Current Affairs 22 August 2020 | General Knowledge

Current Affairs Shots: 

This section contains Daily 10 Nos. (Ten Nos.) Current Affairs Shots on National Affairs, International Affairs, Economy, Banking Affairs, Politics, Geography, Environment, Sports, etc. for Competitive Exams such as UPSC, UPPSC SSC, Bank PO, Bank Clerk, IBPS, Railway, Government Jobs, UPPSC, MPSC, and other state exams. This Current Affairs Shots (Hindi & English) will help you in the General Awareness section conducted in various Banking, SSC, Railway, and other Sarkari Naukri Entrance Examinations.

1. Atal Bimit Vyakti Kalyan Yojana Extended by ESIC — The Employee State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) extended the unemployment benefit scheme Aral Bimit Vyakti Kalyan Yojana till June 2021 on 21st August 2020. The Atal Bimit Vyakti Kalyan Yojana is being implemented by Employee State Insurance Corporation. The scheme was approved under the Employees State Insurance Act, 1948. The scheme aims to support the people who have lost their jobs due to changing employment pattern due to an international crisis. Currently, the change in employment pattern is due to COVID-19. The scheme was introduced in 2018. The scheme provides 25% of average per day earning in the previous four contribution periods.
2. To monitor plantation along National Highway, Harit Path mobile app launched — The National Highway Authority of  India (NHAI) launched the mobile application called ‘Harit Path’ on 21st August 2020. The application has started creating user IDs for experts. So far 7800 plants have been geo-tagged using the application. The application developed will monitor growth, location, species details and will maintain targets, achievements made by individual plantation projects. The application has been launched on Big Data Analytics platform – Data Lake. Data Lake is a repository of data stored in raw format. It includes structured data and transformed data. It mainly includes reporting and machine learning.
3. China funded China-Myanmar Economic Corridor: Myanmar pushes back — Myanmar pushed back against China after trying to widen its influence through China-Myanmar Economic Corridor (CMEC). The decision was influenced from the experience of Pakistan in China Pakistan Economic Corridor and with Sri Lanka being pushed towards debt trap. China proposed the CMEC as a part of the BRi initiative. When Chinese President Xi Jing Ping visited Myanmar in January 2020, two agreements were signed to establish Kyaukphyu Deep sea port and to set up Economic Zone.
4. Ceasefire Implementation signed between Myanmar Government and Armed Groups — Myanmar Government and ten Armed ethnic groups in the country signed National Ceasefire Agreement at the Union Peace Conference on 21st August 2020. The peace accord signed between the armed groups and Myanmar Government is called the Union Peace Accord. It contains 15 provisions to implement the National Ceasefire Agreement. It includes troop deployment and protocol to deal with skirmishes between Government troops. The peace process in Myanmar was started in 2011 to end the long-lasting conflict between the ethnic armed forces and Myanmar Government.
5. To incubate new technologies, 21 Centre of Excellence to be launched by GoI — The State-Owned Technology Parks in India (STPI) are to have the largest ecosystem to incubate new technologies. This is to be achieved by setting up 21 Centres of Excellence in these parks. India has centres of excellence for Internet of Things, Electric Vehicles, Block Chain, Animation and Gaming, etc. The Government of India has already launched 21 Centres of Excellence. Of this, three are dedicated to agriculture. Apart from Agriculture, the Centre of Excellence will focus on forestry and fisheries. This is because agriculture, forestry and fisheries contribute to 17% of India’s GDP. India is the second largest producer of farm products in the World. It still needs to grow up in supply chian.
6. Former Finance Secretary Rajiv Kumar appointed as Election Commissioner — The former Finance Secretary Rajiv Kumar was appointed as the Election Commissioner on 21st August 2020. The outgoing Election Commissioner Ashol Lavasa is to join the Asian Development Bank as its vice President. Rajiv Kumar has 30 years of experience in public policy and administration in several sectors. He holds LLB and BSc degrees along with Master of Public Policy and Sustainability. He was appointed as the Finance Secretary in July 2019. He had worked in the key areas of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s plan of Financial Inclusion, Mudra loan schemes and Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana.
7. Trancos and Gencos to charge 12% cap on late payment surcharge — On 12th August 2020, the Power Ministry announced that the Generating Companies have been advised to charge Late Payment Surcharge at a rate not exceeding 12% per annum. With this, the financial burden on Discoms is to ease out. The interest rates in India have been softened over the last few years. However, the rate of late payment surcharges are still quite high. The rate has ranged up to 18% per annum. This has adversely impacted Discoms during the COVID-19 times. Thus, it has now been reduced to 12% ease out financial stresses on Gencos and Trancos.
8. First West Nile Virus Death in Spain — On 21st August 2020, an outbreak of West Nile Virus spread by mosquito claimed the lives of two peoples in Spain and left 23 in hospital. The West Nile Virus was first discovered in Uganda in 1937. It was carried by birds and was spread to humans by mosquitoes. The virus is indigenous to Asia, Africa, Europe and Australia. The West Nile is a RNA virus that causes West Nile Fever. The virus that belongs to the Flaviviridae family. The Flaviviridae family also contains Zika Virus, yellow fever virus and Dengue virus.
9. Natural Gas reserves in Black Sea discovered by Turkey — On 21st August 2020, the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced the discovery of large natural gas reserves in the Black Sea coast. According to the announcement made by the President, 320 billion cubic meters of natural gas has been discovered. Turkey is to start using the discovered natural gas by 2023. Though the discovery made is significant to Turkey, it is similar as compared to the discoveries made in the eastern Mediterranean. The discovery has come up in the middle of tensions between NATO allies Greece and Turkey are running high in disputed waters in eastern Mediterranean.
10. On 22nd August, International Day commemorating the victims of Acts of Violence Based on Religion or Belief observed — International Day commemorating the victims of Acts of Violence based on Religion or Belief is observed on 22nd August. The day aims to appreciate the efforts taken by the UN to combat intolerance, discrimination and violence against persons based on religion or belief. The day aims to promote and protect human rights, including the human rights of persons belonging to religious minorities, including their right to exercise their religion or belief freely.