technology (CIPET) under the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers will be shortly establishing two new Centres for Skilling and Technical Support- CSTS at Bhagalpur (Bihar) and Varanasi (UP) .

• Every year 1000 youths will be trained in each centre through Diploma & Skill Development programmes for gainful employment in petrochemicals & allied industries.
• Presently CIPET has 43 operational centres and 9 more centres are in the process of establishment across the country catering to the needs of Polymer and allied industries.

STEPapp collaborates with the Tribal Development Department, Govt of India in bringing gamified learning to underprivileged students

STEPapp (Student Talent Enhancement Program Application) has received a mandate from the Indian Ministry of Tribal Affairs to implement its gamified learning app across all Tribal Schools in India in a landmark development.

• This is the first time a government institution has tied up with an Indian EdTech startup on a monetised project.
• This initiative will benefit more than 1.5 lakh students from grades 1st-12th across the country immediately and will expand the scope in the coming years. Through this association, STEPapp will enhance the students’ performance in school exams as well as in competitive exams. This will also enable schools to measure the students’ learning outcomes through dashboards. The content provided will be in the English language.

Reliance-backed Fynd launches mobile game to encourage social distancing

Reliance-backed eCommerce platform Fynd has launched a new hyper-casual game titled ‘Social Doori’ to encourage social distancing amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

• The hypercasual game is based on an Avatar selected by the user. Being positioned in a public place, the Avatar would engage the player by guiding on various safety measures, including maintaining safe social distance, among others.

NITI Aayog constitutes Multidimensional Poverty Index Coordination Committee (MPICC)

NITI Aayog has constituted a Multidimensional Poverty Index Coordination Committee (MPICC). The MPICC is chaired by Ms. Sanyukta Samaddar, Adviser (SDG).

• NITI Aayog is the nodal agency for the Global Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) and has been assigned the responsibility of leveraging the monitoring mechanism for it and to drive reforms.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Parachutist makes world’s first jump from solar-powered plane

A parachutist completed the world’s first jump from a solar-powered aircraft after the plane soared to a height of 1,520 metres (nearly 5,000 ft) over western Switzerland.

• The two-seater prototype plane made the test flight in good weather and to promote renewable energy.
• Parachutist Raphael Domjan reached a speed of 150 kilometres per hour during his jump, landing near the project base in Payerne.

Typhoon Haishen wreaks havoc in South Korea

A powerful typhoon Haishen damaged buildings, flooded roads and knocked out power to thousands of homes in South Korea after battering islands in southern Japan and injuring dozens of people.

• Typhoon Haishen was passing waters off the eastern coastal city of Sokcho after barrelling through South Korea’s southern and eastern regions.

UNICEF to lead global procurement and supply of coronavirus vaccines

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has announced that it will be leading the global procurement and supply of the COVID-19 vaccine in order to ensure that all the countries have safe, equitable, and fast access to the initial doses when they are available.

• UNICEF is the world’s largest single buyer of vaccines for diseases like polio and measles and procures over 2 billion doses on behalf of nearly 100 countries each year.

BANKING & FINANCE

BoI launched “Signature Visa Debit Card” on his 115th Foundation Day

On the occasion of Bank of India (BoI)’s 115th Foundation Day, BoI has launched an international contactless debit card, “Signature Visa Debit Card” for high net worth individuals who are maintaining an average quarterly balance of Rs 10 lakhs and above.

Himachal Pradesh, World Bank sign $82 mn loan deal for HP State Roads Transformation Project

The government of Himachal Pradesh and the World Bank signed $82 million loan for the implementation of Himachal Pradesh State Roads Transformation Project which will strengthen transport and road safety institutions of Himachal Pradesh by improving the condition, safety, resilience, and engineering standards of state road network.

BUSINESS & ECONOMY

RBI Broadly Accepts Kamath Panel Recommendations; Specifies Parameters for Loan Restructuring

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said it has broadly accepted the recommendations by the KV Kamath-led committee on the financial parameters to be considered in the restructuring of loans impacted by the Covid 19 pandemic.

