1) World Heart Day: 29 September
•World Heart Day is observed on 29th September annually to draw people’s attention to heart illness and the range of associated health issues. The day which is celebrated annually creates awareness of Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) including heart disease & stroke and highlights the preventive and control measures. The theme for World Heart Day 2020: “Use Heart To Beat Cardiovascular Disease”.
2) International Day of Awareness on Food Loss and Waste Reduction
•International Day of Awareness on Food Loss and Waste Reduction is observed globally on 29th September. This year is the first-ever observance of the International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste. It also comes during the global COVID-19 pandemic, that has brought about a global wake-up on the need to transform and rebalance the way our food is produced and consumed.
•The theme for International Day of Awareness on Food Loss and Waste Reduction 2020 is “Stop food loss and waste. For the people. For the planet.”
3) Dr Harsh Vardhan launches ICMR’s vaccine web portal
•Health and Family Welfare Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan has launched the ICMR’s vaccine web portal and National Clinical Registry for Covid-19. This vaccine web portal will provide information related to the COVID-19 vaccine development in India and abroad. Through this, all the information about the vaccine development would be provided in a simple and transparent manner.
•The National COVID-19 Clinical Registry will collect data regarding clinical and laboratory investigations, treatments, management protocols and outcomes of hospitalized COVID patients in India. ICMR’s Mobile Stroke Unit was also launched. The Mobile Stroke Unit will ensure timely and appropriate treatment to people suffering from heart disease and hypertension.
4) Moctar Ouane appointed as new Prime Minister of Mali
•The interim President of Mali, Bah Ndaw, has named former Malian Foreign Minister Moctar Ouane as the new prime minister of Mali. Moctar Ouane has served as Mali’s ambassador to the United Nations from 1995-2002, and as foreign minister from 2004-2009 during Amadou Toumani Toure’s presidency.
5) ITBP chief S S Deswal given additional charge of NSG DG
•ITBP Director General, S S Deswal has been given the additional charge of counter-terrorism force National Security Guard (NSG) as its incumbent chief A K Singh is going to retire on September 30. This is the second time that Deswal, a 1984-batch Indian Police Service officer, has been directed to lead the NSG in an additional capacity.
6) IIT Madras develops “MOUSHIK” microprocessor
•The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras has successfully developed ‘MOUSHIK’, an indigenously-made microprocessor for the Internet of things (IoT) devices. ‘MOUSHIK’ is a processor cum a system-on-chip that can cater to the rapidly-growing IoT devices, an integral part of smart cities of a digital India. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology funded the MOUSHIK project of IIT Madras.
•“MOUSHIK” microprocessor was conceptualised, designed and developed at the Pratap Subrahmanyam Centre for Digital Intelligence and Secure Hardware Architecture (PS-CDISHA) of the RISE Group, Department of Computer Science and Engineering, IIT Madras. The field applications of ‘MOUSHIK’ include smart cards including credit cards, ID cards, debit cards, travel cards for metros and driving licenses, electronic voting machines (EVMs) and office management systems including attendance, surveillance cameras and safe locks. It also includes personalised health management systems.
7) ICRA projects India’s GDP for FY21 to contact by 11%
•Rating agency ICRA has revised its forecast for the contraction in India’s FY21 GDP to 11 per cent from its earlier assessment of 9.5 per cent. The reason behind contraction is an increase in a growing number of COVID-19 cases in India.
•Besides, the agency revised its year-on-year (YoY) forecasts for Q3FY21 to (-) 5.4 per cent from (-) 2.3 per cent and Q4FY21 to (-)2.5 per cent from (+) 1.3 per cent.
8) KVIC appoints Sunil Sethi as its Advisor
•The Khadi and Village Industries Commission has appointed Sunil Sethi as its Advisor. Sunil Sethi is the Chairman of the Fashion Design Council of India. He has been appointed for a period of one year. He will succeed fashion designer Ritu Beri.
•Sunil Sethi will advise the Commission on latest design interventions in the readymade garments segment as well as promotion of Khadi in India and abroad. Sustainable growth of Khadi in the fashion industry, both locally and internationally, is the key idea behind the appointment.
9) GoI appoints P.D. Vaghela as new chairman of TRAI
•The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) has appointed P.D. Vaghela as the chairman of the Telecom Regulatory of India (TRAI). He will succeed RS Sharma, who was at the helm of the sector regulator for five years. He is currently in the department of pharmaceuticals (DoP) under the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers, where he was appointed as the secretary for a year till 30 September.
10) PFC signs MoU with Govt. of India detailing targets for FY 2020-21
•Power Finance Corporation Ltd (PFC) has signed a performance-based Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Ministry of Power, Government of India detailing various targets to be achieved by PFC during Fiscal Year 2020-21.
•Government of India has set an ambitious revenue target of Rs. 36,000 Crores. This target has been set along with various performance-related parameters such as Operating Profit as percentage of Revenue from Operation, PAT as a percentage of Average Net-worth and Non-financial parameters viz., IPDS-related parameters. PFC has been delivering exemplary performance from the past years and the ratings from the Government of India stands testimony to the performance.
11) SBI Card starts new brand campaign ‘Contactless Connections’
•SBI Card has launched its new brand campaign titled ‘Contactless Connections’, which aims to spreads the message that love and care can be shared even during this difficult period where social distancing is the norm. The campaign endeavours to bring a fresh breath of positivity by demonstrating that people can connect emotionally and spread joy despite the social distancing practices by which we are bound.
•Contactless payments, enabled by SBI Card, allow consumers to simply wave their card or phone or scan a QR code to make safe, secure payments, without handing over their card or punching in the PIN.
12) Usha Mangeshkar honoured with Lata Mangeshkar award 2020-21
•The Maharashtra government has announced the Gan Samragni Lata Mangeshkar award for the year 2020-21 to veteran female playback singer Usha Mangeshkar. The award is given by the cultural department of the state government. The award includes a cash prize of five lakh rupees, a certificate and a memento.
•The veteran singer has sung songs in Marathi, Hindi and several other Indian language films. Her songs from the film ‘Subah ka Tara’, ‘Jay Santoshi Maa’, ‘Azad’, ‘Chitrlekha’, ‘Khatta Meetha’, ‘Kala Pathar’, ‘Naseeb’, ‘Khubsurat’, ‘Disco Dancer’, ‘Inkar’ ruled the chartbuster.
