Title Daily Current Affairs Capsule 7th October 2020

Daily CurrentTitle
               Affairs Capsule
             Title 2020
       7th October

World Cotton Day: 07 October

The WHO-recognised World Cotton Day (WCD) is observed on 7th October since 2019 to celebrate the
international cotton industry and its contribution to communities and the global economy.

      The day was inaugurated by the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Geneva on October 7, 2019.
      WCD Day was initiated by the Group of Cotton-4 countries namely Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad and Mali
       to reflect the importance of cotton as a global commodity.

QUAD Foreign Ministers of India, USA, Japan, Australia meet in Tokyo

Quad Countries’ Foreign Minister meet held in Tokyo, Japan.

      All four Quad countries the United States, Japan, India and Australia to hold bilateral discussions over
       “Free and Open Indo-Pacific” (FOIP) initiative amid the coronavirus pandemic.
      This is the second Quad FM meeting. The first was held in 2019.

   The Quad FM meeting was represented by External Affairs Minister of India S Jaishankar, US Secretary
       of State Mike Pompeo, Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne, and Japanese Foreign Minister
       Toshimitsu Motegi.
      They discussed the post-COVID-19 international order and the need for a coordinated response to the
       various challenges emerging from the pandemic.

ISLRTC, NCERT sign MoU to convert educational materials into Indian Sign Language

A historic Memorandum of Understanding was signed between Indian Sign Language Research and Training
Center and NCERT to make education materials accessible for Deaf children in their preferred format of
communication, Indian Sign Language.

      The signing of this MoU is a historic step as availability of NCERT textbooks in Indian Sign Language
       will ensure that Hearing Impaired children can also now access educational resources in Indian Sign
       Language.
      It will be a useful and much needed resource for Hearing Impaired students, teachers, teacher educators
       and parents.
      The Minister said that this MoU is a step towards achieving the common goal of fulfilling needs of Rights
       of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 and New Education Policy, 2020.

Gujarat govt announces Digital Seva Setu Programme for rural areas

Gujarat Government has announced Digital Seva Setu Programme for the rural areas.

      Under this programme, the citizens will be able to get benefit from various public welfare services at the
       Panchayat level.
      The Digital Seva Setu has been initiated under the Bharat Net Project- an initiative to connect the Village
       Panchayats through fibre network.
      The villages of Gujarat will be connected with a 100 MBPS optical fibre network under the Digital Seva
       Setu programme.
      The Phase-1 of Digital Seva Setu will start from 8th October, which will cover 2,000 Village Panchayats.
      Citizens in rural areas will be able to get the benefits of this programme by paying a nominal fee of Rs 20.

M A Ganapathy appointed as Director General, BCAS

The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the appointment of M A Ganapathy to the post of
Director General, Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS), for a tenure up to his superannuation on February
29, 2024 or until further orders.

      He is a 1986 batch IPS officer of Uttarakhand cadre.
      The post of BCAS chief fell vacant after Rakesh Asthana was appointed as the Director General of Border
       Security Force in August.

Ashima Goyal, Jayanth R Varma, Shashanka Bhide appointed as new members of MPC

The government has named three eminent economists Ashima Goyal, Jayanth R Varma and Shashanka Bhide as
the new members of the Monetary Policy Committee.

      While Ms. Goyal is a professor at the Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research; Jayanth Varma
       teaches at the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad. Mr. Bhide is senior advisor at the National
       Council for Applied Economic Research.
      The other three ex-officio members of the MPC are Reserve Bank Governor Shaktikanta Das, Deputy
       Governor (in-charge of monetary policy) Michael Patra and executive director Janak Raj.
      The six-member MPC has the mandate to maintain annual inflation at 4 percent, with an upper tolerance
       of 6 percent and a lower tolerance of 2 percent.

Govt appoints Dinesh Kumar Khara as SBI chairman for three years

The government has appointed Dinesh Kumar Khara as chairman of State Bank of India (SBI), the country's
largest lender, for three years.

      Khara, one of the bank's four managing directors, replaces Rajnish Kumar, who is stepping down after
       being at the helm for three years.
      A state-run banks appointment panel in August recommended Khara as the next chairman of SBI.
      Prior to his elevation, Khara was managing director of associates and subsidiaries at SBI.

Roger Penrose, Reinhard Genzel and Andrea Ghez wins 2020 Nobel Prize in Physics

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announced the 2020 Nobel Prize in Physics.

      One half of the award has been given to Roger Penrose for black hole discovery; and the other half jointly
       to Reinhard Genzel and Andrea Ghez.
      UK’s Roger Penrose has been awarded “for the discovery that black hole formation is a robust prediction
       of the general theory of relativity”
      America’s Reinhard Genzel and Andrea Ghez have jointly won “for the discovery of a supermassive
       compact object at the centre of our galaxy.

Legendary rock guitarist Eddie Van Halen dies at 65

Eddie Van Halen, considered one of rock music’s greatest guitar players, died of cancer.

      Van Halen is among the top 20 best-selling artists of all time and his band was inducted into the Rock and
       Roll Hall of Fame in 2007.
      In 1972, with brother Alex on drums, Eddie Van Halen formed the band that would become Van Halen.
      Michael Jackson's Thriller, whose iconic Beat It featured a guitar solo from Eddie Van Halen.
      Rolling Stone magazine put Eddie Van Halen at No 8 in its list of the 100 greatest guitarists.

Delhi’s Deputy CM Manish Sisodia launches a book “Bapu-The unforgettable”

On the occasion of the 151st Birth Anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, the Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi, Manish
Sisodia has launched the coffee-table book titled “Babu – The Unforgettable” over the virtual event.

      This virtual event was organised by the Delhi Archives & Department of Art, Culture and Language,
       Government of Delhi.
      The department also organised a webinar on “Footprints of Gandhi Ji in Delhi”.

Anand Neelakantan pens debut kids’ book “The Very, Extremely, Most Naughty Asura Tales for Kids”

“Baahubali” series author Anand Neelakantan has written his debut book in the children’s space which tells some
of the most hilarious stories about child asuras and their antics.

      Puffin has published “The Very, Extremely, Most Naughty Asura Tales for Kids”, which has full-colour
       illustrations accompanying the narrative.
      The stories are interspersed with funny songs and poems making the book a read-aloud as well as a
       bedtime companion.