Current Affairs 2020 – Today Latest Current Affairs News

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Welcome to Today’s Current Affairs. This current affair news is useful for Govt jobs Interviews, TNPSC, IAS, UPSC, SSC, Railway, Banking exams IBPS, PO, SO, Clerk, and other all competitive exams for the entire part of the general awareness or general knowledge (GK) section. These daily current affairs 2020 resources provide facts about events of International, National, Political, Social, Banking, Business, Sports, and Entertainment related current affairs.

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NATIONAL CHOP SUEY DAY – On this day, Get your chopsticks ready!  Chop suey day, recognizes this American Chinese culinary cuisine each year on August 29. Main ingredients include meat (chicken, fish, beef, prawns or pork) and eggs. As the meat cooks over high heat, add vegetables (usually bean sprouts, cabbage, & celery).

INDIA

• Foreign Tablighi members now stare at exit permit roadblocks
• GST Council meeting: opposition-ruled state govts start informal discussions
• In J&K, IAS, IPS & ACB will now come under direct control of Lieutenant Governor
• PM Modi: Need to have modern, effective, and sensitive security system for all
• Congress protests over NEET, JEE issue; BJP says accept SCt verdict

STATE

• If people avoid wearing mask, govt has no other option but to clamp lockdown: Assam Chief secy
• UP cracks down on properties of Mukhtar Ansari, Atiq Ahmed; aims to ‘break financial backbone of criminal-politicians’

WORLD

• Roaches & Revolutions: The so-called Slipper Revolution is just the latest use of cockroaches in politics
• Russian navy conducts major maneuvers near Alaska involving dozens of ships & aircraft.

ECONOMY

• Avoid safe harbour clause in digital trade chapters in India-US trade deal’
• Income from investments in rental housing for lower income groups to be exempted from income tax
• World Bank’s review unlikely to impact India’s ease of doing business ranking
• Easing FRBM limit by 50bps not adequate, say Kerala, Punjab, criticising Centre’s borrowing options.

INDUSTRY

• ITC plans to merge three subsidiaries with itself, board meeting in a week
• Report Says, Solar manufacturers to grow, but shouldn’t depend only on govt moves.
• NCLAT sets aside insolvency proceedings against Sarda Agro Oils
• Economy unlock may curb fleet operator revenue fall 15 pc this fiscal: Crisil
• India may get COVID-19 vaccine by early 2021, says Bernstein Research

CURRENT AFFAIRS: INDIA

Ministry of Finance: Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana completes 6 yrs of journey

•  Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana completed its six years of journey. The Ministry of Finance has shared its achievements in a series of tweets.
• The scheme is a national mission for financial inclusion. Around 40.35 Cr beneficiaries were banked under Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana since its inception. As on August 19, 2020, of the accounts opened under the scheme, 63.6 percent were rural accounts and 55.2% were women accounts. A total of 29.75 Cr RuPay cards were issued to Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana account holders.

GoI to bring 11 ordinances during Monsoon Session of Parliament

• Govt is to bring 11 ordinances in Parliament during Monsoon session that is to commence in Sep 14, 2020. The Parliament is to have several preventive measures to stop COVID-19 infection during the session.
• The Monsoon session is to continue till Oct 1, 2020. In all 18 sittings are to be held in both the houses. In the history of Indian Parliament since 1952, the galleries & the chambers of both houses are to be used. During the session, the Parliament is to pass eleven ordinances.

SC: “States can make sub categories in reserved categories”

• Aug 27, 2020: a five-judge constitutional bench of Supreme Court ruled that the states can sub classify list of Scheduled Caste, Socially and Educationally Backward Classes and Scheduled Tribes to provide preferential treatment to those that are deprived within.
• The bench disagreed with the 2004 judgement of Supreme Court in E V Chinnaiah Vs State of Andhra Pradesh.

Arunachal Pradesh State Govt passes the resolution to bring the state under Schedule 6th of Indian Constitution

• Aug 28, 2020: Arunachal Pradesh passed the resolution to bring the state under Schedule VI of Indian Constitution. The State is to initiate talks soon with the Assam State Govt over border issues.
• The sixth schedule of the constitution provides for the administration of tribal areas in Assam, Tripura, Meghalaya and Mizoram. It safeguards the rights of tribal population in these states. It was included based on the reports of Bardoloi Committee that was formed by the Constituent Assembly.

