India-Japan-Australia to Launch Resilient Supply Chain Initiative in the Indo-Pacific region       

NATIONAL NEWS

Indian astronomers discover one of the farthest Star galaxies in universe

• Indian astronomers have discovered one of the farthest Star galaxies in the universe called AUDFs01 was discovered by a team of Astronomers led by Dr Kanak Saha from the Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics, Pune.
• India’s first Multi-Wavelength Space Observatory 'AstroSat' has detected extreme-UV light from a galaxy located 9.3 billion light-years away from Earth.

Coal Ministry organised Webinar on Coal Gasification and Liquefaction

• A webinar on Coal Gasification and Liquefaction was organized by Ministry of Coal and Mines, which was addressed by the concerned Minister Pralhad Joshi.
• The objective of the webinar was to discuss the road map for achieving the 100 million tonnes (MT) coal gasification target by 2030 with investments worth over Rs4 lakh crores.
• In order to boost production of synthetic natural gas, energy fuel, urea for fertilisers and production of other chemicals, the central government has provided for a concession of 20 per cent on revenue share of coal used for gasification.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Japan extends Emergency Loan of JPY 50 Billion for India to Fight Covid-19 Pandemic

• Japan extended an Emergency Support Loan of up to 50 Billion Japanese Yen to support India’s response to the COVID-19 crisis.
• The financial support will support India’s implementation of health, medical policies and development of hospitals equipped with ICUs.
• This is the largest financial assistance announced by any country to support India’s response to the Covid-19 crisis.
• The loan aims to support India’s efforts in fighting COVID-19 by preparing the health system to manage future epidemics and to improve the resilience of India’s health systems against infectious diseases.

Fact: Capital of Japan – Tokyo

          Prime Minister of Japan – Shinzo Abe

India-Japan-Australia to Launch Resilient Supply Chain Initiative in the Indo-Pacific region       

• India, Japan and Australia agreed to launch a trilateral Supply Chain Resilience Initiative (SCRI) in the Indo-Pacific region.
• The initiative will help in building a resilient supply chain with focus on free, transparent trade & investment environment in the region.
• The initiative was proposed by Japan and will aim to reduce the dependency on China and counter its dominance on trade.
• Australia, Japan and India are already part of another informal grouping, the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue that includes the U.S.
• In International Trade, Supply Chain Resilience is an approach, which will ensure that the supply chain of a country is diversified and is not dependent on one or two countries.

BANKING NEWS

European Investment Bank to Invest € 650 Million in Kanpur’s 1st City Metro Line                       

• The European Investment Bank (EIB) will invest 650 million euro in the construction of Kanpur’s (Uttar Pradesh) 1st city metro line.
• The 32.4 km urban rail line, with 18 elevated and 12 underground stations is EIB’s 2nd biggest operation outside the European Union till date.
• It is the 2nd metro rail project supported by the EIB in Uttar Pradesh, following the €450 million investment in Lucknow metro rail system.
• The 650 million euro investment is the 5th investment of EIB in green infrastructure and connectivity in India.
• With this investment in Kanpur, EIB’s approved support for metro rail systems in India has reached €2.65 billion, which is more than half of the total EIB investment portfolio in India (€4.2 billion).

Fact: Headquarters of EIB – Luxembourg

IMPORTANT DAYS

National Nutrition Week 2020- 1st September to 7th September

• National Nutrition Week (NNW) is an annual nutrition event observed in India during the First week of September from 1st September to 7th September.
• The events of NNW are organised by the Food and Nutrition Board of the Ministry of Women and Child Development (WCD), Government of India to educate the importance and role of nutrition in the human body.
• The objective of the National Nutrition Week is to create awareness on the importance of nutrition, which is directly linked to human resource development, productivity and national growth.
• The Central government launched the POSHAN Abhiyan with an aim to make India malnutrition free by 2022.
• The objective of POSHAN Abhiyan is to reduce the stunted growth with the support of Anganwadi workers in the districts of India, which are identified with the highest malnutrition burden.

Fact: Union Minister of Women and Child Development – Smriti Zubin Irani

OBITUARY

Former President & Bharat Ratna Awardee Pranab Mukherjee passes away

• Former President and One of the Country’s Senior Most Politicians Pranab Kumar Mukherjee passed away.
• Pranab Mukherjee served as the 13th President of India from 2012-2017. He was India’s only non-Prime Minister who was the leader of the Lok Sabha.
• He was part of the Congress party for five decades and was considered as a formidable political strategist, draftsman and parliamentarian with an astute legal mind.
• He was conferred with India’s Second Highest Civilian Award, Padma Vibhushan in 2008 and he was awarded India’s Highest Civilian Award, Bharat Ratna in 2019.