Roadmap for Banking of the Future
Current Affairs 08 August 2020
Daily Current Affairs 08 August 2020: We have collected the latest current affairs for 08 August 2020 that are important for all competitive exams like Bank, SSC, IBPS, SBI exams. The GK current affairs will help you score more in these competitive exams. Improve your general knowledge with our daily online current affairs. You can also read the daily current affairs on our mobile app.
National News
India’s first ‘Kisan Rail’, to transport perishable commodities begins service
- Indian Railways’ first Kisan Rail, exclusively meant to transport farm produce, was flagged off by Union Minister of Agriculture Narendra Singh Tomar and Railway Minister Piyush Goyal via videoconferencing on 7 August 2020..
- The train will run on weekly basis, between Deolali in Maharashtra to Danapur in Bihar, covering a distance of 1,519 kilometres in 32 hours.
- This train will help in bringing perishable agricultural products like vegetables, fruits to the market in a short period of time.
- The train will have frozen containers, which is expected to build a seamless national cold supply chain for perishable goods, like fish, meat and milk.
- Kisan Rail is a step towards realizing the goal of doubling farmers’ incomes by 2022.
Banking & Economy
Statement on Developmental and Regulatory Policies by RBI in August 2020
The Reserve Bank of India has released the Monetary Policy Statement, 2020-21 after its MPC meet between August 4 to 6, 2020. After this, the RBI has released the Statement on Developmental and Regulatory Policies. The major points that are important from exam point of view is mentioned below:
- Additional standing liquidity facility (ASLF)- National Housing Bank (NHB) and National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) will be provided with an additional standing liquidity facility (ASLF) of Rs 5,000 crore each.
- Advances against Gold Ornaments and Jewellery– Presently, loans sanctioned by banks against pledge of gold ornaments and jewellery for non-agricultural purposes should not exceed 75 per cent of the value of gold ornaments and jewellery. In view of COVID-19, RBI has increased the permissible loan to value ratio (LTV) for loans against pledge of gold ornaments and jewellery for non-agricultural purposes from 75 per cent to 90 per cent. This relaxation shall be available till March 31, 2021.
- Positive Pay Mechanism for Cheques– The RBI shall soon launched a mechanism named Positive Pay for all cheques of value ₹50,000 and above to further augment customer safety in cheque payments and reduce instances of fraud occurring on account of tampering of cheque leaves. Under this mechanism, cheques will be processed for payment by the drawee bank based on information passed on by its customer at the time of issuance of cheque.
RBI introduces Online Dispute Resolution (ODR) System for Digital Payments
- The Reserve Bank of India has announced the introduction of an Online Dispute Resolution (ODR) system for resolving customer disputes and grievances pertaining to digital payments.
- This ODR shall be a system-driven and rule-based mechanism with zero or minimal manual intervention.
- RBI has asked the Payment System Operators (PSOs) – banks and non-banks to implement an ODR system for disputes and grievances related to failed transactions in their respective payment systems by January 1, 2021.
- Subsequently, the ODR arrangement would be extended to cover disputes and grievances other than those related to failed transactions.
RBI launches pilot scheme for Offline Retail Payments Using Cards and Mobile Devices
- The Reserve Bank of India has launched pilot scheme for small value payments in offline mode. The pilot scheme shall be undertaken till March 31, 2021 only.
- Under the scheme, authorised Payment System Operators (PSOs) – banks and non-banks – will be able to provide offline payment solutions using cards, wallets or mobile devices for remote or proximity payments.
- This has been done to do away with the impediments caused due to lack of internet connectivity or low speed of internet, especially in remote areas.
Some major points related to this scheme are:
- Maximum limit of a payment transaction will be Rs 200. (For a single transaction.)
- The total limit for offline transactions on an instrument shall be Rs 2,000, at any point of time. Resetting of the limit shall be allowed in online mode with AFA.
- Payments could be made using cards, wallets or mobile devices or through any other channel. Payments may be made in remote or proximity mode.
RBI constitutes committee for financial parameters to be factored in Resolution Framework for Covid19-related Stress; Head- Shri K.V. Kamath
- The Reserve Bank of India has announced the constitution of an Expert Committee to make recommendations on the required financial parameters to be factored in the Resolution Framework for Covid19-related Stress’.
- The committee will be headed by Shri K.V. Kamath. (President of New Development Bank)
- There will be 4 other members in this committee as- Shri Diwakar Gupta, Shri T.N. Manoharan, Shri Ashvin Parekh and CEO, Indian Banks’ Association. The Indian Banks’ Association shall function as the Secretariat to the Committee.
- The Reserve Bank had announced a ‘Resolution Framework for Covid19-related Stress’, as a special window under the Prudential Framework on Resolution of Stressed Assets in its Monetary Policy Statement on August 6, 2020.
Ranking
Reliance Industries ranks second biggest brand globally; Apple tops: FutureBrand Index 2020
- Billionaire Mukesh Ambani owned oil-to-telecom conglomerate Reliance Industries has been ranked as second biggest brand in the world in the FutureBrand Index 2020.
