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Current Affairs 27 September 2020
Daily Current Affairs 27 September 2020: This post contains the latest current affairs for 27 September 2020 that are important for all competitive exams like Bank, SSC, IBPS, SBI exams. You can also attempt our Current Affairs Quiz after reading our daily current affairs.
National News
S. Jaishankar participates in virtual Informal Meeting of SAARC Council of Ministers
- The Union Minister of External Affairs of the Republic of India, Dr. S. Jaishankar, represented India in the annual Informal Meeting of the SAARC Council of Ministers on 24th September 2020, held on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly session.
- The meeting was held in virtual mode under the chairmanship of Nepal and reviewed regional efforts to combat the Covid-19 pandemic.
- Such Informal meetings are being held since 1997.
IIT Madras Develops ‘MOUSHIK’ Microprocessor For IoT Devices
- The Researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras have come up with an indigenously-made Microprocessor, named ‘MOUSHIK.’
- Moushik is a processor cum System on Chip(SoC), which means that, as a processor it can execute the instructions and as a SoC, different components can be attached to the it.
- Moushik is the third in the series of six computer chips being designed as a part of the Shakti Microprocessor programme of IIT Madras.
- The Project Shakti is funded by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, Government of India.
Loans & Agreements
India extends USD 15 million aid to Sri Lanka for promoting Buddhist ties
- Prime Minister of India Shri Narendra Modi has announced a grant assistance of USD 15 million to Sri Lanka for the promotion of Buddhist ties between the two countries.
- The grant will be used for deepening people-to-people linkages between the two countries in the field of Buddhism.
India & Denmark Inks MoU for Cooperation in the field of Intellectual Property
- The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade(DPIIT) under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, India has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with its Denmark counterpart in the field of Intellectual Property Cooperation.
- The MoU was signed between Dr. Guruprasad Mohapatra, Secretary, DPIIT and Mr. Freddy Svane, Ambassador of Denmark on 26 September 2020.
- The MoU aims at increasing IP co-operation between the two countries and provide opportunities to both countries to learn from the experience of each other.
- The two sides will draw up Biennial Work Plan to implement the MoU.
India and Israel Form Sub Working Group To Promote Co-Development & Co-Production Of High-Tech Weapon Systems
- India and Israel have formed a new sub-working group (SWG) to promote co-development and co-production of high tech weapon systems, and exporting them to other friendly countries.
- The announcement of the creation of the SWG was made during a webinar between India and Israel on 24 September and it will further strengthen bilateral defence partnership between the two countries.
- SWG will explore defence industrial cooperation with focus on areas like transfer of technology, technology security, artificial intelligence, innovation and joint export to third nations.
- The SWG will be headed by Sanjay Jaju, joint secretary (defence industries production) in the Indian defence ministry and Eyal Calif, director Asia & Pacific, Ministry of Defence of Israel.
Banking & Economy
RBI to introduce Positive Pay System for Cheque Truncation System from January 01, 2021
- The Reserve Bank of India has announced to launch the facility of Positive Pay System for Cheque Truncation System (CTS) i.e the cheques cleared through CTS (movement of the image of cheque in place of physical movement of cheque).
- Positive Pay in CTS will be developed by NPCI which manages the CTS in India.
- Under this facility, the issuer of the cheque will submit the important details (like date, name of the beneficiary / payee, amount, etc.) of large value cheques to the drawee bank. These details will be crossed checked against the actual cheque that is presented on the CTS. This will help in preventing cheque fraud.
- NPCI will make this facility available to the commercial banks. These banks in turn will make this facility available to its customers. The customer can submit the cheque details through channels like SMS, mobile app, internet banking, ATM, etc.
- Banks are required to make this facility available to the customers where the amount of cheque is Rs. 50,000 and above. However, availing of this facility is at the discretion of the account holder. Banks can however mak this facility compulsory for cheques with the amount of Rs 5 lakh and above.
- Positive Pay System will be implemented from January 01, 2021.
NCAER predicts India GDP for FY21 at -12.6%; For FY22 +7%
- The National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) has projected the GDP growth for the Indian economy at -12.6% For 2020-21 (FY21).
- For 2021-22, NCAER projects the GDP of India to grow by 7%.
