20 JULY 2020

CURRENT AFFAIRS 2020

20 JULY 2020

1.Hussain Zaidi penned new novel 'The Endgame

1. • Crime writer S Hussain Zaidi has come out with a new novel The Endgame which talks of politics betrayal and unimaginable terror
2. Zaidi has also authored "Black Friday, "Mafia Queens of Mumbai, Dongri to Dubai" and "Byculla to Bangkok
3. • He was the associate producer of an HBO documentary, "Terror in Mumbai, based on the 26/11 terror attacks

2.Dr Jitendra Singh launched a scheme

1. • Union Minister of State Development of North Eastern Region (DONER) Dr Jitendra Singh has launched the restructured Prime Minister's Awards for Excellence in Public Administration 2020 scheme and web portal
2. • It seeks to recognize the efforts of District level officials in the Namami Gange Programme
3. The Scheme has been revamped in tune with PMs governance model of citizen participation

3.Odisha Govt partnered with Flipkart

1. • The Odisha government has signed a MoU with Flipkart to give a boost to the state's art, craft, and handloom sectors,
2. • This partnership is between the State Institute for Development of Arts and Crafts (SIDAC) under the Flipkart Samarth programme.
3. • It will enable Odisha's local artisans, weavers and craftsmen to showcase their hallmark products to millions of customers across the country

4.117th birth anniversary of former CM of TN

1. • 17th birth anniversary of former CM of Tamil Nadu, K Kamaraj was observed as School Education Day, on 15 July 2020
2. • He had memorable laid down the principle that no child will travel more than 3 kms by road to reach the nearest school
3. • Kamaraj has also been credited with initiating moves to change the industrial landscape of Tamil Nadu by bringing in BHEL in Trichy, etc.

5.India and Israel signed agreement

1. • India and Israel have signed an agreement to further expand collaboration in dealing with cyber threats amid rapid digitisation due to the coronavirus pandemic.
2. • The agreement lays down the framework for dialogue, cooperation in capacity building, mutual exchange of best practices in the field and facilitates regular exchanges

6.Arunachal Pradesh CM released a book

1. • Arunachal Pradesh CM Pema Khandu has released a book titled Tangams: An Ethnolinguistic Study Of The Critically Endangered Group of Arunachal Pradesh,
2. • The Tangams are a little-known community within the larger Adi tribe of Arunachal Pradesh and reside in the hamlet of Kugging in Upper Siang district Paindem circle.
3. • There are only 253 speakers of Tangam left.

7.Northern Railway provided 503 coaches

1. • Northern Railway has made available 503 isolation coaches equivalent to 8,048 beds as COVID Care Centres at nine stations in Delhi
2. • These stations include Anand Vihar Terminal, Shakurbasti, Sarai Rohilla, Safdarjung, Shahdara, Adarsh Nagar, Delhi Cantt. Badli and Tughlakabad.
3. •A total of 171 patients had oen admitted to Shakurbasti COVID Care Centre

8.CIPET gets accreditation by NABL

1. • Central Institute of Petrochemical Engineering and Technology CIPET has been accredited by National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories, NABL for Testing and Certification of PPE Kit
2. • The kit includes Gloves. Coverall, Face Shield. Goggles, etc. in line with International Standard
3. • Some other CIPET centres have also applied for accreditation which is under process,

9.Private trains to begin plying by March 2023

1. • The Railway Minister has said that the private trains are slated to run from March 2023.
2. • The Ministry has issued the clarification regarding timeline of introduction of private trains, as some section of the media had mentioned that the private trains project will start in March 2024.
3. • The tender will be finalised by March 2021 and trains will operate from March 2023.

10.PM Modi crosses 60 Mn followers on Twitter

1. . PM Narendra Modi continues to be World's top favourite leader on Twitter
2. • His account surpassed the 60 million mark on 19 July 2020, reaffirming him as the most followed Indian leader across the globe
3. . He is also among the few global leaders after former US President Barack Obama and his successor Donald Trump to cross the 60-million mark in terms of followers on his social media account

11.John Lewis passed away

1. • John Robert Lewis, a longtime US congressman, has died after a six-month battle with cancer in July 2020
2. • He dedicated his entire life to non-violent activism and was an outspoken advocate in the struggle for equal justice in America.
3. • He was a stalwart champion in the on-going struggle to demand respect for the dignity and worth of avery human being

12.I-Tax Dept to start an e-Campaign

1. • The Income Tax Department is all set to start an e-Campaign on the voluntary compliance of Income Tax for the convenience of the taxpayers.
2. • The campaign will begin from 20 July 2020
3. • The 11-day campaign will focus on the assessee or taxpayers who are either non-filers or have discrepancies in their returns for the financial year 2018-19.

13.Income Tax Department rolled out new Form 26AS

1. • Income Tax Dept has rolled out new Form 26AS with an aim to assist Taxpayers in filing quick and correct Income Tax Return (ITR).
2. It will carry some additional details on taxpayers financial transactions as specified in the Statement of Financial Transactions (SFTS) in various categories
3. • The details will facilitate voluntary compliance, tax accountability and ease of e-filing of returns.

14.UAE launched its first space mission to Mars

1. • UAE'S historic journey to Mars has been successfully started from the Tanegashima Space Center in Japan,
2. The spacecraft Hope Probe took off on 20 July 2020.
3. • H2A the rocket carrying the Hope Probe to space, was launched from the Tanegashima Space Centre in Japan
4. . It is the Arab world's first interplanetary landmark mission

15.Bangladesh banned free internet services

1. • The Bangladesh Telecom Regulatory Commission (BTRC) has issued orders for the telecom companies to stop free internet services to its subscribers for accessing social media.
2. • It is being stopped because it gives rise to unhealthy competition between the companies,
3. • This facility was also being used by some people for carrying out criminal activities on social media.

