Current Affairs Quiz - August, 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:
National Handloom Day is being celebrated on August 7 across India, to commemorate the Swadeshi Movement.
The Movement was launched on the same day in the year 1905. National Handloom Day also aims to create awareness about the Indian Handloom Industry among the general public. A virtual event was organised by the Ministry of Textiles to mark the occasion.

Notes:
Pulitzer Prize-winning fiction writer, Shirley Ann Grau has recently passed away at the age of 91. She was born in New Orleans and was brought up on Alabama.
All her six novels and four short story collections were all set in the southern states of the United States. She won the prestigious Pulitzer Prize for her fourth book titled ‘The Keepers of the House’ in the year 1965. Her first book was ‘The Black Prince and Other Stories’.

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.

Notes:
As per the recent notification of the Department of Economic Affairs, Girish Chandra Murmu has been appointed as the next Comptroller and Auditor General of India.
G C Murmu was the former Lieutenant Governor of Jammu & Kashmir. He was replaced by Manoj Sinha. The 60-year-old Indian Administrative Service Officer has replaced the previous Comptroller and Auditor General of India, Rajiv Mehrishi.

Notes:
Export-Import Bank of India (Exim Bank) has extended a USD 250-million worth Line of credit (LOC) to Mozambique to improve power supply quality in the country.
With the signing of this LoC Agreement, India has so far extended 14 LoCs to Mozambique worth USD 772.44 million. A total of 264 LoCs have been extended to as many as 62 countries across the world around USD 25.98 billion.

Notes:
Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs implements the PM SVANidhi Scheme. It was launched in June 2020, to provide affordable Working Capital loan to Street vendors to resume their livelihoods.
Recently, the Ministry has launched Letter of Recommendation (LoR) module for the scheme. It enables the vendors who do not possess Identity Card (ID) and Certificate of Vending (CoV), to avail benefits under the scheme.

Notes:
Mauritius has recently declared an ‘Environmental emergency’ after the Japanese-owned ship MV Wakashio was found spilling tons of fuel.
Prime Minister of Mauritius Pravind Jugnauth announced the decision as the areas that were declared as ‘very sensitive’ were found as a dark layer in satellite images. The ship was carrying nearly 4,000 tons of fuel and it had suffered cracks.

Notes:
The Mount Sinabung volcano located in Indonesia recently exerted 5,000 metres high into the sky, as per the media report.
Indonesia’s Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation Center has confirmed that no casualties had happened due to the eruption. The local people have been advised to stay 5 kilometers away from the volcano.

Notes:
The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) of Government of India has launched a new national portal called SURAKHSYA. It has been launched for real time data collection on Human Animal conflict.
The portal is launched as a part of the World Elephant Day, which is observed every year on 12th August. The portal would be used by policy makers for preparation of Action Plans and Strategies to mitigate conflicts.