Important Current Affairs 12th August 2019

NATIONAL:

UP govt creates world record by planting over 22 crore saplings in one day on 77th anniversary of the Quit India Movement

• Uttar Pradesh(UP) chief minister(CM) Yogi Adityanath launched the mega greenery plantation drive called “Vriksharopan Mahakumbh” sets a world record by planting over 22 crore saplings in a day.

• The state entered the Guinness World Records’ for distributing 76,823 saplings simultaneously in six hours across the state. The first record made for planting Five crore saplings in the first hour i.e. from 9 am to 10 am. The 2nd record was made for planting 1.1 lakh saplings in Kasganj in presence of UP governor, Anandi Ben Patel. The 3rd record was made in Prayagraj for distribution of a record of 66,000 saplings at the same place in a certain time frame and the 4th record was made for planting 22 crore saplings in a day.

• The state announced to plant 25 crore saplings in the Van Mahotsav in 2020. Adityanath unveiled the logo of ‘Vriksharopan Mahakumbh’ and handed saplings of ‘Sahjan’ (Drumstick) to 5 rural women. The CM launched the drive by planting Harishankari, a combination of three sacred trees (peepul, pakar and banyan) at Jaitikheda area in Lucknow.

Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan inaugurates interstate portability in two clusters of states

• The main objective of ‘One Nation One Ration Card’ the Union Minister for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Shri Ram Vilas Paswan inaugurated the inter-State portability of public distribution in two clusters in the adjoining States of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana and Gujarat and Maharashtra.

• One Nation one ration card  The one nation one ration card is the system has its ability to buy subsidized food grains from ration shops in any part of the country at low cost.

ABOUT ePOS:

The Installation of electronic Point of Sale (ePoS) devices is the portability of ration card holders supported by the Aadhaar authentication. About 77 percent otherwise as More than 4.1 lakh ePoS devices are already in  operational across the country. More  than 85 percent ration cards in the country have been seeded with Aadhaar numbers of the beneficiaries in  25 States/UTs have either completed the installation

Significance

There are 11 States/Union Territories, including Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Haryana, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Punjab, Rajasthan, Telangana, and Tripura, have implemented the intra-State portability of ration cardholders to lift the entitled foodgrains from any Fair Price Shops (FPSs) within their State  are expected to introduce inter-State portability from January 1,2020.

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY:

India first Corporate credit card for SMEs launched by B2B payments startup EnKash

• EnKash launched the country's first corporate credit card called 'Freedom Card' for small and medium enterprises (SMEs). The  Freedom Card is a true commercial credit card with open acceptance. The Freedom Card aims to grow exponentially with increased credit lines and efficiencies to manage their businesses better in SMP’s will give credit facility for immediate needs and to manage their liquidity.

About Corporate Card:

In India it is the first corporate card that is used to cater to the varied billing cycles as per the working capital cycles of different businesses. The Bank also offers these freedom cards in practise to the people knowledge.

• The card offers a credit limit for companies to fulfil all business payments including supplier payments, travel & entertainment expenses, utility payments, digital and cloud payments and other business expenses in short duration. The launch of the EnKash Freedom Credit Card is a natural evolution for the Company in its mission towards solving the problem of working capital and in increasing efficiencies through a payments mechanism

• Other card Features

Brex is a US-based commercial credit card company has gone on to raise millions of dollars and is currently valued at over $2.6 Billion since launch 3 years ago. Eubank is a Brazilian credit card based FinTech company started life valued at over $4.6 Billion success.

RBL Bank with digital healthcare platform Practo launches co-branded credit card RBL Bank Practo Plus

• RBL Bank, one of India’s fastest-growing private sector banks and Practo, India’s leading digital healthcare platform, have partnered to launch a co-branded credit card, powered by Mastercard. This industry-first credit card is available. The people are increasingly busy to pay attention to their day-to-day health needs, this is an innovative step to encourage users to think health-first on a daily basis. The card is designed to cater to customers in both metros and non-metro cities, through Practo and RBL Bank’s extensive customer base that spans across the country. The unlimited online consultations with doctors 24*7, users are guaranteed that there is an experienced qualified doctor available to them whenever there is a need - instead of relying on self-diagnosis or advice from friends and relatives.

• Benefits of RBL Bank Practo Plus credit card:

Unlimited online consultations with doctors 24*7 for 1 year

One free full-body health check-up.For every Rs100 spent on this card, cardholder earns 1 Practo HealthCash. HealthCash can be used while availing Practo services like ordering medicine, tests, online consultations (1 Health cash = 1 Rupee).  The moment the credit card is issued, a Practo health plan account gets created on Practo app. The cardholders need to log in with their registered mobile number to access this plan under the "MyHealth Plan" section on Practo. The card also offers two complimentary domestic airport lounge access every quarter.

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY:

Chandrima Shaha to be the first woman president of INSA

• Biologist Chandrima Shaha will become the first woman to head the Indian National Science Academy (INSA). She previously the vice-president of INSA and the director of the National Institute of Immunology in Delhi.

• She will prioritize communicating science “aggressively” and combat pseudoscience. She and the elected council of 30 members will take charge on January 1, 2020. Shaha was cricketer and also worked as a commentator for All India Radio.

• Shaha’s research focused on understanding cell death pathways. Her laboratory has worked on finding the precise mechanisms of cell death and how this process is regulated by “diverse signalling pathways” in unicellular (Leishmania parasite) and multicellular (cancer cells) models.

• The main aim is to provide a deeper understanding of cell death events that can help in the development of improved therapeutics for diseases associated with anomalous cell death.The Indian Science Congress come under fire after prominent scientists have suggested that events mentioned in Indian mythological texts have scientific explanations. Several politicians have also made pseudo-scientific claims in the past.

SPORTS:

Bajrang Punia won gold in 65kg at Tbilisi Grand Prix 2019

• Bajrang Punia grabbed the gold medal in the Tbilisi Grand Prix of V. Balavadze and G. Kartozia, Georgia. Greco Roman wrestler Manjeet won bronze in the 55 kg category.

• Tbilisi Grand Prix of V. Balavadze and G. Kartozia is organized by the Georgian Wrestling Federation at the New Sports Palace, Georgia.

• Around 11 Indian wrestlers have participated in the International wrestling tournament, the Indian squad include only one Freestyle wrestlera.