Indo-Bangla Friendship Pipeline likely to be commissioned in February

 1. Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana:Completes six years of successful implementation. Announced on 15th August 2014, PMJDY is National Mission for Financial Inclusion to ensure access to financial services, namely, Banking/ Savings & Deposit Accounts, Remittance, Credit, Insurance, Pension in an affordable manner.2. First ever RORO service of South Western Railway from Nelamangla (near Bengaluru) to Bale (near Solapur) has been started. This shall be the only privately operated RORO train services on Indian Railways. Roll On Roll Off (RORO) is a concept of carrying road vehicles loaded with various commodities, on open flat railway wagons.3. Recently, the 41st Goods and Services Tax (GST) council meeting was held to discuss the issue of compensating states on account of revenue loss due to implementation of GST and fall in cess collections. It is a constitutional body (Article 279A) for making recommendations to the Union and State Government on issues related to Goods and Services Tax. The GST Council is chaired by the Union Finance Minister and other members are the Union State Minister of Revenue or Finance and Ministers in-charge of Finance or Taxation of all the States.4. The World Urdu Conference 2020 is being organised by the National Council for Promotion of Urdu Language (NCPUL) from 27th-28th August 2020. Urdu is one of the languages mentioned in the 8th Schedule to the Constitution.5. The report of Covid-19 cases among the members of the Great Andamanese tribe is a matter of concern as the total population of the tribe is already low.. Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group (PVTG): Great Andamanese are one of five PVTGs that reside in Andamans archipelago. The other four are: Jarwas, Onges, Shompens and North Sentinelese.  6. The Prime Minister of India paid tribute to social reformer Mahatma Ayyankali on his 157th birth anniversary. He formed Sadhu Jana Paripalana Sangham (SJPS) to work for low castes. Article 17 of the constitution abolishes the practice of “untouchability” and punishes the enforcement of any disability arising out of the practice. Article 21 guarantees the right to life and liberty. Article 23 prohibits traffic in human beings and other similar forms of forced labor.7. Recently, the 17th ASEAN-India Economic Ministers Consultations was held virtually, co-chaired by India and Vietnam. The meeting was attended by the Trade Ministers of all the 10 ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) countries viz. Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.8. Recently, India has withdrawn its participation from Kavkaz 2020, a multinational tri-services exercise in Russia, citing Covid-19 as the official reason. It is a strategic command-post exercise, and also known as Caucasus-2020. Member countries of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) and Central Asian countries would be participating. India’s military diplomacy with Russia started in 2003 with the first edition of Ex Indra, a bilateral Naval exercise. India also participated in Exercise TSENTR 2019.9. Under Poshan Abhiyaan, the month of September is observed as Poshan Maah i.e. Nutrition month every year, since 2018. Poshan Abhiyan: Also called as the National Nutrition Mission, it is Government of India’s flagship programme to improve nutritional outcomes for children, pregnant women and lactating mothers. Poshan implies ‘Prime Minister’s Overarching Scheme for Holistic Nutrition’. Implemented By: Ministry of Women and Child Development.

