Top Current Affairs – September 9, 2020 (Evening Digest)

GKToday presents daily digest of Top Current Affairs covering major news updates of the day. Here are the evening updates for Current Affairs of 9 September 2020:

Highways Ministry releases over Rs.10,000 crore amid pandemic

In a bid to boost Atmanirbhar Bharat scheme and hasten highways construction, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, during the COVID-19 period, released Rs.10,339 to developers. The payment process was simplified, as envisaged in Atmanirbhar Bharat scheme. The contractors’ pay is made every month instead of Milestone achievement basis.

India’s child mortality rate declines

According to the mortality estimates released by the UNICEF, WHO, Population Division of the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs and the World Bank Group, the under-five mortality rate (deaths per 1000 live births) in India declined from 126 in 1990 to 34 in 2019.

India borrowed a record Rs.39,165 crore from multilateral agencies in April-July

The data from the Controller General of Accounts revealed that the borrowing from external sources to meet coronavirus-related expenses is the highest for any full fiscal year. The earlier record stood at Rs.14,811 crore in 2016-17.

PM Modi to launch PMMSY, e-Gopala app tomorrow

Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana is a flagship scheme that aims at focused and sustained development of India’s fisheries sector. Around Rs.20,000 crore will be invested for its implementation during the period of 5 years. e-Gopala app is a breed improvement marketplace and information portal for the direct use of farmers.

UN report: World nears agreed global temperature limit

Global science groups estimate that in the next five years, the world has nearly a 1-in-4 chance of experiencing a year that is hot enough to put global temperature at 1.5°C above pre-industrial times. The 1.5 degrees Celsius is the more stringent of two limits set in 2015 by Paris agreement.

S Jaishankar meets his Kyrgyz, Tajik counterparts at sidelines of SCO

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar held talks with his counterparts from Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan at the sidelines of the Shangai Cooperation Organisation. Issues of common interests and ways to boost bilateral ties were discussed.

13-million year old fossil ape discovered in Uttarakhand

The fossil, which belongs to unknown species of Kapi ramnagarensis, is said to be the earliest ancestor of the modern-day gibbon. The finding fills a major gap in the ape fossil record and provides an important evidence about the ancestor of gibbon that migrated from Africa to Asia.

Month: Current Affairs - September, 2020