Daily Current Affairs Quiz – 15th August 2020

Union Minister of Chemicals and Fertilizers Shri DV Sadananda Gowda has announced the establishment of a Price Monitoring and Resource Unit (PMRU) in Karnataka.

Vice Admiral Dinesh K Tripathi, AVSM, NM has become the Director General Naval Operations (DGNO).

Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports will organize the “Fit India Freedom Run” from 15th August to 02nd October 2020.

Air Unique-quality Monitoring (AUM) Photonic System has been indigenously developed for real-time remote monitoring of air quality.

Israel has successfully tested its advanced missile defence system, the “Arrow-2” ballistic missile interceptor.

Assam government would provide Rs 830 per month each to 17 lakh poor families under the ambitious “Orunodoi” scheme, to financially empower women.

The World Organ Donation Day is observed globally on 13th August every year.

Subhash Sheoratan Mundra has been appointed as a non-executive chairman of Indiabulls Housing Finance (IBH).

Malayalam poet-lyricist, Chunakkara Ramankutty passed away. He is a recipient of the Guru Shreshta Award of Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi in 2015.

The Naval Innovation and Indigenisation Organisation (NIIO) has been launched by the Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh.

Indian Coast Guard Offshore Patrol Vessel ‘Sarthak’ has been launched. It is the 4th in the series of five OPVs.

Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, will release a new book titled “Our Only Home: A Climate Appeal to the World” along with German environmental journalist Franz Alt.

Goa’s traditional festive sweet dish ‘Khaje’, spicy Harmal Chilli, and Myndoli Banana (Moira Banana) has obtained Geographical Indication tag from the Geographical Indications Registry.

Sameer Gehlaut has taken charge as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Indiabulls Ventures Ltd, a subsidiary company of IBHFL.

Israel has successfully tested its advanced missile defence system, the “Arrow-2” ballistic missile interceptor.

Rajnath Singh, Union Defence Minister launched the Naval Innovation and Indigenisation Organisation(NIIO) through an online webinar. NIIO establishes dedicated structures to enable end-users to interact with academia and industry towards fostering innovation and indigenisation for self-reliance in defence in Accordance with the vision of Atmanirbhar Bharat.‘SWAVLAMBAN’, a compendium of Indian Navy’s Indigenisation perspective plans was also released during the occasion.

The Governing board of National Health Authority(NHA) approved the proposal to integrate the existing health schemes of the central ministries with the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY) for employees, during the governing board’s review meeting on the implementation AB-PMJAY chaired by Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare. Indu Bhushan is the CEO of AB-PMJAY.

India has granted a US$250 million as budgetary support and US$500 million for the 6.7 Km Greater Male Connectivity Project (GMCP) during a virtual conversation between India’s Union Minister of External Affairs Subrahmanyam Jaishankar and Maldivian Counterpart Abdulla Shahid. The financial package of US$250 million will support the Maldives in meeting the Government’s financing gap, and support its efforts in responding to Covid19. While the financial package of US$500 million consists of a grant of US$100 million and a new Line of Credit (LoC) of US$400 million. The US$400 million LoC comes in addition to a previous LoC of US$800 million that was announced by India in December 2018. The GMCP will be the largest civilian infrastructure project in Maldives, connecting its capital city Male with three neighboring islands viz. Villingili, Gulhifahu, and Thilafushi.

Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Jairam Gadkari while addressing the Indo-Australian Chamber of Commerce and Womennovator on Trade Investment and collaborations in Road infrastructure, has undermined India’s initiatives to achieve Zero Road Fatalities by 2030. The World Bank and Asian Development Bank have committed Rs. 7,000 crores each on initiatives to reduce road accidents.

Flood Early Warning System (FEWS), a fully automated web-based tool was launched by The Energy and Resources Institute’s (TERI) in association with the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) in Guwahati, Assam. Objective – FEWS tool will alert the local authorities to predict flash floods and heavy rainfall in Guwahati, Assam. It will help the authorities to take timely and appropriate measures during natural disasters. The Flood Early Warning System (FEWS) project was developed under The Energy and Resources Institute’s (TERI) project supported by the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) in collaboration with India Meteorological Department (IMD) and the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA).

