Roadmap for Banking of the Future
Current Affairs 15 August 2020
Daily Current Affairs 15 August 2020: We have collected the latest current affairs for 15 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.
Banking News
RBI approves Rs 57,128 crore as surplus to the Central Government for 2019-20
- The Reserve Bank of India has approved Rs 57,128 crore as surplus to the Central Government for the accounting year 2019-20.
- The decision was taken at the 584th meeting of the Central Board of RBI under the chairmanship of Shri Shaktikanta Das, Governor RBI.
- RBI has decided to maintain the Contingency Risk Buffer at 5.5%.
National News
Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh launches Indigenisation portal SRIJAN
- The “Atmanirbhar Bharat” week was organised by the Ministry of Defence from August 7 to 14, 2020.
- As a part of the Atmanirbhar Week celebration, Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh launched a portal named as SRIJAN, which will function as a one stop shop online portal, giving opportunities for Make in India in Defence.
- The indigenization portal can be accessed at, srijandefence.gov.in, where private sector vendors can choose items that can be taken up for indigenization.
- The portal will allow DPSUs/OFB/SHQs to display the list of items which they have been importing or are going to import.
- Using the information of items, the Indian Industry can select the items for indigenization, which they can design, develop and manufacture as per their capability or through joint venture with OEMs.
- The concerned DPSUs/OFB/SHQs, can then interact with the Indian industry for indigenization, based on their requirement of the items and their guidelines & procedures.
- The portal will display information in a structured way, which includes the item name, image and specification, values of imports, NATO Classification (indicative), etc.
State-of-art Katra-Delhi Express Road Corridor to be functional by 2023
- The Government of India has started the work on the first-of-its-kind Katra (Jammu and Kashmir) – Delhi Express Road Corridor project.
- The project is estimated to be completed in three years and become functional by 2023.
- Once functional, the travel time from Katra to Delhi will get reduced to around six and half hours, and from Jammu to Delhi to just about six hours.
- It will connect Delhi with Amritsar in Punjab and Katra in Jammu and Kashmir.
- Katra- Delhi Express Road Corridor project is estimated to cost over Rs. 35,000 crores.
- The 687-kilometre-long expressway is being constructed as part of the Bharatmala project.
- The important cities through which this Expressway Corridor will pass include Jammu and Kathua in J&K, and Jalandhar, Amritsar, Kapurthala, and Ludhiana in Punjab.
NPPA sets up Price Monitoring and Resource Unit in Karnataka
- The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) has set up a Price Monitoring and Resource Unit (PMRU) in the state of Karnataka.
- With this, Karnataka has become the 13th state to have a PMRU unit. It is registered as ‘Karnataka State Price Monitoring Resources Unit Society’.
- The primary function of PMRUs is to ensure availability, accessibility as well as affordability of medicines in the State.
- The NPPA has already set up PMRUs in 12 States/UTs, namely Kerala, Odisha, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Haryana, Nagaland, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Andhra Pradesh, Mizoram and Jammu & Kashmir.
- These units have been set up under NPPA’s Central Sector Scheme, named Consumer Awareness, Publicity and Price Monitoring (CAPPM), under which the expenses of PMRUs, both recurring and non-recurring are borne by the NPPA.
- The NPPA plans to set up PMRUs in all the 36 States/ UTs.
West Bengal launches Karma Sathi Prakalpa Scheme to provide soft loans, subsidies to unemployed youth
- The West Bengal government has launched a new scheme known as ‘Karma Sathi Prakalpa’ under which one lakh unemployed youth of the state would be provided soft loans and subsidies to make them self-reliant.
- A budget of Rs 500 crore has been earmarked for the successful implementation of this scheme.
- The state government would provide loans to 1 lakh youth every year to help them start their own business.
Assam Launches Orunodoi Scheme to financially empower women
- The Assam government has announced a new scheme named “Orunodoi” (the rising sun), whose main objective is to financially empower women.
- Under this scheme Rs 830 per month would be provided each to one female member in around 17 lakh poor families.
- The Orunodoi scheme is Assam’s biggest Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) scheme till date.
- State government has earmarked a sum of Rs 280 crore for the new scheme.
- Key Features of the scheme
- To avail the benefits of the scheme, the nominated beneficiary should be a permanent resident of Assam and their composite household income should be less than Rs two lakh per annum.
- District-wise selection of beneficiaries would begin from August 17 and the beneficiaries would start receiving the amount in the bank account of a female family member on the first day of every month, starting from October.
- Initially around 17 lakh families would be covered and the number would subsequently increase to 25 lakh.
- Priority would be given to households with widows, divorced, unmarried or separated women, and disabled persons.
Odisha bags top position in implementation of AMRUT scheme
- Odisha has emerged as the topmost state in the country for the consecutive second year in effective implementation of Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) scheme.
- Odisha has secured 85.67 percent of marks in the ranking of the states for 2020 released by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs.
- Chandigarh and Telangana have been placed at second and third positions with 75.08 and 74.04 percent respectively.
- Gujarat, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Mizoram, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, and Andaman and Nicobar Islands are the top 10 states in the list.
- The AMRUT scheme was launched by the Union Government on 25 June 2015 to ensure that every household has access to basic services (e.g. water supply, sewerage, urban transport) and build amenities in cities which will improve the quality of life for all, especially the poor and the disadvantaged is a national priority.
India Extends USD 1 Million Assistance To Antigua and Barbuda To Combat COVID-19
- India has provided financial aid of USD 1 million to Antigua and Barbuda to combat the COVID-19 outbreak.
- The government has also provided 10,000 hydroxychloroquine tablets to the Government of Antigua and Barbuda as a gesture of goodwill in support of its fight against COVID-19.
- Apart from this, USD 1 million, has also been offered to each Caribbean Community (CARICOM) country by the Indian government. CARICOM is a group of twenty developing countries in the Caribbean.
- These assistances will be used to improve health infrastructure and capacities by procuring ventilators, full cover goggles, disposable impervious gowns, face shields, examination gloves and disposable masks among others.
International News
Trump announces historic peace deal between UAE & Israel to establish full diplomatic relations
- US President Donald Trump tweeted a joint statement between the US, UAE and Israel that states that the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Israel have agreed to establish full diplomatic relations as part of a new peace deal.
- “Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan have agreed to the full normalisation of relations. “
- UAE is the third Arab country to open relations with Israel, after Egypt and Jordan.
- Trump called the peace agreement as a historic diplomatic breakthrough because the deal is a significant step towards building a more peaceful, secure, and prosperous Middle East.
- The diplomatic ties will enable UAE and Israel to exchange embassies and ambassadors and begin cooperation on a broad range of areas including tourism, education, healthcare, trade and security.
Obituary
Malayalam poet-lyricist Chunakkara Ramankutty passes away at 84
- Well known Malayalam poet and film-drama lyricist Chunnakara Ramankutty has passed away. He was 84.
- Ramankutty has written over 215 songs for 76 movies, besides lyrics for over 100 dramas..
- His career peaked in 1984 when he wrote 32 songs in that year.