AssamExam

Assam Current Affairs & GK – August 22-28, 2020

( Covers all important Current Affairs & GK topics for the week of August 22-28, 2020)

August 2020 Current Affairs Monthly PDF  |  Assam 2020 Yearbook  | July 2020 Quiz Monthly PDF

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Test Series for Junior Admin Asst (Assam Secretariat) 2020

 

August 22, 2020

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68,000 MSMEs in Assam to get aid under Atma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyan

• Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowaltold that 68,000 MSMEs in Assam to be benefited by the Atma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyan. He also reviewed the implementation status of the Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme for MSMEs of Dibrugarh and Tinsukia districts under Atma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyan.
• The chief minister urged the MSME owners to take advantage of the Atma Nirbhar Bharat initiative and to play their part in work towards achieving economic progress of the state.
• The state government had held meeting with the banks to facilitate collateral free loans to 68,000 MSMEs in the state.
• Assam’s farmers could sell vegetables worth Rs 852 crore and fish, meat and eggs worth Rs 150 crore during the lockdown period, Sonowal stressed on the need to become self-reliant in agriculture and allied sectors by increasing production.
• Assam has been able to fulfil its own requirement of fish while also exporting fish to neighbouring states and he highlighted the earning of more than Rs 11 crore by women self help groups through production of face masks. 
• A package of Rs.3 lakh crore was announced for helping the MSMEs under Atma Nirbhar Abhiyan by the central government.

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BBC-Hindi document series features Assam’s feminist movement pioneer Chandraprabha Saikiani

• The BBC Hindi has featured the story of Chandraprabha Saikiani, pioneer of the feminist movement in Assam in its short documentary series.
• The BBC-Hindi document series will feature ten women who have contributed to strengthen the democratic system, raised their voice on women’s rights and worked as social reformers.
• Sakiani fought against patriarchal structures that prevailed in society during her days and opened a primary school at the age of 13. She also played role in the freedom movement and in the Congress.
• Saikiani raised her voice against stigmatisation of women at the Nagaon session of the Asam Sahitya Sabha.
• She was a single-mother at a time when it was something unbelievable in Assamese society. The documentary also speaks about the journey Saikiani undertook throughout the State on a bicycle to create awareness among the womenfolk about their rights in society.

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UAE honours Indian businessman Firoz Goulam Merchant for philanthropic work

• The UAE Ministry of Interior honoured Indian businessman Firoz Goulam Merchant for his exemplary community services. The excellence certificate and citation was handed over to Merchant by Shaikh Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior.
• Merchant, the proprietor of Pure Gold Jewellers, launched a philanthropic movement called the Forgotten Society in 2008.
• Spearheading this initiative, Merchant worked tirelessly with several correctional institutions to identify debt-ridden prisoners and assisted them in repaying debts to the tune of millions, thereby securing their release and providing free air passage to their respective countries.

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UP to launch One District, One Product to benefit state’s farmers

• The Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare has announced that it will implement ‘One District, One Product’ (ODOP) scheme for the farmers in the selected 45 districts of Uttar Pradesh. The scheme is expected to benefit lakhs of the farmers of the state.
• Agricultural products will be selected on the basis of agro-climatic zone, product quality, taste, aroma, nutritional and medicinal properties, and export potential. And farmers of the respective districts have been recommended about growing specific crops.
• The scheme will help in making agricultural produces like gram of Bundelkhand, Chitrakoot, Hamirpur, Mahoba and Sonbhadra, the millet of Badaun and fresh vegetables of Ghaziabad and Gautam Buddh Nagar famous across the country.
• Agricultural products like ‘Kalanamak rice’ of Siddharthanagar, banana fibre of Kushinagar, banana of Kaushambi, jaggery of Ayodhya, aamla of Pratapgarh, pulses of Balrampur and Gonda, desi ghee of Auraiya, handicraft made of wheat stalk in Bahraich etc. are included in the ODOP scheme.

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August 23, 2020

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Jorhat gets cleanest city in the Northeast region

• Jorhat has been conferred the Swachh Survekshan 2020 award for the cleanest city in the Northeast region under the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan.
• The selection was from among urban areas which had a population between 50,000 to 1 lakh. The population of Jorhat covered by the Jorhat Municipal Board as per the 2011 census was 71782.
• Apart from Jorhat, four more Assam cities Tezpur, Diphu, Sivasagar, and Karimganj have secured positions on the list of cleanest cities.
• Under the 25, 000 to 50,000 population category, Mokukchung in Nagaland won cleanest city in the Northeast Zone award.
• Jiribam in Manipur bagged cleanest city in the northeast zone in below 25,000 population category.

