Current Affairs Quiz - August, 2020

Notes:
NASA has successfully launched its Mars rover named ‘Perseverance’ from Cape Canaveral Florida on a United Launch Alliances Atlas V rocket.
The vehicle with the size of a large car is also accompanied by a helicopter called Ingenuity which will study Mars’s atmosphere. It will drill into Mars and collect geological specimens. The rover is expected to land at the base of a crater called Jezero on February 18, 2021.

Notes:
The Indian Government has imposed safeguard duty on solar cells for one more year till July 2021 to protect domestic manufacturers.
This move will also discourage cheap imports from countries like China. Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR), the investigative arm of the Commerce Ministry had recommended to the Department of Revenue for this imposition of duty.

Notes:
The Directorate of Cashew Research (DCR) located in the state of Karnataka has developed the ‘Cashew India’ application for farmers of cashew in India.
The app gives information on cashew grafts, cultivation, post-harvest processing, and market information to stakeholders such as farmers, researchers and processors. The app is available in 11 languages and funded by the Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture.

Notes:
The United Arab Emirates has successfully commenced operation of the Arab world’s first commercial nuclear power plant.
The Barakah reactor is located in the oil-rich city of the UAE, Abu Dhabi. With the commission, the UAE joins the group of 30 countries that can generate nuclear energy. It is built and run by a joint venture with Korea Electric Power Corporation.

Notes:
Union Health and Family Welfare Minister Harsh Vardhan launched a national- level programme named ‘Vidyarthi Vigyan Manthan’ 2020-21.
This initiative aims to promote scientific temper among school students of Class 6 to 11. It is jointly organised by Vijnana Bharati, in collaboration with Vigyan Prasar, an autonomous organisation under Science and Technology Ministry and NCERT of Education Ministry. It identifies and trains bright students with interest in Science.

Notes:
The Union Government has expanded the Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) by doubling the upper ceiling of loans to Rs 50 crore.
The scheme also includes individual loans given for business purposes to professionals like doctors, lawyers and chartered accountants under its scope. The maximum amount of guaranteed emergency credit line funding under the ECLGS scheme is also increased from Rs 5 crore to Rs 10 crore.

Notes:
Veteran England all-rounder Ian Botham has been made a member of the House of Lords of the British Parliament.
The 64-year-old former England captain is the first cricketer to be awarded this honour since 2011. He is among the 36 new members announced by the Government. He was knighted in the year 2007 for his services in cricket and in the field of charity.

Notes:
The Chief Minister of Uttarakhand Trivendra Singh Rawat announced that the state will set up the country’s first snow leopard conservation centre.
The centre will be opened in the Uttarkashi forest division in the state. It is to set up jointly with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) as a part of its six-year long project called ‘SECURE Himalayas’. It was started in 2017 to conserve snow leopards and other endangered species in the Himalayas.

Notes:
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has recently announced that it will establish an innovation hub to assist start-ups to tackle the challenges of financial inclusion.
The hub seeks to provide solutions for efficient banking transactions. This has been introduced in the bi-monthly monetary policy statement released by the RBI. The funds allocated for the project and its location will be disclosed by the Central Bank.

Notes:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is to inaugurate the ‘Rashtriya Swachhata Kendra’, an interactive experience centre on the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM).
It was first announced by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the year 2017, on the occasion of the centenary celebrations of Gandhiji’s Champaran Satyagraha. The Rashtriya Swachhata Kendra complex comprises of audio-visual show explaining the journey of the country in implementing the SBM.