Current Affairs

Notes:
The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDAI) has constituted a working group to study feasibility of forming a ‘pandemic risk pool’.
A pool is proposed to be formed, which addresses the risks that are arising out of the pandemic. The existing insurance laws do not cover business interruption losses and this pool is aimed to address this issue. The panel is expected to submit its report in eight weeks.

Notes:
Madhabi Puri Buch is the first woman Whole-time member (WTM) of Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI).
She is also the first from the private sector to be appointed a SEBI Board member. The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) has recently approved the extension of her appointment as WTM for one year beginning October 4, 2020.

Notes:
Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) has set up a working group headed by former New India Assurance Chairman G Srinivasan. The committee has been set up to study the suitability of offering surety bonds by Indian insurance industry.
Surety bonds protect the beneficiary against events that impair the underlying obligations of the principal. The committee has favoured the introduction of Surety Bonds in the insurance sector.

Notes:
Chhattisgarh Assembly has recently passed an amendment Bill to negate the Centre’s recent agriculture laws.
The state assembly passed Chhattisgarh Krishi Upad Mandi (Amendment) Bill 2020, which gives powers to the state government to regulate all agricultural produce markets. It also makes provision for establishment of an electronic trading place.

Notes:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently chaired the PRAGATI meeting. This marked the thirty-third interaction through the multi-modal platform.
The PRAGATI (Pro-Active Governance and Timely Implementation) involving Central and State governments. Prime Minister along with the Secretaries of the Union and State review various projects and schemes. Grievances registered in various sectors are also taken up.

Notes:
Central Bank of India (CBoI) has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with NABFOUNDATION.
As per the MoU, CBoI will provide collateral-free working capital to those self-help groups (SHGs) having an account with it and are undertaking the Nabard-sponsored ‘My Pad My Right’ project. NABFOUNDATION, which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of NABARD.

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The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) signed an agreement with the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) to collaborate in sustainable geo-hazard management.
The expertise of one of the DRDO labs, Defence Geo Informatics Research Establishment (DGRE), would be used. This move aims to ensure Road safety of users on National highways (NHs) against the effects of landslides and other natural calamities.

Notes:
The Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) has amended the rules pertaining to location of thermal power plants within 10 km of major cities with more than 10 lakh population and the National Capital Region.
As per the amended rules, certain emission norms have been mandated to be adhered by the thermal power plants latest by the end of 2022.

Notes:
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), has recently announced that 20% of the salary of top executives must be paid in the form of units of mutual fund schemes they oversee.
This decision has been taken to align the interests of the key employees of the asset management companies (AMCs) with the unitholders of the schemes.

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The US Department of Defence (DoD) has cancelled a previous cloud computing contract, the Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure (JEDI) project, worth $10 billion that had been awarded to Microsoft.
The DoD will have a new system called the Joint Warfighter Cloud Capability (JWCC), in which the US administration will divide the contract between multiple companies, so that both Amazon and Microsoft are expected to win contracts.