World Health Organization (WHO) declares Africa free of Polio

NATIONAL NEWS

APEDA signs MoUs with AFC India Ltd and NCUI, Delhi

• Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) has signed MoUs with AFC India Ltd, and National Cooperative Union of India (NCUI), Delhi to utilise their knowledge in the agriculture sector.
• AFC is a wholly owned by commercial banks, NABARD and EXIM Bank which provides policy advisory and implementation support for agriculture, rural development and in Socio-economic sectors.
• NCUI assists the people in enhancing the co-operative sectors.
• The MoU has been signed following the agriculture export policy, which focuses on agriculture export oriented production, better price realisation to farmers and coincide within policies and programmes of the central government.

Fact: Union Minister of Agriculture & Farmers' Welfare - Narendra Singh Tomar

POWERGRID Signs MoU with ACTREC in Navi Mumbai

• A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between Power Grid Corporation (POWERGRID) and TATA Memorial Centre (TMC) – Advanced Centre for Treatment Research & Education in Cancer (ACTREC) for the construction of “POWERGRID OT Complex”.
• It is a modular operation theatre complex to come up in Navi Mumbai that will provide a high degree of sterility to prevent infection and will help to reduce the cost of health care.
• Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative of Power Grid Corporation will extend a financial support of Rs.26.40 crore for the development of Power Grid OT Complex for Women and Children Cancer Hospital.
• DAE and POWERGRID will fund the total project cost Rs. 60 crores in the ratio of 50:50.

Fact: Headquarters Power Grid Corporation - Gurgaon, Haryana

          Chief Managing Director – K Sreekant

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

World Health Organization (WHO) declares Africa free of Polio

• The Africa Regional Certification Commission (ARCC) an independent body in World Health Organization (WHO) is to certify the eradication of poliovirus in African Region has certified that the African Continent is free from wild polio.
• Head of the commission Rose Gana Fomban Leke, chairperson of ARCC, certified that no cases had occurred on the continent for the past four years.
• The last case of wild poliovirus in Africa was detected in 2016 in Nigeria’s Northeastern Borno state.
• A region is eligible for certification only after every country has met the criteria established by the Global Certification Commission (GCC).

Fact: Headquarters of WHO – Geneva, Switzerland

17th Meeting of India-Vietnam Joint Commission Held virtually

• The 17th meeting of the India-Vietnam Joint Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific and Technological Cooperation held virtually.
• The meeting was co-chaired by India’s External Affairs Minister Jaishankar and his Vietnamese counterpart Pham Binh Minh.
• The meeting mainly focussed on the bilateral strategic partnership between them and the review of their recent joint developmental programmes.
• Two MoUs were signed between them namely:

                                                     Cooperation between Sushma Swaraj Institute of Foreign Service (SSIFS), New Delhi and Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam (DAV), Hanoi.

                                                     National Maritime Foundation, New Delhi and Scientific Research Institute of Sea and Islands, Hanoi signed MoU.

• India and Vietnam agreed to enhance their bilateral cooperation in line with India’s Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative (IPOI) and the ASEAN’s Outlook on Indo-Pacific.
• They also agreed to step up cooperation and coordination at important regional forums under the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) framework.

Fact: ASEAN group nations - Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

          Headquarters of ASEAN - Jakarta, Indonesia

ISRO Signs MoU with VSSUT to Set up First of Its Kind Innovation cum Incubation Centre

• Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) signed MoU with Veer Surendra Sai University of Technology (VSSUT) Odisha, to set up the first of its kind innovation & incubation centre, VSSUT Space Innovation Centre (VSSSIC) in India to promote space research.
• The MoU was signed over the virtual platform in the presence of K Sivan, Chairman of ISRO and Atal Chaudhuri, Vice Chancellor of VSSUT.
• The main aim of the MoU is to create awareness and promote knowledge on Space Research.
• The centre will promote the more research that is required for the development of the sub system and propulsion system.

Fact: Chairman of ISRO – K.Sivan

          Headquarters of ISRO – Bengaluru

ECONOMIC NEWS

NITI Aayog releases Export Preparedness Index 2020

• NITI Aayog in collaboration with the Institute of Competitiveness has released the Export Preparedness Index (EPI) 2020.
• EPI plans to identify opportunities and challenges and to improve the effectiveness of the policies and programmes formulated by the central government.
• EPI is structured into 4 factors – Policy, Business Ecosystem, Export Ecosystem and Export Performance.
• The Export Preparedness Index evaluates states’ potentials and capacities to make Indian economy hold immense potential to compete with world strong exporters.
• Gujarat has been ranked first in the first ever Export Preparedness index 2020 released by NITI Aayog.
• It is the first of its kind index on the lines of ease of doing business ranking, which has ranked all the states and Union Territories on various parameters of export preparedness and competitiveness.

IMPORTANT DAYS

World Water Week 2020: August 24 – 28, 2020

• The World Water Week of the year 2020 is observed as the World Water Week at Home (WWWeek at Home) from 24rd August 2020 to 28th August 2020.
• Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI) organises the programme which is celebrated annually as the most influential, innovative and dynamic movement for transforming the global water issues.
• The World Water Week has been celebrated and organised since 1991.
• The theme of WWWeek at Home 2020 is ‘Water and Climate change: Accelerating Action’.
• The Stockholm Water Prize 2020 was awarded to Dr John Cherry for the discoveries in understanding of the vulnerability of groundwater.
• Hiroki Matsuhashi and Takuma Miyaki of Japan won the 2020 Stockholm Junior Water Prize for their method to control soil runoff and increase food production.
• Zoe Gotthold from USA received the Diploma of Excellence for her project P.E.N.G.U.I.N.S, Promoting Emulsion Nullification Greenly Using Innovative Nucleation Surfaces.