1. Indian Railways set to meet all it's energy needs of over 33 billion units by 2030

• Indian Railways is set to meet all it's energy needs of more than 33 billion units by 2030.The current annual requirement is about 21 billion units.
• Railways have developed a mega plan for installing solar plants of 20 Gigawatt capacity by utilizing its vacant land by 2030.The use of solar power will accelerate the mission to achieve conversion of Indian Railways to Net Zero Carbon Emission Railway.
• Railway is committed to utilize solar energy for meeting its traction power requirement and become a complete Green mode of transportation.

Foot Notes:
Railways Minister: Piyush Goyal
Chairman: Vinod Kumar Yadav

2. IT minister launches “Chunauti” a programme to further boost start-ups for software products

• Minister for Electronics and Information Technology Ravi Shankar Prasad launched “Chunauti”- Next Generation Startup Challenge Contest to further boost startups and software products with special focus on Tier-II towns of the country.
• The government has earmarked a budget of over 95  crore rupees over a period of three years for this programme. It aims at identifying around three hundred startups working in identified areas and providing them seed funds of upto 25 lakh rupees and other facilities.
• Under this challenge the Ministry of Electronics and IT will invite startups in the  areas of work including Edu Tech, Agri Tech and FinTech solutions for masses, Supply Chain and Logistic management, Infrastructure, Medical Healthcare as well as jobs and skilling.

Foot Notes:
Minister for Electronics and Information Technology: Ravi Shankar Prasad

3. Piyush Goyal e-launches “National GIS-enabled Land Bank system”

• Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, Shri Piyush Goyal has virtually launched the “National GIS-enabled Land Bank system“. This initiative is being supported by National e-Governance Division, Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology, Bhaskaracharya Institute for Space Applications and Geo-Informatics, Invest India, and National Center of Geo-Informatics.
• The National GIS-enabled Land Bank system has been developed by integration of the Industrial Information System (IIS) with State GIS Systems.
• Initially, the system has been launched in the six states. The system will be improved further to make it an effective, transparent mechanism of land identification as well as procurement.

4. 14th India-Singapore Defence Policy Dialogue held via video conferencing

• Recently India and Singapore conducted the fourteenth Defence Policy Dialogue via video conferencing. The conference was Co-chaired by Defence Secretary Dr Ajay Kumar, Permanent Secretary (Defence), and his Singaporean counterpart Mr Chan Heng Kee. The delegates discussed a number of issues of high importance between both the nations.
• While reaffirming the commitment to further enhance the security partnership between the two countries both the officials discussed a number of issues of bilateral defence engagements between both the country.
• It was on 24 November 2015, when India and Singapore first signed the agreement for the strategic relationship. The agreement then included a number of high priority agenda. Further taking the agreement ahead in the year 2018, the then Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and her Singaporean counterpart Ng Eng Hen. The agreement ensures deep cooperation in maritime activity.

Foot Notes:
About Republic of Singapore:
Currency: Singapore dollar
Prime Minister: Lee Hsien Loong
Capital: Singapore

5. Kerala to set up India’s first International Women’s Trade Centre

• Kerala will set up India's first international women's trade centre (WTC), in consonance with the United Nations sustainable development goals (SDGs), at Angamaly.
• This initiative aims to accelerate women entrepreneurship and secure gender parity while providing women with a safe place away from home to start new businesses, set up or expand, and get their products marketed globally.
• WTC will enable women entrepreneurs to come forward and participate in international trade, enjoy greater economic benefits and enhance their competitiveness to tap market opportunities.

Foot Notes:
About Kerala:
Capital: Thiruvananthapuram
Chief Minister: Pinarayi Vijayan
Governor: Arif Mohammad Khan

6. Typhoon Bavi damages buildings, floods roads on Korean Peninsula

• A typhoon damaged homes and other buildings, flooded roads and toppled utility poles on the Korean Peninsula.
• Typhoon Bavi had maximum winds of 115 kilometers (71 miles) per hour and was passing near Pyongyang after making landfall in a western coastal region of North Korea that is a major source of farming and fishing.
• Tropical cyclones are known as Typhoons in the China Sea and Pacific Ocean.

Foot Notes:
About North Korea:
Capital: Pyongyang
Supreme leader: Kim Jong-un
Currency: North Korean won

7. Russia to deliver first S-400 unit to India at the end of 2021

• Russia has said that the first regiment of S-400 anti-air system will be delivered to India by the end of 2021.India has ordered five regiments of the cutting edge system that is designed to take down targets at a range of over 400 km. India and Russia had inked the $5.2 billion defence contract for the S-400 Triumf air defence system in October 2018.
• The original date for India to start receiving delivery was reported to be in the October 2020-April 2023 timeline.
• However, in the wake of border tensions with China earlier this year, New Delhi had urged Moscow to deliver units early. Russia has said that there is an ongoing portfolio of defence orders worth $15 billion with India and that plans to start producing AK203 rifles at a factory in Amethi in Uttar Pradesh are underway.

Foot Notes:
About Russia:
Capital: Moscow
President: Vladimir Putin
Currency: Russian Rouble
Prime Minister: Mikhail Mishustin

8. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh launches app for online training of NCC cadets

• Defence Minister Rajnath Singh launched a mobile application to assist in online training of NCC cadets in the country. Since schools and colleges are not likely to open in the near future, it was felt that training to NCC cadets should be imparted utilising the digital medium.
• The mobile app, called "DGNCC", aims at providing NCC cadets all training materials, including syllabus, training videos and frequently asked questions, on one platform.
• The app has been made interactive by including a query option.
• By using this option, a cadet can post questions related to the training syllabus, and the same will be answered by a panel of qualified instructors.

• Enforcement Directorate, ED has freezed around 47 crore rupees of Companies involved in running Chinese Online Betting Apps. The agency had yesterday conducted searches at 15 locations spread across Delhi, Gurgaon, Mumbai and Pune under the provisions of Prevention of Money Laundering Act in a case related to illegal betting.
• It said, searches were conducted on the registered offices of the companies, their Directors and Chartered Accountants involved in illegally running Online Betting Apps from websites which are hosted from outside India. During the course of searches, ED has seized 17 hard disks, 5 laptops, phones, crucial incriminating documents and has also frozen around 47 Crore rupees held in four HSBC Bank Accounts.

Foot Notes:
About ED(Enforcement Directorate):
Founded: 1 May 1956
Headquarters: New Delhi, India
Director: Sanjay Kumar Mishra

10. 'Black Panther' star Chadwick Boseman passes away at 43

• The Hollywood star Chadwick Boseman, best known for his work in ‘Black Panther’ passed away on August 28, 2020, after a four-year-long battle with colon cancer. He was 43.
• His heartbreaking demise was confirmed by his team through a statement which was shared on Twitter. As per the statement, Boseman was diagnosed with stage 3 colon cancer in 2016 and was battling with it from the past 4 years as it progressed to stage 4.
• Known to bring King T’Challa to life in ‘Black Panther’, before starring in Marvel’s Superhero flick, Chadwick Boseman had risen to stardom with his characters of Black American icons in ‘Get on Up’ and in ‘42’.

Read More:

Current Affairs of 28 August 2020

Current Affairs of 27 August 2020

Current Affairs of 26 August 2020

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