July 4th Week 2020 Current Affairs Online Test

 Union Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying Minister Giriraj Singh launched the implementation guidelines for Animal Husbandry Infrastructure Development Fund, AHIDF. The 15000 crore rupees worth fund was approved by the Union Cabinet last month under the Atma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan stimulus package. Under the fund, Farmer Producer Organizations, MSMEs, Private Companies and individual entrepreneurs with minimum 10% margin are given 90% loans from scheduled banks, for developing infrastructure for animal husbandry.

 The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has postponed the 2022 Dakar Youth Olympics for four years, to 2026. This decision has been taken due to the coronavirus pandemic. The Youth Summer Games, to be held in Senegal’s capital, will be the first Olympics to be organised in Africa. The Tokyo Olympics is scheduled to be held in July 2021 and Beijing Winter Olympics in February 2022.

 Union Shipping Minister has recently flagged off first trial container ship from Kolkata Port to Agartala through the Chattogram port of Bangladesh.  This trial run has been done under the Agreement on using Chattogram and Mongla Ports for movement of India’s transit cargo through Bangladesh. It will provide a shorter route to connect the North East Region of India through Bangladesh.

 NITI Aayog has recommended that the Government of India should use 25 per cent use of recycled products in large infrastructure projects to promote secondary products across India. The chief executive officer of Niti Aayog, Amitabh Kant announced that the recycled products including metals, plastics and paper will promote secondary products that are now hardly found in our country. India levies 2.5 per cent customs duty on the scrap while importing.

 Union Shipping Ministry has named the retired IAS officer Malini Shankar, as the Vice–Chancellor of Indian Maritime University. Malini Shankar is also the Chairperson of the National Shipping Board (NSB), the ace advisory agency to the Central government on shipping–related matters. Before being appointed as the VC in the Chennai–based University, she was the Director General of Shipping.

 Union HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank virtually launched the first online National Initiative for School Heads and Teachers Holistic Advancement (NISHTHA) programme for key resources persons of Andhra Pradesh. After the scheme was launched in 2019, 33 states and UTs launched the programme in collaboration under Samagra Shiksha. The NCERT provides NISHTHA training programme at the state level.

 Rose Christiane Ossouka Raponda has been appointed as the first woman Prime Minister of the Central African country, Gabon. The President of Gabon Ali Bongo Ondimba has appointed the 56–year–old, who replaces Julien Nkoghe Bekale, who was appointed the Prime Minister in 2019. Prior to this appointment, she had served as the Budget Minister in 2012 and then in Defence Ministry.________________________________________

 P. Praveen Siddharth, a 2001 batch Indian Revenue Service– Income Tax (IRS–IT) officer, P. Praveen Siddharth, has been appointed Private Secretary to President Ram Nath Kovind. He has replaced Vikram Singh, who has recently been appointed as the Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Shipping. The new Private Secretary is serving as the Officer on Special Duty (OSD) in the President’s Secretariat.

 According to a survey by Projects Today, an online database of projects, Tamil Nadu is the top investment destination in India in first quarter of 2019–20. The investment flow in the state amounts to Rs 18,236 crore, which is around 18.63 percent of the total fresh investment. The state has signed as many as 17 agreements in May 2020. It is followed by Maharashtra with investment flow of Rs 11,229 crore.

 India has recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the United States, to store strategic reserves of Petroleum in the US. The countries are also planning to store oil in America’s strategic reserve to increase India’s oil reserves. Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan co–chaired a virtual US–India Strategic Energy Partnership Ministerial with his American counterpart Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette.

 The Horticultural Department of Haryana is organising a five–day Sub–Tropical Fruit Expo 2020 till July 22. The expo is being organised at the Centre for Sub–Tropical Fruit at Ladwa that is an Indo–Israel project. The cultivation techniques of sub–tropical fruit are explained and streamed live on social media, so that the farmers can learn the technologies under the ‘Mera Pani – Meri Virasat’ crop diversification scheme.

 Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve (KNPTR) is located in the state of Assam. Assam is witnessing heavy floods, which has affected around 40 lakh people. The Tiger reserve, which is also a UNESO World Heritage site, remains submerged in water, due to the heavy floods. As many as 86 animals have died, including rhinoceros, deer and wild boar. This year’s flood is said to be the sixth worst flood since 1988.

 The Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) in India has declined to 113, in 2016–18. The ratio was 122 in 2015–17 and 130 in 2014–2016. The Office of Registrar General’s Sample Registration System (SRS) has recently released a special bulletin on Maternal Mortality in India 2016–18. The target of the UN Sustainable Development Goals is to reduce the global MMR to less than 70 per 1 lakh live births.

 Form 26AS is an annual statement, that contains information on various taxes deducted on the tax–filer’s income by deductors. Recently, the Income Tax Department of CBDT has introduced a new ‘Form 26AS’ with an aim to assist Tax payers in filing Income Tax Return quicker. The new form will calculate the correct tax liability and is expected to bring in transparency in tax administration.

 Union Health Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan has flagged off a ‘Plasma Donation Campaign’ at AIIMS, New Delhi. The campaign programme was co–organized by Delhi Police. As many as 26 police personnel who had recovered from COVID–19 volunteered to donate blood plasma. New Delhi has recently inaugurated the first Plasma bank of the country.

 On July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin became the first humans to land on the surface of the Moon. To commemorate the historic achievement, it is celebrated as the Space Exploration Day, which is also called as the Moon Day. US President John F. Kennedy had set a goal of ‘landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to Earth within a decade.’ After Armstrong’s feat, the US launched six Apollo missions to the moon from 1969 and 1972.________________________________________

 The Jammu and Kashmir administration has approved insurance cover of ₹25 lakh to all panchayat members in the Union Territory. All elected BDC chairperson, sarpanches, panches and elected members of municipal bodies are covered in the event of death due to militancy.  Last month, a sarpanch was shot dead by militants in south Kashmir. The UT also made an amendment to grant short–term permits to the Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) on land up to 1 hectare, till September 30, 2021.

 Union Defence Ministry of India has signed a Rs 557–crore contract with Bharat Earth Movers Limited (BEML), for procurement of 1,512 mine ploughs for the Indian army’s main battle tank T–90. As per the contract, a minimum of 50 per cent indigenous content is mentioned in the contract.  The army has recently deployed the Russian–made T–90 main battle tanks in the Galwan Valley sector of Ladakh.

 US–India Business Council is set to play host to the ‘India Ideas Summit’ 2020 on July 22. Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi and U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will deliver the keynote addresses. Discussions on the future of the U.S.–India Partnership, trade and investment, and the future of work in the COVID–era etc are to be undertaken in the summit. Various business and government leaders are to address the summit, including the External Affairs minister Dr. S. Jaishankar.

 Union Human Resource Development Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal is set to launch mental health support initiative named ‘Manodarpan’. The scheme aims to provide psychosocial support to students for their mental health and well–being during the COVID–19 pandemic. It is to be implemented under the Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan, as a part of increasing productivity in education sector.

 The Union Ministry of Home Affairs and the Director General of Civil Aviation have permitted Maharashtra to use drones for inspecting power transmission lines and towers. Maharashtra is the first state to be permitted for using drones for surveillance of faulty extra high voltage (EHV) power lines, to reduce the risk of the staff involved. As per the Maharashtra State Electricity Transmission Company Ltd (MSETCL), each zone will be given a drone with HD cameras.

 The Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Yogi Adityanath has recently launched ‘Navin Rojgar Chhatri Yojana’. The scheme aims to promote the overall development of the people belonging to scheduled castes in the state. The Chief Minister also provided an assistance of around Rs 17.42 crore to more than 3000 people under the ‘Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay Swarojgar Yojana’.

 Sumit Deb has been appointed as the Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of the National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC), the iron ore mining company of the country. Sumit Deb is serving as the Director (Personnel) in the NMDC. He succeeds N Baijendra Kumar who is set to superannuate this month–end. After the appointment, Sumit Deb will have tenure till 2023.

