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Current Affairs - 06 October 2020

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1. 12th BRICS Summit to be held virtually for 1st time on Nov 17
  • For the first time since the standoff between Indian and Chinese troops along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping are expected to come face-to-face virtually at the BRICS annual summit to be held on November 17.
  • Russia, the chair of the five-nation BRICS, announced on Monday that the annual summit of the bloc will be held on November 17 via video conference.
  • The BRICS is known as an influential bloc that represents over 3.6 billion people, or half of the world's population. The BRICS countries have a combined GDP of USD 16.6 trillion.
  • "The theme of the meeting of the leaders of BRICS countries is ''BRICS Partnership for Global Stability, Shared Security and Innovative Growth''," the Russian government said in a statement.
Foot Notes:
About BRICS(Brazil-Russia-India-China-South Africa):
Founded: June 2006
Formation: 2009
 
About Russia:
Capital: Moscow
President: Vladimir Putin
Currency: Russian ruble
Prime Minister: Mikhail Mishustin
 
2. India, Myanmar Agree to target operationalisation of Strategic Sittwe Port in Q1 2021
  • During the visit of the Indian army Chief and Foreign Secretary to Myanmar, the two countries agreed to work towards operationalising the Sittwe port in the first quarter of 2021.
  • Indian army Chief General M.M. Naravane and Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla travelled to Myanmar on a two-day visit. They called on State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and Myanmar’s Commander in Chief of Defence Services Senior General Min Aung Hlaing.
  • The last time that India’s foreign secretary and army chief had travelled together was to Bhutan in 2018. It made sense to do so again in Myanmar due to its government structure – a reference to the role of the military at the top of the decision-making set-up in the south-east Asian country.
Foot Notes:
About Myanmar:
Capital: Naypyitaw
President: Win Myint
Currency: Burmese kyat
 
3. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announces anti-pollution campaign ‘Yudh Pradushan ke Virudh’ 
  • Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, October 5, launched an anti-air pollution campaign named "Yudh Pradushan Ke Virudh" to keep a check on the air pollution levels in the national capital.
  • Stressing that polluted air can prove harmful to the health amid the coronavirus outbreak, he said, "Polluted air can be life-threatening in view of the COVID-19 pandemic. Both affect lungs.
  • Under the campaign, separate plans have been prepared for each of the 13 pollution hotspots in the city, the Chief Minister stated while addressing a digital press conference. He said, ''Customised plans of action are being made for each area, according to their respective causes of pollution & the thereby execution those plans to deal with all that pollution."
Foot Notes:
About New Delhi:
Chief Minister: Arvind Kejriwal
Lt. Governor: Anil Baijal

4. Puducherry airport becomes AAI’s first 100% solar-powered airport
  • Puducherry airport has become the Airports Authority of India's (AAI) first entirely solar-powered airport in the country with the commissioning of 500KWp ground-mounted solar power plant at a cost of Rs 2.8 crore.
  • The 500KWp ground-mounted solar power plant was commissioned on 2nd October 2020.With becoming absolutely power-neutral, the Puducherry airport will be able to meet its entire power requirement through the solar power plant.
Foot Notes:
About Airports Authority of India:
Chairman: Arvind Singh
Headquarters: New Delhi
Founded: 1 April 1995
 
About Puducherry:
Chief Minister: V. Narayanasamy
Administrator: Shri Dineshwar Sharma
 
