Current Affairs 11 & 12 October 2020

We are here for you to provide the important Recent and Latest Current Affairs 11 & 12 October 2020, which have unique updates of Latest Current Affairs 2020 events from all newspapers such as The Hindu, The Economic Times, PIB, Times of India, PTI, Indian Express, Business Standard and all Government official websites.

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Top 15 Current Affairs of 11 & 12 October 2020

NATIONAL AFFAIRS

DST, IBM India Collaborate to promote STEM Career opportunities among Students

i.On October 8, 2020 International Business Machines (IBM) India joined hands with the Department of Science and Technology (DST) to expand the scope of two DST initiatives Vigyan Jyoti, Engage with Science (Vigyan Prasar). 
ii.The initiatives aim to promote STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) learning among students, especially girl students to inspire them to pursue careers in STEM. 
About Ministry of Science & Technology:
Department of Science & Technology (DST) is a department under the Ministry of Science & Technology.
Union Minister – Harsh Vardhan
Headquarters – New Delhi
<<Read Full News>>

Goa Becomes India’s 1st ‘Har Ghar Jal’ State by Providing FHTCs to Every Rural Household

i.On October 9, 2020, Goa has become the first ‘Har Ghar Jal’ state in the country under Central Governments Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) by providing 100% tap water connections in Functional Household Tap Connections (FHTCs) covering 2.30 lakh households.The state has achieved the target before time i.e. by 2021. 
ii.There are 1 lakh 65 thousand rural households in North Goa and 98,000 rural households in South Goa in 191 Gram Panchayats.
iii.Now, to strengthen water testing facilities, the State is in process of getting 14 National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL) accredited water quality testing laboratories. 
About Goa:
Capital– Panaji
Chief Minister– Pramod Sawant
<<Read Full News>>

Delhi Cabinet Approved First-of-its-kind ‘Tree Transplantation Policy’ & World’s 2nd Smog Tower at Connaught Place

i.Delhi has become the first state in the country to have the ‘Tree Transplantation Policy’ for the preservation of trees which was approved by the state’s cabinet on October 9, 2020. 
ii.Under this, a minimum of 80% of trees affected by a development or construction project will be transplanted.
iii.Apart from above, the state cabinet also gave its nod for the installation of the second smog tower in the world after China and 1st in Delhi worth Rs 20 crore at Connaught Place within ten months.
Both Approvals are a part of Delhi’s movement of “Yuddh, Pradushan Ke Viruddh” against the air pollution levels.
About Delhi:
Governor– Anil Baijal
State Animal– Nilgai
<<Read Full News>>

PM Narendra Modi addresses RAISE 2020 – ‘Responsible AI for Social Empowerment 2020’ ; IBM to setup CoE for AI

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated & addressed RAISE 2020 – ‘Responsible AI for Social Empowerment 2020’ –  A 5-day Global AI (Artificial Intelligence) Summit which took place virtually from October 5-9, 2020. 
The Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MeitY) in partnership with NITI Aayog organized the summit.
IBM to set up Centre of Excellence (CoE):
International Business Machines (IBM) will set up an AI Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Partnership with Government e-marketplace (GeM).
About Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MeitY):
Union Minister – Ravi Shankar Prasad 
Minister of State (MoS) – Sanjay Dhotre 
<<Read Full News>>

Coal Ministry Launched a Website to Promote R&D Activities in Coal Sector

On October 9, 2020 During the 56th meeting of Standing Scientific Research Committee of the Ministry, Anil Jain, Secretary, of Coal ministry launched a website(https://scienceandtech.cmpdi.co.in/) to disseminate and promote Research and Development (R&D) activities in the coal sector. The website was developed by Central Mines Planning & Design Institute Limited (CMPDI), R&D arm of Coal India Limited (CIL).
This website also promotes science and technology research in the coal and lignite sector. 
Gist about the Website
i.The website displays the guidelines to implement coal research projects with different formats so that anyone can submit proposals in an essential manner.
ii.In order to ensure transparency and avoid repetitive nature of projects, the website  contains lists and outcomes of completed projects and ongoing research projects 
iii.It displays photos, videos and news clippings that are related to the coal and lignite sector. Diverse publications are also available on the website
iv.In view of the future requirements of India, the website contains identified thrust areas for future coal research.
Key Info

• The coal ministry, through its Coal Science & Technology (S&T) Plan to improve production, productivity, etc., has been promoting R&D activities in Coal & Lignite sectors.
• The ministry also provides to accomplish the research work on these subjects.

