20th July 2020 Current Affairs - Daily Current Affairs
NATIONAL AFFAIRS
Indian Navy Conducts Naval Exercises in Andaman and Nicobar Islands
About Indian Navy:
Chief of Naval Staff (CNS)– Admiral Karambir Singh
About Andaman and Nicobar Islands:
Lieutenant Governor– Devendra Kumar Joshi
Capital– Port Blair
Capitals of NE states to be connected through rail network by 2023
On July 17, 2020, during a virtual interaction with the media, Railway Board Chairman Vinod Kumar Yadav has announced the connectivity of all capitals of North-Eastern states through rail network by 2023. Railways is already implementing a project in this regard.
- As of today, the capitals of Assam, Tripura and Arunachal Pradesh are already connected. The work to connect capitals of Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland, and Meghalaya is in progress.
- The capitals of Assam, Tripura and Arunachal Pradesh are already connected. In Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland and Meghalaya, the capital connectivity work is in progress. Manipur will be connected in March 2022, Mizoram in March 2023, Nagaland in March 2023, Meghalaya in March 2022 and Sikkim in December 2022.
Apart from above, attempts to connect
every part of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) to the railway are also
underway, and the 111 km Katra-Banihal rail link project is likely to be
completed by December 2022.
About Railway Board:
Headquarter– New Delhi
Parent organization– Ministry of Railways
India Established Individual Bilateral ‘Air Bubbles’ with France, Germany and US
Union Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri informed that India has established individual bilateral ‘air bubbles’ with France and the United States(US). In addition to this, a similar arrangement with Germany has been established and Lufthansa will be operating the flights. This agreement allows countries’ airlines to operate international flights.
- India is planning to establish such agreements with the UK, under which 2 flights a day will be operated between Delhi and London. The similar arrangements with the United Arab Emirates(UAE) till 26th July, 2020.
- Air India will operate flights to France, Germany and the US under bilateral air bubbles.
United States– American carrier United Airlines to operate 18 flights between India and US between 17th to 31st July.
France– Air France will operate 28 flights from 18th July to 1st of August between Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Paris.
Note– It is to be noted that all these arrangements are an interim one.
What is air bubble?
It is a bilateral arrangement with a set
of regulations and restrictions that allow carriers of both countries
to operate international flights.
Vande Bharat Mission
i.It is India’s biggest
evacuation plan initiated by the central government to bring back its
citizens stranded in foreign countries since the outbreak of the
coronavirus pandemic.
ii.The 4th phase of the mission is ongoing.
About Air India:
Headquarters- New Delhi, India
Chairman and Managing Director– Rajiv Bansal
INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS
PM Modi delivers keynote address virtually at High-Level Segment of ECOSOC held at in New York, US
ii.This was the first address by PM to the UN membership since India’s elected as a non-permanent member of the Security Council for the term 2021-22.
iii.The first president of ECOSOC, i.e. in 1946, was an Indian namely Ramaswami Mudaliar.
About United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC):
President– Mona Juul
Headquarter– New York, United States (US)
Dharmendra Pradhan & Dan Brouillette co-chaired 2nd Meeting of India-US Strategic Energy Partnership (SEP) virtually
i.On July 17 2020, Union
Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas and Minister of Steel Dharmendra
Pradhan and United States (US) Secretary of Energy Dan Brouillette
co-chaired the 2nd
ministerial meeting of the U.S.-India Strategic Energy Partnership
(SEP) virtually to review progress, highlight major accomplishments, and
prioritize new areas for cooperation.
ii.Several MoU signed at US-India SEP ministerial meeting including the following:
- India-US signed MoU to begin cooperation on strategic petroleum reserve; India to create its first overseas oil stockpile in US
- MoU on India’s first-ever Solar Decathlon
- MOU between EESL, NTPC, and USAID for retrofit of buildings to improve indoor air quality, safety, and efficiency
- USAID partnered with POSOCO to develop NOAR
- Launch of public-private Hydrogen Task Force
- MoU signed under US-India Gas Task Force (GTF)
About US-India Strategic Energy Partnership (SEP):
Established in April 2018 at the
direction of President Donald John Trump and Prime Minister Narendra
Modi, SEP organizes inter-agency engagement on both sides across four
primary pillars of cooperation viz. Power and Energy Efficiency; Oil and
Gas; Renewable Energy; and Sustainable Growth.
- The SEP also supports US govt efforts under the AsiaEDGE initiative, which establishes India as a strong energy partner in the Indo-Pacific region.
India’s Ambassador to the US– Taranjit Singh Sandhu
US Capital– Washington, D.C.
US Currency– US Dollar
UN’s Global Multidimensional Poverty Index: India Record Largest Reduction in Number of People Living in Poverty
ii.The report released by the Human Development Report Office of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI) focuses on how multidimensional poverty has declined.
About United Nations Development Programme (UNDP):
Administrator– Achim Steiner
Headquarters– New York, United States of America
India Remains as Lower-Middle-Income Economy: World Bank Country Classifications by Income Level 2020-2021
ii.The World Bank classifies countries into four income groups namely: low income , lower-middle income, upper-middle income, and high-income economies.
iii.The classifications are updated each year on July 1 and are based on Gross National Income(GNI) per capita in current USD(using the Atlas method exchange rates) of the previous year.
