Indore in Madhya Pradesh declared as the cleanest city in national Swachh Survekshan 2020 awards

NATIONAL NEWS

Ministry of Skill Development signs MoU with Ministry of Shipping for skill development in port & maritime sector

• Ministry of Skill Development and Ministry of Shipping signed a Memorandum of Understanding, MoU for skill development in port and maritime sector.
• The MoU is signed with an objective of skilling, re-skilling and up-skilling manpower for the growing maritime industry and development of coastal population.
• MoU will also strengthen the commitment of Coastal Community Development under Sagar Mala programme of Ministry of Shipping.

Fact: Union Shipping Minister - Mansukh Mandaviya

         Skill Development Minister - Mahendra Nath Pandey

Indore in Madhya Pradesh declared as the cleanest city in national Swachh Survekshan 2020 awards

• Indore city in Madhya Pradesh has been awarded as the cleanest city in the country in the Swachh Survekshan 2020 awards.
• Union Urban Development Minister Hardeep Singh Puri presented the awards in a virtual meeting.
• Indore is been awarded the cleanest city for the fourth consecutive year.
• Swachh Survekshan was introduced by the government with the objective of generating large-scale citizen participation in the Mission, along with infusing a spirit of healthy competition among cities towards becoming India’s cleanest cities.
• New Delhi has been awarded as the cleanest capital city in the country.
• Chhattisgarh was awarded the first place in the states with over 100 cities while Jharkhand bagged it for being the state in the category of states with less than 100 cities.
• Jalandhar Cantonment Board was conferred the cleanest cantonment board in the country.
• Ahmedabad in Gujarat was awarded for being the cleanest city with over 40-lakh population.

Arjun Munda virtually launches 'TRIFOOD' Project in Jagdalpur

• The tertiary processing centres under the 'TRIFOOD' project at Raigad in Maharashtra and Jagdalpur in Chhattisgarh was launched by Union Tribal Affairs Minister.
• The TRIFOOD project aims at elevating the tribe’s income by utilization and value addition to the Minor Forest Produces (MFPs) collected by the tribal forest gatherers.
• The Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India (TRIFED) discharges the TRIFOOD project.
• Under this project, two MFP processing units will be set up, one unit at Raigad in Maharashtra for the value addition to traditional tribal drink and the other unit is a multi-commodity processing centre at Jagdalpur in Chhattisgarh.

Fact: Minister of State for Tribal Affairs - Renuka Singh Sarita

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

India, Israel sign cultural agreement to further boost people-to-people ties

• India and Israel signed a cultural agreement for their cooperation in further strengthen their strategic bilateral relations.
• The agreement refers to a three-year programme, which aims at promoting greater people-to-people exchanges.
• The programme of cooperation between the two countries for the years 2020-23 is based on the cultural agreement signed between them on May 18, 1993.
• The major areas of cooperation identified to promote cultural ties include the exchange of culture and art experts, encouraging cooperation in the protection of cultural heritage and archaeology.
• Israel’s Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi and India’s Ambassador to Israel, Sanjeev Singla, signed the agreement at the foreign ministry in Jerusalem.

Dwarf planet Ceres is now got the status of an ‘ocean world’

• Researchers have given Dwarf Planet Ceres the status of an “Ocean World”.
• This announcement came after analysing the data collected by NASA’s Dawn Spacecraft.
• Studies suggest the presence of briny liquid water (saline) underneath Ceres’s surface.
• CERES lies in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter; it was classified as a dwarf planet in 2006, which was first spotted by Giuseppe Piazzi in 1801.

REPORTS & RANKINGS

India Ranked 57th in Digital Quality of Life 2020 – SurfShark Index

• SurfShark, an online privacy solutions provider has released its 2^nd edition of Global research on “Digital Quality of Life (DQL) Index 2020”.
• In which India has ranked 57th out of 85 countries in terms of overall category “Digital Quality of Life 2020” with 0.5 index points.
• Denmark tapped the ranking with 0.79 points, followed by Sweden and Canada.
• India ranked lowest in the world in terms of e-infrastructure by occupying 79th rank.

Fact: Headquarters of Surfshark – British Virgin Islands, United Kingdom

Cancer in India may rise to 13.9 Lakh in 2020 - Report of NCRP 2020

• The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) – National Centre for Disease Informatics & Research (NCDIR), Bengaluru released a new Report of National Cancer Registry Programme 2020.
• The report estimates that cancer in India will rise by 25% in 2020 and may rise 12% from the 1392179 cases in 2020 to 1569793 cases in 2025.
• It also estimated that tobacco related cancers constitute around 27% of all cancers.
• By 2025, Breast cancer is expected to be the most common site with 238908 cases followed by Lungs and mouth with 111328 and 90060 cases respectively.

Fact: Headquarters of ICMR – New Delhi

STATE NEWS

Madurai city secures rank 42, Chennai ranks 45 from Tamil Nadu - Swachh Survekshan 2020

• Madurai city in Tamil Nadu has secured 42nd rank while Chennai was at 45th position in the Swachh Survekshan 2020.
• Swachh Survekshan 2020, an annual cleanliness survey conducted by the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs.
• These cities figured in the more than 10 lakh population category.
• In cities with population between one lakh and ten-lakh category, Trichy secured the 102nd position in the survey.

IMPORTANT DAYS

Sadbhavan Diwas 2020 – August 20

• Sadbhavana Diwas, which is also known as Communal Harmony Day, is celebrated every year on August 20^th to commemorate the Birth Anniversary of former Prime Minister of India, Rajiv Gandhi.
• Rajiv Gandhi was born on 20th August 1944 in Bombay, as Rajiv Ratna Gandhi.
• He was known as the “Father of Information Technology and Telecom Revolution in India”.
• The Government of India posthumously awarded the Bharat Ratna, the highest civilian award to Rajiv Gandhi in 1991.