Additional Info
Presently, the research projects are implemented by national research and academic institutions like  Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), National Institutes of Technology (NITs), etc., with participation of coal and lignite producing companies.
About Ministry of Coal:
Union Minister– Pralhad Joshi(Constituency- Dharwad, Karnataka)

BANKING & FINANCE

Highlights of Bi- Monthly Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) 2020-21: October 2020

i.The 6-member 25th Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) was held from October 7-9, 2020 which was headed by RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das. Notably for this meeting, the MPC got three new members replacing earlier ones (Ravindra Dholakia, Pami Dua and Chetan Ghate) as their four-year tenure ended in September 2020. 
ii.The new members are:Dr. Ashima Goyal, Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM) member, Shashanka Bhide, Senior Advisor, National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER), Professor Jayanth Varma, Indian Institute of Management (IIM)-Ahmedabad (Gujarat).

• RBI to conduct on-tap TLTRO worth Rs 1 lakh cr; ;Non-SLR investments of banks rose to 1.8% in H1:2020-21
• In a First, RBI to Buy State Government Bonds; Rs 20,000 crore-OMO auction next week
• SLR Holdings in Held to Maturity (HTM) category extended till March 31, 2022
• RBI broadens co-origination model for PSL to “Co-Lending Model”, all NBFCs can collaborate with banks
• RBI to discontinue system-based automatic caution-listing of exporters
• RBI allows 24×7 x 365 availability of RTGS system from December
• RBI to grant perpetual validity for Certificate of Authorisation (CoA) issued to PSOs 
• RBI tweaks home loan rules to boost real estate sector
• RBI Revised Limit for Risk Weight to Rs 7.5 cr to Rs 5 Cr
• Manufacturing PMI for September 2020 highest since January 2012 at 56.8
• Interest subvention on MSME loans extended till end of March 2021

About Reserve Bank of India (RBI):
Headquarters– Mumbai, Maharashtra
Formation– 1 April 1935
Deputy Governors– 4 (Bibhu Prasad Kanungo, Mahesh Kumar Jain, Michael Debabrata Patra, one is yet to be appointed
<<Read Full News>>

ENVIRONMENT

Scientists Found New & Rare Perennial Woody Herb “Lepidagathis ananthapuramensis” in Kasaragod, Kerala

A team of researchers discovered a new species of perennial woody herb in the northern laterite plateaus in Kasaragod, Kerala. The new species “Lepidagathis ananthapuramensis” is named after the temple Ananthapura lake temple dedicated to Ananthapadmanabha, since it was found in its neighbourhood. The article on the discovery is published in Phytotaxa, a journal on plant taxonomy.
The article is authored by Punnakot Biju of Government College(Kasaragod), V.S. Anil Kumar and Sindhu Arya of University College (Thiruvananthapuram), E.J. Josekutty, Government Brennen College(Thalassery) and Jomy Augustine, St Thomas College(Pala).
About Lepidagathis ananthapuramensis:
i.With the discovery of Lepidagathis ananthapuramensis the total number of the species under the Lepidagathis genus of family Acanthaceae in India became 34.
ii.Lepidagathis ananthapuramensis is locally known as “Paramullu”.
iii.As of now this species is found only in this laterite plateaus region.
iv.Around 8 species of this genus and 3 varieties are found from Kerala, out of which 4 are found only in the Western Ghats.
Features:
i.This species grows to a height of 50 to 100 centimeters.
ii.The erect woody herb has a hairy and branched stem, thick and woody rootstock, hairy leaf veins.
iii.The flowers of this species are clustered on one side of the inflorescence.

Added 544 species to India’s Diversity in 2019: Animal Discoveries 2019 & Plant Discoveries 2019 of ZSI & BSI Launched by Babul Supriyo 

The Scientists have discovered around 544 new species from India during 2019, the list of these new discoveries were released as two books, Animal Discoveries 2019 and Plant Discoveries 2019 by the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) and the Botanical Survey of India (BSI). The ZSI and BSI have been releasing these books since 2007 and the 2019 list marks the 13th edition of this collection.
On 9th October 2020, Babul Supriyo, Union Minister of State(MoS) for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, launched these two books at an event organised at the Acharya Jagadish Chandra Bose Indian Botanic Backyard in Howrah, West Bengal. 
Animal Discovery 2019:
i.The Animal discovery 2019 has listed 364 species as new to science and 116 species as first data from India.
ii.Among the discovered species, 294 species are classified as invertebrates and 74 as vertebrates and four species are fossil species.
iii.The list also includes the species of reptiles, fish and amphibians among the others.
iv.With the addition of these new discoveries, the total species of animals in India is 102161, which accounts around 6.52% of the total species on the earth.
Plant Discoveries 2019:
i.Plant Discoveries 2019 has listed 180 new plant species which includes seed-bearing plants, ferns, fungi, algae and various species of microbes and 73 new data are found from India
ii.The diversity of the plant species found within the BSI is around 50,012, and which accounts to around 12% of all flora species on the earth.
Key Points:
i.India ranks 8th in the world with 1.02 lakh species.
ii.Around 28 % of all the plants discovered in 2018 were made from the Western Ghats during 2019 and 21% from the Himalayas, 11% from the East coast, 10% from eastern plains, 7% from west coast and 6% from western Himalayas.
iii.The maximum number of flora species discoveries were made from Kerala followed by Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Arunachal Pradesh.