 India and Maldives have recently signed an agreement for establishment of ‘Emergency Medical Services’ in the capital of Maldives, Male. India is set to grant assistance of around 20 million US dollars to Maldives for this project.  India has been assisting the country in several small and medium projects. This medical service facility will ensure quality emergency care during critical times.

 UNICEF launched ‘YuWaah’ Generation Unlimited in India in the year 2019. It is a multi–stakeholder alliance that aims to impart skill development in adolescent boys and girls. Recently, Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs signed a Statement of Intent for partnership with UNICEF India, YuWaah India and United Nations in India. It aims to empower youngsters by providing them access to all socio–economic opportunities.

 The state government of Andhra Pradesh has signed an MoU with the milk cooperative major AMUL (Anand Milk Union Limited). The agreement aims to promote empowerment of women self–help groups and encourage milk cooperatives in government sector. It also provides exposure to world class infrastructure, technology and market access to the local groups.

 The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom has launched a new ‘Jet Zero Council’, to tackle aviation emissions in the country. The council was launched to mark the Prime Minister’s completion of 1 year in his office, as a part of the 350–million–pound plan to fight climate change. The council will bring together the Government, environment sector and aviation industry experts to develop the zero–emission long–haul passenger plane. UK has a target of becoming net zero by 2050.

 Grand Renaissance Dam is a Hydroelectric power plant being constructed in Ethiopia since 2011. The dam formerly known as the Millennium Dam, is in the Benishangul–Gumuz Region, on the Blue Nile river of Ethiopia. The construction has been in conflict as Sudan and Egypt fear that the hydroelectric dam could lead to water shortage in their countries.But Ethiopia insists that the it needs the USD 4 billion dam to generate electricity for its people. Recently, the three countries have accepted to resume talks on the dam.

 The Australian writer Tara June Winch (36) has won the prestigious 2020 Miles Franklin Literary Award. She has been awarded the prize for her book titled THE YIELD. The award has been presented since 1957, to the best novel focussing on Australian life. Tara June Winch is a Wiradjuri author who is famous for her novels including Swallow the Air and short story collection After the Carnage.

 Young Indian Administrative officer Tina Dabi has been appointed honorary advisor to the steering committee for BRICS Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCI) Young Leaders. The topper of the 2016 civil services examination has been appointed in the honorary role for the session 2020 to 2023. She is currently serving as sub–divisional officer (SDO) in the Bhilwara district of Rajasthan and was hailed for her outstanding efforts to contain Covid–19. Sahil Seth, Deputy Commissioner of Mumbai Customs has also been selected for the post.

 Union Health Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan has flagged off a ‘Plasma Donation Campaign’ at AIIMS, New Delhi. The campaign programme was co–organized by Delhi Police. As many as 26 police personnel who had recovered from COVID–19 volunteered to donate blood plasma. New Delhi has recently inaugurated the first Plasma bank of the country.

 Gurugram–based Indian air carrier SpiceJet has been designated as Indian scheduled carrier to operate between India and the United States. SpiceJet is the first air–carrier to operate to the US after Air India. This approval has been given in terms of the Air Services Agreement between the Government of India and the Government of the United States of America. It has also been selected to operate to the United Kingdom.________________________________________

 Union Minster for micro, small and medium enterprise (MSME) sector Nitin Gadkari launched a mentoring platform named ‘RestartIndia’. The platform has been conceptualised by Muthoot Fincorp and INKtalks. Restart India is a single platform which provides information on various schemes being implemented by the government. It also helps the businesspersons to connect with experts from various sectors.

 National Broadcasting Day is celebrated in India on July 23 every year. On the same day in the year 1927, the first ever radio broadcast in the country was carried out from the Bombay Station. The first broadcast was done by a private organisation called the Indian Broadcasting Company. At present, Prasar Bharati is the National public service broadcasting agency. It comprises of Doordarshan Television Network and All India Radio.

 United States President Donald Trump has announced a program named ‘Operation Legend’ in the country. The plan aims at sending federal agents to more U.S. cities including Chicago and Albuquerque, New Mexico, to take firm action on violent crimes. The federal law enforcement agents will be deployed to assist local police in combatting crimes.

