Current Affairs Quiz - August, 2020

Notes:
The 100th death anniversary of Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak is being observed on 1st August, across the country.
Tilak was a prominent extremist leader in the Indian National Congress. Being an integral part of the Lal-Bal-Pal trio, he proclaimed “Swaraj is my birth right and I shall have it”. Tilak was born on July 23, 1856 in Maharashtra and passed away on August 1 in the year 1920.

Notes:
The Union Government has provisionally granted permission for the Indian Premier League’s (IPL) 2020 edition to be scheduled in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Due to the Covid-19 outbreak, the IPL governing council had earlier postponed the tournament. It is to be held from September 19 to November 10 across Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah, after the final clearances from the Indian government.

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:
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:
India’s leading private sector bank Axis Bank is set to launch a an Artificial-Intelligence powered multilingual voice bot ‘AXAA’.
The bank has entered into a partnership with a Bengaluru start-up Vernacular.ai in this regard. The partnership aims to optimise AI-based voice solutions and automate customer interactions through human-like dialogues.

Notes:
As per a recent statement by the Union Consumer Affairs Ministry, over 44 lakh tonnes food grains were lifted by States and Union Territories till date.
The food grains were taken under Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana-2. Under the scheme, around 201 lakh tonnes food grains will be distributed among 81 crore beneficiaries. The scheme has been implemented from July 1 will be implemented till November 2020.

Notes:
Technology Giant Google India has collaborated with Prasar Bharati and Virtual Bharat for AI-enabled Independence Day celebration of India.
It seeks to recreate the feeling of singing the National Anthem in schools by using Artificial Intelligence Technology. Participants can download the mentioned application and record themselves singing the anthem. It would convert the voice into traditional instrumental music.

Notes:
Union Minister of Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar and Railway Minister Piyush Goyal virtually flagged off the first ‘Kisan Rail’.’
The First Special Parcel Train will transport perishable goods such as vegetables and fruits between Maharashtra’s Devlali and Bihar’s Danapur Railway station. The train would stop at several stations and pick-up and deliver goods. It will cover a distance of 1519 kilometers in around 32 hours.

Notes:
The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), an organisation under the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi.
The MoU seeks to set up a Centre of Excellence (CoE) for using Artificial Intelligence in Decision making and Advance Data Management System for Highways. IIT Delhi will develop simulation models in this regard and provide space and infrastructural facility for the CoE.

Notes:
The Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi will inaugurate the submarine Optical Fibre Cable (OFC) connecting Chennai and Port Blair.
This new network will provide fast and reliable mobile and landline telecom services to the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The project was announced by the Prime Minister in the year 2018. About 2,300 km of Submarine Optical Fibre Cable (OFC) has been laid at a cost of over Rs 1200 crore.