CURRENT AFFAIRS
1.PNB launched a nationwide campaign
• Punjab National Bank (PNB) has launched a nationwide initiative to combat the spread of COVID-19.
• The initiative is launched as PN's corporate social responsibility (CSR) campaign
• It will entail providing COVID-19 related prevention materials like masks, sanitisers, etc across India 652 districts
2.Filmmaker Rajat Mukherjee passed away
• Bollywood director Rajat Mukherjee passed away in July 2020
• The filmmaker is known for directing films like Pyaar Tune Kya Kiya... Love in Nepal, Road among others
• Mukherjee also directed a cri Ishq Kills
drama TV series called
• Manoj Bajpayee had worked with Mukherjee in Road, a thriller movie which also starred Vivek Oberoi, Antara Mali, Vijay Raaz and Makrand Deshpande.
3.UP CM launched employment scheme for SCs
UP CM Yogi Adityanath has launched "Navin Rojgar Chhatri Yojana" for all-round development of the Scheduled Castes.
• He transferred financial assistance of 1742 crore online to 3,484 people under the "Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay Swarojgar Yojana
• The beneficiaries informed that they will use the money for setting up merchant shops, laundry and dry cleaning, cybercafe and tent house,
4.Uttarakhand launched anti-dengue campaign
• Uttarakhand CM Trivendra Singh Rawat has announced a massive campaign against mosquito-borne diseases like dengue
. It will involve the wide participation of people in the state preventing the spread of mosquito-borne diseases
- The Chief Minister urged people to spare 15 minutes every Sunday to control the spread of disease and avoid stagnation of water in their surroundings
5.Infosys signed long-term pact with Lanxess
• IT software major Infosys has announced a long-term partnership with German speciality chemicals company Lanxess
• It will enable its global workforce spread across 33 countries with a secure and fully managed modern workplace.
• Lanxess manufactures chemical intermediates, additives and speciality chemicals
• Its workforce will be supported by a multi-lingual Al-powered service desk
6.HAL established COVID-19 centre in Bengaluru
• Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) has prepared a 160-bed COVID care centre at one of its facilities in Bengaluru.
The centre was handed over to municipal authorities on 19 July 2020.
• HAL has pledged 20 crore from its CSR fund to the Prime Minister's Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations (PM-CARES) Fund
7.Lewis Hamilton won 8th Hungarian GP
• Lewis Hamilton won the Hungarian Grand Prix for the eighth time to equal Michael Schumacher's single-venue record
• Hamilton's latest victory from pole position was as comfortable as the nearly 9-second margin over second place Max Verstappen suggested
• The British driver's 86th GP win moved him just five behind the German great Schumacher's Fi record of 91
8.New Private Secretary to President
•A 2001 batch Indian Revenue Service Income Tax cadre officer P. Praveen Siddharth has been appointed Private Secretary to President Ram Nath Kovind.
• Mr. Siddharth has replaced Vikram Singh, who has now been appointed Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Shipping
• Mr. Siddharth is already serving as Officer on Special Duty (OSD) in the President's Secretariat.
9.A Tell-all book by Donald Trump's niece
A tell-all book by President Donald Trump's niece that has been the subject of a legal battle has been released.
The book is written by Mary Trump and is titled "Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World's Most Dangerous Man
. The book was originally set for release on July 28, 2020 but arrived early on 14 July 2020.
10.Transgender in Odisha to get benefit
• The Odisha Govt has included transgender community under Madhu Babu Pension Yojana
• The scheme aims at providing financial assistance to destitute elderly differently abled persons and widows in the state
• Under this scheme, around 5,000 transgender receive Rs 500, Rs 700 and Rs 900 per month as a pension under various categor depending on their age.
11 .Assam plasma donors to get preference
• The Assam government has started an extensive campaign to encourage plasma donations in the state from July 18, 2020,
• It announced that the plasma donors of the state will got preferences in all government facilities including government job interviews.
• The state government will provide a certificate to each plasma donor in the state.
12. 2020 Nelson Mandela Prize winners
• The laureates of UN 2020 Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela Prize are Marianna Vardinoyannis of Greece and Morissana Kouyate of Guinea.
• It was announced by General Assembly President Tijani Muhammad Bande.
