Daily Current Affairs and GK | 27 October 2020

1. National Conference on Vigilance and Anti-Corruption 2020 to be inaugurated on 27 October.

• PM Modi will inaugurate the National Conference on Vigilance and Anti-Corruption 2020 today.
• It is organized by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), and its theme is ‘Vigilant India, Prosperous India’. It coincides with Vigilance Awareness Week.
• The conference would be a three-day-long event (27th - 29th October 2020). Representatives from various Central agencies will take part in the conference.
• Union Minister Dr. Jitendra Singh will also deliver a speech during the inaugural session of the conference.
• Vigilance Awareness Week is annually celebrated by Central Vigilance Commission from 27^th October to 2^nd November. It is celebrated during the week in which the birthday of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel (31 October) falls.
• The theme for Vigilance Awareness Week 2020 is Satark Bharat, Samriddh Bharat (Vigilant India, Prosperous India).

2. NITI Aayog’s AIM to organize India–Australia Circular Economy (I-ACE) Hackathon with CSIRO.

• NITI Aayog’s AIM (Atal Innovation Mission) will organize the India–Australia Circular Economy (I-ACE) Hackathon with Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO).
• I-ACE Hackathon will be a two-day event on 7 and 8 December. The idea to organize I-ACE came up during a virtual summit on 4 June between Indian and Australian Prime Ministers (Narendra Modi & Scott John Morrison).
• I-ACE Hackathon will focus on innovative technology solutions by Indian and Australian students, startups and MSMEs.
• I-ACE Hackathon has four key themes. Two winners (one student and one startup/MSME) for each theme will be selected from each country.
• The award ceremony will be held on 11 December and the winner student and startup/MSME from India will get Rs 2 lakh and Rs 5 lakh, respectively.
• Winners from Australia will be awarded AUD$3500 (student) and AUD$9500 (SMEs/startup).
• Circular economy means an economic system focused on eliminating and reusing waste.
• Australia:
  • It is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and other smaller islands.
  • It shares maritime borders with East Timor, Indonesia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, and the islands of New Caledonia.
  • It is the sixth-largest country in the world in terms of area. Its currency is the Australian dollar (AUD).
  • Scott John Morrison is the Prime Minister of Australia. Its capital is Canberra.

3. World Day for Audiovisual Heritage: 27 October

• UNESCO officially agreed to commemorate World Day for Audiovisual Heritage on 27 October in 2005.
• World Day for Audiovisual Heritage is an occasion to raise awareness about the need to keep important audiovisual material in good condition for future generations.
• It is also an opportunity to raise general awareness about the need for urgently required measures to keep audiovisual heritage away from harm and ensure its accessibility to the public now and to the coming generations.
• The theme for World Day for Audiovisual Heritage 2020 is “Your Window to the World”.

4. PM Modi addressed Fourth India Energy Forum- CERAWeek via video conference.

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the fourth India Energy Forum CERAWeek virtually.
• The theme of 4^th India Energy Forum is “India’s Energy Future in a world of Change”.
• PM Modi said that India was projected to emerge as a leading energy consumer despite various challenges like-
  • Fall in energy demand by almost 33.33%
  • Price instability
  • Impacted investment decisions
  • Projected contract in global energy demand
• India is the third-largest and the fastest-growing aviation market in terms of domestic aviation.
• India has extended its target to increase the installed renewable energy capacity to 175 GW by 2022 to 450 GW by 2030.
• He urged industries to create a transparent and flexible market for both oil and gas.
• Prime Minister said that India’s energy map would be driven by seven key drivers:
  • Moving towards a gas-based economy at a faster pace
  • Cleaner and efficient use of fossil fuels
  • Achieving renewable energy target of 450 MW by 2030
  • Relying on domestic sources to drive bio-fuels
  • Enhanced role of electricity in de-carbonizing mobility
  • Moving towards reliable and emerging fuels like hydrogen
  • Digital innovations across all energy systems

5. EAM S. Jaishankar congratulated the people of Austria on Austrian National day.

• On the occasion of Austrian National day, S. Jaishankar congratulated his Austrian counterpart Alexander Schallenberg, the people of Austria and the Government.
• Austrian national day is celebrated every year on 26 October to mark the anniversary of the Declaration of Perpetual Neutrality.
• It has been celebrated since 1955, when Austria signed the Declaration of Perpetual Neutrality on 26 October 1955.
• This year Austria is celebrating its 65^th Austrian National Day.
• Perpetual Neutrality: “For the purpose of the permanent assertion of its independence externally and for the purpose of the inviolability of its territory, Austria freely declares its perpetual neutrality. Austria will maintain and defend this with all means at its disposal.”
• Austria:
  • It is located in the southern part of Central Europe.
  • It shares a boundary with Germany, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia, Italy, Switzerland and Liechtenstein.
  • It is a land-locked country.
  • Its capital is Vienna and currency is Euro.
  • Alexander Van der Bellen is the current President of Austria.

