Todays - August 2020 Current Affairs One Liners

August 2020 Current Affairs

August 2020 Current Affairs One Liners 

Daily current affairs

Current affairs

• Indus Water Treaty (IWT) 
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•  India has refused a request by Pakistan to hold a meeting on issues around the Indus Water Treaty (IWT) at the Attari check post near the India-Pakistan border. 
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•  About Indus Waters Treaty, 1960 
• The IWT is a water-distribution treaty between India and Pakistan, brokered by the World Bank signed in Karachi in 1960.
• According to this agreement, control over the water flowing in three “eastern” rivers of India — the Beas, the Ravi and the Sutlej was given to India
• The control over the water flowing in three “western” rivers of India — the Indus, the Chenab and the Jhelum was given to Pakistan
• The treaty allowed India to use western rivers water for limited irrigation use and unrestricted use for power generation, domestic, industrial and non-consumptive uses such as navigation, floating of property, fish culture, etc. while laying down precise regulations for India to build projects
• India has also been given the right to generate hydroelectricity through the run of the river (RoR) projects on the Western Rivers which, subject to specific criteria for design and operation is unrestricted.



•  Talks stalled on key projects 
• Among the key points on the table was evolving a procedure to solve differences on technical aspects governing the construction of the Ratle run-of-the-river (RoR) project on the Chenab in the Kishtwar district.
• India has called for the appointment of a ‘neutral’ party while Pakistan favours a Court of Arbitration to agree upon a final resolution on the design parameters of this hydropower project.
• According to the IWT, India has the right to build RoR projects on the three ‘western’ rivers — the Chenab, Jhelum and Indus — provided it does so without substantially impeding water flow in Pakistan downstream.
• Pakistan believes that the project’s current design does pose a serious impediment and has told the World Bank that it wants a Court of Arbitration (CoA) set up to decide on the issue.
• India says this is only a technical issue and mutually solvable.
• On the eve of World Elephant Day, Union Environment Minister released a Compendium on Best practices of Human-Elephant Conflict Management in India. World Elephant Day is annually celebrated on August 12. The day aims to create awareness on elephant conservation, and to share knowledge and positive solutions for the better protection and management of wild and captive elephants.

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• A webinar on the occasion of the World Biofuel day was organized today by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, with the theme “Biofuels towards Atmanirbhar Bharat”. World Biofuel Day is observed every year on 10th of August. It is being observed by the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas since 2015.

• Union Finance Minister inaugurated the National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP) Online Dashboard. The online dashboard is envisaged as a one stop solution for all stakeholders looking for information on infrastructure projects in New India.NIP is a first-of-its-kind initiative to provide world-class infrastructure across the country and improve the quality of life for all citizens.

• A massive Sunspot group, AR2770, was observed recently by spaceweather.com using images of the Sun’s surface from NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO). A Sunspot is an area on the Sun that appears dark on the surface and is relatively cooler than surrounding parts. These spots, some as large as 50,000 km in diameter, are the visible markers of the Sun’s magnetic field, which forms a blanket that protects the solar system from harmful cosmic radiation.

• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has revised the Priority sector lending (PSL) guidelines. The changes include broadening the scope of PSL to include start-ups, increasing the limits for renewable energy, including solar power and compressed biogas plants and increasing the targets for lending to small and marginal farmers and weaker sections under the PSL.

• Thousands of prominent Afghans approved the release of about 400 contentious militant prisoners. The resolution was passed at the end of a three-day ‘Loya Jirga.’ A loya jirga is a special type of jirga, or legal assembly, in Pashtunwali, the traditional code of laws of the Pashtun people. It is mainly organized for choosing a new head of state in case of sudden death, adopting a new constitution, or to settle national or regional issue such as war.

• A recent study has unveiled fresh details surrounding the Tanystropheus. Tanystropheus are believed to have lived around the Monte San Giorgio basin on the Swiss-Italian border during the middle Triassic period (247-237 million years ago). It is recognizable by its extremely elongated neck, which measured 3 m (9.8 ft) long—longer than its body and tail combined. The neck was composed of 12–13 extremely elongated vertebrae.

• The Ministry of Jal Shakti has launched a new version of the India Water Resources Information System (India-WRIS) with new functionalities and features. This web portal indiawris.gov.in contains information related to Water Resources through dashboards for rainfall, water levels & discharge of rivers, water bodies, ground water levels, reservoir storages, evapotranspiration and soil moisture etc.

The submarine optical fibre from Chennai to Port Blair that promises fifth-generation (5G) connectivity, the latest in cellular wireless technology, to the Andaman and Nicobar Islands could be the first step for India to set up an alternative to China for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries to gain international connectivity

Various developmental initiatives taken by government: 

• Submarine Optical Fibre Cable connecting Andaman and Nicobar Islands to mainland (Chennai). It will help Andaman and Nicobar in getting cheaper and better connectivity and benefits of Digital India, especially in improving online education, tele-medicine, banking system etc. 

• High Impact Projects are being expanded in 12 islands of A&N. It includes enhancing capacity of Port Blair airport, Passenger Terminal in Swaraj Dweep, Shaheed Dweep and Long Island along with Water Aerodrom Infrastructure etc.

• Port Led development by proposing a transshipment port at Great Nicobar. It offers two geographical advantages:

Proximity to the busy east-west international shipping route.

• Deep natural water depths that can accommodate the latest generation of mega-ships.

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Significance of Andaman and Nicobar: 

• Strategic location: It helps India to defend its vital stakes in Indian Ocean Region (IOR) and countering Chinese presence in IOR. 

• Economically important: These islands dominate Bay of Bengal which contains important sea lines of communication. More than 30% of the world’s seaborne trade passes through this region. 

• Increased importance in Indo-Pacific era and a prominent role in India’s Act East policy.

Forecasts /Warnings relating to major Natural hazards are being provided by: 

• India Meteorological Department (Cyclones, heavy rainfall/Floods, Deficiency in rainfall, earthquakes etc).

• Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (Tsunami).

• Central Water Commission of the Ministry of Jal Shakti (Floods).

• Geological Survey of India (Landslides).

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current affairs 2019

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• National Centre for Seismology, MOES: Earthquake

• Defense Research and Development Organization: Snow and Avalanches.