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New Green Subsidiary proposed by NTPC

• Govt of India power generation company NTPC proposes to set up a wholly-owned subsidiary to house its growing renewable energy portfolio so that more focus is brought into the business that holds the potential of being the next growth engine for India.
• NTPC had installed a generation capacity of close to 63,000 ME. It has 5,000 MW of commissioned renewable energy projects
• It proposes to have 32,000 ME of renewable energy capacity under its hold by 2032. Of the 32,000 MW renewable energy capacity, nearly 10,000 MW of solar capacity is proposed to be commissioned till 2022.
• It aims is to take up renewable capacity to 30 per cent of its total operations by 2032.
• It is also looking at expanding hydro operations and setting up 2,000 MW of nuclear capacity.

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Uttar Pradesh partners Israel to resolve Bundelkhand Water Crisis

• The Uttar Pradesh and Israel governments signed a ‘plan of cooperation’ to resolve water crisis in Bundelkhand region of the state.
• The India Israel Bundelkhand Water Project comprises three key components including water conservation, water efficient transportation and advanced water practices for agriculture.
• The agreement has been signed for two years and will be extended later. The project aims to address water crisis in drought hit regions of Bundelkhand.
• It will help farmers of the region with latest farming technologies, including drip irrigation, meant for water deficient regions like Bundelkhand.

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Ministry of Skill Development partners with Ministry of Shipping

• Union Ministry of Shipping entered into a pact with the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) for skilling, re-skilling and upskilling of manpower.
• The aim behind the MoU is to facilitate the manpower to encash employment opportunities available in India and global maritime sectors.
• The MSDE will cooperate in development of course curriculum, national occupational standards, content, etc for cruise tourism, logistics, fisheries, ship building, ship repair and ship breaking, dredging, offshore supply chain, etc.
• It will leverage existing infrastructure such as ITIs to train manpower required as per the skill gaps of the coastal districts.
• Skill development of coastal communities is an important objective of the Sagarmala programme and a budget of Rs 100 crore has been allocated for coastal community development activities.

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Indian Coast Guard launches Interceptor Boat ‘ICGS C-454’

• Indian Coast Guard launches interceptor boat Interceptor Boat `ICGS C-454′, built by Larsen and Toubro.
• The 27-meter-long boat has a maximum speed of 45 nautical miles or 83 kilometers per hour, and has excellent seakeeping, maneuverability and endurance range of 500 nautical miles.

FACTFILE – Indian Coast Guard (ICG)

• The Indian Coast Guard (ICG) is an Armed Force, Search and Rescue and Maritime Law Enforcement agency that protects India’s maritime interests and enforces its maritime law, with jurisdiction over the territorial waters of India, including its contiguous zone and exclusive economic zone.
• It was formally established on 18 August 1978 by the Coast Guard Act, 1978 of the Parliament of India.

August 2020 Current Affairs Monthly PDF  |  Assam 2020 Yearbook  | July 2020 Quiz Monthly PDF

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August 24, 2020

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Assam to bring bill to protect state’s heritage sites

• The Assam government has planned to bring a legislation to protect various heritage sites of the state.
• The Assam Heritage (tangible) Protection, Preservation Conservation and Maintenance Bill, 2020 was prepared by the Directorate of Archaeology.
• It will be placed in the next Cabinet meeting; and following its nod, the Bill will be presented in the forthcoming four-day Assembly session.
• The Bill proposes to provide protection, preservation, conservation, maintenance, restoration, development and promotion of the State heritage sites and objects — other than those declared by or under the law made by Parliament to be of national importance or those covered under the ‘Assam Ancient Monuments and Records Act-1959’.
• The heritage sites include xatras, monasteries, stupas, naamghars, masjids, dargahs, and churches besides socio-cultural institutions and habitation structures having traditional architectures as well as monuments and their precincts.
• The Bill also includes artifacts, sculptures, paintings, handicrafts, and manuscripts that have been in existence for not less than 75 years.

