Current Affairs Quiz - August, 2020

Notes:
A tripartite Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been signed between Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Unnat Bharat Abhiyan-Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi (UBA-IITD) and Vijnana Bharti (VIBHA), New Delhi.
The objective of the MoU is to provide joint action in the area of Unnat Bharat Abhiyan (UBA) for rural development of India. UBA is a flagship program of the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) by connecting academic institutions with local communities.

Notes:
Global chemical company SABIC’s polycarbonate plant in Spain is set to become the world’s first that will run entirely on renewable power.
The Riyadh-headquartered company has signed a major agreement with an electricity utility company Iberdrola, in this regard. This plant is expected to be completely operational by the year 2024.

Notes:
FinTech company MobiKwik launched a UPI payment link service, mpay.me, that allows users to send and receive money from any UPI payment app.
Through the new service, users and merchants can set up a mini personal payment gateways with their mobile number and share them. With the link, users can send and receive money through any UPI app. This service works on mobile as well as computer.

Notes:
The All India Institute of Ayurveda (AIIA) is an apex Ayurveda medicine and research institution located in New Delhi.
It was seen in news as the institute has started providing free testing and treatment to patients in its COVID 19 Health Centre (CHC). AYUSH Minister Shri Naik inaugurated the ventilator-equipped Intensive Care Unit of the centre as well as a COVID Call Centre at AIIA.

Notes:
Ministry of Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) has recently approved a programme for artisans who make Agarbatti.
The programme aims to develop village industry under ‘Gramodyog Vikas Yojana’. Under the programme, four pilot projects will be started that includes one in the North Eastern part of the country. Each cluster of artisans will be provided with automatic Agarbatti making machines.

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:
State-owned oil and gas company and the largest commercial oil company in the country, Indian Oil has partnered with France’s Total.
The Joint Venture has been formed to make Superior Quality Bitumen derivatives and specialty products for India’s road construction industry. The JB would initially take over the existing plant of Total at Jodhpur, Rajasthan and then invest Rs 226 crore to set up six new plants across India.

Notes:
The Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru, has developed the country’s first ICMR-approved mobile RT-PCR lab.
Called the MITR (Mobile Infection Testing and Reporting) lab, it is capable of conducting 9000 tests per month. The lab than can produce 100% accurate results within four hours, has been handed over to the Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences (RGUHS).

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.

Notes:
The state government of Chhattisgarh has launched a social security scheme for Tendupatta (Tendu leaves) collectors.
The scheme was named as ‘Saheed Mahendra Karma Tendupatta Sangrahak Samajik Suraksha Yojana’, after the Congress leader Mahendra Karma, who was killed by rebels in the year 2013. The scheme aims to provide financial support to families of tendupatta labourers.