Current Affairs - July 6, 2020 Current Affairs

Dharma Chakra Day was celebrated by the International Buddhist Confederation (IBC), under the aegis of Ministry of Culture on 4th July. This day commemorates Buddha's First Sermon to his first five ascetic disciples at the Deer Park, Rsipatana in the present day Sarnath near Varanasi, UP. The day is also observed as Guru Poornima by both Buddhists as well as Hindus as a day to mark reverence to their Gurus.

Last date for filing ITR (income tax returns) for 2019-20 extended till November 30.

Messaging giant WhatsApp said on Saturday it has launched its first brand campaign 'It's Between You' in India that narrates real stories about how Indians communicate daily on WhatsApp 'in their closest relationships.'

AIR (All India Radio) starts weekly Sanskrit 'News Magazine' programme 'Sanskrit Saptahiki' on Saturdays.

Delhi Government has launched an e-learning portal name as "Learning through E-Resources Made Accessible for Delhi (LEAD)". The portal has been developed by the Delhi government and comprises of 10,000 instructional materials and course content for students of Classes I to XII. The Delhi government will also share its teaching-learning material on the digital platform "DIKSHA" through its e-learning portal "LEAD". The portal will offer students access to textbooks, study material and course content as per the syllabus of the CBSE, NCERT and Delhi government's curriculum online.

Government-owned mining majors NLC India Ltd and Coal India Ltd have formed a joint venture. The joint venture company will develop solar and thermal power assets. Both the central public sector undertakings will hold equal 50:50 equity in the joint venture company. Coal India is the single largest coal producer worldwide and operates through 83 mining areas spread over eight states in India. NLC India Limited is a 'Navratna' government of India company in the fossil fuel mining sector in India and thermal power generation.

The 'Aatma Nirbhar Bharat App Innovation Challenge' for Indian tech entrepreneurs and startups was launched by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, with an objective to support and build Aatmanirbhar App Ecosystem. Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (Meity) in partnership with Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) launched the challenge & will regulate the challenge.

The Science and Engineering Research Board has launched a new scheme called 'Accelerate Vigyan' to provide a single platform for research internships, capacity building programs and workshops across the country. The primary objective of this inter-ministerial scheme is to encourage high-end scientific research and prepare scientific manpower, which can lead towards research careers and knowledge-based economy.

A campaign "Mission Vriksharopan-2020" has been launched by the Uttar Pradesh government. Under this campaign, more than 25 crore saplings were planted on 5th July in Uttar Pradesh. The tree plantation drive was launched on the occasion of Guru Poornima and hence several people were seen planting saplings to pay respect to their mentors.

Insurance regulator IRDAI has constituted a working group to study the suitability of insurers offering surety bonds for contractors. Headed by G. Srinivasan, director, National Insurance Academy, the group comprises senior executives of public and private insurers as well as officials of IRDAI. It has three months to submit the report.

Jean Castex has been appointed as the new Prime Minister of France. The appointment of Jean Castex as the new french PM was made by the french President Emmanuel Macron. He has replaced the former french Prime Minister Edouard Philippe who resigned from the post ahead of a government reshuffle.

The Government of Odisha launched 1st of its kind scheme, 'Balaram' to provide agricultural credit of Rs 1,040 crore to landless farmers facing hardships during COVID 19. The Scheme is designed in collaboration with National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD).

"Fit Hai To Hit Hai India" webinar program was launched, under the India's flagship Fit India campaign, by the Union Minister of Human Resource Development Dr Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank' and Minister of State (MoS) for Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs and Ministry of Minority Affairs Kiren Rijiju. This webinar marked the launch of '#FitIndiaTalks', which will see a series of talks and interactive sessions being held by leading sports celebrities for students. The first session was held on 3rd July itself with the participation of P.V. (Pusarla Venkata) Sindhu and Sunil Chhetri.

The United Nations celebrates the International Day of Cooperatives every year on the first Saturday of July to increase awareness of cooperatives. In the year 2020, the International Day of Cooperatives will be celebrated on 4th July with a focus on the contribution of cooperatives to combating climate change. UN has also appealed to spread the word: "#Coops4ClimateAction" to celebrate the International Day of Cooperatives 2020.

ICMR (Indian Council of Medical Research) and Bharat Biotech join hands for development of COVID-19 vaccine called Covaxin. ICMR Director-General Dr Balram Bhargava announces plans to introduce an Indian vaccine for COVID-19 by August 15.