www.toprankers.com Table of Contents 01. INTERNATIONAL NEWS 02. NATIONAL NEWS 03. SPORTS 04. SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY 05. OBITUARY 06. APPOINTMENTS AND RESIGNATIONS 07. IMPORTANT DAYS 08. SUMMITS AND MOU’S 09. AWARDS AND RECOGNITION 10. RANKING 11. BOOKS AND AUTHORS 12. BANKING AND ECONOMY www.toprankers.com INTERNATIONAL NEWS India, Netherlands sign agreement to support decarbonisation NITI Aayog of India and the Embassy of the Netherlands in New Delhi have signed a Statement of Intent on September 28, 2020 to support decarbonisation and energy transition agenda in order to accommodate cleaner energy. The main objective of the partnership is to co-create innovative technological solutions. The SoI was signed by NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant and Ambassador of the Netherlands to India Marten van den Berg. India extends $1 bn credit line to Central Asian countries The second meeting of the India-Central Asia Dialogue was held virtually, under the chairmanship of the External Affairs Minister of India Dr S Jaishankar. The foreign minister of all the five Central Asian countries- Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan– participated in the meeting. During the meeting, India announced US $1 billion line of credit for “priority developmental projects” in Central Asian countries in the fields of connectivity, energy, IT, healthcare, education, agriculture and offered to provide grant assistance for implementation of High Impact Community Development Projects (HICDP) for furthering socio-economic development in the countries of the region. Apart from this, the Acting Foreign Minister of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan also attended the meeting as a special invitee. The first India-Central Asia Dialogue was held in Uzbekistan’s Samarkand in 2019. Japan to achieve zero carbon emissions by 2050 Japanese Prime Minister, Yoshihide Suga has stated that the country will achieve zero carbon emissions by 2050. The Prime Minister stated he intends to make a sustainable economy a pillar of his growth strategy and put maximum effort into achieving a green society. Suga emphasized the need to shift away from fossil fuels to counter climate change as an opportunity rather than a burden. As per Japan’s current energy plan, 56 per cent of its energy requirements come from fossil fuels. Indian-origin Wavel Ramkalawan elected President of Seychelles Indian-origin Wavel Ramkalawan has been elected as the President of Seychelles. Seychelles has elected an opposition candidate as president for the first time since 1977. He has defeated the incumbent Danny Faure. Ramakalwan is a priest of Indian Origin whose grandfather came from Gopalganj, Bihar. Luis Arce declared as Bolivia’s president-elect Luis Arce has been chosen as the President-elect of Bolivia, after winning a landslide victory in the 2020 Bolivian general election. He captured 55.1% of the total votes. Arce will take the charge of the office on 8 November 2020. He would succeed Jeanine Anez, www.toprankers.com who is serving as the interim President of Bolivia. The 57-year-old, Luis is a member of the political party Movement Toward Socialism. Previously, Arce served as Minister of Economy and Public Finance from 2006 to 2017 and in 2019 under the President Evo Morales. Alpha Condé won the 3rd Term as President of Guinea Alpha Condé, the incumbent president of Guinea and leader of Rally of the Guinean People (Rassemblement du Peuple Guinéen – RPG) party won the 3rd the term as the President of Guinea by winning the 2020 presidential elections. He won the election against Cellou Dalein Diallo with 59.49 % votes. Diallo got 33.5% votes in the election. Winning the 2020 elections, Alpha Condé is set to govern the country for the next 6 years. Bangladesh govt orders ‘no mask, no service’ policy Bangladesh government has decided that no service will be provided to people who don’t wear a mask. The cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina decided that no one will be allowed to enter offices without the mask. It decided that all offices must install notice boards saying ‘no mask, no service’ in order to control the spread of COVID 19 virus in the country. Involving community leaders in the campaign to wear a mask, the Cabinet Secretary said that the government has also talked to the Islamic scholars and religious leaders to publicise this at all mosques through the Imams. ICICI Bank has shut down his operations in Sri Lanka ICICI Bank has shut down his operations in Sri Lanka after getting approval from the Sri Lankan monetary authority. The Monetary Board of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, having considered the request made by ICICI Bank, has granted approval to close down the business operation of the bank in Sri Lanka and cancel the licence issued to it. The Director of Bank Supervision