Weekly Current Affairs 12th - 18th July 2020 | One Liners | CivilsOnlinEd

Weekly Current Affairs 12th - 18th July 2020

           

International Events

     ·  For the first time the Indian Railways, loaded special Parcel train Benapole in Bangladesh with Dry Chillies from Reddipalem in Guntur District of Andhra Pradesh state

       · Iran had decided to proceed with the Chabahar port rail project by itself citing funding delays from India

       ·    Union Minister of State for Shipping (I/C) Shri Mansukh Mandaviya flagged off the first trial container ship from Kolkata to Agartala through Chattogram Port of Bangladesh, in a virtual ceremony.

 ·         ECOSOC

       Theme:  "Multilateralism after COVID19: What kind of UN do we need at the 75th anniversary”.

·         India and Israel have signed an agreement to further expand collaboration in dealing with cyber threats amid rapid digitisation due to the coronavirus pandemic that exposed the vulnerabilities of the virtual world.

       ·         India and the US have announced new areas of research on transformational power generation based on supercritical CO₂ (sCO2) power cycles and advanced coal technologies, including carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS).This emerged at a virtual ministerial meeting of the U.S.-India Strategic Energy Partnership (SEP). The SEP organizes inter-agency engagement on both sides across 4 primary pillars of cooperation: (1) Power and Energy Efficiency  (2) Oil and Gas   (3) Renewable Energy  (4) Sustainable Growth                                            

National Events

      ·         Union Minister for Road Transport, Highways and MSMEs Shri Nitin Gadkari will inaugurate and lay the foundation stones of various Highway projects as part of a new economic corridor worth over Rs 20 thousand crore in Haryana on the July 14^th

      ·         Indian Railways on MISSION MODE of becoming a "Green Railway" by 2030( Net Zero Carbon Emission)

      ·         Union Minister of State (I/C) for Shipping Shri Mansukh Mandaviya has approved Rs. 107 Crore for augmentation of firefighting facilities on 5 jetties of Haldia Dock Complex, Kolkata Port.

       ·         Rail Coach Factory, Kapurthala, has developed a Post COVID Coach to fight COVID 19

  

      ·         Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu released a book titled Tangams: An Ethnolinguistic Study of the Critically Endangered Group of Arunachal Pradesh.

     ·         Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) has given approval to the 1^st fully indigenously developed Pneumococcal Polysaccharide Conjugate Vaccine. This vaccine has been developed by M/s. Serum Institute of India Pvt. Ltd, Pune.

       ·         Under PM SVANidhi scheme Urban street vendors will be eligible to avail a Working Capital (WC) loan of up to `10,000 with tenure of 1 year and repaid in monthly instalments.

       ·         Jal Jeevan Mission: Arunachal plans 100% tap connections by 2023

      ·         Virtually addressing the concluding ceremony of the centenary celebrations of the Sri Jaya Chamaraja Wadiyar, the 25^th Maharaja of the Kingdom of Mysore, the Vice President called for celebrating the knowledge, wisdom, patriotism and vision of all great rulers and statesmen like Maharaja Jaya Chamaraja Wadiyar who have shaped our history.

Economy

       ·         US remains India's top trading partner in 2019-20

In 2019-20 bilateral trade between India and US is $88.75 billion as against $87.96billion in 2018-19

       ·         The export, of coir and coir products from India worth Rs. 2757.90 crore for the year 2019-20, registers an all-time high record, which is Rs.2728.01 crore in 2018-19.

      ·         NTPC Ltd has entered into an MoU with National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF), acting through National Investment and Infrastructure Fund Limited (NIIFL), to explore opportunities for investments in areas like renewable energy, power distribution among other areas of mutual interest in India.

      ·         New Form 26AS is the faceless hand-holding of the taxpayers to e-file their income tax returns quickly and correctly.

Science & Technology

·         NRDC Funds 16 COVID Technologies for Scaling up and Validation

·         ARCI & Vehant Technologies co-develop UV System for baggage Scan Disinfection to fight COVID 19

Environment

       ·         4 European bison, or wisent, will be introduced into the 2,500-acre area called Blean Woods near Canterbury in Southeast England’s Kent region, by the spring of 2022

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Appointments

    §  Dr Vidhu P. Nair (presently Director in the Ministry) has been appointed as the next Ambassador of India to Turkmenistan.

    §  Shri Hemant Harishchandra Kotalwar(presently Joint Secretary on deputation to NSCS) has been appointed as the next Ambassador of India to the Czech Republic. 

      ·         SBI Cards' MD, CEO Hardayal Prasad resigns, Ashwini Tewari to take charge

Awards

      ·         NTPC Ltd has won the CII-ITC Sustainability Award 2019, under Outstanding Accomplishment in Corporate Excellence Category. Also, the company has received Commendation for Significant Achievement in the category of CSR.

Miscellaneous

       ·         World Youth Skills Day 2020

§  Observed on July 15^th

§  Theme: Skills for a Resilient Youth in the Era of COVID-19 and Beyond

      ·         World Day For International Justice 2020:17^th July

Also known as Day of International Criminal Justice or International Justice Day.The day is celebrated throughout the world as part of an effort to recognize the emerging system of international criminal justice

·     The world observes Nelson Mandela Day on July 18 in honour of South Africa’s 1st democratically-elected black president.