Daily Current Affairs and GK | 20 August 2020

1. Indian Akshay Urja Day: 20 August.

• Indian Akshay Urja Day is observed every year on 20 August in India with the aim of raising awareness about the development of renewable energy.
• The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy of India started this day in 2004.
• The day is celebrated to commemorate the birthday of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.
• The first celebration was held in New Delhi in 2004.
• Solar energy, wind power and hydro power are some examples of Akshay Urja or renewable energy.

2. World Mosquito Day: 20 August.

• World Mosquito Day is celebrated every year on 20 August.
• The day commemorates the discovery made by Sir Ronald Ross in 1897.
• In 1897, Sir Ronald Ross found that malaria among humans is spread by female mosquitoes.
• The purpose of Mosquito Day is to raise awareness about the causes of malaria and how it can be prevented.
• The Mosquito Day celebration is organized by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

3. Union Cabinet approves establishment of National Recruitment Agency for Common Eligibility Test.

• Recently the Union Cabinet has approved the establishment of National Recruitment Agency (NRA) for Common Eligibility Test.
• This historic decision will benefit the youth looking for jobs in the country. Many examinations will not have to be conducted with the commencement of Common Eligibility Test, which will save time and resources. Also, this will promote transparency on a large scale.
• The agency will have representatives from Ministry of Railways and Finance, Staff Selection Commission, Railway Recruitment Board and Bank Personnel Selection Institute.
• Special attention will be paid to develop examination related infrastructure in 117 aspirational districts of the country.
• The National Recruitment Agency will conduct the Common Eligibility Test (CET) for the selection of candidates for the non-technical posts of Group-B and Group-C.
• The Common Eligibility Test score of the candidate will be valid for three years from the date of declaration of result.
• Candidates can appear in the CET subject as many times as possible till the age limit is reached.
• Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes candidates will be given age relaxation as per the policy of the Government.
• The CET score can be shared with the Central and State Governments, public sector undertakings and the private sector. This will reduce the recruitment cost of these organizations. Initially, CET will be conducted twice a year.

(Source: News on AIR)

4. Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has approved the fair and remunerative price of sugarcane for 2020-21.

• Recently the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has approved the fair and remunerative price (FRP) of payment of sugarcane to be made by sugar mills for 2020-21.
• Now, Rs 285 per quintal for a 10% basic recovery rate has been approved.
• The FRP of sugarcane is prescribed under the Sugarcane (Control) Order, 1966. It has been implemented equally across the country.
• FRP is the minimum price that sugar mills have to pay to the sugarcane farmers. States like UP, Punjab and Haryana fix their own state advisory prices (SAP), usually higher than the FRP.
• Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA):
  • It is a cabinet committee working to develop a coherent and integrated economic policy, reviewing economic trends, problems and prospects.
  • It is headed by the Prime Minister of India.

(Source: News on AIR)

5. Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla attended the opening ceremony of the Fifth World Conference of Speakers of Parliament.

• Recently Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla attended the inaugural ceremony of the Fifth World Conference of Speaker of Parliament (5WCSP).
• Members of Parliament Rajiv Pratap Rudy and Meenakshi Lekhi are also attending the conference on behalf of India.
• For the first time this Conference is being held in virtual mode.
• The two-day conference is being jointly organized by the Inter-Parliamentary Union, Geneva and the Parliament of Austria with the support of the United Nations.
• The theme of the conference this year is "Parliamentary Leadership for More Effective Multilateralism that delivers peace and sustainable development for the people and the planet".
• The first Conference of Presiding Officers of National Parliaments took place in August 2000 at the United Nations Headquarters in New York.
• The Millennium Declaration was adopted by members of national parliaments for maximum cooperation during the 2000 Summit.

(Source: News on AIR)

6. Post COVID-19 follow up clinic started in Chennai.

• Recently Tamil Nadu Health Department has started Post COVID-19 Follow Up Clinic in Chennai.
• Post COVID Follow Clinic has been started at Government Rajiv Gandhi General Hospital, Chennai.
• This is the first program of its kind in the country.
• This clinic is especially for those who have recovered from viral infections and later are suffering from other diseases.
• According to one figure, more than two lakh ninety thousand people in the state have recovered from corona infection.
• It is widely seen that some of those who have recovered from this pandemic are still complaining about diseases in the heart, kidney or other vital organs after a long time, along with stress and fatigue.
• A similar COVID follow-up clinic is being planned in Madurai.

(Source: News on AIR)

7. An innovation-cum-incubation center will be set up to promote start-ups in the field of aerospace technologies.

• Soon an innovation-cum-incubation center will be set up with external private financing to promote start-ups in the field of aerospace technologies.
• For this, an agrement has been signed by the National Research Development Corporation and Council of Scientific and Industrial Research-National Aerospace Laboratories in New Delhi.
• It will mentor and support the start-up in the field of aerospace engineering, along with its product and prototype development and recognition.
• National Research Development Corporation (NRDC):
  • It is a non-departmental government body, transferring technology from public sector to private sector.
  • It was established in 1953 in India.
  • This was done to help develop and promote the technologies developed at various national defense and research institutes.