- The 2020 index is topped by technology giant Apple.
- Samsung is ranked third, followed by Nvidia, Moutai, Nike, Microsoft, ASML, PayPal and Netflix among top 10 global brands.
- FutureBrand Index 2020 is the 6th edition of the annual brand. The index ranks world’s 100 leading firms that are rising while dealing with challenges and how they have fared over the past year.
- The index looks at PwC’s Global Top 100 Companies by Market Capitalisation and reorders them according to global perception strength rather than on financial strength
Appointments
Pradeep Kumar Joshi takes over as new Chairman of UPSC
- Pradeep Kumar Joshi, an Educationist Professor, has been appointed as the new Chairman of the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) on 7 August 2020.
- He succeeds Arvind Saxena, whose tenure as UPSC chairman ended on 7 August 2020.
- Joshi will serve as the chairman of the UPSC till May 12, 2021.
- Prior to this, Mr Joshi was serving as a member in UPSC since May 2015.
WTF Sports appoints Harmanpreet Kaur and Suresh Raina as global brand ambassadors
- Fantasy sports gaming platform WTF Sports-India and Global, has been officially launched on 6 August 2020.
- The WTF Sports has appointed famed Indian cricketers, Harmanpreet Kaur, the captain of the Indian squad at the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in 2020 and Suresh Raina, the IPL superstar as global brand ambassadors.
- Raina has also joined the brand as a strategic partner.
- The app currently hosts three major sports, multiple playing modes and exciting contests..
- Users can create their own team made up of real-life players from upcoming matches, score points based on their on-field performance and compete with other fans.
- The gaming platform has been co-founded by Vinit Bhatia, Manit Parikh and Yash Kadakia.
Awards
Defence Institute of Advanced Technology, Pune wins first prize in Smart India Hackathon-2020
- The Pune-based Defence Institute of Advanced Technology (DIAT), an autonomous organization under the Department of Defence Research & Development (DRDO) has won the first prize in Smart India Hackathon (SIH)-2020, which was held from 1-3 August 2020, at Noida Institute of Engineering & Technology (NIET), Uttar Pradesh.
- SIH-2020 was a 36-hour non-stop digital product building national level competition, organized jointly by the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) and All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE).
- The winning team “Age of Ultron” from DIAT, comprised of six members under the guidance of Dr. Sunita Dhavale.
Indian Express Journalist Dipankar Ghose and website PARI wins 2020 Prem Bhatia journalism awards
- The 2020 Prem Bhatia Awards, given for outstanding journalism, have been given to Dipankar Ghose, Special Correspondent of Indian Express and non-profit journalism website People’s Archive of Rural India (PARI) for their coverage of COVID-19 and its impact across the country.
- Ghose won the award in the category of Outstanding Political Reporting of The Year for his coverage of the migrant labour crisis and other Covid-19 related issues. He will be awarded cash prizes of Rs 2 lakh
- PARI won the award in the category of Outstanding Environmental Reporting of The Year, for its extensive field reports, including climate change effects and the impact of the pandemic on rural India. It will be awarded cash prizes of Rs 1.5 lakh.
- The Prem Bhatia Awards were instituted in 1995 in the memory of eminent journalist Prem Bhatia (1911–1995) with the aim to propagate the values that he stood for, which included objective reporting, fearless pursuit of the truth and a commitment to improving the standards of journalism in India.
Obituary
Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Shirley Ann Grau passes away at 91
- Shirley Ann Grau, a Pulitzer Prize-winning fiction writer from America, whose stories and novels were based primarily in the Deep South, has passed away. She was 91.
- Grau won the 1965 Pulitzer Prize for her fourth book, “The Keepers of the House.”
- During her writing career, Grau wrote six novels and four short story, all of which were set in the Deep South, from New Orleans to north Louisiana and Alabama, telling both the dark secrets and the beauty of the Deep South.
Important Days
National Handloom Day: 7 August
- The National Handloom Day is observed annually on 7 August in India, to honour the handloom weavers in the country and highlight the contribution of handloom industry towards the socioeconomic development of the country and increase income of the weavers.
- 2020 marks the 6th National Handloom Day.
- The Union government officially declared August 7 as NHD in July 2015, to recognize the contribution of India’s handloom weavers, from Kanjivaram to Pashmina.
- It was on this day in 1905, that the Swadeshi Movement was launched in the Calcutta Town hall to protest against partition of Bengal by the British Government.
Quit India Day: 8 August
- Every year, the Quit India Day (or August Kranti Day) is observed on 8 August to commemorate the anniversary of Quit India Movement, launched by Father of Nation, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, on 8 August 1942 at the All-India Congress Committee session in Bombay.
- In 2020, we are celebrating the 78th anniversary of Quit India Day.
- Quit India Movement also known as Bharat Chodo Andolan and August Kranti Movement was a ‘do or die’ call to the people of India initiated by Gandhiji to demand an end to the British rule in India.