Daily news will speed up the preparation for the Civil Services Examination and it also plays a crucial role to grasp the current affairs topic comprehensively. Here we have covered most of the topics related to various categories including National, International, Sports, Science and Technology, and so on.
1. The Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020 and The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill, 2020
– Two bills were passed by Lok Sabha on 17 September, 2020. The aim was to transform agriculture in the country and increase the income of farmers.
– 2 bills are namely The Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020 and The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill, 2020.
– On 14th September 2020, these bills were introduced in Lok Sabha by Union Minister of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare, Rural Development & Panchayati Raj, Shri Narendra Singh Tomar, to replace ordinances promulgated on 5th June 2020.
– According to the Union Minister of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare Shri Narendra Singh Tomar, farmers will now have freedom for direct marketing of their produce and will be able to get better prices, MSP procurement system will continue, consumers will also benefit.
– The reforms will accelerate agricultural growth through private sector investment in building agricultural infrastructure and supply chains for Indian farm produce in national and global markets, create employment opportunities and strengthen the economy.
Daily Gist of ‘The Hindu’, ‘PIB’, ‘Indian Express’ and Other Newspapers: 17 September, 2020
2. High-temperature turbine rotor test
– India may soon manufacture its own super alloy steam turbine rotors for efficient coal-based thermal power plants.
– Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) to establish a high-temperature turbine rotor test rig for efficient coal-based Thermal Power Plants.
– It’ll be the first facility in India for experimental validation of the design of the AUSC steam turbine rotor. And also the only one of its kind in India in terms of establishing a real size engineering experimental set-up.
– Project taken up under the Clean Energy Research Initiative of DST.
– It’ll subject the turbine rotor segments of weight up to 9000 kilograms to varied damage conditions almost like that within the plant operation, like high temperatures up to 800 degree Celsius, high speed up to 3600 Revolutions Per Minute(RPM), followed by long term steady-state operation and controlled heating and cooling.
– The facility will pave the way towards Atmanirbhar Bharat in this sector.
Daily Gist of ‘The Hindu’, ‘PIB’, ‘Indian Express’ and Other Newspapers: 16 September, 2020
3. Joint G20 Finance And Health Ministers Meeting
– Dr. Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare attended Joint G20 Finance and Health Ministers Meeting through video conference on 17 September, 2020.
– Saudi Arabia bestowed with the Presidency of G20 grouping hosted the session.
– Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said “Flattening the COVID-19 curve globally would require international, multi-sectoral collaborative efforts in order that health systems have sufficient capacities to deal with the flux of complicated cases”.
4. Sewa Diwas
– Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) extended the benefits of various employment generation schemes to just about 1500 persons in 10 Indian cities to celebrate “Sewa Diwas” on 17 September, 2020.
– The day marks the birthday of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
– 14 programs were organised from by KVIC Arunachal Pradesh on the North Eastern Frontier to Bikaner on the Western Border and from Chandigarh and New Delhi in the North to Madurai and Coimbatore down South to expand the ambit of its welfare projects to create local employment.
– Minister of State for MSME, Shri Pratap Chandra Sarangi inaugurated SFURTI Cluster of 500 artisans for creating hand-knotted carpets in Prayagraj in Uttar Pradesh.
– KVIC Chairman Shri Vinai Kumar Saxena launched six different programs in Varanasi, the Parliamentary constituency of the Hon’ble Prime Minister. It includes the first Footwear Training cum Production Center in Varanasi for leather artisans (Mochi) in collaboration with Central Footwear Training Institute (CFTI), Agra.
– He distributed 6 innovative cycle-mounted Tea/Coffee Selling units under Project DigniTEA which will enable tea-sellers to earn a good and respectable livelihood while selling tea/coffee hygienically.
– He distributed electric potter wheels to 300 Kumhar families under Kumhar Sashaktikaran Yojana and 200 bee boxes to 20 farmers families under Honey Mission.