About World Bank
Headquarters– Washington, D.C., United States
President– David R. Malpass
ECONOMY & BUSINESS
Centre’s fiscal deficit to increase to 7.6% & India’s GDP to contract by 5.3% in FY21: India Ratings and Research’s Report
ii.The report projects India’s Gross Domestic Product(GDP) to contract by 5.3% in FY21.
iii.The aggregate of the central and state fiscal deficit in FY21 is 12.1%, with the states contributing 4.5%.
About Ind-Ra:
Ind-Ra is a 100% owned subsidiary of the Fitch Group.
Headquarters– Mumbai, Maharashtra
Managing Director & CEO– Rohit karan Sawhney
AWARDS & RECOGNITIONS
UN announced the Laureates of 2020 Nelson Mandela Prize: Marianna Vardinoyannis & Morissana Kouyaté
ii.The award will be presented to them in an in-person award ceremony at a later date at the United Nations(UN) headquarters, New York, United States of America.
About UNGA:
President– Tijjani Muhammad-Bande
President Elect– Volkan Bozkir
Headquarters– New York, United States of America
South Central Railway’s Ongole Sub-Division Office Won Water Heroes Award for April 2020 from Jal Shakti Ministry
The Ongole Sub-Divisional Office of Vijayawada Division, Andhra Pradesh, South Central Railway
has won the Water Heroes Award for the month of April, 2020 from the
Ministry of Jal Shakti, Government of India. The division is led by
Pratham Agarwal, Assistant Divisional Engineer.
Water Heroes Award
Objective– To promote the value
of water and to support country-wide efforts on water conservation and
sustainable development of water resources.
Contest
i.The contest was organized by
the Department of Water Resources, River Development & Ganga
Rejuvenation; Ministry of Jal Shakti from 1st September, 2019 to 30th
June 2020.
ii.The participants had sent
their entries of success stories in the field of water conservation,
water resource development and management.
iii.The Contest is for a duration of 10 months. Each month, a maximum of 10 entries shall be selected for the cash prize.
Cash Prize– The selected entries will be awarded a cash prize of Rs. 10,000 each.
About Ministry of Jal Shakti
Union Minister– Gajendra Singh Shekhawat
Minister of State– Rattan Lal Kataria
Recent Related news
i.Ministry of Jal Shakti sanctions Rs. 445 crores for implementation of Jal Jeevan Mission in Chhattisgarh during 2020-21
ii.Cauvery Water Management Authority brought under the Jal Shakti Ministry: Central government.
Narendra Singh Tomar declared the 2019 ICAR Awards in 92nd ICAR Foundation Day
ii.The National Academy of Agriculture Research Management (NAARM), Hyderabad, received 4 awards in different categories.
About Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare:
Union Minister– Narendra Singh Tomar
Ministers of State– Parshottam Rupala and Kailash Choudhary
About Indian Council of Agricultural Research(ICAR):
Director General- Dr. Trilochan Mohapatra
Headquarters– New Delhi
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
PM SVANidhi app launched to provide digital interface for Lending Institutions (LIs); promotes digital access of micro-credit facilities by street vendors
ii.The aim of the app is to ease the sourcing and processing of loan applications of street vendors under the Scheme by providing user friendly digital interface for Lending Institutions (LIs) and their field functionaries like Banking Correspondents (BCs) and Agents of Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs)/ Micro-Finance Institutions (MFIs).
About PM SVANidhi:
MoHUA has launched PM SVANidhi (PM स्वनिधि ) – PM Street Vendor’s AtmaNirbharNidhi on June 01, 2020 for providing affordable Working Capital loan to 50 lakh street vendors to resume their livelihoods that have been adversely affected due to Covid-19 lockdown. As a part of the scheme, the street vendors, who had their businesses operational on or before 24 March, 2020 can avail a working capital loan of up to Rs. 10,000 which is repayable in monthly instalments in the tenure of one year. The loaning will commence from July 2020.
ICAT launched automotive technology e-portal ASPIRE
ii.The key objective of this portal is to enhance the technological capability of Indian automotive sector through exchange of knowledge & expertise.
iii.It was launched to facilitate the initiative of the Department of Heavy Industry (DHI), Govt. of India to promote Research and Development(R&D) and product development in India for various sectors.
About ICAT
Headquarters– Manesar, Haryana
Director– Dinesh Tyagi
SPORTS
Former Chelsea Forward and World Cup Winner Andre Schurrle Retires at 29
Andre Schurrle (29), Former Chelsa
attacker and Borussia Dortmund forward and 2014 World cup winner,
announces his retirement on July 17, 2020.
About Andre Schurrle:
- He played for Chelsea from 2013-15.
- He has won a Premier league winner medal in 2015.
- He joined the Bundesliga club in 2016 and has made 33 appearances in two seasons.
About Chelsea Football Club:
Chairman- Bruce Buck
Chief Executive- Guy Laurence
FIFA World Cup 2022: to be held in Qatar at Al Bayt Stadium
Few Facts about Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup
i.The first men’s FIFA World Cup to be staged in the Middle East, is also the first edition to be held in the November-December window.
ii.The World Cup is being hosted by an Asian nation for the second time. The first one was hosted by Japan and South Korea hosted together in 2002.
iii.The world cup involves 32 teams usually which are set to be increased to 48 teams in the year 2026 tournament.
Recent Related news
FIFA President Gianni Infantino congratulated the South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL) last 9th July 2020 on the 104th anniversary of its foundation.
About FIFA:
President: Gianni Infantino
Headquarters: Zurich, Switzerland
Membership: 211 national associations.
About Al Bayt Stadium:
Capacity: 60,000
Location: Al Khor, Qatar.
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