BOOKS & AUTHORS

GBS Sidhu authored “The Khalistan Conspiracy: A Former R&AW Officer Unravels the Path to 1984” 

GBS Sidhu, a former special secretary of Research and Analysis Wing(R&AW), India’s external intelligence agency authored a book titled “The Khalistan Conspiracy: A Former R&AW Officer Unravels the Path to 1984” that portrays the first person accounts on the facts and the roles of senior politicians in the creation and sustenance of Khalistan movement.
The book published by HarperCollins will be released on 24th October 2020.
About the book:
i.The book narrates the series of events that resulted in the rise of Khalistan movement, Operation Blue Star, the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in 1984 and the anti-Sikh violence.
ii.The narration of the book moves from Punjab to Canada, United States, Europe and Delhi.
iii.The timeline of the book covers 7 years before 1984 and a decade after 1984.
About GBS Sidhu:
i.GBS Sidhu served in R&AW for 26 years and retired as the special secretary in 1998.
ii.He also served as the R&AW Chief in Sikkim capital Gangtok
Book:
He published his book “Sikkim: Dawn of Democracy: Truth Behind the Merger with India” in 2018.
Awards:
GBS Sidhu received the Indian Police Medal for Meritorious Service in 1976 from Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.

IMPORTANT DAYS

World Mental Health Day 2020: October 10

i.World Mental Health Day is observed annually on October 10 to raise awareness about  mental health issues globally and mobilize efforts in support of mental health.
ii.The theme for World Mental Health Day 2020, as per the World Federation for Mental Health (WFMH) is “Mental Health for All: Greater Investment – Greater Access”.
iii.Around  1 billion people are living with mental disorder, 3 million people die annually from the harmful use of alcohol and 1 person dies every 40 seconds by suicide.
About World Federation for Mental Health(WFMH):
President- Ingrid Daniels
Headquarters– Texas, U.S.A(United States of America)
<<Read Full News>>

World Day Against the Death Penalty 2020 – October 10

i.World Day Against the Death Penalty is annually observed across the globe on 10th October.
The 10th October 2020 marks the 18th World Day Against the Death Penalty which is dedicated to the rights to effective legal representative of the individuals facing death penalty.
ii.The first World Day Against the Death Penalty by the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty in 2003.
iii.More than 20 countries executed the death penalty in 2019 and most executions were carried out in China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Egypt.
<<Read Full News>>

World Migratory Bird Day 2020: October 10

i.World Migratory Bird Day (WMBD) is celebrated bi-annually on the second Saturday in May and in October. WMBD 2020, in October falls on October 10. 
ii.The UN(United Nations) led awareness-raising campaign highlights the need to conserve the migratory birds and their habitats, as they face threats. 
iii.The day also aims to spotlights their ecological importance and calls for their global conservation through international cooperation.
iv.Theme of World Migratory Bird Day 2020- “Birds Connect Our World”.
About United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP):
Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Director of UNEP – Inger Andersen
Headquarters– Nairobi, Kenya.
<<Read Full News>>

STATE NEWS

For the 1st time in India, Goa Govt ties up with India Posts to Enroll 11,000 Farmers in PM Kisan Samman Nidhi scheme

i.On October 9, 2020 Chandrakant (Babu) Kavlekar, Deputy Chief Minister and Agriculture Minister of Goa stated that the state government  has tied up with India Posts enroll 11,000 farmers in the Pradhan Mantri(PM) Kisan Samman Nidhi scheme in the press conference organized at Krishi Bhavan at Tonca with Postmaster General Vinod Kumar. 
ii.Through this tie up the postman will be utilized to benefit farmers. This is India’s 1st such initiative and a unique drive.
About Goa:
Governor– Bhagat Singh Koshyari(additional charge with his post as Governor of Maharashtra)
UNESCO Heritage Site– Churches and Convents of Goa
<<Read Full News>>

AC GAZE

GSFC launches indigenous Calcium Nitrate and boronated Calcium Nitrate 

Gujarat State Fertilizers and Chemicals India Ltd (GSFC) launched an Indigenous variety of Calcium Nitrate and Boronated Calcium Nitrate. Union Minister for Chemicals and Fertilizers, Mansukh Mandaviya launched the products virtually. Calcium Nitrate is a water-soluble fertilizer in agriculture, and also in wastewater treatment. The indigeneous variety will provide a cheaper alternative to the farmer community in India.

16-year-old Aava Murto becomes Finland’s PM post for 1 day 

As part of the United Nations International Day of Girl Child (11th October, 2020), 16-year old Aava Murto assumed the post of Finland’s Prime Minister for one day on 7th October, 2020 to raise awareness about gender equality.  It was done as part of the “Girls Takeover” Program. Murto hails from the small village of Vaaksy in Southern Finland. The Prime Minister of Finland is Sanna Marin, Capital city is Helsinki and Currency is Euro respectively.

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