– The KVIC Chairman also distributed 6 hand-operated Agarbatti making machines at Sewapuri Block in Varanasi under the Khadi Agarbatti Aatmanirbhar Mission while also launching the plantation of 100 saplings of Bambusa Tulda, a bamboo species used for creating Agarbatti sticks.
– Within the scenic village of Chullyu in Arunachal Pradesh, Saxena inaugurated state’s first Silk Training cum Production Center which will create local employment to artisans and increase the production of local Silk.
– KVIC has renovated a dilapidated government school building to develop the Silk Training cum Production Center.
– Shri Vinai Kumar Saxena also distributed 6 cycle-mounted Tea/Coffee Selling units to local unemployed youths each in New Delhi, Jaipur and Chandigarh.
Daily Gist of ‘The Hindu’, ‘PIB’, ‘Indian Express’ and Other Newspapers: 15 September, 2020
5. National Water Policy
– To deal with the present challenges in the water sector, revision of National Water Policy has been envisaged and a drafting committee has been constituted on 5th November, 2019 to revise the National Water Policy within a term of six months.
– Due to COVID-19 pandemic, the term of the Committee has been extended up to 31st October, 2020.
– The proposed National Bureau of Water Use Efficiency (NBWUE) will have the general responsibility of improving water use efficiency across various sectors, namely irrigation, drinking water supply, power generation, industries, cities and all other areas where water is used.
6. Construction of Dams in Bihar
– Water Resources Projects are planned, funded, executed and maintained by the State Governments themselves as per their own resources and priorities.
– So as to supplement the efforts of the State Governments, Government of India provides technical and financial assistance to encourage sustainable development and efficient management of water resources via several schemes and programmes including Accelerated Irrigation Benefits Programme (AIBP) etc. under Pradhan MantriKrishiSinchayeeYojana (PMKSY) according to the guidelines of such schemes.
– As intimated by the Central Water Commission (CWC), no Major and Medium Irrigation Project proposal like the construction of dams in Mithila Region/ Darbhanga district of Bihar has been received from the State Government during last five years.
– On 12th June, 2020, it received a proposal of Dagmara Hydro Electric Project from Central Electricity Authority (CEA) for clearance from inter-state aspects.
– On 24th June, 2020, the same was accepted by CWC. The project is a Run of the River scheme with an installed capacity of 130.1 MW.
– It envisages constructions of the concrete barrage and an earthen dam across Kosi River in Mithila region of Bihar.
Daily Gist of ‘The Hindu’, ‘PIB’, ‘Indian Express’ and Other Newspapers: 14 September, 2020
7. World Patient Safety Day
– On the occasion of the second World ‘Patient Safety Day’, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare & National Health System Resource Centre organised a webinar on 17 September, 2020.
– To provide impetus to the endeavours directed towards improving the safety of patients as well as health care worker, since both are closely interlinked.
– The theme for Patient Safety Day 2020 is “Health Worker Safety: A Priority for Patient Safety”.
– The Slogan is “Safe health workers, Safe patients.”
– The Webinar was inaugurated by Sh. Rajesh Bhushan, Union Health Secretary MoHFW.
Daily Gist of ‘The Hindu’, ‘PIB’, ‘Indian Express’ and Other Newspapers: 11 September, 2020
8. 32 Earth Observation Sensors currently in orbit
– The Union Minister of State (Independent Charge), Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr. Jitendra Singh said that there are 32 earth observation sensors.
– The 32 earth observation sensors are currently in orbit with advanced capabilities providing space-based information.
– Since January, 2018, five earth observation satellites and five communication payloads were realized.
– Information support was provided for all the major disaster events like floods, cyclones and forest fires occurred since January 2020.
– About 2,51,000 value-added data products were disseminated to users since April 2020.
– The value-added products comprise of geophysical & remote sensing data products derived using the data from meteorological, oceanographic and land remote sensing satellites.
– The total number of satellites launched by ISRO that are no longer operational (life ended)and currently in orbit are 47 (26 satellites are in LEO/Low-Earth-Orbit and 21 are in GEO/Geosynchronous-Equatorial-Orbit).
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