Current Affairs - July 26, 2020 Current Affairs

The 1st edition of two days long world's largest Global Fintech Fest (GFF) was held virtually, which was organized by Payments Council of India (PCI) and Fintech Convergence Council (FCC) at National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) under the theme "Fintech : With and Beyond COVID". The aim of the fest was to bring together the global FinTech and Banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI) sector.

A Space start up namely Digantara Research and Technology (DRT) which has developed India's first in-orbit space debris monitoring and tracking system that works on LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) technology has been selected by SID (Society for Innovation and Development) incubation program at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) Bangalore.

A 34 years old Female fast bowler Sripali Weerakkody who represent for Sri Lanka in International Crickets has announced her retirement from all forms of Cricket. She played 89 ODIs and 58 T20Is.She totally picked 89 wickets in her career.

The Punjab Cabinet chaired by Chief Minister Amarinder Singh approved a USD 285.71 million (over Rs 2,130 crore) project for canal-based water supply for Amritsar and Ludhiana cities through video conferencing.

Legendary Jazz Singer, Annie Ross passed away. She was a popular jazz singer in the 1950s before crossing over into a successful film career. Ross appeared in "Superman III," "Throw Momma from the Train" and Robert Altman's films "The Player" and the Oscar-nominated "Short Cuts." In 2014, Ross released the album "To Lady with Love," a tribute to Billie Holiday.

Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd (APSEZ) becomes the 1st Indian port and 7th Port globally to sign up for the Science-Based Targets initiative (SBTi).

Union Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Prakash Keshav Javadekar virtually launched the piloting of the National Transit Pass System (NTPS) from Indira Paryavaran Bhawan in New Delhi, as another step towards Digital India Movement. The pilot project will be functional in Madhya Pradesh (MP) and Telangana, and by this Diwali it will be operational in pan India.

Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India (TRIFED) has entered into a partnership with IIT-Delhi (on behalf of the UBA, as the National Coordinating Institute) and Vijnana Bharati (VIBHA, a Swadeshi Science Movement) at IIT, Delhi for the Unnat Bharat Abhiyan (UBA), a flagship national programme of Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) , Government of India (GoI)

Indian Overseas Bank (IOB) has appointed Mr. Partha Pratim Sengupta as its new Managing Director (MD) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), and his tenure ends by December 31, 2022 or until further orders.

The IIT (Indian Institute of Technology), Banaras Hindu University (BHU) to develop a biotechnology based water treatment system for the purification of sewage water flowing into the rivers Ganga and Godavari through the SPRING Project. The project is funded by the Indian Ministry of science & technology, Department of biotechnology with the European Union.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Green Climate Fund (GCF) agreed to partner toward the "Green Recovery". This is to help hands for the people who are facing the harsh economic impact due to COVID-19 pandemic.

ICICI Lombard in partnership with PhonePe has launched Hospital Daily cash benefit under its Group Safeguard Insurance policy, a sachet-based group insurance product.

S Hussain Zaidi, a well known crime writer has recently written a novel named "The Endgame". It was published by the HarperCollins India. The book speaks about the politics, betrayal, and unimaginable terror.

Union Minister for Finance & Corporate Affairs, Nirmala Sitharaman informed that so far Rs 8767 crore has been approved for 81 projects under Special Window for Affordable and Mid Income Housing (SWAMIH) Investment Fund I.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) publicized the "Report of the Committee for Analysis of QR (Quick Response) Code" under the chairmanship of Prof. Deepak B. Phatak on its website for comments / suggestions of various industry players.

In accordance with the "Special Bulletin on Maternal Mortality in India 2016-18", released by the Office of the Registrar General's Sample Registration System (SRS), the Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) in India has declined to 113 in 2016-18 from 122 in 2015-17 and 130 in 2014-2016 and almost 100 deaths lesser than in the period of 2007-2009.

A COVID-19 testing facility has been established by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) at the Leh based laboratory Defence Institute of High Altitude Research (DIHAR).

The Deputy Commissioner of Mumbai Customs and a 2011 batch Indian Revenue Service Officer, Mr. Sahil Seth, has been appointed as an honorary advisor for the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCI) for the period 2020 to 2030.

Nitin Jairam Gadkari, Union Minister of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise (MoMSME), launched www.restartindia.com, a mentoring platform. It was initiated jointly by Muthoot Fincorp and INKtalks to support the MSME sector to restart the business across the nation.

Pi approximation day is observed annually on July 22. It is dedicated to the mathematical constant pi (p). The day is also called Casual Pi Day. Pi denotes the relationship between a circle's circumference and its diameter and is denoted by the fraction 22/7 which calculates approximately to 3.14.