Current Affairs - July 21, 2020 Current Affairs

Union Health & Family Welfare Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan launches 'Plasma Donation Campaign' in association with Delhi Police at AIIMS

SBI (State Bank of India) cards and payment services appointed, Mr. Ashwini Kumar Tewari as its new Managing Director (MD) and Chief Executive officer (CEO) who is intended to be in charge from August 1, 2020. His new appointment will be valid for 2 years.

Sahitya Akademi Awardee Baldev Singh Sadaknama has authored a book 'Suraj Kade Marda Nahi' (sun never dies). The book portrays many aspects of freedom fighter Udham Singh. The book is published by Unistarbooks.

As a part of Finance Track for the G20 Leaders Summit 2020, which is to be hosted by Saudi Arabia at the end of 2020, the 3rd G20 (Group of Twenty) Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors (FMCBG) meeting was held virtually. It was organized under the Saudi Arabian Presidency where Indian side was represented by Union Minister for Finance & Corporate Affairs Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman

Maharashtra State Electricity Transmission Company Limited (MSETCL) has started to use drones for aerial surveillance and inspection of extra high voltage (EHV) power transmission lines and towers. Maharashtra becomes the 1st state to do so.

A civil rights veteran, The Rev Cordy Tindell Vivian who worked alongside the Rev Martin Luther King Jr, passed away. Vivian led the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) and became its interim president in 2012. He also helped in organizing the Freedom Rides to integrate buses across the south and trained waves of activists in non-violent protest.

United Nations celebrates World Chess Day globally on 20 July every year. World Chess Day marks the date of the establishment of the International Chess Federation (FIDE) in Paris in 1924. It also provides an important platform to foster, dialogue, solidarity and culture of peace along with recognizing the instrumental role played by the FIDE in supporting international cooperation for chess activity and aiming to improve friendly harmony among all peoples of the world.

Union Minister for Power, New & Renewable Energy, Shri R.K Singh, inaugurated India's first public Electric Vehicle (EV) charging plaza at Chelmsford Club in New Delhi on 20 July 2020.

Union Minister of Food Processing Industries Smt Harsimrat Kaur Badal inaugurated the Zoram Mega Food Park Ltd at Kolasib in Mizoram through virtual conference. The Mega Food Park for the development of the North-Eastern region and is in line to achieve Atmanirbhar Bharat.

India's Ministry of Defence recently discussed the issue of adding Australia to the trilateral Malabar naval exercise with Japan and the United States in the Bay of Bengal later this year. Malabar exercise started as a naval exercise between India and the U.S. in 1992, and was expanded into a trilateral format with the inclusion of Japan in 2015.

Lewis Hamilton won the Formula-1 Hungarian Grand Prix 2020 at Hungaroring, Mogyorod, Hungary. Max Verstappen (Dutch-Red Bull) was second, followed by Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes- Finland) at the third spot

In accordance with the report of "The Global Direct Selling - 2019 Retail Sales" by the World Federation of Direct Selling Associations (WFDSA), India was ranked 15th in global direct selling industry with sales of USD 2.477 billion in 2019.

Ministry of Defence (MoD) has signed a contract with Bharat Earth Movers Limited (BEML) for procurement of 1,512 Mine Plough (MP) for Tank T-90 S/SK. The move comes as a major boost to the Make in India initiative of the Government of India.

Bollywood director Rajat Mukherjee passed away. He was known for directing films like Pyaar Tune Kya Kiya which was released in 2001 and Road starring Vivek Oberoi and Antara Mali which was released in 2002.

Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR)-Central Mechanical Engineering Research Institute (CMERI), Durgapur, unveiled the COVID Protection System (COPS) for Workplace to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic. Apart from the Healthcare Workers, the frontline Security Guards of any organization are very vulnerable to COVID-19 through infected individuals and contaminated objects.

A mission titled as "Hope" has been launched to "Mars" by the United Arab Emirates. With this mission, UAE aims to provide a complete picture of the Martian atmosphere for the first time, studying daily and seasonal changes.

In accordance with the initial timeline drawn by the railways, it has planned to roll out 151 private train services by 2027 on 109 pairs of routes across the country. In this regard, Indian Railways is ready to introduce 12 trains in 2022-23, 45 in 2023-2024, 50 in 2025-26 and 44 more in the next fiscal, taking the total number of trains to 151 by the end of FY 2026-2027.

The book titled The Tangams: An Ethnolinguistic Study of the Critically Endangered Group of Arunachal Pradesh was released by Pema Khandu, the Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh. The book is published by Centre for Endangered Languages (CFEL), Rajiv Gandhi University and Himalayan Publishers, New Delhi.

Prakash Javadekar, Union Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change and Information & Broadcasting hailed KURMA, a mobile based application contributing towards conservation of Indian turtles, as a unique tool for tracking and reporting Indian turtles and tortoises.

Uttar Pradesh government has launched "Navin Rojgar Chhatri Yojana" for all-round development of the Scheduled Castes. UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath transferred financial assistance of 17.42 crore online to 3,484 people under the 'Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay Swarojgar Yojana' and interacted with some beneficiaries from Rae Bareli, Gorakhpur, Basti, Meerut, Azamgarh and Moradabad districts through video conferencing.