ADB approves Rs 2,200 crore loan for secondary towns of Rajasthan
- Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a loan of Rs 2,200 crore (USD 300 million) to finance inclusive water supply and sanitation infrastructure and services in secondary towns of Rajasthan.
- The project will strengthen the institutional capacity of local governments and Rajasthan Urban Drinking Water, Sewerage, and Infrastructure Corporation Ltd.
Insurance
IRDAI selects LIC, GIC Re and New India Assurance as Domestic Systemically Important Insurers
- Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) has chosen the following insurers as Domestic Systemically Important Insurers (D-SIIs) for 2020-21:
- Life Insurance Corporation of India;
- General Insurance Corporation of India; and
- The New India Assurance Co. Ltd.
- Domestic Systemically Important Insurers (D-SIIs) are the insurance companies that are considered “Too Big to Fail”. i.e its failure will impact the economy and insurance sector to a great extend.
- IRDAI has chosen these three insurers on the basis of their size, market importance and domestic and global interconnectedness whose distress or failure would cause significant dislocation in the domestic financial system.
Ranking
India Ranks 89 among 181 Countries in the World Risk Index 2020
- India has been ranked at 89th position among 181 countries on the World Risk Index (WRI) 2020 which describes the natural disaster risk for various countries and regions.
- As per the World Risk Report 2020, India (6.62) was ‘poorly prepared’ to deal with ‘climate reality’, due to which it was more vulnerable to extreme natural disasters.
- The World Risk Report is released annually since 2011 by the United Nations University Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS) and Bundnis Entwicklung Hilft, in cooperation with the University of Stuttgart in Germany.
- The Pacific island state of Vanuatu leads the index as the country with the highest disaster risk (49.74).
- Qatar has the lowest risk (0.31).
- In terms of the continents, Oceania ranks first in terms of highest disaster risk, followed by the Americas, Asia and Europe.
Defence Exercise
India-Japan biennial naval exercise JIMEX-20 begins in Arabian sea
- The fourth edition of the biennial India-Japan Maritime bilateral Exercise (JIMEX) kicked off on 26 September 2020 in the northern Arabia Sea.
- The three-day maritime drill JIMEX-20 will culminate on 28 September. It is being conducted in a ‘non-contact at-sea-only format’, in view of COVID-19 restrictions.
- JIMEX-20 will showcase a high degree of inter-operability and joint operational skills through conduct of a multitude of advanced exercises, and further enhance the cooperation and mutual confidence between the two navies
- From India, the warships Chennai, Teg, Tarkash and fleet tanker Deepak will represent the Indian Navy, while Japanese warships Kaga and Ikazuchi will represent Japan in the drill.
Important Days
International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons: 26 September
- The International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons (or Nuclear Abolition Day) is held every year on September 26 since 2014.
- The day was declared by the UN General Assembly (UNGA) in 2013.
- The aims of the day is to enhance public awareness about the threat posed to humanity by nuclear weapons and the necessity for their total elimination.
World Tourism Day: 27 September
- The World Tourism Day is observed worldwide on September 27 since 1980.
- This date was chosen by the United Nations World Tourism Organization as on that day in 1970, the Statutes of the UNWTO were adopted.
- In 2020 the theme of WTD is ““Tourism and Rural Development””.
- The purpose of this day is to raise awareness on the role of tourism within the international community and to demonstrate how it affects social, cultural, political and economic values worldwide.
Obituary
Noted Padma Bhusan Economist Dr Isher Judge Ahluwalia passes away at 74
- Renowned economist Dr. Isher Judge Ahluwalia has passed away after a 10-month-long battle with brain cancer. She was 74.
- Dr Ahluwalia was awarded with the third-highest civilian award Padma Bhushan in 2009 for her services in the field of education and literature.
- Ahluwalia served as the director and then the chairperson of Delhi-based Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER) for a total of 15 years and built ICRIER into a leading global think tank.
Padma Shri winning former Atomic Energy Commission Chairman Sekhar Basu passes away of COVID-19 at 68
- Veteran atomic scientist and former chairman of Atomic Energy Commission of India, Dr Sekhar Basu has passed away after suffering from COVID-19 and kidney ailments. He was 68.
- Dr Basu was awarded Padma Shri in 2014 for his contributions to the country’s atomic energy programme.
Current Affairs Quiz – 27 September 2020