being satisfied with the bank complying with the terms and conditions imposed by the Monetary Board, the licence issued to the bank to carry on banking business in Sri Lanka is cancelled with effect from October 23, 2020. World Bank sanctions Rs 3 crore for Sand Dune Park in Goa India’s first sand dune parks and interpretation centres are set to be developed in Goa. World Bank has sanctioned around Rs.3 crore under the programme. The Goa state biodiversity board has proposed the project, which will be implemented with financial assistance from the World Bank. Andorra has joined the International Monetary Fund (IMF), to become its 190th member. Andorra is a microstate situated between France and Spain. However, it is the largest microstate in Europe. IMF’s Membership allows the Andorran government to benefit from IMF policy advice, especially as the country tackles the crisis caused by COVID-19 and can now receive an annual review or “health check” of its economy by the IMF, tap technical assistance, and www.toprankers.com access IMF lending if needed. World Bank sanctions Rs 3 crore for Sand Dune Park in Goa India’s first sand dune parks and interpretation centres are set to be developed in Goa. World Bank has sanctioned around Rs.3 crore under the programme. The Goa state biodiversity board has proposed the project, which will be implemented with financial assistance from the World Bank. Andorra has joined the International Monetary Fund (IMF), to become its 190th member. Andorra is a microstate situated between France and Spain. However, it is the largest microstate in Europe. IMF’s Membership allows the Andorran government to benefit from IMF policy advice, especially as the country tackles the crisis caused by COVID-19 and can now receive an annual review or “health check” of its economy by the IMF, tap technical assistance, and access IMF lending if needed. Saad al-Hariri reappointed as Lebanon Prime Minister Former Lebanese Prime Minister, Saad al-Hariri has been re-appointed to the post, after winning a slim majority of votes in parliament election. Hariri received 65 parliamentary votes out of 118, giving him the mandate to form his new government. In October 2019, Hariri announced his resignation amid 2019-20 mass-protests. Previously he had served as Prime Minister of Lebanon from 9 November 2009 to 13 June 2011 and then from 18 December 2016 to 21 January 2020. Hariri is the third person to be tasked with forming a government this year, after academic Hassan Diab, who succeeded in forming a government but resigned and then diplomat Mustafa Adib. Singapore becomes 1st country to use facial recognition to pay taxes Singapore became the World’s First Country to attach Facial verification in the National Identification Database. The function is called “SingPass Face Verification”. This technology is being rolled out to the city-state’s SingPass digital identity scheme, offering access to no less than 400 online services, including tax declarations and public housing applications. According to the Singapore authorities, the technology helps ensure that the right person is genuinely present in front of their screen, rather than a photograph, a video, a replayed recording or a deepfake. Jacinda Ardern wins 2nd term as New Zealand’s PM The Prime Minister of New Zealand, Jacinda Ardern, won a landslide victory in the country’s general election, to be elected as the PM for the second consecutive three- year term. In the battle against C-19, Ardern was alone among her western peers in pursuing an explicit elimination strategy and imposed one of the strictest nationwide C-19s in the world. Ardern’s centre-left Labour Party won 49.2% of the total 83.7% votes counted in the www.toprankers.com 120-member parliament. The 40-year-old is serving as the 40th Prime Minister of the country since 26 October 2017. WHO backs India’s proposal against “C-19 Vaccine Nationalism” Early in October, 2020, India and South Africa urged the TRIPS Council of the World Health Organization to waive certain rules to scale-up research, development, manufacturing and supply of medical products to fight against C-19. This has been backed by the World Health Organization. India and South Africa had proposed to ease international and intellectual property agreements on C-19 vaccines, treatments and tests. This will make tools related to C-19 available at affordable costs. India-Sri Lanka to hold SLINEX military exercise On October 19, 2020, India and Sri Lanka are to begin a three-day military exercise “SLINEX”. The eighth edition of the exercise is to be held off coast of Trincomalee. It is to be conducted in non-contact at-sea only format. This strategy has been adopted due to C-19 pandemic. The drill will include series of anti-air weapons firing, cross deck flying operations to fine tune high degree of inter-operability.

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