As per the latest report, ‘Progress on drinking water, sanitation and hygiene in schools Special focus on COVID-19’ released by World Health Organization (WHO) and United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) through the WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme(JMP), around 818 million children across the world lacked basic hand-washing facilities in their schools which makes them prone to the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and other transmittable diseases. The programme produces internationally comparable estimates of progress on Drinking Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH).

The European Union (EU) will provide 1.65 million euros in humanitarian aid funding to support flood victims of South Asia most notably in Bangladesh, India, and Nepal. The funding is part of the EU’s Acute Large Emergency Response Tool (ALERT). The measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus will be incorporated in all programming. Of the 1.65 million euros, 500,000 euros will be used in India, 1 million euros will be dedicated to Bangladesh and 150,000 euros will be used in Nepal.

Finance Minister of Assam, HimantaBiswa Sharma announced that the Government of Assam will roll out the ‘Orunodoi’ Scheme, which will provide Financial Assistance of Rs. 830 per month through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) scheme to around 17 Lakh Families in the state. It is expected to be the largest direct benefit Transfer scheme in Assam. The ‘Orunodoi’ scheme will be implemented from October 2, 2020, and will act as an umbrella scheme for all other government schemes for the next 5 years.

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has revised the guidelines applicable for Core Investment Companies (CICs) on the basis of the recommendations of the Working Group (WG) to Review the Regulatory and Supervisory Framework for Core Investment Companies (CICs), constituted under the Chairmanship of Tapan Ray, former Secretary, Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA). The report by the WG was published by RBI on November 6, 2019.CIC in the group, or the CIC with the largest asset size, will have to form a group risk management committee (GRMC), comprising of at least five members, with two independent directors.

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has revised the guidelines applicable for Core Investment Companies (CICs) on the basis of the recommendations of the Working Group (WG) to Review the Regulatory and Supervisory Framework for Core Investment Companies (CICs), constituted under the Chairmanship of Tapan Ray, former Secretary, Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA). The report by the WG was published by RBI on November 6, 2019.CICs with assets of over Rs 5,000 crore will have to appoint a chief risk officer (CRO).

Aditya Puri, Managing Director of HDFC Bank, launched digitally the 1st of its kind card, ‘Shaurya KGC(Kisan Gold Credit) Card’, a tri-color themed card for Indian armed forces personnel, i.e, Army, Navy, Air force and Paramilitary forces and their families. The product is based on the Kisan Credit Card (KCC) guidelines by the government.

State Bank of India(SBI) has launched the “KCC (Kisan Credit Card) Review option” on its digital agricultural solution platform, YONO (“You Only Need One”) Krishi. With this application, the farmers can access their KCC limit on the virtual platform. It is expected to benefit more than 75 Lakh Farmers who have Kisan Credit Card accounts with SBI. The Farmers will no longer need to visit the bank branch physically to apply for a revision in their KCC limit.

Government of India signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on space cooperation with the Federal government of Republic of Nigeria at the Federal Ministry of Science and Technology headquarters in Abuja, Nigeria.On the occasion, both sides also agreed to sign a subsidiary MOU between New Space India Limited (NSIL), under ISRO, and Nigeria Erosion and Watershed Management Project (NEWMAP), under the Federal Ministry of Environment of Nigeria, on cooperation in the use of Geospatial Technologies.

In a bid to enhance road safety i.e. eliminate road accidents and create safe mobility for commuters, Kailash Gahlot, Delhi Transport Minister signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Bloomberg Philanthropies. On signing this MoU, Delhi has joined 30 world cities & world’s leading organizations in the Bloomberg Philanthropies Initiative for Global Road Safety, a network committed to reducing the deaths and injuries from road traffic crashes.

Indiabulls Housing Finance Limited(IBH) appointed Former Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Deputy Governor SubhashSheoratanMundra (SS Mundra) as its Non-Executive Chairman with immediate effect.

eBikeGO, Amritsar based e-mobility start-up appointed Indian cricketer Harbhajan Singh as its brand ambassador for a year. He will help the company to upgrade itself and will also have an active presence on the company’s website and campaigns across media.

Odisha has retained the top position in the implementation of the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) scheme. According to rankings released by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), Odisha regained its top position by securing a score of 85.67 percent, followed by Union Territory of Chandigarh (75.08) and Telangana (74.04).