Centre for Science and Environment: India recycles only 1 percent of its demolition & construction waste

• Centre for Science & Environment recently released a report on construction waste, according to which, India recycles only 1% of its demolition and construction waste.
• India generates around 150 million tonnes of construction and demolition waste every year. However, the official recycling capacity is just about 1% which is 6,500 tonnes per day.
• Around 53 cities were to set up recycling facilities in order to recover material from Construction and Demolition waste by 2017. However, only 13 cities have established till 2020. This scenario ahs to change as the demand for building materials such as iron ore, minerals, sand, aluminum and timber are growing at faster rates.

India’s 1st International Women Trade Centre to be set up in Kerala

• Kerala is to set up its first International Women Trade Centre in terms of the United Nations Sustainable Development goals. This is first of its kind in India
• The Centre will accelerate women entrepreneurship. It will provide a safe place away from home to start a business, expand and get their products marketed globally. The Women Trade Centre will enable women entrepreneurs to participate in international trade, enhance competitiveness, and enjoy greater economic benefits.

Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA): Around 2 million opt for Atal Pension Yojana

• PFRDA announced that around 2 million people subscribed for Atal Pension Yojana between April 2020 and August 2020. It has brought the base of govt backed pension scheme to 21 million.
• The PFRDA also announced that the Assets Under Management (AUM) of the National Pension Scheme is set to touch Rs 5 lakh crores by the end of September. Currently, the AUM is Rs 4.85 lakh crores and is to grow at 34% annually. The 11-year compounded annual growth rate of different schemes in India are as follows
  1. National Pension Scheme: 9.09%
  2. Corporate Bond Scheme: 9.09%
  3. Govt Security Scheme: 10.64%

Assam: Cabinet passed a resolutionto set up Skill University at Mangaldoi

• Aug 27, 2020, the Assam Cabinet passed a resolution to set up a Skill University at MAngaldoi in Assam with an investment of Rs 900 crores. The other decisions taken at the cabinet are as follows
  1. People of Assam can apply for Group III & Group IV exams up to 40 years. This will improve the opportunities of the unemployed
  2. The cabinet assented on the Assam Heritage Protection and Preservation Bill
  3. It also approved to direct Rs 116 crores towards NABARD to complete Dhansiri irrigation project that was launched in 1975.
  4. The Arundoi Scheme was approved to provide financial assistance to families with annual income less than Rs 2 lakhs.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: INTERNATIONAL

Marieke Lucas Rijneveld: The youngest author to win International Booker Prize

• The Dutch author Marieke Lucas Rijneveld has become the youngest to win the International Booker Prize. He won the prize for his debut novel “The Discomfort of Evening”.

The following are the most important Literary awards in India

• 1. Gyanapeeth Award
     • Established in 1961
     • It is the highest literature award in India
     • It is conferred to those Indians who have done exemplary literature works in official languages in India
     • It is presented to Indian citizens only
  2. Sahitya Akademi Fellowship
     • Established in 1968
     • The first awardee is former President S Radhakrishnan
     • It is awarded to immortal literature works created in any of the 22 official languages of India
  3. Vyas Samman
     • Established in 1991
     • It is awarded to Hindi literature only
  4. Yuva Puraskar
     • Established in 2011
     • It is presented to young writers of age less than 35 years as the name suggests
     • It is given annually for exemplary literature works in any of the official language of India

Japan’s longest serving PM Shinzo Abe resigns

• Aug 28, 2020, the longest serving Prime Minister of Japan Shinzo Abe resigned due to health issues. He was suffering from ulcerative colitis
• Shinzo Abe is the longest serving Prime Minister in the history of Japan. He served from 2006-2007 and also from 2012-2020. It was Abe who introduced the concept of Abenomics. He was the first Japanese Prime Minister to attend India’s Republic day parade in Delhi as chief guest.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

Bytedance founder Zhang Yiming – TikTok “moving quickly” to resolve issues in India, US 

• Zhang Yiming, founder of ByteDance has said that the company is “moving quickly” to resolve issues in the United States & India in a letter he sent on Thursday morning soon after Kevin Mayer announced his resignation as the CEO of TikTok.