Top Current Affairs 13 September 2020

Top Current Affairs 13 September 2020

Top Current Affairs 13 September 2020: This post contains the latest current affairs for 13 September 2020 that are important for all competitive exams like Bank, SSC, IBPS, SBI exams. You can improve your general knowledge with our daily online current affairs. You can also read the daily current affairs on our mobile app.

Banking & Economy

CARE Ratings projects India’s GDP to contact between 8-8.2% in FY21

• Indian rating agency, CARE Ratings has projected the GDP of India to contract in the range 8 to 8.2% for 2020-21 (FY21). 
• This is more than its earlier projection of -6.4%. The forecast for GVA growth in FY21 is -7.7%.

Conferences

Harsh Vardhan Attends 73rd Session of Regional Committee meet of WHO South-East Asia Region

• The 73rd session of WHO Regional Committee for South East Asia was held on 9 and 10 September 2020 via virtual plaftorm.
• The Health Ministers of all the 11 Member States of the WHO South-East Asia Region participated in the two days event.
• The 73rd session was hosted by the Government of Thailand, under the Chairmanship of Mr. Anutin Charnvirakul, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Health of Thailand.
• From India, Dr. Harsh Vardhan, the Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare attended the event.
• This was the first time the event was held entirely through virtual platforms due to COVID pandemic.
• The event concluded with the adoption of ‘Declaration on the collective response to COVID-19 in South-East Asia Region’.
• The Regional Committee of WHO meets every year to formulate policies, provide oversight for regional programmes, hear progress reports, and consider, revise and endorse new initiatives. It also adopts resolutions and makes decisions that guide the work of the Regional Office and country offices for the coming year.
• Director WHO SEARO – Dr. Poonam Khetrapal Singh

S Jaishankar co-chairs ASEAN-India Ministerial Meeting with Thailand

• The Union Minister of External Affairs S Jaishankar co-chaired the ASEAN-India Ministerial Meeting on 12 September 2020, with his Thailand counterpart Don Pramudwinai.
• The virtual meeting saw the participation of Foreign Ministers of the 10 ASEAN Member States and India.
• The new ASEAN-India Plan of Action for next five years (2021-2025) was adopted at the meeting.
• The meeting reviewed the status of ASEAN-India Strategic Partnership in several areas including maritime cooperation, connectivity, education capacity building and people-to-people contacts and also discussed ways to strengthen cooperation to fight COVID-19 pandemic among other things.

National News

MoHUA launches Climate Smart Cities Assessment Framework (CSCAF 2.0)

• The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) has launched the Climate Smart Cities Assessment Framework (CSCAF) 2.0.
• Objective: To provide a clear roadmap for cities towards combating Climate Change while planning and implementing their actions, including investments.
• The initiative was launched by Hardeep Singh Puri, Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Housing and Urban Affairs on 11 September in a virtual event organised by the Smart Cities Mission.
• The framework comprise of 28 indicators across five categories. They are:
  1. Energy and Green Buildings,
  2. Urban Planning, Green Cover and Biodiversity,
  3. Mobility and Air Quality,
  4. Water Management and
  5. Waste Management.
• The CSCAF 2.0 initiative will be implemented by the MoHUA, with support from the Climate Centre for Cities under National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA).
• CSCAF initiative will inculcate a climate-sensitive approach to urban planning and development in India.

Odisha Launches ‘GARIMA’ Scheme For Sanitation Workers

• The Chief Minister of Odisha, Naveen Patnaik launched a new scheme named ‘GARIMA’ which aims to ensure the economic safety and social dignity of core sanitation workers in the state.
• Initially, the state government has allocated a corpus fund of Rs 50 crore for the scheme.
• GARIMA Scheme will be implemented by state Housing and Urban Development department in all the 114 Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) of Odisha.
• Around 20,000 core sanitation workers and their families with about one lakh population will benefit from the scheme.

India’s ‘largest piggery mission’ launched in Meghalaya

• The Union Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, Kailash Choudhury, launched India’s largest piggery mission in Meghalaya on 10 September 2020.
• The project is a step towards Aatma Nirbhar (self-reliant) and would make the state self-sufficient in pork production, and thus attain self-sufficiency in food and nutrition security as well as augment farmer income
• The overall cost of the project is estimated at Rs. 209 crore.
• It will be funded by the National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC).

Committees

Govt Sets up Empowered Group of Ministers to Oversee OFB’s Corporatisation; Head-Rajnath Singh

• Central Government has constituted an Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) to oversee the process of the corporatisation of the Ordnance Factory Board (OFB). Defence Minister Rajnath Singh is the chairman of this EGoM.
• The ordnance factories form an integrated base for indigenous production of defence hardware and equipment.
• Corporatization is the process of transforming state assets, government agencies, or municipal organizations into corporations.

Appointments

UNICEF ropes in Ayushmann Khurrana as celebrity advocate for children’s rights campaign

• UNICEF India has appointed Bollywood actor Ayushmann Khurrana as its celebrity advocate for children’s rights campaign ’For Every Child’.
• Khurrana will support UNICEF towards ending violence against children, by working towards this initiative in India.
• With this appointment, Khurrana joins the like of former football star David Beckham who is working on this campaign globally.

Jane Fraser named the first female CEO of Citigroup

• Citigroup has named Jane Fraser as its next chief executive officer. She will be the first female CEO of this major global bank.
• She will succeed Michael Corbat, who is retiring in February 2021.
• The headquarters of Citigroup is located in New York, United States.