Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 09 AUGUST 2020

SSC CGL Current Affairs

::NATIONAL::

Prime Minister NarendraModi today launched a financing facility of one lakh crore rupees under the Agriculture Infrastructure Fund for agri-entrepreneurs, startups, agri-tech players and farmer groups for post-harvest management and nurturing farm assets.
Today, only 30 days after the Cabinet formally approved the scheme, the first sanction of over 1000 Crore rupees was made to over 2,280 farmer societies. The event was conducted through a video conference and was attended by lakhs of farmers. Mr Modi also released the sixth installment of 17,100 crore rupees to more than 8.55 crore farmer beneficiaries under the PradhanMantriKisanSammanNidhi (PM-KISAN) scheme.
Speaking on the occasion, Mr Modi reiterated that India has a huge opportunity to invest in post-harvest management solutions like warehousing, cold chain, and food processing, and build a global presence in areas such as organic and fortified foods.
The Prime Minister expressed his satisfaction with the pace of implementation of the PM-KISAN scheme. He also noted that the scale of the program is so large that the funds released today have reached more people than the entire population of several countries taken together.

Former Jammu & Kashmir (J&K) Lieutenant-Governor (L-G), Girish Chandra Murmu on Saturday took charge as the new Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG).Mr.Murmu was sworn in by President Ram NathKovind, the RashtrapatiBhavan said in a communiqué.
The ceremony, held in the Ashoka Hall of the RashtrapatiBhavan, was attended by Prime Minister NarendraModi, Vice-President M. Venkaiah Naidu, Finance Minister NirmalaSitharaman, Leader of the Congress in the LokSabhaAdhirRanjanChowdhury, among others.
Mr.Murmu, a 1985-batch IAS officer of the Gujarat cadre, will have a tenure up to November 20, 2024. Appointed as the first L-G of the newly created Union Territory of J&K, Mr.Murmu resigned on August 5, the first anniversary of the Centre abrogating special status for J&K under Article 370.

As India’s economic growth begins to pick up, the country is going to need perhaps ‘a little bit of stimulus’ on the demand side, noted economist and former NitiAayog Vice-Chairman ArvindPanagariya. Mr. Panagariya also said that he was more worried about the general trend of rising import tariffs in India.
“Down the road, as the economy is continuing to open up, if we see that inventories are accumulating rapidly then that would be a clear sign that there is a demand deficiency problem. At that point, I think stimulus would be very useful,” he said at CII’s India@75 virtual event.
Mr.Panagariya pointed out that even with the current level of intervention, India was staring at debt-to-GDP ratio rising from 72% to about 85% at least by the end of the current year.“And we are going to need perhaps a little bit of stimulus on the demand side as the economy begins to pick up,” the eminent economist said.

The Centre has released ₹553 crore to States under a scheme to promote mechanisation in the agriculture sector.The Sub-Mission on Agricultural Mechanisation (SMAM) was introduced in April 2014 with an aim to have inclusive growth of farm mechanisation to boost productivity.
“In the year 2020-21, budget of ₹1,033 crore has been provided for the scheme, out of which ₹553 crore has been released to state governments,” an official statement said.
Individual farmers are also provided subsidy for procurement of machinery. Total funds of ₹11,78.47crore were provided in the years 2018-19 & 2019-20 to Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and NCT.
Government is also promoting beekeeping as part of its aim to double farmers’ income and it has allocated 500 crore rupees towards beekeeping under the AtmaNirbharAbhiyan. Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Minister Narendra Singh Tomar has said India is among the world’s top five honey producers and compared to 2005-06, honey production in the country has risen by 242 percent and exports shot by 265 percent.

Bangladesh will construct a memorial for the Indian soldiers martyred during the country’s liberation war in 1971. The memorial will be constructed coinciding with the 50th anniversary of the liberation of Bangladesh, said the Minister of Liberation War Affairs of Bangladesh AKM MuzammelHaq.
According to a press release issued by the govt of Bangladesh on Friday, Liberation War Affairs Minister AKM MuzammelHaq recalled the support of the government and people of India during the Bangladesh liberation war against Pakistan in 1971.
High Commissioner of India in Bangladesh Riva Ganguly Das had called on the minister for Liberation War Affairs and discussed issues of mutual interest and the upcoming 50 year anniversary of Liberation War on Thursday.
High Commissioner Riva Ganguly Das said some people are spreading misleading information about the relations between India and Bangladesh but the relations between the two countries were time tested.

The Sun is our closest star and we have been studying it for a long time. Yet, it has many associated puzzles that are unexplained. A significant advance has been made by an international team of solar physicists led by those from Peking University, China, and National Center for Atmospheric Research of the U.S.
The group has measured the global magnetic field of the sun’s corona, or outer atmosphere, for the very first time. This research has been published in the journal Science.
There are two main puzzles about the Sun which this advancement will help address. First is the coronal heating problem. Though the core of the Sun is at a temperature of about 15 million degrees, its outer layer, the photosphere is a mere 5700 degrees hot.
The team used a technique known as coronal seismology or magnetoseismology to measure the coronal magnetic field which has been known for a few decades. This method requires the measurement of the properties of magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) waves and the density of the corona simultaneously.
The team used the improved measurements of the Coronal Multi-channel Polarimeter (CoMP) and advanced data analysis to measure the coronal magnetic field. CoMP is an instrument operated by High Altitude Observatory, of the U.S. It is located at Mauna Loa Solar Observatory, near the summit of that volcano on the big island of Hawaii.

A magnificent partnership between Jos Buttler and Chris Woakes propelled England to an unlikely three-wicket win over Pakistan in a topsy-turvy first Test at Old Trafford.
Woakes joined Buttler at the crease with England having slumped to 117 for five and seemingly sliding to defeat in its pursuit of a daunting 277 on a bowler-friendly pitch.