Eight Indian beaches awarded international 'Blue Flag' certification

Shankar School of Banking October 13 , 2020 278

NATIONAL NEWS

Eight Indian beaches awarded international 'Blue Flag' certification

  • Eight beaches in India awarded with the international Blue Flag certification by the Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE), headquartered in Copenhagen, Denmark.
  • India is the first country to receive the honour of recognising 8 beaches with the certification at a time.
  • The eight beaches that have received the international 'Blue Flag' certification are as follows:

                                                      Shivrajpur (Dwarka-Gujarat)

                                                      Ghoghla (Diu)

                                                      Kasarkod and Padubidri (Karnataka)

                                                      Kappad (Kerala)

                                                      Rushikonda (AP)

                                                      Golden (Puri-Odisha) and Radhanagar (A&N Islands).

  • An international jury, comprising members of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), UN World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE), awarded the ‘Blue Flag’ certification to the eight Indian beaches.
  • The Blue Flag certification is a globally recognised eco-label granted based on 33 criteria under four aspects namely environmental education & information, bathing water quality, environment management & conservation and safety & services at the beaches.

 

DRDO fires Nirbhay cruise missile into sea

  • The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) launched the 800-km range Nirbhay cruise missile from Odisha’s test facility into the Bay of Bengal.
  • India’s first domestically developed long-range subsonic cruise missile Nirbhay has been designed and developed by Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO).
  • Nirbhay was the 10th missile to be fired by the DRDO during the last 35 days, an average of a missile every four days.
  • Nirbhay is a subsonic missile, flying at a speed of 0.7 Mach, with sea-skimming and terrain-hugging capability that helps the missile stay under enemy radar to avoid detection.
  • A solid rocket booster developed by DRDO’s Advanced Systems Laboratory powers the missile’s launch.

Fact: DRDO Chairperson - G. Satheesh Reddy

 

PM Modi releases Rs 100 memorial coin in honour of Vijaya Raje Scindia

  • Prime Minister Narendra Modi today released a memorial 100-rupee coin in the honour of Vijaya Raje Scindia, one of the founder members of BJP popularly known as the Rajmata of Gwalior.
  • Vijaya Raje Scindia was born in 1919 at Sagar in Madhya Pradesh and was named Lekha Divyeshwari Devi at birth.

 

NIT Tiruchirappalli signs MoU with C-DAC Pune for installing state of art super computer

  • National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirappalli has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC), Pune for installing a state of the art super computer.
  • The installation comes under the process of becoming part of the National Super Computing Mission (NSM) of the Government of India.
  • The objective of the NSM is to empower technology institutions with high-performance computing capabilities that can be used for solving socially relevant, computationally intensive problems.
  • 10 Centrally Funded Institutions have been inducted into NSM including IISc, Bangalore and seven IITs in addition to NIT, Trichy.

Fact: Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology - Sanjay Dhotre

        

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Exim Bank's Government of India supported Line of Credit (LoC) of USD 310 million to the Government of the Republic of Zimbabwe

  • Export-Import Bank of India (Exim Bank) has signed an agreement with the Government of the Republic of Zimbabwe for supporting Line of Credit (LoC) of USD 310 million for financing repowering of Hwange Thermal Power Station in the Republic of Zimbabwe.
  • Out of the total credit by Exim Bank under the agreement, goods, works and services, the seller from India shall supply 75 per cent of the contract price, and the remaining 25 per cent of goods and services may be procured by the seller for the purpose of the eligible contract from outside India.

Fact: Headquarters of Exim bank – Mumbai, Maharashtra.

         CEO - David Rasquinha

 

Paul R Milgrom and Robert B Wilson win 2020 Nobel Prize in Economics

  • The 2020 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences has been awarded to Paul R. Milgrom and Robert B. Wilson “for improvements to auction theory and inventions of new auction formats."
  • The award caps a week of Nobel Prizes and is technically known as the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel.
  • The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel has been awarded 51 times to 84 Laureates between 1969 and 2019.

 

ECONOMICS NEWS

India and ADB Signs loan agreements to Develop Rajasthan’s Secondary Towns and to improve urban services in Madhya Pradesh

  • The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Government of India has signed 2 loan agreements for the development of the urban services in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.
  • An amount of $270 million loan to develop water supply and integrated storm water and sewage management infrastructure and strengthen capacities of urban local bodies (ULBs) in Madhya Pradesh.
  • An amount of $300 million loan to finance inclusive and sustainable water supply and sanitation infrastructure and services in 14 secondary towns of the state of Rajasthan.
  • This is an additional loan amount for Madhya Pradesh Urban Services Improvement Project, which was approved in 2017 with a $275 million loan.

Fact: ADB Headquarters - Mandaluyong, Philippines

         President of ADB - Masatsugu Asakawa

 

SPORTS NEWS

Rafael Nadal wins his 13th French Open Men's Singles title

  • Rafael Nadalwin his 13th French Open and equal Roger Federer's all-time record of 20 Grand Slam titles.
  • He defeated world number one Novak Djokovic.
  • Rafael Nadal is a Spanish professional tennis player currently ranked world No. 2 in men's singles tennis by the Association of Tennis Professionals.

 

REPORTS & RANKINGS

India Ranks 129 in Oxfam’s Commitment to Reducing Inequality (CRI) Index 2020

  • India ranked 129 among 158 countries in the 2020 Commitment to Reducing Inequality (CRI) Index.
  • The index released by the international organisation ‘Oxfam International’ in partnership with Development Finance International (DFI).
  • This is the third edition of the index mainly focuses on Fighting Inequality in the time of COVID-19.
  • The index is based upon three basic pillars: Public Services Pillar, Progressive Tax Pillar and Workers Rights Pillar.
  • The index is topped by Norway followed by Denmark and Germany.
  • South Sudan is the lowest ranking country in the index at 158th position.

         

 

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