(Source: News on AIR)

8. Social activist Ganesh Vilas Lengare was awarded the STAR 2020 certificate.

• Recently Solapur-based social activist Ganesh Vilas Lengare has been awarded the STAR 2020 certificate by the World Book of Records, London.
• Ganesh Vilas Lengare has been awarded this honor for his efforts to help the needy during the lockdown imposed due to coronavirus infection.
• Of the 21 schemes launched by them to assist the people, the most important was Covid-19 Patient Contact Tracing, which was implemented with the help of Solapur district officials.
• The World Book of Records, London, is an organization established in 2017 to honor individuals who have made outstanding contributions to humanity and universal peace.

9. Certified good quality seeds will be provided to jute farmers in 2021-22.

• Recently, the government has said that certified good quality seeds will be provided to jute farmers in 2021-22.
• For this, a Memorandum of Understanding has been signed between Jute Corporation of India and National Seeds Corporation.
• Textiles Minister Smriti Irani and Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar signed the MoU through virtual mode.
• As a result of the MoU, Jute Corporation of India will distribute 10 thousand quintals of JRO-204 certified variety of jute seeds in the 2021-22 crop year.
• This will benefit five to six lakh farmer families and will reduce the fake seed market drastically.
• Also, increase in productivity will increase the income of farmers and will help in reaching the goal of doubling the income of farmers by 2022.
• A special provision for jute and jute textile products in the National Technical Textiles Mission was announced in February this year.
• The government has set a target of strengthening the country's export capacity in jute and its products, while being self-sufficient in the requirement of jute for the domestic market.

10. National Cancer Registry Program Report 2020 released.

• The National Cancer Registry Program Report 2020 has recently been released.
• This report has been released by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and the National Center for Disease Informatics and Research (NCDIR), Bengaluru.
• The report provides information related to cancer incidence, mortality and treatment in India, based on data collected through a network of individual and hospital-based cancer registries across the country.
• Key points of the report:
  • Cancer cases in India are expected to increase to 1.56 million by 2025, which is 12% more than the current estimated cases.
  • Its major cause, tobacco-related cancer, accounts for 27.1% of the total cancer cases.
  • In India, the cancer related to the use of any type of tobacco is more in the northeastern region and that too in men is the highest.
• Cancer:
  • It is a large group of diseases.
  • In this, cells develop abnormally beyond their normal limits, which makes a fatal attack on the surrounding parts of the body and enters other organs.
  • World Cancer Day is organized by the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC) on 4 February every year to raise awareness about cancer.

11. Digital Quality of Life Index 2020 released.

• The Digital Quality of Life Index 2020 has been released by online privacy solutions provider SurfShark.
• It has studied the e-Infrastructure quality of 85 countries of the world, in which 81% of the world's population resides.
• According to this global research, India ranks among the lowest ranked countries in the world in terms of internet quality. In this, India has also secured 79^th rank below Sri Lanka and Guatemala.
• While India is in the top 10 countries with 9^th rank in terms of internet affordability.
• In addition, India ranks 15^th globally below countries like New Zealand and Italy in e-government category.
• Digital Quality of Life Index 2020 found that seven out of 10 countries with the highest digital quality of life are in Europe, with Denmark being the best.
• Canada is the highest digital quality country in the American continent, while Japan is the leader in Asia.
• Among African countries, people in South Africa enjoy the highest quality of digital life, while New Zealand leads Oceania.

(Source: The Hindu)

12. Center for Science and Environment recently released a report on coal mining.

• The Center for Science and Environment has recently released a report on coal mining.
• This report has been published in the journal Down to Earth.
• This report states that-
  • No-go forests have been cleared for coal mining.
  • According to CSE, since 2015, 49 blocks have been approved for coal mining. 9 blocks of which were in no-go areas or areas that were once classified by the Ministry of Environment and Forests and Climate Change containing very dense forests.
  • In 2020, 41 blocks were put up for auction, of which 21 were on the original no-go list.
  • Currently India is not able to fully utilize its existing capacity. 67% of the mines auctioned since 2015 have not yet been commissioned.
• In 2009, the ministries of environment and coal have divided the forested areas of the country into two categories Go and No-Go.
• There is a ban on mining in the no-go region on an environmental basis.
• No go areas are those with either more than 10% weighted forest cover (WFC) or more than 30% gross forest cover (GFC).
• Center for Science and Environment (CSE):
  • It is a non-profit public interest research and advocacy organization based in India.
  • It was founded in 1980 by Anil Aggarwal.
  • Its headquarters is located in New Delhi.

(Source: The Hindu)