 The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) announced that it has started to work on a new mission named ‘ASTHROS’. It stands for Astrophysics Stratospheric Telescope for High Spectral Resolution Observations at Sub millimeter–wavelengths (ASTHROS). The mission aims to send a telescope on a football stadium–sized balloon into the stratosphere to observe far–infrared light, that is invisible from the Earth. It is proposed to be launched in 2023 from Antarctica.

 Reserve Bank of India releases a bi annual report called the financial stability report (FSR). The latest edition was released recently. RBI has estimated that the gross non performing asset (GNPA) ratio of all banks may increase from 8.5% in March 2020 to 12.5% by March 2021. GNPA ratio of public sector banks will increase to 15.2% in March 2021. The main reason for this dip is the slowdown in the economy due to the Covid–19 induced lock–down.

 Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Narendra Singh Tomar has virtually inaugurated a world–class Honey Testing Laboratory. The state of Art laboratory has been established by National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) with support of National Bee Board (NBB), in Anand, Gujarat. Department of Agriculture, Cooperation & Farmers’ Welfare has approved the National Bee Keeping and Honey Mission (NBHM) for a period of 2 years.

 Income Tax Day is celebrated on July 24 by the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) and all field offices. On the same day in the year 1860, Income tax was originally introduced in India by Sir James Wilson, to compensate for the losses incurred during the first war of independence. This is the 160th anniversary of Income Tax Day.

 National Intelligence Grid “NATGRID” is an attached office under the Union Ministry of Home Affairs. It aims to allow investigation and law enforcement agencies to access real–time information. Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) is to partner with the NATGRID to share the financial details of any entity with 10 agencies including the CBI, Enforcement Directorate and the NIA. This information sharing mechanism is done under the NATGRID platform.________________________________________

 As per the recent statement from the Indian Railways, they will hand over as many as 10 broad–gauge diesel locomotives to Bangladesh. Bangladesh had earlier sent a proposal to India in for procurement, as 72% of its present locomotives are at the verge of crossing their economic life. The country will deploy them for both intra–country and inter–country rail transport.

 The Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India (TRIFED) has entered into a partnership with IIT Delhi under the ‘Unnat Bharat Abhiyan’ (UBA) programme. The scheme aims to connect higher education institutions with villages for economic and social betterment of rural areas. A MoU was signed between TRIFED, IIT Delhi and Vijnana Bharati for the implementation. Under ‘Van Dhan’ programme, tribal entrepreneurs will be provided guidance from academic and research institutions.

 The Chief Minister of Assam Sarbananda Sonowal has unveiled three Special Surveillance Quadcopters and an Anti–degradation Quick Response Vehicle, for surveillance in forest areas. These vehicles will be deployed to strengthen surveillance and reduce man–animal conflict by the Forest Department. The surveillance drone will be used to identify poaching in the national parks, wildlife sanctuaries and other reserve forests.

 India and the United Kingdom has organised the 14th Joint Economic and Trade Committee meeting virtually. The meeting was co–chaired by Minister for Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal and UK Secretary of State for International Trade, Elizabeth Truss. Both the countries confirmed their shared commitment to a Free Trade Agreement.

 The World Health Organization (WHO) has recently launched a new initiative named ‘COVID–19 Law Lab’, to ensure that laws are adhered to protect health and wellbeing of individuals and communities. It is a joint project of United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), WHO, the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and the O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law at Georgetown University.

 The Reserve Bank of India has released the ‘Report of the Committee for Analysis of QR (Quick Response) Code’. The Committee was constituted by RBI in December 2019 under the Chairmanship of Prof. D.B. Phatak, to review the present system of QR Codes in India in digital payments. The report asked the Government to provide incentive schemes to popularise QR code transactions among consumers. It also recommended phasing out proprietary and closed loop QR codes.

 India and the European Union are set to renew the Agreement on Scientific cooperation for the next five years, 2020–2025. This was announced at the virtual 15th India–EU Summit, attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. European Council President Charles Michel and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen led the EU. The mentioned Agreement was initially signed in 2001 and has been renewed two times in 2007 and 2015.