 1.Department of Food &Public Distribution issues directions to States/UTs to include all eligible disabled persons under the National Food Security Act 2013. The objective of the act  is to provide for food and nutritional security in human life cycle approach, by ensuring access to adequate quantity of quality food at affordable prices to people to live a life with dignity.2.Nuakhai Juhar is the agricultural festival is also called Nuakhai Parab or Nuakahi Bhetghat. It is one of the most ancient festivals celebrated in Odisha, Chhattisgarh and areas of neighbouring states to welcome the new crop of the season.3. The Centre has constituted the national council for transgender persons. The council is India’s first and formed under Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019. Council is Headed by the Union social justice minister and comprising representatives from 10 central departments, five states and members of the community. 4. Ministry of Tourism recently organised the 50th webinar titled “Cultural heritage of Hyderabad”under DekhoApnaDesh  series. The Ministry of Tourism is organizing the DekhoApnaDesh webinars with an objective to create awareness about and promote various tourism destinations of India. Hyderabad is popularly known as the “City of Pearls” and the “City of Nizams”, 5. The Supreme Court has issued notice on a plea filed by the State of Nagaland for a direction to its Lokayukta to cease exercising his powers and functions and transfer all his work to the Upa-Lokayukta. Lokayukta is an anti-corruption authority or ombudsman – an official appointed by the government to represent the interests of the public. The Lokpal and Lokayukta Act, 2013, commonly known The Lokpal Act was passed by the Parliament of India in December 2013. It also called for establishment of Lokpal at the Centre. The Lokayukta is usually a former High Court Chief Justice or former Supreme Court judge and has a fixed tenure.6. Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) is a multilateral development bank with a mission to improve social and economic outcomes in Asia and beyond. It is headquartered in Beijing. It is a development bank with a mission to improve the economic and social outcomes in Asia. Membership in AIIB shall be open to members of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development or the Asian Development Bank.7. Guwahati Ropeway in news: It will be the country’s longest river ropeway that will connect two banks of the Brahmaputra. It will cover a distance of 1.8 km.8. Maharashtra is known for its Warli folk paintings. They bear a resemblance to those created in the Rock Shelters of Bhimbetka. Women are mainly engaged in the creation of these paintings.It has showed  Maharashtra’s famous Warli painting on the outer walls of its Corporate Office in Noida.9. China is “actively considering the establishment of a BRICS innovation base in China, in order to strengthen practical cooperation with the BRICS”. To take forward 5G and Artificial Intelligence (AI) cooperation among the five countries.10. India’s multi-wavelength orbiting telescope, AstroSat discovers one of the earliest galaxies to have formed called AUDFs01, in the extreme-ultraviolet (UV) light. AstroSat: It is India’s first multi-wavelength space telescope.11. The National Green Tribunal has slammed the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) over its report on the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) which proposes 20-30% reduction of air pollution by 2024. Under the NCAP, the target is to achieve norms in 10 years and reduce load to the extent of 35% in first three years with further reduction of pollution later. 12. ICICI Bank has announced the introduction of usage of satellite data-imagery from earth observation satellites—to assess credit worthiness of its customers belonging to the farm sector. ICICI will be the first bank in India to do so.13. One of the biggest ship recyclers at Alang — Shree Ram Group — has purchased the aircraft carrier ‘INS Viraat’. INS Viraat is the Guinness record holder for being the longest-serving warship of the world.14. Hurricane Laura has made landfall in southwestern Louisiana in US as one of the most powerful storms to hit the state. Hurricanes are large, swirling storms. They produce winds of 119 kilometers per hour (74 mph) or higher. They form over warm ocean waters.  15. NITI Aayog in partnership with the Institute of Competitiveness has released the Export Preparedness Index (EPI) 2020.EPI is the first report to examine export preparedness and performance of Indian states. Top 3 states: Gujarat, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu.16. NITI Aayog has launched the India Component of the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC)–Transport Initiative for Asia (TIA). It is a joint programme, supported by the International Climate Initiative (IKI) of the German Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU). It aims to promote a comprehensive approach to decarbonize transport in India, Vietnam, and China.

