Title Daily Current Affairs Capsule 1st August 2020

Daily CurrentTitle
              Affairs Capsule
             Title 2020
       1st August

First ''historic'' direct flight between Israel and UAE lands in Abu Dhabi

The first commercial direct flight between Israel and the UAE landed in Abu Dhabi after both countries
announced normalisation of relations.

      The flight carried a top level Israeli delegation led by National Security Adviser Meir Ben Shabbat while
       the US delegation was headed by US President Donald Trump's adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner and
       US National Security Adviser Robert O'Brien.
      Israel and the UAE announced on August 13 that they were establishing full diplomatic relations, in a US-
       brokered deal that required Israel to suspend its plan to annex parts of the West Bank.
      UAE is only the third Arab country to establish diplomatic ties with the Jewish state.
      Israel''s neighbours, Egypt and Jordan, being the other two Arab states to recognise the Jewish state.

World Bank pauses Ease of Doing Business rankings

The World Bank Group has 'paused' the publication of the Doing Business report after irregularities have been
reported regarding changes to the data used in the report.

      The effective suspension of the publication of the rankings has been announced in the wake of a number
       of reported irregularities regarding changes to data in the 2018 and 2020 reports published in October
       2017 and October 2019.

   The policy regime in India places a lot of importance on the rankings.
      After assuming power in 2014, the Narendra Modi government set a target for India to be among top 50
       countries in the rankings. In 2014, India was ranked 142nd.
      It jumped to the 63rd position among 190 countries in May 2019.

India to receive development assistance loan worth Rs 3,500 Cr from Japan to fight COVID-19

Japan has committed an official Development Assistance loan of 3 thousand 500 crore rupees for the COVID-19
Crisis Emergency Response Support.

      This programme loan aims to support India’s efforts in fighting COVID-19 and to prepare the health
       system to manage future epidemics and also to improve the resilience of India’s health systems against
       infectious diseases.
      This Grant-in-aid from the Government of Japan is for providing medical equipment to strengthen the
       public health and medical system in India.
      It will strengthen the health care facilities for managing critical and serious patients suffering from
       COVID-19 infection.
      India and Japan have had a long and fruitful history of bilateral development cooperation since 1958.
      In the last few years, the economic cooperation between India and Japan has strengthened and grown into
       strategic partnership.

CSIR-CMERI develops World’s Largest Solar Tree

CSIR-CMERI has developed the World’s Largest Solar Tree, which is installed at CSIR-CMERI Residential
Colony, Durgapur.

      The installed capacity of the Solar Tree is above 11.5 kWp. It has the annual capacity to generate 12,000-
       14,000 units of Clean and Green Power.
      The Solar Tree has been designed in a manner to ensure maximum exposure of each Solar PV Panel to
       Sunlight and also creation of the least amount of shadow area beneath.
      There are a total of 35 Solar PV Panels in each tree with a capacity of 330 wp each.

Indian High Commission gifts books to 100 universities and Colleges to mark Mujib Barsho in Bangladesh

The High Commission of India gifted books on the life of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and the
liberation war of Bangladesh to 100 universities and colleges in the country.

      The books have been written by acclaimed authors and historians.
      The High Commission organised the online book gifting session as part of Mujib Barsho- the birth
       centenary year of Bangladesh’s founder president Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

Indian Railways develops remote-controlled medical trolley ‘MEDBOT’ to deliver food, medicines to
COVID-19 patients

Indian Railways has developed a remote-controlled medical trolley named ‘MEDBOT’ to help deliver food and
medicines to COVID-19 patients.

      During the Corona crisis, apart from providing transport facilities and essential items like foodgrains to
       people, Indian Railways has also provided facilities for COVID-19 patients.
      It is providing service in the Central Hospital of the Diesel Rail Engine Factory of Indian Railways.

India's GDP contracts by 23.9% in Q1

India's April-June quarter GDP contracted by a massive 23.9 per cent year-on-year (YoY), the first GDP
contraction in more than 40 years.

