Current Affairs Quiz - August, 2020

Notes:
The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) is set to roll out a new National Clinical Registry of COVID-19 patients admitted across the county.
To launch this comprehensive database, the ICMR has collaborated with the Health Ministry and All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS). This database will help to improve treatment in hospitals and will let officials conduct clinical trials and study the effectiveness of new therapies.

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:
Rajya Sabha member Amar Singh has recently passed away at the age of 64. He was undergoing treatment in hospital for the past few months.
Several political leaders condoled the death of Amar Singh. He was a businessman turned Politician who had acquaintances in all major parties. He was active in his social media account even during last week.

Notes:
Nokia is set to establish a robotics lab at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru to study about 5G technology.
Nokia Center of Excellence (CoE) for networked robotics lab will be deployed to research on socially-relevant use cases based on 5G and emerging technologies. This will promote cooperation between colleges and industries.

Notes:
Hyderabad has been ranked 16th among the ‘Top 20 Most Surveilled Cities globally’, according to a report published by Comparitech.
In the survey conducted by the UK-based firm, Hyderabad topped the country with its 3 lakh CCTV cameras to organise surveillance operations in a city of over 1 crore. The Taiyum city of China was ranked at the top spot with 4.65 lakh CCTV cameras.

Notes:
Union Minister of Information and Broadcasting Prakash Javadekar has virtually launched ‘DD Assam’ channel, jointly with the Chief Minister of Assam.
The 24×7 channel will showcase the rich history of the state with programs like music programmes, travelogues, reality shows and feature films focussing on folk culture and tribal life. Door Darshan has already been running channels in several north eastern states.

Notes:
The Thenzawl Golf Resort project has been virtually inaugurated in the state of Mizoram, by the Union Minister of State for Culture & Tourism (IC) Prahlad Singh Patel.
The project has been launched under the Swadesh Darshan Scheme’s Integrated Development of New Eco Tourism. With a toral site area of 105 acres and a play area of 75 acres, it has been designed by the top-ranked Canada based architectural firm, the Graham Cooke and Associates.

Notes:
The Unified Payments Interface (UPI) has touched a record high transaction of 1.49 billion in the month of July.
This is its highest count of transactions since its inception and a 11% growth over that of the previous month. The monthly transactions were worth Rs 2.9 trillion. IMPS recorded 222.1 million transactions in July while Bharat Bill Payment Services hit 20.16 million transactions.

Notes:
The Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) is a flagship initiative of the NITI Aayog to promote innovation and entrepreneurship across the country.
AIM conducts the ATL Tinkering Marathon, a national annual innovation challenge in partnership with MyGOV. AIM has released the results of the 2019 edition of the challenge. As many as 150 winners of the Marathon was announced by the AIM.

Notes:
The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) has recently developed a mobile application named ‘COVID19BWM’.
Municipal corporations and state pollution boards are directed to upload data regarding collection and disposal of Covid-19 biomedical waste from residences and quarantine centres, in the app. This was also mandated by the Supreme Court.