Lok Sabha passed the Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020 and the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill, 2020 with Voice Vote to protect the rights of farmers.
The bill will allow electronic trading of farmers’ produce.
'Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Package Insurance Scheme for Health Workers Fighting COVID-19' was announced on March 30. The scheme has now been extended for another 180 days. It provides an insurance cover of ₹50 lakh to healthcare providers.
No age limit & individual enrolment required for this scheme.
Primary Agricultural Cooperative Society of Pothgal village in Telangana became the 1st PACS to come up with a web portal serving the needs of its members. The PACS website furnishes the details of loans, loan processes, and services offered by the society
PACS plays a very important role in the rural credit system.
Delhi Metro took a major step towards development of an indigenously-built communication-based train control launching i-ATS, the first Made-in-India signalling system. It is a computer-based system which manages train operations such as running & halting.
i-ATS – Indigenous Automatic Train Supervision.
RBI proposed allowing foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) to undertake exchange-traded rupee interest rate derivatives transactions subject to an overall ceiling of ₹5,000 crores. IRDs are contracts whose value is derived from one or more interest rates.
RBI has sought comments on IRDs by October 15, 2020.
SBM Bank India announced its collaboration with Mastercard to launch SBM World Debit Card – a premium and exclusive card available to SBM Private Wealth customers on request. The World Debit Card also has the highest standards of safety and security.
SBM Bank HQ: Port Louis
CEO: Parvataneni Venkateswara Rao.
Aimed at expanding its footprint in the transportation sector as part of its diversification initiatives, BHEL entered into a MoU with SwissRapide AG for Maglev Train (magnetic levitation) projects. Maglev Rail system allows operating speeds up to 500 km/h
Kolkata Metro –1st in India to have BHEL made propulsion systems
India's score increased to 0.49 from 0.44 in 2018, as per the Human Capital Index report released by the World Bank. It benchmarks key components of human capital across countries and India is ranked at 116. The index ranks a total of 174 countries.
13th President of World Bank: David Malpass.
Renowned author Margaret Atwood won Dayton Literary Peace Prize’s lifetime achievement award 2020. It celebrates literature’s power to foster peace, social justice and global understanding. She is distinguished for her most notable book The Handmaid’s Tale
She receives $10,000 as prize money.
Ramesh Pokhriyal conferred 2nd Utkrisht Sansthan Vishwakarma Award in 14 categories to the Institutions under AICTE on Vishwakarma Divas Celebration. The Award aims to motivate, recognize and honour AICTE approved institutions to raise their performance.
Utkrisht Sansthan Vishwakarma Awards conferred annually by AICTE
Inaugurating the CII Global Ayurveda Summit on the theme Emerging Opportunities for Ayurveda during Pandemic, VP Venkaiah Naidu stressed on the need for Ayurveda to connect with technology and target new market segments by using non-traditional means.
CII – Confederation of Indian Industry HQ: New Delhi.
International Equal Pay Day observed for the 1st time this 18 September under an initiative by the UN, aims at highlighting the importance of achieving equal pay for work of equal value. In India, women earn 19 per cent less than men, according to a survey
Focus: Building a better future of work by ensuring pay equity.
ONGC exited Sudan oilfields after it refused to pay for oil it lifted from the fields. ONGC Videsh Ltd (OVL), the overseas investment arm of the state-owned firm, as also its Chinese partner CNPC and Malaysia’s Petronas have withdrawn from the block.
Sudan’s dues towards OVL totalled $430.69 million.
Minister of Food Processing Industries Harsimrat Badal resigned and the President of India, as advised by Prime Minister accepted her resignation from the Union Council of Ministers with immediate effect, under clause (2) of Article 75 of the Constitution.
Badal is a member of Shiromani Akali Dal Party.
Harsimrat Badal resigned in protest of the Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce Bill, 2020. Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar has been assigned the charge of the Ministry of Food Processing Industries in addition to his existing portfolios.
He also holds the Ministry of Rural Development portfolio.
Founded in 2017, online poker platform 9stacks signed Suresh Raina as brand ambassador. Raina announced retirement from the international cricket last month. The left-handed batsman will be a part of 9stacks’ upcoming campaigns & engagement activities.
9stacks claims of over 32 million users.
Mali’s former president Moussa Traore seized power in a military coup in 1968, eight years after Mali gained independence from France, and amid growing discontent with then-president Modibo Keita, the country’s first president. He ruled Mali for 22 years.
He was the sole presidential candidate in elections held in 1985
Ashok Gasti Rajya Sabha member from Karnataka died. He was a first-time Rajya Sabha member. Gasti, a lawyer by profession & former general secretary of BJP’s OBC Cell was also a former chairperson of the Backward Class Development Corporation in Karnataka.
He took oath as Rajya Sabha MP on July 22.
P R Krishnakumar, CMD of the Arya Vaidya Pharmacy (AVP) Coimbatore Limited, who had devoted his entire life to creating awareness on Ayurveda, died of Covid-19. He was also the Chancellor of the renowned Avinashilingam University in Coimbatore.
He was a recipient of the National Ayurveda Award.
Mexico became the first country to issue the ground-breaking seven-year SDG Bond for a total value of USD 890 million, resources that will be transferred from private funds to finance SDG-oriented programs. It a step towards the achievement of the SDGs.
UNDP is invited by Mexico to partner with them in the initiative
DBS Bank India launched DBS Digital Business Loans for SMEs for making loans available to small and mid-size businesses in a hassle-free manner, with credit facility up to ₹20 crore. The platform auto-generates an e-offer letter if lending criteria is met.
DBS Bank HQ: Singapore.
CEO: Piyush Gupta.
ICICI Home Finance launched a new loan scheme Apna Ghar Dreamz, with credit amount from ₹ 2lakh to 50lakh for skilled workers employed in Delhi. The customers should have a minimum account balance of ₹1500 for loan up to 5lakh & ₹3000 for loan above 5lakh.
Tenure of Loan: 20 Years.
Michelin-star chef Vikas Khanna will be honoured with the prestigious 2020 Asia Game Changer Award for feeding millions across India amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The Award was launched by Asia Society. Khanna is the only Indian among the six honourees.
Asia Society is a US-based non-profit organisation.
Azadi: Freedom. Fascism. Fiction by Arundhati Roy is a collection of essays which encourages readers to reflect on the meaning of freedom in a world of authoritarianism. It invites readers to view pandemic time as an opportunity to imagine another world.
It is published by the Penguin Random House, India.
CM B.S. Yediyurappa launched Arthika Spandana programme of disbursing loans of ₹ 39,300 crore through various cooperative institutions. Under this, ₹15,300 crore to be disbursed to agriculture sector while ₹24,000 crore is for non-agricultural sector.
Karnataka Capital: Bengaluru.
Governor: Vajubhai Vala.