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Endangered Madagascan moon moth spotted in Nagaland

• The endangered Madagascan moon moth spotted in Noklak deputy commissioner’s office.
• The Madagascan moon moth is native to the rain forest of Madagascar. Although endangered in the wild due to habitat loss, it has been bred in captivity.
• The male moon moth has a wingspan of 20 cm and a tail span of 15 cm, making it one of the world’s largest silk moths.
• Madagascan moon moth is one of the beautiful lepidopterans. It is nocturnal and does not fly in day time.
• Medagascan moon moths are spotted occasionally in the Indo-Myanmar region having a large forested area and rich biodiversity of flora and fauna.

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Rajiv Kumar appointed as new Election Commissioner

• Union government has appointed former finance secretary Rajiv Kumar as the new Election Commissioner of India.
• A 1984-batch IAS officer from Jharkhand cadre, Rajiv Kumar has over three decades of experience in public policy and administration across various sectors.
• He was designated as finance secretary in July 2019 and played a major role in merging 10 public sector banks into four.

FACTFILE – Election Commissioners of India

• Election Commissioners of India are members of Election Commission of India, a body constitutionally empowered to conduct free and fair elections in India to the national and state legislatures.
• Until 1989, the commission was a single member body, but later two additional Election Commissioners were added. Thus, the Election Commission currently consists of a Chief Election Commissioner and two Election Commissioners.
• The decisions of the commission are taken by a majority vote.
• Sunil Arora is the current 23rd Chief Election Commissioner and the two Election Commissioners are Rajiv Kumar and Sushil Chandra.

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National Sports Awards 2020

Union Government has announced the National Sports Awards for the year 2020.

Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award

• Cricketer Rohit Sharma, Para-Athlete Mariyappan Thangavelu, Table Tennis player Manika Batra, Wrestler Vinesh Phogat and Indian Women’s Hockey team captain Rani Rampal will receive the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award.

Arjuna Award

• 27 sportspersons have been selected for the Arjuna Award for their outstanding performance for four years. Archer Atanu Das, Athlete Dutee Chand, Shuttlers Satwik Sairaj Rankireddy and Chirag C Shetty, Basketball player Vishesh Bhriguvanshi, Boxers Subedar Manish Kaushik and Lovlina Borgohain, Cricketer Ishant Sharma and Deepti Sharma, Equestrian player Sawant Ajay Anant, Footballer Sandesh Jhingan, Golfer Aditi Ashok, Hockey players Akashdeep Singh and Deepika, Kabaddi player Deepak, Kho Kho player Kale Sarika Sudhakar, Rower Dattu Baban Bhokanal, Shooter Manu Bhaker and Saurabh Chaudhary, Table Tennis player Madhurika Suhas Patkar, Tennis player Divij Sharan, Winter Sports player Shiva Keshavan, Wrestlers Divya Kakran and Rahul Aware, Para Swimmer Suyash Narayan Jadhav, Para Athlete Sandeep and Para Shooter Manish Narwal. 

 Dronacharya (Life-Time) Award

• Dronacharya (Life-Time) Award will be given to Dharmendra Tiwary for Archery, Purushotham Rai for Athletics, Shiv Singh for Boxing, Romesh Pathania for Hockey, Krishan Kumar Hooda for Kabaddi, Vijay Bhalchandra Munishwar for Para Powerlifting, Naresh Kumar for Tennis and Om Parkash Dahiya for Wrestling.

Dronacharya Award – Regular Category

• In Regular Category, Dronacharya Award will be given to Jude Felix Sebastian for Hockey, Yogesh Malviya for Mallakhamb, Jaspal Rana for Shooting, Kuldeep Kumar Handoo for Wushu and Gaurav Khanna for Para Badminton.

Dhyan Chand Award

• Dhyan Chand Award will be given to Kuldip Singh Bhullar and Jincy Philips for Athletics, Pradeep Shrikrishna Gandhe and Trupti Murgunde for Badminton, N. Usha and Lakha Singh for Boxing, Sukhvinder Singh Sandhu for Football, Ajit Singh for Hockey, Manpreet Singh for Kabaddi, J. Ranjith Kumar for Para Athletics, Satyaprakash Tiwari for Para Badminton, Manjeet Singh for Rowing, Nandan P Bal for Tennis,  and Netarpal Hooda for Wrestling. Late Sachin Nag will be confered the award for swimming.

Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Award

• Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Award will be given to Anita Devi,  Col. Sarfraz Singh, Taka Tamut, Narender Singh and Keval Hiren Kakka in Land Adventure category. Satendra Singh will get the award in Water Adventure categoty and  Gajanand Yadava will get it in the Air Adventure category.  Late Magan Bissa will be confered the award in Life Time Achievement category.

Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puruskar

• Lakshya Institute and Army Sports Institute will be honoured with Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puruskar for identification and nurturing of budding and young Talent.

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Indian Govt issues ‘rules of origin’ guidelines for imports under trade pacts

• The Union government has come up with guidelines for the enforcement of the ‘rules of origin’ for imports under trade agreements. The Customs (Administration of Rules of Origin under Trade Agreements) Rules, 2020 (CAROTAR) will come into effect on September 21, 2020.
• The Department of Revenue noted that the ‘Rules of Origin’, by virtue of which a good attains origin of a country, have evolved with subsequent reviews of trade agreements and most trade agreements have moved from single general rule to specific rule for most of the tariff lines, with inclusion of vast array of processes which can confer origin.
• The CAROTAR, 2020 has provided a form, containing a list of basic minimum information which an importer is required to obtain while importing goods under claim of preferential rate of duty.

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IIT-Bombay awards degrees to student avatars, world’s first institute to do so

• The IIT-Bombay held its 58th Convocation in which the personalized ‘avatars’ of students were awarded degrees from the ‘virtual figure’ of the Director Suhasis Chaudhari. It is the first instance in the world.
• The Chief Guest of the prestigious virtual convocation was Prof Duncan Haldane, the Co-recipient of the 2016 Nobel Prize for Physics, and Stephen Schwarzman, Chairman and Co-Founder of Blackstone was the guest of honour.
• Subhasis Chaudhuri also presented the IIT-Bombay’s annual report for 2019-2020, while Prof. Haldane and Schwarzman addressed the students.

Test Series for Junior Admin Asst (Assam Secretariat) 2020

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August 25, 2020

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India’s longest river ropeway inaugurated in Guwahati

• Assam Ministers Himanta Biswa Sarma and Siddhartha Bhattacharya inaugurated the Guwahati Ropeway over Brahmaputra river, which is India’s longest river ropeway.
• The ropeway project connects northern and southern banks of the Brahmaputra river and will take about seven minutes to take passengers across the river from North Guwahati to Guwahati.
• The ropeway is 2km long and each carriage will be able to carry 32 passengers at a time.
• The entire project has been built at an estimated cost of Rs 56 crore. The cable car cabins for this project have been imported from Switzerland.

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Indo-Bangladesh inland waterway route trial-run on to begin in September 2020

• The trial run in the Sonamura-Daudkandi inland waterways protocol route will start in the first week of September 2020.
• Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority has given permission for trial run of voyage from Daundkandi (Cumilla) to Sonamura via river Gomati. The Gomti river was chosen for having sufficient water for movement of boats and small ships.
• During the trial run, 50 MT cement will be transported in a barge from Dhaka to Sonamura. This is for the first time in history that any kind of goods will be reaching Tripura by ship.
• The Sonamura-Daudkandi route was included in the Indo-Bangladesh Protocol (IBP) route that was signed by both High Commissioner of India in Bangladesh Riva Ganguly Das and shipping secretary of Bangladesh Mohammad Mezbah Uddin Chowdhury at Dhaka in May month.

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Nitin Gadkari calls for adoption of green fuel for public transport

• Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways has called for adopting advanced public transport models, based on green energy such as biofuel, electricity and CNG.
• Most of the State Road Transport Undertakings (SRTUs) are incurring huge expenditure on conventional fuels which are expensive and called for moving over to biofuels, CNG and electricity as transportation fuel. India is spending huge amounts on import of crude oil/hydrocarbons, which needs to be reduced.
• As an example of successful workability of the use of biofuels and other greener fuels, Nagpur has started to convert 450 buses into biofuel-run vehicles and as many as 90 buses have already been converted so far.
• Union Minister called for adopting the ‘London Bus model’ harnessing utilisation of private capital for better public transport and suggested that adopting double-decker buses by the operators will also improve the efficiency of public transport.

