Current Affairs - August 7, 2020 Current Affairs

S.N. Bose National Centre for Basic Sciences (SNBNCBS), Kolkata, an autonomous research Institute under the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India, has developed a No-touch & Painless device named "AJO-Neo" for non-invasive screening of bilirubin level in new-borns.

Former Jammu and Kashmir LG Girish Chandra Murmu was appointed as the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India. His appointment becomes effective from the date he assumes charge of the CAG office.

World Lung Cancer Day is observed annually on August 1 to raise awareness about the causes and treatment of lung cancer and its global impact, creating an educational movement to understand the risks of lung cancer and early treatment around the world.

Bharti Airtel announced the multi-year Strategic Collaboration Agreement (SCA) with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to provide a comprehensive set of cloud solutions to the large enterprises and Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) customers in India.

Pune's Serum Institute of India and US-based Novavax signed an agreement for supply of the Novavax COVID-19 vaccines in India as well as in other low- and middle- income countries. Under the agreement, at least 1 billion doses of vaccine, also known as NVX-CoV2373, will be made available for India and other countries.

Aditya Birla Health Insurance Company Limited (ABHICL), the health insurance arm of Aditya Birla Capital Limited, has introduced new services, product solutions & add-ons to the existing products to enable customers to safeguard their health during COVID-19.

Andhra Pradesh Government virtually signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) through the Economic Development Board, with the Hyderabadbased Indian School of Business (ISB) in order to work with various economic departments in the state. According to the MoU, a laboratory called "GoAP-ISB Policy Lab" would be set up to drive the evidence-based policy decisions.

Airtel Payments Bank has entered into a partnership with Bharti AXA General Insurance to offer the latter's affordable and newly launched shop insurance product namely "Smart Plan Shop Package Policy" for financial protection of the bank's retailers and merchants. The policy will provide financial protection in case of damage to assets inside the shop due to fire and allied perils and burglary, among others, as covered in the product. The insurance policy has a flexible sum insured option, starting from Rs 2 lakh up to Rs 25 lakh.

Oman India Joint Investment Fund(OIJIF) II acquired 5.07 million (50,69,903) shares or 1.63% stake in DCB Bank Limited(DCB Bank)through a block trade (bulk deal) on stock exchanges. The stake is valued at Rs 42 crore. The shares were purchased at an average price of Rs 81.90 valuing the transaction at Rs 41.52 crore.

The Reserve Bank of India launched "Innovation Hub" for ideation and incubation of new capabilities that can be leveraged to deepen financial inclusion. The hub is being launched to promote the start ups in the country. It will help in ideation and incubation of new capabilities. This will in turn help to deepen financial inclusion in the country and promote efficient banking services.

A new study identified 37 recently active volcanic structures on Venus. The study provides some of the best evidence yet that Venus is still a geologically active planet. A research paper on the work, which was conducted by researchers at the University of Maryland and the Institute of Geophysics at ETH Zurich, Switzerland, was published in the journal Nature Geoscience on July 20, 2020.

Two coastal villages in Odisha -Venkatraipur and Noliasahi- have been recognised as tsunami ready by UNESCO's Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC). This is the first time that any state in India is getting recognition. The Information and Public Relations Department of Odisha made the announcement.

In a bid to support the "Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan" initiative, Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) and Indo-Tibetan Border Police(ITBP) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to supply mustard oil Note: ITBP became the first Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) to have supplies from the KVIC.

FutureBrand Index 2020 was released, Apple which topped the index. Reliance Industries Limited (RIL), Oil and Gas Company ranked as the Second Biggest Brand Future Brand Index, the global perception study based on the assessment of the company's performance, reordered the PwC's Global Top 100 Companies which was based on the Market Capitalisations.

The Electronic Vaccine Intelligence Network (eVIN), which is used for efficient vaccine logistics management has reached 32 States and Union Territories (UTs) and will soon be rolled-out in the remaining State of Sikkim and Union Territories (UTs) of Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Chandigarh and an Ladakh. Currently, 23,507 cold chain points across 585 districts of 22 States and 2 UTs routinely use the eVIN technology. Aimed at strengthening immunization supply chain systems in India, eVIN is being implemented under National Health Mission (NHM) by Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW).

