Daily Current Affairs, 26th August 2020

1) Kerala’s 1st-ever Dragonfly Festival

•WWF-India Kerala State Office is joining hands with the Society for Odonate Studies (SOS) and Thumbipuranam for the first-ever state “Dragonfly Festival” in Kerala, christened ‘Thumbimahotsavam 2020’. This is part of the National Dragonfly Festival organised by WWF India, Bombay Natural History Society and Indian Dragonfly Society in association with National Biodiversity Board, UN Environmental Programme, UN Development Programme and IUCN-CEC.

2) E-auction portal rolled out to promote trading of ‘Kashmir Saffron’

•The Agriculture Department of Jammu and Kashmir has set up an e-auction portal to enhance trading of GI-tagged ‘Kashmir Saffron’. The portal has been launched with the primary objective of assuring buyers to have access to quality ‘Kashmir Saffron’.

•The Departmnent, under the aegis of India International Kashmir Saffron Trading Centre (IIKSTC) has established the portal in partnership with NSE-IT. The Saffron growers of Kashmir valley as well as the buyers across India have been appealed to get themselves registered as sellers and buyers for E- trading on the portal. The portal will ensure free e-Trading between registered growers and buyers.

3) World Health Organization certifies Africa free from wild Polio

•The Africa Regional Certification Commission (ARCC), an independent body set up by the World Health Organization (WHO), has certified the African continent free from wild Polio virus. The landmark feat related to public health has been achieved by the continent after decades of work along with international health bodies, national and local governments, community volunteers and survivors. According to the previous records, about 75,000 children in Africa were paralysed by polio in year 1996.

•The last case of Polio was recorded four years ago in the northern Nigeria. In this fight of Africa with the polio virus, the World Health Organization played a central coordinating role within the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, and local leaders working with Unicef, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Rotary International as well as the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.




4) Tamil Nadu women top the list of MUDRA loan scheme

•According to the data provided by Ministry of Finance to Rajya Sabha, Tamil Nadu has topped the list of Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana (PMMY) in availing loans to women. It was followed by West Bengal and Karnataka. According to the data produced by the Ministry of Finance, around 15 crore loans amounting to Rs 4.78 lakh crores were disbursed to women borrowers since the inception of Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana.

As of March 31, 2020, Tamil Nadu had availed Rs 58,227 crores. The loans provided by other states are as follows

•West Bengal: Rs 55,232 crores

•Karnataka: Rs 47,714 crores

•Bihar: Rs 44,879

•Maharashtra: Rs 42,000 crores

All the above states have received 52% of MUDRA loans for women. The loans were availed to activities allied to agriculture, services, trading, processing, manufacturing, etc. Of the total number of loans provided under MUDRA scheme, 70% of borrowers were women.

5) DRDO chief G Satheesh Reddy gets two-year extension

•Renowned Indian scientist, G Satheesh Reddy was given a two-year extension as the chairman of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). He was appointed to the post in August 2018 for two years.

•The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the extension of Reddy”s tenure as the DRDO chairman and as the Secretary of the Department of Defence Research & Development (DoDRD) for a period of two years beyond August 26.

6) Indian Energy Exchange MD & CEO Rajiv Srivastava resigns

•Indian Energy Exchange (IEX), Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Rajiv Srivastava has resigned form the post. The Board of Directors of Indian Energy Exchange(IEX)  accepted his resignation. He was relieved from his position with immediate effect from 24th August 2020.

•Satyanarayan Goel, the current non-executive chairman of the board of IEX was given additional charges as the interim MD and CEO of the company.

7) A book titled “Who painted my lust red?” by Sree Iyer

•A book titled “Who painted my lust red?” has been authored by Sree Iyer. The book is something about when Bollywood meets Cricket meets Politicians. This is the second book in this series of Sree Iyer’s Money Trilogy series. The first book was “Who painted my money white?”.

8) Neelakantha Bhanu Prakash bags Gold Medal in MCWC

•Hyderabad’s, Neelakantha Bhanu Prakash Jonnalagadda has bagged the first-ever Gold Medal for India in Mental Calculations World Cup (MCWC) by Mind Sports Olympiad (MSO). He has created a new All-Time Record and has beaten the records of Math Maestros like Shakuntala Devi and Scott Flansburg.

•Bhanu Prakash had secured the gold medal with a score of 167, Lebanese contender Mohammed El Mir secured the Silver Medal with a score 102 and Asmita Pal from the UAE bagged the Bronze medal with a score of 100 points.

9) NABARD rolls out Debt and Credit Guarantee Product

•The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development has revealed a dedicated debt and credit guarantee product named as “Structured Finance and Partial Guarantee Program for Non-Banking Finance Companies (NBFC)-Micro Finance Institutions (MFIs)”. The newly launched product seeks to offer undisturbed flow of credit to the last mile in rural areas hit by the pandemic.

•The Structured Finance and Partial Guarantee Program for NBFC-MFIs includes offering partial guarantee on pooled loans offered to small and mid-sized MFIs. It will help in facilitating Rs 2,500 crore funding in the initial phase which is expected to be scaled up in the future. The program is targeting to cover over 1 million households across 28 States and 650 districts.