National Sports Awards 2020 to be held virtually on August 29
• President of India Ram Nath Kovind will confer the National Sports Awards 2020 through a virtual mode for the first-ever time on August 29, 2020. The President will be attending the awards ceremony through the NIC link from the President's house.
• All the award recipients will be attending the ceremony from various SAI and NIC centres across the country. Union Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports Kiren Rijiju will also be attending the ceremony from Vigyan Bhawan along with other dignitaries.
• The National Sports Awards 2020 comprises a total of 74 awards in seven categories. Among the total award winners, 65 will be attending the ceremony from various locations while 9 will not be able to attend due to COVID-19 related reasons.
• The Ministry had advised each award winner to undergo a COVID-19 test before reporting to the venue. Three award winners tested positive and thus will not be attending the function. All necessary health and safety protocols will be followed at the centres where the athletes will be present.
• While cricketer Rohit Sharma, Paralympian Mariappan Thangavelu, table tennis champion Manika Batra and wrestler Vinesh Phogat will be receiving the prestigious Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award on the occasion.
Government allows airlines to serve meals on flights
• The government has allowed airlines to serve pre-packed snacks, meals and beverages on domestic flights and hot meals on international flights.
• The Government has amended the SOPs for both domestic and international flight operations, allowing the use of single-use disposable trays, plates and cutlery while serving food or beverages in both domestic and international flights. The airline crew has been instructed to wear a fresh set of gloves for every meal or beverage service.
• The passengers have also been allowed to use the in-flight entertainment system on flights. For the same, the airlines have been instructed to provide disposable earphones or cleaned and disinfected headphones at the start of the journey.
• Any passenger who refuses to wear a face mask during the flight can be put on the no-fly list by the airline, as per the directions of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation.
• The government had earlier allowed domestic flights to resume their operations from May 25 without their regular in-flight meal service due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Only international flights were allowed to serve pre-packed cold meals and snacks.
Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana completes 6 years
• The Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana completed six years on August 28, 2020. The scheme was launched with an ambitious aim of banking the unbanked.
• The Prime Minister took to Twitter on the occasion and hailed the achievements of the Yojana. He stated that the initiative has been a game-changer, serving as the foundation for many poverty alleviation initiatives, benefitting crores of people.
• The Prime Minister highlighted that the high number of beneficiaries of this scheme are from rural areas and are women. The future of several families have become secure because of the scheme, the Prime Minister reiterated.
• The key features of the scheme included the opening of basic saving bank deposit account with relaxed KYC, zero balance and zero charges and the issuance of debit cards with free accident insurance coverage of Rs 2 lakh and micro-insurance and overdraft for consumption, micro-pension and micro-credit facilities.
• According to current data, 63.6 percent of the PM-JDY account holders are from rural areas while 36.4 percent are from urban areas. Besides this, over 55 percent PM-JDY account holders are women.
Arunachal Pradesh assembly passes resolution to bring state under Sixth Schedule
• The Arunachal Pradesh state assembly has passed a resolution to bring the state under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution. The resolution also amends Article 371(H) by including provisions to safeguard the tribes of the state.
• The resolution was moved by Legislative Affairs Minister Bamang Felix on August 27, 2020 on behalf of the State Government. It was passed by a voice vote following a marathon discussion in the house.
• Chief Minister Pema Khandu described the resolution as a historic one and stated that it is a long-time exercise. The CM further appealed to everyone for their cooperation as and when required. The Arunachal Pradesh Assembly Session was held for only one day in view of the pandemic situation.
Ukraine freezes dialogue with Belarus
• Ukraine has frozen contact with Belarus and joined the European Union in condemning that the recent elections conducted in the nation were not free or fair. Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba informed the same on August 28, 2020.
• Kuleba said there was no reason to completely break off diplomatic relations with the nation but added saying that Ukraine would take a decision on imposing sanctions on Belarus after seeing what the EU would do. He stated that Ukraine has put all contacts on pause until the situation in Belarus stabilises.
• Ukraine had so far been guarded while commenting on the political turmoil engulfing Belarus since August 9 Presidential Elections, which saw the re-election of incumbent leader Alexander Lukashenko. Lukashenko, who heads an authoritarian regime in Belarus, is widely reported as "Europe's last dictator."
• While Belarus is traditionally a close ally of Russia, Lukashenko had hit a common cause with Ukraine by refusing to recognise Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014.
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