Australia will force US tech giants Facebook Inc and Alphabet Inc's Google to pay Australian media outlets for news content in a landmark move to protect independent journalism that will be watched around the world. Australia will become the first country to require Facebook and Google to pay for news content provided by media companies under a royalty-style system.

Karnataka's Medical Education Minister Dr. K Sudhakar inaugurated India's first Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT- PCR) COVID-19 mobile Lab approved by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). The mobile lab is called the Mobile Infection Testing and Reporting lab (MITR) which was developed by the Indian Institute of Science (IISC) in Bengaluru and handed over to Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences (RGUHS) in Bengaluru.

The Andhra Pradesh government is all set to launch 'YSR Cheyutha' on August 12, 2020, to benefit the rural economy of the state amid hardships resulting due to Coronavirus pandemic.

Manohar Lal Khattar, the Chief Minister of Haryana launched a unique identity card, the Parivar Pehchan Patras (PPP), an initiative of the state government developed by the team CMO (Chief Minister's Office) for effective and efficient delivery of central and state schemes to the people in a transparent way.

Indian middle-order batsman Suresh Raina & Indian women's team captain(T20I) Harmanpreet Kaur were appointed as Global brand ambassadors of Win Trade Fantasy (WTF) Sports. In addition to this, Suresh Raina has also joined the brand as Strategic Partner. World Trade Fantasy (WTF) Sports is a fantasy sports gaming platform, which was formally launched in India and other parts of the world on 6th August, 2020.s

India's 1st snow leopard conservation centre is to be set up in Lanka, near Bhaironghati bridge in Uttarkashi district, Uttarakhand.Chief minister of Uttarakhand Trivendra Singh Rawat chaired a meeting along with State forest minister Harak Singh Rawat and other officials to look into the setting up of the conservation centre. It will be built by the Uttarakhand forest department along the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) as part of its six-year long project Securing livelihoods, conservation, sustainable use and restoration of high range Himalayan ecosystems (SECURE) Himalayas.

Union Minister of State for Culture & Tourism (Independent charge) Prahlad Singh Patel virtually inaugurated the first golf course of Mizoram i.e. "Thenzawl Golf Resort" Project, implemented under the Swadesh Darshan (SD) Scheme of Ministry of Tourism, from New Delhi.

Northern Railway ran its first Vyapar Mala Express train from Kishanganj in Delhi bound for Jirania in Tripura. It will help small traders to move their cargo in short time, cost effective, convenient and environment-friendly mode of transportation. The train has 46 wagons and It is an express service where piece-meal stock will reach its destination in a shorter time.

Senior Congressman and former Maharashtra Chief Minister(CM) Shivajirao Patil Nilangekar passed away at the age of 88 in Pune, Maharashtra. He Was born on 1 September 1931 in Nilanga, Hyderabad state (British India).

Japan marked the 75th anniversary of the Hiroshima atomic bomb attack on August 6, 2020. The main event was held at Hiroshima, which saw in attendance survivors and relatives of the victims and few foreign dignitaries.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the Conclave on Transformational Reforms in Higher Education under National Education Policy on 7 August through video-conferencing. The conclave was organized by the Ministry of Education along with the University Grants Commission (UGC).

Spain's World Cup-winning Captain and Goalkeeper Iker Casillas announced his retirement. In 2014, Casillas became one of four players to represent Spain at four World Cups. Iker Casillas was born 20 May 1981 in Mostoles, Spain.

The Royal Mint of United Kingdom is working on a proposal for a new coin commemorating Mahatma Gandhi as the first ethnic minority face to feature on British currency amid criticism by some prominent PIOs.

Government of India (GoI) has contributed USD 15.46 million to the India-UN (United Nations) Development Partnership Fund as a support tofellow developing nations for their 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and related projects. In this regard, a cheque of USD 15.46 million handed over by India's Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador T S Tirumurti to the United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation (UNOSSC) Director Jorge Chediek at a ceremony held within social distancing guidelines at the Permanent Mission of India to the UN.

The Centre will develop Leh and Kargil as smart cities in the newly-formed union territory of Ladakh. Working on a home ministry proposal to improve infrastructure and generate job opportunities in Ladakh, the housing and urban affairs ministry has formed a five-member team under Smart Cities director Rahul Kapoor to guide the union territory in formulating detailed projects reports for both the cities.