Current Affairs - July 18, 2020 Current Affairs

The Odisha government on July 17, 2020 announced a monthly pension for the family members of ASHA and Anganwadi workers, who succumb to the COVID-19 virus during active deployment. The state will provide the spouse or next of kin of deceased Anganwadi worker, who succumbs to COVID-19 in line of duty under active deployment, with Rs 7,500 per month till the date they would have attained the age of 60 years had they survived.

15th summit between India and the European Union (EU) was held virtually where India was represented by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the EU was represented by Charles Michel, President of the European Council, and Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission.

Shri Shripad Yesso Naik, Minister of State (MoS) for Defence inaugurated the 5th edition of conference on Aerospace and Defence (A&D) Manufacturing Technologies in New Delhi through Video Conference. The conference was jointly organised by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Tamil Nadu Technology Development and Promotion Centre (TNTDPC) and Society of Indian Defence Manufacturers (SIDM).

Prime Minister Boris Johnson banned Huawei Technologies from Britain's 5G network, angering China but delighting US President Donald Trump by signalling that the world's biggest telecoms equipment maker is no longer welcome in the West.

National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development(NABARD) launched development projects of Rs 44 lakhs in Andaman and Nicobar Islands to strengthen the Atmanirbhar Bharat through rural entrepreneurship.

In Maharashtra, cases of Covid-19 are raging in Nashik district as well. However, to curb the further spread of the disease, the government has initiated a measure "HEALTHCARE SERVICE AT YOUR DOORSTEP".

In 15th edition of India - EU summit they agreed to jointly tackle water issues, air pollution, plastic and marine litter. The leaders welcomed the continued fusion research cooperation within the ITER (International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor) project. The project is funded and run by seven member entities-the European Union, India, Japan, China, Russia, South Korea and the United States.

World Day for International Justice is observed on 17 July across the world. The aim is to recognize the strengthening system of international justice. The day also promotes international criminal justice.

India and Bhutan opened a new trade route between Jaigaon in West Bengal and Ahlay, Pasakha in Bhutan to establish easy connectivity and to increase trade between India and Bhutan amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Committee to Protect Journalists(CPJ) has announced that 4 Journalists, Shahidul Alam from Bangladesh, Mohammad Mosaed from Iran, Dapo Olorunyomi from Nigeria and Svetlana Prokopyeva from Russia will be honoured with the 2020 International Press Freedom Awards for their courageous act. In addition to them lawyer Amal Clooney will be honoured with the Gwen Ifill Press Freedom Award 2020.

India's largest commercial shipbuilder Cochin Shipyard Ltd has signed a contract to build the world's first fully automatic electric vessel for ASKO Maritime, Norway. In this regard, CSL will construct and supply two autonomous electric ferries to ASKO Maritime, with an option to build two more identical vessels. The project, partially funded by the Norwegian Government, aimed at emission-free transport of goods across the Oslofjord, inlet in Norway. The value of two ships is Rs 125 crore, the cost does not include the value for two optional ships.

World Youth skills Day, The United Nations Children's Fund(UNICEF) India announced its partnership with SAP India, a software company to provide career counseling to young people on improving their skills to increase employment opportunities for them. To benefit the underserved young people of India, UNICEF India collaborates with YuWaah - UNICEF's Generation Unlimited initiative to provide digital education and skills required for employment.

India witnessed almost 273 million people move out of multidimensional poverty between 2005-2006 and 2015-2016, as per UN report on Global Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI). The report noted that India recorded the largest reduction in the number of people living in this category. The data was released by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI).

Bastille Day is the common English name given to the national day of France, which is celebrated on July 14. In French, the day is formally referred to as Fete Nationale and is it the anniversary day for the storming of the Bastille that took place on July 14, 1789.

Atal Innovation Mission, flagship initiative of NITI Aayog teamed with other Ministries and its partners, to organize the series of virtual COVID-19 Demo Days to find the potential startups with innovative COVID-19 solutions and provide support to develop and scale up the solutions. The initiative was launched under the directions of Dr Vijay Raghavan, Principal Scientific Advisor to the Government of India and Dr Vinod Paul, Member Health of NITI Aayog.

117th birth anniversary of the former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu "King Maker" K.Kamaraj was observed as Tamil Nadu's Educational Development Day to remember his contribution to enhance the school education facilities of Tamil Nadu. In 2006 the Government of Tamil Nadu passed a development and celebration bill declaring July 15th, the birth day of Perunthalaivar Kamarajar as the "Educational Development Day".

As a part of Make in India programme, DRDO has developed P7 Heavy Drop System (HDS) which is capable of para dropping military stores ((vehicle/ ammunition/ equipment) up to 7-ton weight class from IL 76 aircraft [Ilyushin Il-76 or Gajraj (elephant king)].

The Defence Acquisition Council headed by Rajnath Singh, Minister of Defence has granted special financial power to the armed forces to make emergency purchases of armed weapons worth upto Rs.300 crores to meet the emerging operational requirement.

Snapdeal's Kunal Bahl to lead CII's e-commerce committee. Confederation of Indian Industry recently announcedSnapdeal's Co-founder & CEO KunalBahl has taken over as the Chairman of its e-commerce committee for the year 2020-21.

The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) headed by Rajnath Singh, Minister of Defence has granted special financial power to the armed forces to make emergency purchases of armed weapons worth upto Rs.300 crores to meet the emerging operational requirement.