 1.The Punjab Chief Minister asked the Central government to be cautious on the contentious Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) canal issue, saying it has the potential to disturb the nation’s security. The Satluj Yamuna Link Canal is a proposed 214-kilometer long canal to connect the Sutlej and Yamuna rivers. However, the proposal met obstacles and was referred to the Supreme Court.2.The Atal Rankings of Institutions on Innovation Achievements (ARIIA) 2020 has been released. Atal Ranking of Institutions on Innovation Achievements (ARIIA) is an initiative of Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) (Now, it is the Ministry of Education), Govt. of India to systematically rank all major higher educational institutions and universities in India. IIT Madras under the category of Institutes of National Importance, Central Universities, and Centrally Funded Technical Institutes becomes first.3.Digital quality of Life index 2020 Index  is prepared by Surfshark, a virtual private network (VPN) provider based in the British Virgin Islands. The report was released recently. Of 85 countries, India ranked 9th on the internet affordability indicator, and 15th on e-government. Overall, India is ranked 57th.4.The environment ministry‘s ban on mining in areas of thick forest cover has locked away millions of tonnes of coal reserves. In 2009, the environment and coal ministries had jointly placed the country’s forested areas under two categories – Go and No-Go – and imposed a ban on mining in the ‘No-Go’ zones on environmental grounds.  ‘No Go’ areas are those having either more than 10 per cent weighted forest cover (WFC) or more than 30 per cent gross forest cover (GFC).5.Indian Railways has started deploying “Ninja UAVs” (unmanned aerial vehicles) for establishing a drone-based surveillance system in a bid to intensify its security mechanism across its network.6.The Odisha government has announced to give a facelift to the 11th century Lingaraj Temple, akin to its pre-350-year structural status. Lingaraja Temple is a temple dedicated to Shiva and is one of the oldest and largest temples in Odisha. It is built in red stone and is a classic example of Kalinga style of architecture.7.Jaipur, Guwahati and Thiruvananthapuram airports of Airports Authority of India (AAI) will be leased out through Public Private Partnership (PPP) to Adani Enterprises Ltd. The lease is for a period of fifty years.8.Swachh Survekshan 2020 report was recently released by the Union Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry. Indore was ranked the cleanest city in the overall category this year followed by Surat and Navi Mumbai. Chhattisgarh is the cleanest state in the category of states with more than 100 urban local bodies (ULBs). Ahmedabad is India’s the cleanest Mega city.9.Namath Basai is Kerala government’s unique programme of teaching tribal children in their mother tongue. Implemented by the Samagra Siksha Kerala (SSK).10.The President has appointed Rajiv Kumar, IAS(Retd.) as the Election Commissioner. The constitution under article 324 provides for an Election Commission. The election commission shall consist of the Chief Election Commissioner and a such number of other election commissioners, if any, as the president may from time to time fix. The appointment  shall be made by the president.11.Thumbimahotsavam  is the first-ever State Dragonfly Festival in Kerala. Pantalu is the official mascot of the festival.12. The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister has decided to set up a National Recruitment Agency (NRA) to conduct a common preliminary examination for various recruitments in the central government.13. A study published in ‘Nature Communications’ has estimated the amount of microplastic pollution in the Atlantic Ocean and put it at 11.6-21.1 million tonnes. There has been an uncertainty about the magnitude of plastic pollution in marine environments.14. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has released the National Strategy for Financial Education (NSFE): 2020-2025 document for creating a financially aware and empowered India. It emphasizes a multi-stakeholder-led approach for empowering various sections of the population to develop adequate knowledge, skills, attitudes and behaviour which are needed to manage their money better and to plan for the future i.e. ensuring their financial well-being.15. Bangladesh is likely to receive an almost USD 1 billion loan from China for a comprehensive management and restoration project on the Teesta river. Teesta is a tributary of the Brahmaputra (known as Jamuna in Bangladesh), flowing through India and Bangladesh.16. India ranks 1st in number of organic farmers and 9th in terms of area under organic farming. Sikkim became the first State in the world to become fully organic in 2016. Mission Organic Value Chain Development for North East Region (MOVCD-NER) is a Central Sector Scheme.17. The approval of projects under the Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Program (PMEGP) increased 44% during the first five months (April – August) of the financial year 2020-21. The Government of India approved the introduction of a credit linked subsidy programme called Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP) in 2008 for generation of employment opportunities through establishment of micro enterprises in rural as well as urban areas. It is a central sector scheme being administered by the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MoMSME).18. Sri Lanka will draft a new Constitution and abolish the 19th Amendment that curtailed the powers of the President and strengthened the role of Parliament. Mahinda Rajapaksha is the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka. 19th amendment sought not only to clip the President’s executive powers, but also to strengthen independence of key pillars such as the judiciary, public service and elections.19. For the first time five sports persons will be receiving the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna on the occasion of the National Sports Day on 29th August. Rohit Sharma-Cricket, Mariyappan T- Para Athletics, Manika batra- Table Tennis, Vinesh- Wrestling, Rani- Hockey. The National Sports Day is observed every year across India on 29th August to mark the birth anniversary of the legendary hockey player Dhyan Chand who was born on 29th August 1905.20. Recently, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has developed a mobile App, ‘Harit Path’ to facilitate creation of Green Highways across the country.