• Vardinoyannis is a Greek philanthropist known for fighting childhood cancer,
• Kouyate is a Human rights activist known for her contribution towards violence against women and girls in Africa
13.Haryana CM announced programs
• Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar has announced several programs for the welfare for farmers' of the state
• The govt will bring a system in which a farmer will be able to test the soil of his field near his village and sow the crop accordingly.
• In the interest and welfare of farmers, it is coming up with a scheme called "Kisan Mitra' scheme.
- A Kisan Mitra' will be appointed over 100 farmers.
14.MP Governor Lalji Tandon passed away
• MP Governor Lalji Tandon passed away in July 2020.
•A veteran BJP leader, Lalji Tandon was a former MP from Lucknow and former Cabinet Minister in the state government
• He was well-versed with constitutional matters and enjoyed a long and close association with former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee,
• He was the 22nd Governor of Madhya Pradesh
15.India's first public EV charging plaza
Minister for Power, New and Renewable Energy, RK Singh inaugurated India's 1st public EV (Electric Vehicle) charging plaza in New Delhi on 20 July 2020
• The EV charging plaza is a new avenue for making e-mobility ubiquitous and convenient in India,
• He also launched Retrofit of Air-conditioning to improve Indoor Air Quality for Safety and Efficiency (RAISE) national programme
16.Consumer Protection Act, 2019 came into force
• The Consumer Protection Act, 2019 came into force on 20 July 2020.
. This new Act will empower consumers and help them in protecting their rights through its various notified Rules and provisions
- The Act includes the establishment of te Central Consumer Protection Authority, CCPA to promote protect and enforce rights of consumers.
17.HRD Minister to launch Manodarpan initiative
• Union HRD Minister, Ramesh Pokhriyal will launch the Manodarpan initiative of the HRD Ministry on 21 July 2020
• The initiative under Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan aims to provide psychosocial support to students for their mental health and well-being.
• It will cover a wide range of activities to provide Psychosocial Support to students.
18.MoD inked contract with BEML
• Acquisition Wing of Ministry of Defence has signed a contract with Bharat Earth Movers Limited, BEML for procurement of 1512 Mine Plough for Tank T-90 S/SK at a cost of Rs. 557 crore.
• The contract has Buy and Make (Indian) categorisation with a minimum of 50% indigenous content in make portion of the contract.
• These mine ploughs will be fitted on T-90 Tanks of Indian Armoured Corps
19.Indian Navy undertook exercise with US Navy
Indian Navy undertook a passage exercise with the US Navy in the Indian Ocean Region on 20 Jul 20.
• US Navy carrier strike group, led by USS Nimitz and Indian Navy conducted the maritime drills, PASSEX which aims at further enhancing interoperability between Navies of both the countries
• The Nimitz Carrier Strike Group is on its way to be deployed in the Gulf region from the South China Sea,
20.Air Force Commanders' Conference to begin
• The 3-day long Air Force Commanders' Conference will begin from 22 July 2020 at Air Headquarters in New Delhi.
The theme of the conference is "Indian Air Force in the Next Decade"
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh is likely to inaugurate the conference
• The Conference will be char Staff, Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria.
21.Human trials of COVAXIN for COVID-19 began
• The Human trials for the indigenously developed COVAXIN have begun at AiIMS Delhi.
· Alter the registration procedure and blood sample tests of the health volunteers, the vaccine will be administered to 100 healthy individuals in the first phase,
. In the second phase 750 people will be recruited between 12 to 65 years of age for the human trials.
22.UPSC to hold Personality Test
• The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) will hold Personality Test for remaining candidates of Civil Services Examination-19 from 20-30 July 2020
• The Commission had earlier deferred the Personality Tests for 623 candidates due to nationwide lockdown
• State Governments have been requested to allow the candidates holding e-Summon Letters for PTs to move in and out of the restricted zones
23.Ministry of Tourism held a webinar
: The Ministry of Tourism Dekho Apna Desh Webinar Series titled, "The Mystical Triangle - Maheshwar, Mandu & Omkareshwar was organized on 18 July 2020.
• The webinar showcased the richness of the destinations covered under the mystical triangle in Madhya Pradesh namely Maheshwar, Mandu and Omkareshwar
• It is an effort to showcase India ich diversity under
Ek Bharat- Shreshtha Bharat:
24.A Statement of Intent signed
• Youth Affairs Secretary Usha Sharma has signed a Statement of intent for partnership with UNICEF India.