Top 3 States in Implementation of AMRUT Scheme:

On August 13, 2020, as a part of the AtmaNirbhar Week celebration (AtmanirbhartaSaptah) between August 7-14, 2020 of the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and to boost Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan (self-reliant India movement), Union Defence Minister (Raksha Mantri) Rajnath Singh virtually launched 15 products of Defence Public Sector Undertakings (DPSUs) and Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) viz. four products each by OFB and BEML, two by BEL and one each by HAL, BDL, MDL, GRSE and GSL.

Nag Missile Carrier (NAMICA): Developed by Ordnance Factory Medak (OFMK), Telangana in association with Defence Research & Development Laboratory (DRDL), Hyderabad(Telangana), it can act as an import substitution of around Rs. 260 Cr in the first phase, which may go up to more than Rs 3000 Cr.

In order to enhance maritime security, on August 13, 2020, an Offshore Patrol Vessels (OPV) for the Indian Coast Guard was launched and re-christened as Indian Coast Guard Ship (ICGS) “Sarthak” during a ceremony held at Goa Shipyard Limited (GSL) which was conducted through video conferencing from Coast Guard headquarters at New Delhi. It was launched by Ms. Veena Ajay Kumar, wife of Defence Secretary Dr Ajay Kumar. Sarthak, the 4th in the series of five OPVs deployed by the ICG has been designed and built indigenously by GSL on the lines of “Make in India” which has about 70% indigenous content. The ship will be deployed for exclusive economic zone (EEZ) surveillance, Coastal Security, and other duties to safeguard India’s maritime interests.

Indian Scientist from the Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA), Bengaluru, Karnataka, an autonomous institute under the Department of Science and Technology (DST) discovered a helium (He)-enhanced cool bright star among metal-rich samples of the globular cluster, Omega Centauri. This is the first-ever spectroscopic determination of He-abundance in the Omega Centauri. The study was published in “The Astrophysical Journal”.

Indian Institute of Technology, Ropar(IIT-R) in collaboration with Momentum India Private Limited developed “UVSAFE”, a state-of-the-art room disinfection device based on Singular Ultraviolet Germicidal Irradiation(UVGI). The efficiency of the device was tested by FICCI Research and Analysis Centre(FRAC)(NABL Accredited Laboratory, New Delhi).

Veteran Malayalam poet, lyricist, and drama writer ChunakkarRamankutty passed away at the age of 84 due to old age-related ailments in a hospital at Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. He hails from Chunakkara, Alappuzha, Kerala.

The research team of the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi(IIT-D) found the critical group and multidrug-resistant bacteria of the World Health Organization’s(WHO’s) 2017 list of antibiotic-resistant priority pathogens, in the waters of River Yamuna. The study was conducted on the 20 major sewer drains and the waters of Yamuna at 5 locations across Delhi over two seasons and isolated the Faecal Coliform(FC) from all the samples. The research paper on the study was published in the Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering.

The Asola Bhatti wildlife sanctuary is located in Delhi.

Woolly flying squirrel, that was thought to be extinct some seventy years back, was spotted at Gangotri National Park in Uttrakhand’sUttarkashi, as informed by Forest Research Institute recently.

The HQ of the International Astronomical Union (IAU) located in Paris, France. As per the data collected by NASA’s Dawn spacecraft, dwarf planet Ceres reportedly has salty water underground. Dawn (2007-18) was a mission to the two most massive bodies in the main asteroid belt – Vesta and Ceres. According to the International Astronomical Union (IAU), which sets definitions for planetary science, a dwarf planet is a celestial body that – orbits the sun, has enough mass to assume a nearly round shape, has not cleared the neighborhood around its orbit and is not a moon. The first five recognized dwarf planets are Ceres, Pluto, Eris, Makemake, and Haumea.

Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot announced that the Rajasthan government will soon introduce a new tourism policy to help ensure the sector tides over the ongoing COVID-19 crisis. He also directed officers to find a permanent solution to solve the water problem in Keoladeo National Park in Bharatpur.

In accordance with the Centre’s decision to plant 2,000 saplings in every airport across the country (July 2020), the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel on Sunday, planted around 250 saplings at the Sri Guru Ram DassJee International Airport in Amritsar, Punjab.