• In its report, the five-member panel led by K.V. Kamath identified five financial parameters to gauge the health of sectors facing difficulties.
• These include total outside liabilities to adjusted tangible networth, total debt to earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (Ebitda), debt service coverage ratio (DSCR), current ratio and average debt service coverage ratio (ADSCR).
• It has suggested financial ratios for 26 sectors, which can be factored by lenders while finalising a resolution plan for a certain borrower.
• The sectors identified by the panel include auto components, auto manufacturing, aviation, cement, construction, pharma manufacturing, power, real estate, consumer durables, hotels, restaurants and tourism among others.

Fitch revises India GDP forecast for FY21 to -10.5% from -5% earlier

Fitch has sharply lowered its forecast for India’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth for the current fiscal 2020-21 (FY21) and now expects the country’s GDP to contract 10.5 per cent versus its earlier estimate of 5 per cent contraction in this period.

• This, at a time, when the rating agency has revised upwards, albeit modestly, its forecast for global GDP – from the earlier estimated fall of 4.6 per cent to 4.4 per cent now.
• The downward revision in India’s forecast for FY21 comes on the heels of a sharp contraction in Indian economy in the April – June 2020 period, when the GDP came in at a negative to 23.9 per cent year-on-year (YoY) – the worst performance in nearly four decades.

India Ratings Revises Financial Year 2021 GDP Growth Projection to Negative 11.8%

Domestic rating agency India Ratings and Research revised the country’s FY21 GDP growth forecast to (-) 11.8 per cent from (-) 5.3 per cent earlier.

• The agency, however, expects India’s gross domestic product (GDP) to rebound and grow at 9.9 per cent year-on-year in FY22 mainly due to the weak base of FY21.
• The agency said the negative 23.9 per cent growth in the first quarter of FY21 is the first contraction in quarterly GDP data series which has been made available in the public domain since the first quarter of FY98.

Goldman Sachs projects deeper recession for India in FY21

Investment bank Goldman Sachs expects Indian economy to undergo a deeper recession in FY21 with a contraction of 14.8% against its earlier estimate of 11.8% dip in economic activity.

OBITUARIES

Father of India’s Radio Astronomy Govind Swarup passes away

Father of India’s Radio Astronomy, Dr. Govind Swarup passed away at Pune. He was 91. Dr. Swarup is known not only for his many important research contributions in several areas of astronomy and astrophysics, but also for his outstanding achievements in building ingenious, innovative and powerful observational facilities for front-line research in radio astronomy.

• The Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT) was established at Narayangaon near Pune was established under Dr. Swarup’s able guidance.
• He was awarded Padmashree, Dr. Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar award, H. K. Firodia award and many international awards.

Telugu Actor Jayaprakash Reddy passes away

Veteran Telugu stage and film actor Jayaprakash Reddy died of heart attack at his residence in Guntur. He was 74. Jayaprakash Reddy, popularly known as JP, began his career as a school teacher. His passion for acting drove him towards the stage and he played varied roles in countless dramas.

• JP acted in more than 100 films along side the top heroes of Telugu films like Chiranjeevi, Balakrishna, Nagarjuna, Venkatesh, Pawan Kalyan and Mahesh Babu

Former BJD MP Narendra Swain passes away

Senior BJD leader and former Rajya Sabha MP from Odisha Narendra Swain died at a private hospital in Cuttack. He was 81.

• Swain was elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha in 2015

Liberation war fighter Ziauddin Tariq Ali passes away in Dhaka

Liberation war fighter and a prominent public figure of Bangladesh Ziauddin Tariq Ali passed away in Dhaka.

• He was a member of the cultural group ‘Muktir Gaan’, that inspired the freedom fighters through their songs during the Liberation War in 1971.
• He was instrumental in setting up the Liberation War Museum in Dhaka in 1996 with contributions from the common people.

Click here to read Daily Current Affairs