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Tech Mahindra joins Niti Aayog to support women entrepreneurs

• Indian IT major Tech Mahindra announced a partnership with NITI Aayog to empower women entrepreneurs in the country.
• Tech Mahindra will provide mentorship, co-create solutions leveraging new-age technologies and support in partnership with the panel’s Women Entrepreneurship Platform (WEP).
• Tech Mahindra and WEP will jointly focus on breeding new ideas, identifying gaps and providing technological prowess to develop innovative solutions for better positioning in the market and commercial success.
• Tech Mahindra’s lab will support women entrepreneurs through joint research, building go-to-market strategies to drive their growth and by leveraging next-generation technologies to develop cutting-edge solutions.

 FACTFILE – Tech Mahindra Limited

• Tech Mahindra Limited is an Indian multinational technology company, providing information technology (IT) and business process outsourcing (BPO) services.
• It is a subsidiary of the Mahindra Group, the company is headquartered in Pune.
• The company was ranked 5^th in India’s IT firms and overall 47^th in Fortune India 500 list for 2019.

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Indian researchers develop eco-friendly lithium batteries

• Researchers from Shiv Nadar University in Greater Noida and Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay have created environment-friendly lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries.
• This innovation will aid the production of cost-effective, compact, energy-efficient, safe and environment-friendly Li-S batteries, offering a viable alternative to the lithium-ion batteries being used presently.
• The Li-S battery technology has the potential to aid multi-billion dollar industries, including tech gadgets, drones, electric vehicles (EV), etc, that depend on such batteries.

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Arjun Munda e-inaugurates ‘Tribes India Showroom’ in Mumbai

• Union Minister for Tribal Affairs Arjun Munda e-inaugurated a ‘Tribes India Showroom’ in Indian Globe Chambers, Mumbai.
• In a bid to boost sales and enhance tribal income in these challenging times, Tribes India on Wheels – mobile vans stacked fully with Van Dhan natural produce, immunity boosters and other tribal products – has now been launched.
• These will take these products directly to the customer’s doorstep in 150 cities across the country.
• In a solid push to the existing infrastructure, two production centres for Minor Forest Produce processing as a part of the TRIFOOD project, in association with MoFPI and NSTFDC are being set-up in Jagdalpur, Chhattisgarh, and Raigad, Maharashtra – giving many thousands of tribals employment opportunities.

August 2020 Current Affairs Monthly PDF  |  Assam 2020 Yearbook  | July 2020 Quiz Monthly PDF

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August 26, 2020

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Serological survey for COVID19 launched in Assam

• The first serological survey in Assam was launched by the minister of state for health, Pijush Hazarika, in a bid to assess whether people have developed immunity to COVID19 or not.
• The serological survey involves testing of the blood serum of individuals to check for the prevalence of antibodies against an infection.
• The survey, titled ‘Assessment of Anti- SARSCoV2 Seroprevalence in Habitants of Assam: A population-based cross-sectional study’, is an initiative of an NGO in partnership with a diagnostics solutions provider.
• Hazarika lauded the efforts of Padmapani Bora, an Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer from Assam.
• Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has advised states to conduct sero survey to measure COVID19 exposure among people using IgG Elisa Test (antibody test).
• It can reveal insights into the immunity against COVID19 by detecting the presence of specific antibodies against COVID19.
• National Health Mission, Assam has directed all deputy commissioners of the districts in the state to support the study.

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E-auction portal to boost trade of GI tagged ‘Kashmir Saffron’

• To promote trading of GI tagged ‘Kashmir Saffron’ the Department of Agriculture under the aegis of India International Kashmir Saffron Trading Centre (IIKSTC) has created a PAN India e-Auction portal in collaboration with NSE-IT.
• The saffron growers of Kashmir valley and buyers across India have been requested to register themselves as “SELLERS and BUYERS for E- Trading on the e-Auction portal www.saffroneauctionindia.com, so that hassle free e-Trading between registered Growers and registered Buyers is ensured.

FACTFILE – Saffron 

• Saffron is a spice derived from the flower of Crocus sativus, commonly known as the “saffron crocus”.
• It is believed that saffron originated in Iran. Iran produces some 90% of the world total for saffron.
• Saffron has long been the world’s most costly spice by weight, at US $5,000 per kg or higher.