 The Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar announced that the Union Government is to collaborate with the World Bank, to convert the Gwalior–Chambal belt of Madhya Pradesh into arable land. This has been decided in the virtual meeting with the World Bank representative. As per the statement, more than 3 lakh hectares of rugged land that remains not cultivable can be improved. As a result, the region’s agricultural development, environmental protection and employment opportunities can be improved.

 Haryana will host the fourth edition of the Khelo India Youth Games after the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, in Panchkula. Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar and Union Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju announced that unlike the usual schedule of January, the tournament has been postponed due to the Covid–19 pandemic. It will be participated by all states with over 10000 sportspersons.

 The Prime Minister of Vietnam Nguyen Xuan Phuc has recently signed an order that bans all imports of wildlife either dead or alive including eggs and larvae. The order also includes tougher penalties for crimes involving the trade in wildlife. Amidst the coronavirus spread, this ban has been imposed in Vietnam, which is a popular destination for endangered wildlife products used in medicine or cuisine.________________________________________

 The Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) is to set up its own Cotton warehouse in Vietnam, to boost Exports. A government–to–government Memorandum of Understanding is also being prepared to export 1.52 million bales of cotton to Bangladesh. CCI holds surplus stocks of cotton before the next harvest season and this plan has been made.

 According to the recently released United Nations World Wildlife Crime Report, India and Thailand supplied highest illegal tiger products in the world. It also highlighted that the biggest destination of the tiger parts was China, followed by Thailand and Vietnam. The most valuable body part of the tigers is their bones which are used to treat bone and ligament injuries in humans.

 The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), a specialised agency of the United States has recently released a report titled ‘Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020 (FRA 2020)’. The report examines the status of 236 countries in the period 1990–2020. The report highlighted that the forest area has declined all across the world in the past three decades. The rate of forest loss in 2015–2020 declined to an estimated 10 million hectares, down from 12 million hectares in 2010–2015. The report also revealed that the world lost 178 mha of forest since 1990, which is the size of Libya.

 Bijapur district in Chhattisgarh has topped the list of aspirational districts ranked by Niti Aayog for the February–June 2020 period. Ri–Bhoi district in Meghalaya and Bahraich district in Uttar Pradesh have been placed at the second and third positions respectively. This delta ranking considers incremental progress made by over 112 aspirational districts across six developmental areas including Health and nutrition, education, agriculture and water resources, financial inclusion, skill development and basic infrastructure.

 The government has released guidelines for four schemes to boost domestic manufacturing of bulk drugs and medical devices. Union Minister for Chemicals and Fertilizers DV Sadananda Gowda launched and issued guidelines for the schemes, which aim to reduce imports in pharmaceutical raw materials like drug intermediates, active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) and medical devices.

 Union Minister for Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution Ram Vilas Paswan has launched the Bureau of Indian Standard’s Mobile App ‘BIS–Care’. He also launched Standardization, Conformity Assessment and Training portals of e–BIS for consumers.  Using the bi–lingual app, consumers can check the authenticity of the ISI–marked and hallmarked products. Consumers can also lodge complaints using this app. Earlier, BIS was directed to frame quality norms for 371 items by March 2021 to curb non–essential imports.

 The Sree Sree JoyKali Matar temple, one of the oldest temples in Bangladesh, has been reconstructed with the Indian assistance of Taka 97 lakh. The High Commissioner of India to Bangladesh Riva Ganguly Das has inaugurated the reconstructed temple at Natore. The MoU for the process was signed in the year 2016. The Indian assistance was given under its High Impact Community Development Project (HICDP). Several other community projects are also being carried out under this fund.

 The 2023 International Cricket Council (ICC) World Cup is to be organised in India. ICC has recently launched a 50 over World Cup Super League. This Qualification league will determine the seven teams in the World Cup. As India is the host, it will automatically qualify to the game. The league will start with a series between England and Ireland, scheduled on July 30.

 The birth anniversary of 11th President of India Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, October 15 has been recognised by the United Nations to be celebrated as World Students’ Day. Recently, the country remembered the Missile Man of India on his fifth death anniversary, on July 27. While addressing students at Indian Institute of Management Shillong, the former President died of cardiac arrest.