Current Affairs Quiz - August, 2020

Notes:
According to the Bombay Natural History Society, as many as 77 new species of butterflies have been found in the ecologically sensitive forest of Matheran hill station.
It is located about 80 km from Mumbai and is spread over an area of 214.73 sq km. With this, the total number of butterfly species in the Matheran forest has increased to 140. BNHS conducted the study over last eight years from 2011 to 2019.

Notes:
Every year, 10th of August is observed as World Biofuel Day to create awareness on importance of non-fossil fuels as an alternative to fossil fuels. It is also aimed at highlighting the various initiatives made by the Government in the Biofuel sector.
Since 2015, the World Biofuel Day is being observed by Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas. A webinar on this occasion was organized by the Petroleum Ministry, with the theme “Biofuels towards Atmanirbhar Bharat”.

Notes:
Leading E-commerce platform Amazon India has recently launched its new seller driven campaign ‘Itna Aasan Hai’.
The campaign seeks to communicate to sellers who are not on the platform about the simple procedure to enrolling in Amazon digital platform as a seller. It aims to reach millions of MSME about joining the digital commerce ecosystem.

Notes:
The Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) in association with Dell Technologies has launched SEP 2.0 (Student Entrepreneurship Programme 2.0). The programme is launched for the young innovators of Atal Tinkering Labs (ATLs).
The first version of the SEP was launched in January 2019 and the second series (Sep 2.0) has been launched now. The program facilitates young student innovators to work in close association with DELL Technologies. Under this programme, the students would get mentoring support, feedback support and patenting ideas.

Notes:
China has initiated a new campaign to reduce food waste, called the “Clean Plate Campaign 2.0”.
The campaign has been implemented after the Chinese President Xi Jinping highlighted that Covid-19 had created an alarming situation on food waste. The first version of Clean Plate Campaign was launched in 2013 which aimed at restricting excessive official feasts and receptions.

Notes:
As per the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Odisha continued to be the top performer in implementation of Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation Scheme (AMRUT).
Odisha has secured first position by scoring 85.67 per cent and provided piped water supply to households of nine cities of the state. Out of the 191 projects started under the AMRUT scheme, the state has completed 148 of them. Odisha is followed by Chandigarh and Telangana. Tamil Nadu has completed the highest number of works.

Notes:
Russia and Brazil have decided to cooperate in the production and marketing of Sputnik V, the world’s first registered coronavirus vaccine.
The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RIDF) announced that it has entered into the agreement with Brazilian State of Parana. RIDF is organising the production of the vaccine and its distribution in Brazil and other American countries.

Notes:
Federal Bank, a Kerala-based private bank has partnered with Fiserv – a global payments and financial services technology solutions provider.
The partnership aims to digitise the card issuance and processing cycle completely. The bank will utilise the card management solution called “First Vision” of Fiserv. Fiserv would also support the Federal Bank for launch of its credit card.

Notes:
Research team from Indian Institute of Science, IISc and Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) have developed a process for making “Brick like structure” on lunar surface.
The researchers suggest that these bricks could be used for assembling structures in lunar surface. The raw material used is urea and lunar soil. It is developed by using bacteria and guar beans to consolidate the land into load bearing brick like structures.

Notes:
“Swadeshi Microprocessor Challenge” has been launched by the Government of India to promote indigenous microprocessor manufacturing and designing.
100 shortlisted companies will be given grant to build their prototype. 25 finalists will win Rs.1 crore each. The top ten teams will get a fund of total Rs.2.30 crore with 12-month incubation support, from the Ministry of Information Technology.