CURRENT AFFAIRS FOR UPSC & OTHER COMPETITIVE EXAMS 5th SEPTEMBER 2020

 CURRENT AFFAIRS FOR UPSC & OTHER COMPETITIVE EXAMS

                   5th SEPTEMBER 2020 

1. Teachers’ Day 

1.1       In India, Teachers’ day is celebrated every year on 5 September, to celebrate the birth anniversary of India’s 2nd President, Sarvapalli Radhakrishanan.

1.2       He was the first Vice President of India and the 2nd President of the Country.

1.3       He was also awarded with Bharat Ratna, India’s highest civilian award in 1954, and was also honoured with the honorary membership of the British Royal Order of Merit in 1963.

1.4       He was also nominated for Nobel Prize 27 times.

1.5       He wrote the book- “The philosophy of Rabindranath Tagore”.

1.6       National Teachers Awards will be conferred by the President of India virtually.

2. CSIR-CMERI develop Solar-powered battery-based sprayers to tackle water crisis in agriculture 

2.1       The Council of Scientific & Industrial Research- Centre for Mechanical Engineering Research Institute has developed a solar power battery based sprayers to tackle water crisis in agriculture.

2.2       There are two variants of the sprayer, one is for the marginal farmers and the other is for small farmers.

2.3       The systems functions on Solar-Powered batteries, thus enabling its usage even in energy and power deprived agricultural regions of the Nation, thus reducing dependence on price volatile fossil fuels. 

2.4        As per experiments conducted at CSIR-CMERI, the engaged farmers have informed that it helps save 75% of Water and 25% time-consumption while using the CSIR-CMERI developed sprayers.

3. IIT Tirupati (IITT) and IISER Tirupati have jointly developed the Portable Optical Cavity

3.1       IIT Tirupati (IITT) and IISER Tirupati have jointly developed the Portable Optical Cavity using a new technology called the hybrid sterilization system that can decontaminate personal protective equipment (PPE) necessary for combating COVID 19, easily and rapidly, allowing them to be used multiple times.

3.2       Due to the non-thermal nature of the treatment, the proposed unit shall also find application in the sterilization of other items such as packed and unpacked food, currency, and other household items.

4. 24*7 Toll Free Mental Health Helpline, ‘KIRAN’ to be launched on 7 September

4.1       Union Minister for Social Justice & Empowerment, will launch 24*7 toll free mental health helpline, ‘KIRAN’ on 7th September virtually.

 4.2       This helpline will offer mental health rehabilitation services with the objective of early screening, first-aid, psychological support, distress management, mental well-being, promoting positive behaviors, psychological crisis management etc.

4.3        It will function as a lifeline to provide 1st stage advice, counseling and reference to individuals, families, NGOs, Parent Associations, Professional Associations, Rehabilitation Institutes, Hospitals or anyone in need of support across the country.

5. Union Minister of State for Culture & Tourism attended the 5th BRICS Culture Minister’s Meet

5.1       Union Minister of State for Culture & Tourism, Prahlad Singh Patel has attended the 5th BRICS Culture Minister’s Meet.

5.2       The 5th BRICS Culture Ministers’ Meeting was held  through video conference under the Chairpersonship of Russian Federation.

6. Defence Minister addresses the Combined Meeting of Defence Ministers of SCO, CSTO & CIS Member States in Moscow

6.1      Union Defence Minister, Rajnath Singh addresses the Combined Meeting of Defence Ministers of SCO, CSTO & CIS Member states in Moscow, Russia. 

6.2    Stressed that peace and security in SCO region demands a climate of trust and cooperation, non-aggression, respect for international rules and norms.

7. Major Ports to use only Indian built tug boats now onwards

7.1       The Ministry of Shipping has directed all major ports to procure or charter tug boats which are only made in India.  All procurements being done by major ports would now need to be carried out as per the revised ‘Make in India’ Order. 

7.2        The Government will try to create an ecosystem for shipbuilding, ship repair, ship recycling and flagging in India.  AatmaNirbhar Shipping is going to be the order in the coming times.