5. Health Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan launches ‘Ayush Standard Treatment Protocol’
  • The Union Health Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan on October 6, 2020, launched the Ayush Standard Treatment Protocol at an event held via video conference. The protocols detail the self-care guidelines for preventive health measures which will help in protecting against COVID-19. 
  • While launching the protocols, the health minister hailed the up-gradation of the protocols by the AYUSH Ministry which has been done in sync with CSIR- Council of Scientific and Industrial Research and ICMR- Indian Council of Medical Research.
  • The Union Health Minister while launching the Ayush Standard Treatment stated that the modern systems of medicine have their own strengths as they have made available medicines and operations which have helped in making people’s lives much better.
6. Govt removes requirement of Minimum Qualifying Service for Defence personnel for Enhanced Family Pension
  • In a major announcement giving huge benefit to Defence Forces personnel, Government today scrapped the requirement of Minimum Qualifying Service for Enhanced Family Pension with effect from 1st October 2019.
  • As per existing provision, there is a requirement of continuous qualifying service of 7 years for grant of Ordinary Family Pension at enhanced rate to Next of Kin of Defence Forces personnel. The requirement of continuous qualifying service of 7 years is done away with effect from 1st October 2019. Additionally, Defence Forces personnel who died within ten years before the 1st of October 2019 without completing continuous service of 7 years, their family will also be eligible for family pension at the enhanced rates.
  • Family Pension at enhanced rate is calculated at the rate of 50 per cent of last emoluments whereas normally it is 30 per cent of the last pay drawn.
Foot Notes:
Minister of Defence: Rajnath Singh
Chief of Defence Staff: General Bipin Rawat

7. India and South Africa ask WTO to waive rules to aid COVID-19 drug production
  • According to a letter to the World Trade Organisation (WTO), India and South Africa have asked to waive off the intellectual property rules in order to make it easier for the developing countries to import or produce the drugs for COVID-19.
  • The two countries in their letter dated October 2, 2020, have called on the global trade body to waive parts of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), which governs trademarks, patents, copyright, and other intellectual property rules globally.
Foot Notes:
About South Africa:
Capitals: Cape Town
President: Cyril Ramaphosa
 
Foot Notes:
About WTO (World Trade Organization):
Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland
Founded: 1 January 1995
Leader: Roberto Azevêdo
 
8. MoHUA enters into MoU with Swiggy to take street food vendors online under PM SVANIDHI scheme
  • The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs has entered into an MoU with Swiggy, one of the leading food delivery platforms, to onboard street food vendors on its e-commerce platform.
  • The MoU aims at giving the street food vendors online access to thousands of consumers and help them grow their businesses.
  • The arrangement has been facilitated under the Prime Minister Street Vendor’s Atma Nibhar Nidhi (PM SVANidhi) Scheme. The Ministry and Swiggy will run a pilot programme by on-boarding 250 vendors across five cities namely - Ahmedabad, Chennai, Delhi, Indore, and Varanasi.
  • The street vendors will be helped with PAN and FSSAI registration, training on technology, menu digitization and pricing along with hygiene and packaging best practices.
Foot Notes:
About MoHUA:
Minister: Hardeep Singh Puri
 
About Swiggy:
Founded: 2014
Headquarters: Bangalore, India
Founders: Rahul Jaimini, Nandan Reddy, Sriharsha Majety
 
9. Centre to urgently release Rs. 20,000 crore as compensation to States for revenue losses
  • The Centre will urgently disburse nearly 20 thousand crore rupees among the states from the amount collected as compensation cess this year.
  • Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman made the announcement after the 42nd GST Council meet.
  • The Centre will also disburse Rs. 25 thousand crore towards Integrated GST for 2017-18 to those states that received less amount due to the anomalies.
  • Also, the revenue Secretary Ajay Bhushan Pandey informed that starting from 1st January next year, taxpayers with less than Rs. 5 crore annual turnover will not be required to file monthly GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B returns.

10. Justice AS Dave, former Judge and acting CJ of the Gujarat HC passes away
  • Former Acting Chief Justice of the Gujarat High Court Justice Anant S Dave passed away at the age of 62
  • Justice Dave was appointed as a Gujarat High Court Judge in 2004 and was made permanent in 2006.
  • He was appointed as an Acting Chief Justice of the Gujarat High Court on November 14, 2018 and served until the present Chief Justice Vikram Nath took over the helm in September 2019.
Foot Notes:
About Gujarat:
Capital: Gandhinagar
Governor: Acharya Devvrat
Chief Minister: Vijay Rupani
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