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Kerala’s first-ever Dragonfly Festival

• WWF-India Kerala State Office is joining hands with the Society for Odonate Studies (SOS) and Thumbipuranam for the first-ever state Dragonfly Festival in Kerala, christened Thumbi Maholsavam 2020.
• It is a part of the National Dragonfly Festival organised by WWF India, Bombay Natural History Society and Indian Dragonfly Society in association with National Biodiversity Board, UN Environmental Programme, UN Development Programme and IUCN-CEC.

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Tamil Nadu women top the list of MUDRA loan scheme beneficiaries

• Over 15 crore loans amounting to ₹78-lakh-crore have been disbursed to women borrowers since the inception of the Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana (PMMY) with Tamil Nadu topping the list in availing the loan followed by women in West Bengal and Karnataka.
• By March 31, 2020, women in Tamil Nadu had availed ₹58,227 crore loan from the scheme followed by West Bengal ₹55,232 crore, Karnataka ₹47,714 crore, Bihar ₹44,879 crore and Maharashtra ₹42,000 crore loan.
• Loans under this scheme are extended to eligible borrowers for manufacturing, processing, trading, services, and activities allied to agriculture, which help in creating income-generating activities and employment.

FACTFILE – Pradhan Mantri MUDRA Yojana (PMMY)

• Pradhan Mantri MUDRA Yojana (PMMY) is a scheme launched by the Hon’ble Prime Minister on April 8, 2015 for providing loans upto ₹10 lakh to the non-corporate, non-farm small/micro enterprises.
• These loans are classified as MUDRA loans under PMMY. These loans are given by Commercial Banks, RRBs, Small Finance Banks, Cooperative Banks, MFIs and NBFCs.
• The borrower can approach any of the lending institutions mentioned above or can apply online through this portal.
• Under the aegis of PMMY, MUDRA has created three products namely ‘Shishu’, ‘Kishore’ and ‘Tarun’ to signify the stage of growth / development and funding needs of the beneficiary micro unit / entrepreneur and also provide a reference point for the next phase of graduation / growth.

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August 27, 2020

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AAI launches Krishi-Udan Scheme for marketing of Northeast farm produce

• The Airports Authority of India (AAI) has launched the Krishi-Udan Scheme To facilitate the marketing of agricultural and farm products of the northeastern states outside the region.
• Under the Scheme, the services have been started in the region and it is aimed to benefit the local farmers and villagers whose products have higher value outside the region.
• The first domestic dedicated freighter of budget carrier SpiceJet from Kolkata bringing 5,800 kgs of air cargo landed at the Lengpui Airport in Mizoram capital Aizawl. In return, outgoing cargo flight from Mizoram, different types of local products such as orange, lemon, banana, ginger, pineapple and cut flowers were carried to Kolkata.

FACTFILE – Airports in Northeast India

• There are 12 airports in the northeast – Guwahati, Silchar, Dibrugarh, Jorhat, Tezpur, Tezu and Pasighat (Arunachal Pradesh), Agartala (Tripura), Imphal (Manipur), Shillong (Meghalaya), Dimapur (Nagaland) and Lengpui (Mizoram).
• Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport is the 11^th busiest airport in India, by passenger traffic, aircraft movement and cargo handled for fiscal year 2019-20.
• At 34^th position is Agartala Airport, at 39^th position is Imphal Airport and at 48^th position is Dibrugarh Airport.

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Neelakantha Bhanu Prakash is world’s fastest human calculator

• Neelakanta Bhanu Prakash, 21, from Hyderabad, has been declared the world’s fastest human calculator after bagging India’s first-ever gold in the Mental Calculation World Championship at the Mind Sport Olympiad in London.
• Neelakanta Bhanu Prakash, now a graduate of Mathematics from St Stephen’s College, realised early on that he had a natural tenacity for numbers.
• He also has four world records and 50 Limca Book of Records.
• Another Indian Aaryan Shukla taking the bronze medal in the junior category.

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Russia’s Rosatom to make Nuclear-Fuel for India’s VVER-1000 Reactors

• Russia’s integrated nuclear power player ‘Rosatom’ will make uranium-plutonium REMIX fuel matrix for India’s VVER-1000 reactors. The remix fuel will be made at the site of the Siberian Chemical Combine (SCC) — part of TVEL Fuel Company, a group company.
• India has two functional VVER-1000 reactors and two more under construction at Kudankulam in Tamil Nadu. Two more VVER-1000 units 5 and 6 will also come up at Kudankulam.