      As per the National Statistical Office (NSO), gross value added (GVA) came in at -22.8 per cent.
      India's economy had expanded by 3.1 per cent in the March quarter and dragged FY20 GDP growth to 4.2
       per cent, the weakest since the global financial crisis.
      The highest drop was witnessed by the construction industry of 50.3%.

Adani Group acquires 74 per cent stake in Mumbai International Airport

The Gautam Adani-led Adani group has acquired a 74 per cent stake in Mumbai International Airport Limited
(MIAL), a joint venture between the Airports Authority of India and GVK Industries.

      MIAL operates the Mumbai airport, the largest in the country after Delhi.
      The lenders to the GVK group forced this deal, concerned by the group’s inability to repay debt.
      Under this, Adani Group will acquire 50.5% stake of GVK group. Additionally, Adani will also acquire
       23.5% stake of minority partners Airport Company of South Africa (ACSA) and Bidvest.

Tamil Nadu appoints India's first-ever woman ambulance driver

Tamil Nadu has appointed India’s first-ever woman ambulance driver under a new initiative by CM Palaniswami.

      M Veeralakshmi was appointed driver of one of the newly launched ‘108’ ambulances in Tamil Nadu.
      As per the Tamil Nadu government, this is the first such instance in the country.
      Palaniswami on March 24, had announced that to strengthen the 108 ambulance emergency services, '500
       new ambulances would be dedicated to the state at a cost of about Rs 125 crore'.

Myntra appoints Kiara Advani as brand ambassador

Flipkart-owned fashion marketplace Myntra has appointed Bollywood actor Kiara Advani as its brand
ambassador to increase its young customer base across tiers.

      Her mass appeal as an actor and fashion trendsetter is poised to accelerate conversations around Myntra’s
       apparel segments.
      Kiara’s engaging social media presence, and high fan following with the youth will help strengthen
       Myntra’s vision of democratising fashion.
      Myntra is one of the largest fashion e-commerce stores in India and has partnered with fashion and lifestyle
       brands in the country such as Nike, Adidas, Puma, Levis, Wrangler, Arrow, Jealous 21, Diesel, CAT,
       Harley Davidson, Ferrari, Timberland, US Polo, FabIndia, Biba among others.

Aveek Sarkar elected as Chairman of Press Trust of India

Aveek Sarkar, the Editor Emeritus and Vice Chairman of the Ananda Bazar Group of Publications, has been
elected Chairman of Press Trust of India.

      He succeeds Vijay Kumar Chopra, Chief Editor of the Punjab Kesari Group of newspapers.
      As Chief Editor of the Ananda Bazar Group, Sarkar was the moving force behind the transformation of
       the group's publications, which include Bengali language daily Anandabazar Patrika and English daily
       The Telegraph, both of which he personally edited.
      He was the founding Managing Director of Penguin India, the Indian counterpart of Penguin Books.

Former President Pranab Mukherjee passes away

Former President Pranab Mukherjee is no more.

      Mr Mukherjee served as 13th President of India from 2012 to 2017.
      He also served as Union Minister of Finance, Defence, External Affairs and Commerce.
      Pranab Mukherjee was born in the small village of Mirati in Birbhum District of West Bengal as son of
       freedom fighters Kamada Kinkar Mukherjee and Rajlakshmi.
      He acquired a Master’s degree in History and Political Science as well as a degree in Law from the
       University of Kolkata.
      Inspired by his father’s contribution to the national movement, Mr Mukherjee in 1969 plunged into full
       time public life following his election to the Upper House of the Parliament.
      He served as Union Minister of Finance, Defence, External Affairs and Commerce.
      Mr Mukherjee was also Deputy Chairman of Planning Commission.
      He was elected to Rajya Sabha five times and twice to Lok Sabha.
      Mr Mukherjee served as Leader of both houses of Parliament.
      He had extensive diplomatic experience and served on the Board of Governors of the IMF, World Bank,
       Asian Development Bank and African Development Bank.
      He was a member of the Congress Working Committee, the highest policy making body of the Party for
       a period of 23 years.
      He was awarded India's highest civilian honour, the Bharat Ratna in 2019 by the President of India, Ram
       Nath Kovind.