16.Procurement of 3000 MT of sugar from NAFED

1. J&K Administrative Council has accorded a sanction to the Department of Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs for procurement of 3000 MT of sugar from National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of india Ltd. (NAFED).
2. As per sanction, the Department will procure 2800 MT per annum, under the J&K Special Sugar Scheme for 2,33,429 existing Antyodaya Anna 

17.2020 India Ideas Summit on July 22

• India Business Council will host the 2020 India Ideas Summit on July 22, 2020

• The Summit convenes business and government leaders for discussions on the future of the U.S.-India Partnership and the trends shaping globalization, trade and investment

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US Series of State Michael Pompeo will devour the keynote address

18.New research on coronavirus

1. • In Maharashtra, the researchers at the Centre of Nanofabrics of Kolhapur Shivaji University have done significant research that could inactivate the Coronavirus.
2. • The virus shield fabric spray technology will make it possible to inactivate many other deadly viruses, including the Coronavirus
3. • Professor of Shivaji University's Centre of Nanofabrics Dr. Kiran Kumar Sharma did this research.

19.World Chess Day: 20 July

1. • Every year on July 20, International Chess Day is celebrated to honour the founding of the Federation Internationale des Echecs, also known as FIDES, in the year 1924
2. • The motto for the year 2020 is "Teach someone how to play chess
3. • In the fifth century. chess was invented in India and was
4. caled "Chaturanga at that time.

20.Andre Schurrle announced retirement

1. • Former Germany forward Andre Schurrle has announced his retirement
2. • A native of Ludwigshafen, Schurrle was a member of Germany 2014 World Cup-winning side in Brazil.
3. • In his 1st Premier League season, he scored 8 goals in 30 appearances, including registering a hat-trick against Fulham
4. • In 2018, he moved to Fulham on loan where he scored 6 goals in 24 league appearances for the Cottagers.

21.Central Govt launched an app

1. • The Central Govt has launched the mobile app of PM Street Vendor AtmaNirbhar Nidhi (PM SVANidhi) Scheme on July 17, 2020.
2. • This app aims to provide a user-friendly digital interface for Lending Institutions (LIS) and their field functionaries for sourcing and processing loan applications of street vendors under the Scheme
3. A web portal was already launched June 29, 2020

22.Civil rights icon Rev. C.T. Vivian passed away

1. • Civil rights leader Rev. Cordy Tindell "CT" Vivian passed away in July 2020.
2. • Vivian participated in the Freedom Rides and worked alongside the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
3. • He participated in his first nonviolent protest, a lunch counter sit-in in Peoria, Illinois, in 1947
4. • President Obama awarded Vivian the highest civilian honour in the nation, the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2013

23.CSIR-CMERI unveiled a COVID Protection System 

1. • CSIR-CMERI, Durgapur has unveiled the COVID Protection System (COPS) for workplace in the current COVID-19 pandemic scenario
2. • The system can be utilised by organisations as healthcare workers and frontline security guards are vulnerable to COVID-19.
3. • The COPS for Workplace includes contactless Solar Based Intelligent Mask Alternated Dispensing Unit cum Thermal Scanner, Touchless Faucet etc.

24 .UV baggage scan for COVID-19 disinfection

1. • The International Advanced Research Centre for Powder Metallurgy and New Materials (ARCI).
2. Hyderabad, and Vehant Technologies, Noida have co-developed KniScan
3. • It is a UV Baggage Disinfection System
4. • The compact UVC conveyor system nan efficiently disinfect the baggage passing through conveyor within a few seconds and is suitable for use in airports, railway and bus stations, etc.

25.Mylan launched generic version of Remdesivir

1. Remdes
2. Mylan has announced the commercial launch of its Remdesivir under the brand name Desrem in India for treatment of coronavirus patients
3. The drug is approved for the treatment of suspected or laboratory-confirmed incidences of COVID-19 in adults and children hospitalized with severe presentations of the disease
4. • Mylan will manufacture Desrem in its injectable facility in Bangalore.

26.Six types of COVID-19 found

1. • British scientists have found there are six distinct types of COVID-19, each distinguished by a cluster of symptoms.
2. • The six types are: Flu-like with no fever. Flu-like with fever, Gastrointestinal, Severe level one fatigue. Severe level two confusion Sovere level three: abdominal and respiratory
3. • Patients with level 4,5 and 6 types are more likely to be admitted to hospital.

27.GSK collaborated with Germany's CureVac

1. • Britain's GSK would invest 130 million pounds ($163 million) to buy a 10% stake in Germany's CureVac
2. • It will launch a collaboration to develop up to five mRNA-based vaccines,
3. • CureVac is using RNA approach that has also been adopted by BioNTech and its partner Pfizer as well as Moderna
4. • CureVac existing COVID-19 mRNA and rabies vaccines research programmes are not included in the deal.

28.Sanjeev Vohra: Global lead of Accenture

1. • Sanjeev Vohra has been named the global tead of Accenture Applied Intelligence
2. • In this role, he also joins the company's global management committee (GMC)
3. • Accenture's Applied Intelligence business - which helps clients use data, Ai analytics and automation to fuel business transformation - is a strategic growth driver for the company

29.Hiranandani Group's Yotta inked a pact

1. • Hiranandani Group data center company Yotta Infrastructure has signed an agreement with the government of Tamil Nadu to set up a data center park in Chennai
2. • It would be spread over a 13-acre campus
3. • The proposed data center park will be built at Hiranandani Parks on the Singaperumal- Oragadam highway and will host a total of four data center buildings with a capacity of 20,000 racks