FACTFILE – Water-water energetic reactor (WWER) or VVER

• VVER is a series of pressurized water reactor designs originally developed in the Soviet Union, and now Russia, by OKB Gidropress.
• The idea of a reactor was proposed at the Kurchatov Institute by Savely Moiseevich Feinberg.
• These were originally developed before the 1970s, and have been continually updated. As a result, the name VVER is associated with a wide variety of reactor designs spanning from generation I reactors to modern generation III+ reactor designs.
• Power output ranges from 70 to 1300 MWe, with designs of up to 1700 MWe in development. The first prototype VVER-210 was built at the Novovoronezh Nuclear Power Plant.
• VVER power stations have been mostly installed in Russia and the former Soviet Union, but also in China, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Slovakia, Bulgaria, India, and Iran.

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West Bengal launches ‘Krishak Bondhu’ welfare scheme for farmers

• West BengalChief Minister Mamata Banerjee introduced a welfare scheme, ‘Krishak Bondhu’, for the farmers, which would support them in carrying out agricultural activities.
• Most of the agricultural fields have gone under water due to the flood like situation. The distressed farmers should be incorporated in the 100-day work schemes immediately.
• All the district administrators must ensure that rain water is pumped out of the agricultural fields so that farmers can resume cultivation in their respective lands.
• Relief funds should be disbursed soon to those who have been affected in Cyclone Amphan.

August 2020 Current Affairs Monthly PDF  |  Assam 2020 Yearbook  | July 2020 Quiz Monthly PDF

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August 28, 2020

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Assam to invest Rs 900 crore to set up skill development varsity

• The Assam government decided to set up a Skill Development University at Mangaldoi with an investment of Rs 900 crore. The state cabinet has approved the Assam Skill Development University Bill which would facilitate the setting up of the university, first of its kind in the northeastern region.
• The Assam Government has tied up with Singapore based ITE Education Service, for setting up of the Skill Development University.
• Around 100 bigha land (16 hectares) would be allotted at Mangaldoi in northern Assam to set up the varsity.

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Piyush Goyal launches national GIS-enabled land bank system

• Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal launched the national GIS-enabled land bank system, which will help investors to get real-time information about the availability of industrial land and resources.
• The prototype system is being developed by integrating the Industrial Information System (IIS) with state GIS (Geographic Information System). And will be developed further with inputs from states to make it an effective and transparent mechanism for land identification as well as procurement.
• The IIS portal is a GIS-enabled database of industrial areas/clusters across the states. Around 3,300 industrial parks across 31 states/UTs covering about 4,75,000 hectare land have been mapped on the system.
• The information available includes forest, drainage; raw material heat maps (agricultural, horticulture, mineral layers); multiple layers of connectivity.

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Marieke Lucas Rijneveld becomes the youngest winner of International Booker Prize 2020

• Dutch author Marieke Lucas Rijneveld won the 2020 International Booker prize together with their translator Michele Hutchison for the debut novel The Discomfort of Evening, a story of childhood grief.
• At 29 year of age, Rijneveld is the youngest author to win the prestigious prize.
• Rijneveld is the first Dutch author to win the prize and only the third Dutch author to be nominated, after Tommy Wieringa and Harry Mulisch.
• Rijneveld’s book was a bestseller in Netherlands when it was published in 2018.
• It is based on the story a 10-year-old girl named Jas, whose brother dies in an ice-skating accident and the family’s subsequent struggle with grief.

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Delhi Govt launched ‘Healthy Body, Healthy Mind’ fitness campaign

• The Delhi government launched ”Healthy Body, Healthy Mind” campaign for students confined to their homes as schools remain closed in view of coronavirus pandemic.
• State Govt has started a YouTube channel on which every Wednesday, a video will be uploaded which the students can practice for the week to maintain fitness and make up for the loss of physical activity during the pandemic.
• An online Entrepreneurial Mindset (EMC) Bootcamp organised by the government to inculcate entrepreneurial abilities among the students.

 

Test Series for Junior Admin Asst (Assam Secretariat) 2020

 

August 2020 Current Affairs Monthly PDF  |  Assam 2020 Yearbook  | July 2020 Quiz Monthly PDF

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