YuWaah India and United Nations in India.
• It has been signed to work together with young people for empowering them and to make them changemakers with access to aspirational socio-economic opportunities
25.AIIMS began e-ICU video-consultation programme
• AIIMS, New Delhi has started a video-consultation programme with ICU doctors across the country called e-ICU.
• The programme aims at holding case-management discussions among doctors who are at the frontline in treating COVID-19 patients in hospitals and COVID facilities around the country.
• It will strengthen the Government of India's efforts to reduce COVID-19 mortality.
26.Novel quick response mechanism implemented
A novel quick response mechanism is being implemented in the largely rural Perambalur district of Tamilnadu near Trichy
The scheme called "RACE (Rapid Action force for Community Emergency) is an integrated approach for the quick resolution of various kinds of emergencies
• The force will take care of all kinds of emerging situations like health care to burglary i missing persons
27."Godhan Nyay Yojana' began in Chhattisgarh
. In Chhattisgarh a first of its kind scheme of the country- Godhan Nyay Yojana has been commenced on 20 July 2020
• Under the scheme, the Chhattisgarh government will procure cow dung at Rs 2 per kilogram from livestock owners and use it to prepare organic fertilizers.
• Women self-help groups will prepare Vermicompost using the cow dung procured under the scheme
28.MoU signed between CBDT & MOMSME
•A formal MoU was signed today between the Central Board of Direct Taxes. CBDT and Ministry of MSME for sharing of data by CBDT to the Ministry
• The MoU will facilitate seamless sharing of certain Income tax Return related information by the Income Tax Dept to MSME Ministry
• This data will enable the Ministry to check and classify enterprises in Micro, Small and Medium category as,
29.GTU developed G-Bands sanitizers
A group of innovators from Gujarat Technological University, GTU has come up with a unique hand sanitizer bands- called G Bands using Thermoplastic elastomers.
These bands can be used on the go for sanitizing hands just by pressing it
• The G Bands offer a convenient option for people to maintain hand hygiene
The product is priced at R39 and will soon be available for a larger public
30.Veteran Odia Actor Bijay Mohanty passed away
• Veteran Odia film actor and director Bijay Mohanty passed away in July 2020.
An alumnus of National School of Drama, the actor started his career in the Odia film industry in 1977
• Mohanty acted in more than 15 films.
. He was honoured with the Jayadev Award in 2014.
• He was also honoured with the National Award for his contribution to art and literature
31.ICC Men's T20 World Cup postponed to 2021
The International Cricket Council (ICC) has confirmed that the ICC Men's T20 World Cup in Australia 2020 has been postponed due to the pandemic.
• It was originally scheduled to take place from October
18. to November 15, 2020 in Australia,
• ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2021 will be held
32.Zoram Mega Food Park in Mizoram
• Food Processing Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal virtually inaugurated the first Mega Food Park in Mizoram
• The Zoram Mega Food Park will benefit farmers, growers, processors, consumers and prove to be a big boost to the growth of the food processing sector in the North East Region
• It is equipped with a dry warehouse of 3000 melio tonnes capacity and cold storage of 1000 metric tonnes
33.Steve Waugh's upcoming book
• Australian cricket legend Steve Waugh's book The Spirit of Cricket - India will be published soon
• Waugh captures the special place cricket occupies in the hearts of Indians.
• A substantial part of the book is devoted to India's physically disabled cricketers whom Waugh and his manager are supporting through a fundraising campaign
34.SpiceJet acqui-hired Travenues
• Spicejet has acqui-hired the team and technology platform of airline technology company Travenues
• Travenue is a wholly-owned subsidiary of online travel aggregator ixigo
• Travenues had signed its first technology partnership with Spikelet in 2019 for digital transformation of its consumer-facing experiences.
• The acqui-hire will help Spicejet strengthen its e-commerce platforms.
35.Zoom to open tech center in Bengaluru
• Popular video collaboration platform Zoom, is opening a new technology center in Bengaluru.
• The company already has an office in Mumbai and will hire 'key talent' over the next few years across the country,
• The Bengaluru tech center will support the San Jose headquartered company's global engineering efforts
• Zoom will now compete with JioMeet and Airtel Blue Jeans
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