6. Japan aims to become carbon neutral by 2050.

• Yoshihide Suga, Prime minister of Japan, announced that his country would achieve zero carbon emission by 2050.
• In the current scenario, 56% of Japan’s energy requirement comes from fossil fuels.
• Japan will make a sustainable economy its pillar of growth, and it will move towards a green society.
• It will promote hydrogen, battery storage, carbon recycling and wind power to achieve this ambitious goal.
• The Japanese Government will revise its 2030 target of renewable energy to meet the 2050 pledge.

• Japan:
  • It is an island country in East Asia.
  • Its capital is Tokyo and currency is Japanese Yen.
  • Japan has a parliamentary cabinet system and the Prime Minister is the head of the Executive.
  • Japanese parliament is known by the name ‘Diet’.

7. Union Tribal Affairs Minister launched Centers of Excellence for Tribal Welfare.

• Ministry of Tribal Affairs and Art of Living have collaborated to launch two Centers of Excellence for Tribal Welfare.
• Its first objective is to create youth volunteers among the tribal youths by providing them personality development training in Gram Panchayats and Jharkhand villages.
• These youth volunteers will make aware elected representatives of Panchayati Raj institutions about various Tribal Acts and Rules and welfare schemes available for the tribal.
• Its another objective is to provide training to tribal farmers on sustainable natural farming based on Go-Adharith farming techniques in Aurangabad District of Maharashtra.
• It will help farmers in marketing and organic certification of their products.
• Ministry of Tribal Affairs: 
  • It is the nodal agency for overall policy, planning and coordination of programmes for the development of ST’s.
  • It was set up in 1999.
  • The current Minister of Tribal Affairs is Arjun Munda.
  • Organisations under the Ministry of Tribal affairs are:
    • National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST)
    • National Scheduled Tribes Finance and Development Corporation (NSTFDC)
    • Tribal Co-operative Marketing Federation of India (TRIFED)

8. Plastic Premier League (PPL) to be organised in Indore for creating awareness against single-use plastic.

• Plastic Premier League (PPL) tournament will be organized in Indore to free the city from single-use plastic.
• It will help in creating awareness among citizens of not using single-use plastic.
• Indore is the cleanest city in India and it is known for its innovative ways to tackle the challenges in keeping the city clean.
• In this tournament, 19 Zones of Indore Municipal Corporation are divided into four teams, and four popular radio jockeys will be the captain of each team.
• Famous cricketers Sanjay Jagdale, Amay Khurasia and Naman Ojha and cricket commentator Sushil Doshi have been made mentors.
• Each team will be provided to municipal workers and five vehicles to collect plastic.
• The team which collects the most single-use plastic in 45 days will be the winner of this trophy.
• Single-Use Plastic:
  • It means the plastic which is used for use and throw purpose.
  • It breaks down into smaller pieces of plastic known as microplastics, which is harmful to the environment because it is non-biodegradable.
  • Polythene bags, plastic drinking bottles, food wrappers, plastic sachets, plastic wrappers, etc. are examples of single-use plastic.

9. ‘Single male parent’ government employees now can take child care leave.

• Government has announced that Male government employees raising a child alone now can take child care leave.
• ‘Single male parent’ definition includes unmarried employees, widowers and divorcees.
• The leave can be availed at 100% of the leave salary for the first 365 days and 80% of the leave salary for the next 365 days
• The condition of the child age of 22 years has been removed for a disabled child.
• It will help ‘Single male parent’ in taking the responsibility of caring for the child.

10. 73^rd anniversary of Jammu and Kashmir's accession with Indian union celebrated.

• India is celebrating the 73^rd anniversary of Jammu and Kashmir's accession with Indian union.
• On 26 October 1947 Maharaja Hari Singh ruler of Jammu & Kashmir, signed the instrument of accession with the Union of India. It opened the way for the merger of the princely state with India.
• Many functions were organized to celebrate this day and it has been celebrated as Public Holiday for the first time after Independence.  
• J&K Accession:
  • Indian Independence Act, 1947, divided British India into India and Pakistan while princely states were free to join any of the two countries or remain independent.
  • Jammu Kashmir ruler Maharaja Hari Singh has decided to remain independent.
  • After tribesmen and army men from Pakistan invaded Jammu & Kashmir, Maharaja Hari Singh acceded to India and asked for its help to save the state. Therefore, he signed the Instrument of Accession with India on October 26, 1947.  
  • The Instrument of Accession gave India’s Parliament the power to legislate only on the matters of defence, external affairs, and communications regarding J&K.