Daily Current Affairs, 04th September 2020

1) 11th edition of exercise INDRA NAVY begins in Bay of Bengal

•Indian Navy and Russian Navy has commenced the 11th edition of a biennial bilateral maritime exercise “INDRA NAVY”. The biennial bilateral maritime exercise will be conducted in the Bay of Bengal from 04 to 05 September 2020. The maritime exercise “INDRA NAVY” embodies the long-term strategic relationship between the two Navies.

•The INDRA NAVY-20 exercise seeks to consolidate the inter-operability built up by the navies of two countries over the years. It will also improve the understanding as well as the procedures for multi-faceted maritime operations. This year, the bilateral maritime exercise would be undertaken in a ‘non-contact, at sea only’ format amid the restrictions imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

2) Raj Srivastava appointed as India’s Ambassador to Republic of Croatia

•Raj Kumar Srivastava has been appointed as the next Ambassador of India to the Republic of Croatia. He is an IFS officer of 1997 batch and is presently serving as the Deputy Chief of Mission in the Embassy of India, Tokyo.

3) S Krishnan becomes new MD & CEO of Punjab & Sind Bank

•Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) has approved the appointment of S Krishnan as the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Punjab & Sind Bank. He will replace S Harishankar.

•ACC has given permission to S Harishankar to voluntarily retire with effect from the date of notification of the acceptance. Earlier to this elevation, S Krishnan was as an Executive Director at Canara Bank.

4) Murali Ramakrishnan becomes new MD & CEO of South Indian Bank

•The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has approved the appointment of Murali Ramakrishnan as Managing Director and CEO of the South Indian Bank for a period of three years with effect from October 1, 2020.




5) A new book titled “Let Us Dream” by Pope Francis

•Pope Francis is set to release the book “Let Us Dream” in December 2020. In the book, Pope Francis explains how a crisis can teach an individual to deal with problems they face in their lives. He cites three major crises from his own personal life.

•The book will be an outcome of numerous exchanges between Pope Francis and his Biographer Austen Ivereigh in the weeks following the Coronavirus outbreak around the world. Austen Ivereigh is a Roman Catholic Journalist, Commentator, the author based out of Britain. The book is being published by Simon & Schuster and will be released in English and Spanish Editions simultaneously.

6) ICICI Bank launches ‘Home Utsav’, a virtual property exhibition

•ICICI Bank has launched a virtual property exhibition under the name ‘Home Utsav’. The exhibition will digitally showcase real estate projects by renowned developers, across India. The exhibition can be accessed on www.homeutsavicici.com.

7) IIPA organizes “National Tribal Research Conclave”

•The Centre of Excellence (CoE) for Tribal Affairs, Ministry of Tribal Affairs, Indian Institute of Public Administration (IIPA) organised 2-days long “National Tribal Research Conclave”. The inaugural session of conclave was addressed by the Union Minister for Tribal Affairs Shri Arjun Munda.

•The National Tribal Research Conclave was organised to review the progress on the results of projects launched by Ministry of Tribal Affairs. 10 research partners shared their projects in the 2-days long conclave. The conclave also featured the participation of more than 100 participants from all over the country including Tribal Affairs Ministers from various states. The road map of National Tribal Research Institute (NTRI), to be launched in collaboration with IIPA, was also shared during the conclave.

8) Saudi Arabia chairs G20 Foreign Ministers’ Extraordinary Meeting

•Saudi Arabia chaired the G20 Foreign Ministers’ Extraordinary Meeting which was held in the virtual mode. External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar represented India in the virtual meeting that was convened in the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic crisis. During the meeting, India proposed the setting up of voluntary ‘G20 Principles on Coordinated Cross-Border Movement of People’. This new set up will be based on following three pillars:

a) Standardisation of testing procedures and universal acceptability of test results

b) Standardisation of ‘Quarantine procedures’

c) Standardisation of ‘movement and transit’ protocols

9) NTPC wins AIMA Chanakya National Management Games 2020

•Team of NTPC Limited, the Central PSU under Ministry of Power, has won the All India Management Association (AIMA) Chanakya (Business Simulation Game) National Management Games (NMG) 2020. The team from NTPC Vallur, Tamil Nadu won the championship which featured the participation of teams from 112 organisations from different parts of the country.

•AIMA Chanakya National Management Games is an online Business Simulation Game which is conducted every year. The championship aims to ensure that executives participating in the event get the onboard experience about the complexities of running an organisation and gain expertise and skills from this event. It also enables the Corporate Managers to face the thrill of Managing Business in a competitive mode.

10) India’s P Iniyan wins World Open Online Chess Tournament

•Indian Grandmaster P Iniyan has won the prestigious 48th Annual World Open online chess tournament. He scored 7.5 points out of a possible 9 with six victories and three draws to finish on top.

•A total number of 120 players from 16 countries participated in the event which included more than 30 Grandmasters. On the way to his title, Iniyan defeated Grandmasters Baadur Jobava of Georgia, Sam Sevian, Sergey Erenburg of the USA and Nyzhyk Illia of Ukraine.