Current Affairs - 13 September 2020

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Current Affairs - 13 September 2020

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1. US cancels over 1,000 visas for Chinese nationals citing security
  • The United States has revoked visas for more than 1,000 Chinese nationals under a May 29 presidential proclamation to suspend entry from China of students and researchers deemed security risks. 
  • The visa action was being taken under a proclamation President Donald Trump made on May 29 as part of the US response to China's plans to impose national security legislation on Hong Kong.
  • It says that China is involved in a wide-ranging and heavily resourced campaign to acquire sensitive United States technologies and intellectual property to boost and modernize its own military capabilities.
Foot Notes:
About US:
Capital: Washington, D.C.
President: Donald Trump
 
About China:
President: Xi Jinping
Capital: Beijing
Currency: Renminbi
 
2. PM Narendra Modi addresses Conclave on “School Education in 21st Century”
  • A two-day conclave on ‘School Education in the 21st Century’ commenced virtually. The conclave has been organised by the Ministry of Education as part of Shikshak Parv 2020.
  • Shikshak Parv is being celebrated from 8th-25th September, 2020 to felicitate the teachers and to take New Education Policy 2020 forward.
  • The conclave was addressed by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi under the National Education Policy- 2020 (NEP-2020).
3. NSDC and LinkedIn partner to provide digital skills training for youth
  • National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) and LinkedIn have announced a partnership to provide access to free learning resources for digital skills. 
  • A total of 10 learning paths consisting of 140 courses will be made available for free on e-Skill India digital platform until March 31, 2021.
  • LinkedIn will provide periodic labour market insights based on its economic graph of more than 69 million members in India.
  • This will include in-demand skills, emerging jobs, and global hiring rates to NSDC to better understand the skilling ecosystem.
Foot Notes:
About NSDC:
CEO: Manish Kumar 
Headquarters: New Delhi
Founded: 2008
CFO: Prakash Sharma
 
About LinkedIn:
CEO: Ryan Roslansky
Founded: 2002, Mountain View, California, United States
Headquarters: Sunnyvale, California, United States
Founders: Reid Hoffman, Konstantin Guericke, Allen Blue, Eric Ly, Jean-Luc Vaillant
 
4. India will be self-reliant in the production of fertilizers by 2023 
  • Union Minister for Chemicals and Fertilizers said, by 2023 India will be self-reliant in the production of fertilizers as  under “Atma Nirbhar  Bharat” programme new fertilizer manufacturing units are being setup  with  an investment of Rs 40,000 crore in the country to reduce dependency on import.
  • He asked farmers to use Urea judiciously as excessive use of Urea may spoil the soil health. He advised  farmers to use fertilizers according to their soil health cards.
Foot Notes:
Union Minister for Chemicals and Fertilizers: Shri D.V. Sadananda Gowda
 
5. Films Division to stream films on Rajbhasha on ‘Hindi Diwas -2020’
  • Streaming of well-researched documentaries leading to the historic occasion of adoption of Hindi as an official language of the Union of India on 14th September, 1949, mock enactment of the meeting of the Constituent Assembly by children and  travelogues showing growth and popularity of Hindi in different States will mark the celebration of  ‘Hindi Diwas’  by Films Division on 14th September, 2020.  
  • The pioneering efforts of Beohar Rajendra Simha, a well known Hindi scholar-writer who rallied and lobbied in favour of Hindi along with other stalwarts like Hazari Prasad Dwivedi, Maithili Sharan Gupta  and Kaka Kalelkar came  to fruition on Simha’s 50th birth day on 14th September,1949 when the Constituent Assembly adopted Hindi as one of the  official languages of the Union of India  which  was ratified by the Constitution of India that came into effect on the 26th of January 1950.
  • Under the Article 343 of the Indian Constitution, Hindi written in Devanagari script was adopted as the official language.  
  • Today, Hindi  is one of the widely spoken languages in the world  and the first language of more than 520 million people.
 
6. World First Aid Day 2020: 12 September 
  • The World First Aid Day is observed on the second Saturday of September every year to create awareness about the importance of first aid in preventing injuries and saving lives.
  • The World First Aid Day 2020 is being observed on 12 September.
  • The day was started by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) in 2000 to educate people in the world of the benefits of first aid, need of first aid and the right way to do first aid.
Foot Notes:
About Red cross:
Founded: 1863, Geneva, Switzerland
Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland
Founders: Henry Dunant, Théodore Maunoir, Guillaume Henri Dufour, Gustave Moynier, Louis Appia
 
7. Reliance Industries becomes world's 40th most valuable firm
  • Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) has become the world’s 40th most valuable firm. The company achieved the feat after it became the first Indian company to cross USD 210 billion in market capitalisation intra-day.  
  • This is the first time that an Indian company has crossed the USD 200 billion market capitalisation milestone. 
  • The Reliance Industries Limited is at present the world’s 40th most valuable firm, ranked ahead of companies including Oracle, PepsiCo, SAP, Exxon Mobil, Novartis and Pfizer. RIL is, in fact, ranked among Asia's top 10 most valuable companies.
Foot Notes:
About Reliance:
CEO: Mukesh Ambani
Founder: Dhirubhai Ambani
Founded: 8 May 1973, Maharashtra
 
8. Punjab Govt rolls out Smart Ration Card Scheme
  • Punjab launched the Smart Ration Card Scheme to cover 1.41 crore beneficiaries across the state, Punjab Chief Minister Capt. Amarinder Singh announced a separate state-funded scheme to provide subsidised ration to nine lakh beneficiaries not covered under the National Food Security Act (NFSA).
  • With this, the total number of beneficiaries in the state would go up to 1.50 crore, the Chief Minister announced, while rolling out the smart card scheme under which 37.5 lakh cards would be distributed to the eligible beneficiaries this month.
Foot Notes:
About Punjab:
Capital: Chandigarh
Chief Minister: Amarinder Singh
Governor: V. P. Singh Badnore
 
9. KG Basin holds massive reserves of methane fuel: ARI
  • The Krishna-Godavari (KG) basin holds a massive reserve of methane hydrate and a rich source of cleaner natural gas, claims a study by the Pune-based Agharkar Research Institute (ARI) of the science & technology ministry.
  • Even the lowest estimate of methane present in the Methane hydrates in KG Basin is twice that of all fossil fuel reserves available worldwide
Foot Notes:
Minister of Science and Technology: Harsh Vardhan
 
10. Arya Samaj leader, Social activist Swami Agnivesh passes away
  • Arya Samaj leader and social activist Swami Agnivesh passed away at the Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences, ILBS in New Delhi. Agnivesh was elected to Haryana Legislative Assembly in 1977 and served as a Cabinet Minister for Education in the state in 1979.
  • He founded the Bonded Labour Liberation Front in 1981 and worked against bonded labour.
  • He also led numerous movements against alcoholism.
  • Swami Agnivesh also served as president of the Sarvadeshik Arya Pratinidhi Sabha, World Council of Arya Samaj.
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