Current Affairs Quiz - August, 2020

Notes:
The Prime Minister of Lebanon, Hassan Diab has recently stepped down from his post, after a massive blast occurred in the country.
The catastrophic explosion in the capital city Beirut, has triggered a public outrage in the country. It has caused heavy destruction, by killing more than 160 people and injuring over 6,000 people. There have been mass demonstrations against the Government demanding the steeping down of the leadership.

Notes:
Union Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank has virtually launched the Minimum Standards of Architectural Education Regulations, 2020.
These regulations have been prepared by the experts of the Council of Architecture (CoA). It aims to address the major challenges lying in the field of human habitat in the country. The Minister asked the Council to use innovation in the field of Architecture.

Notes:
The President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko has recently won a landslide re-election victory, as per the country’s central Election Commission.
As per the figures of the votes counted, around 80 per cent of the votes were secured by the President. His main rival Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, won over 9 per cent of the votes. At least one person was killed and dozens were injured in the clashes held during the elections.

Notes:
A beginner level course on French has been started in Lok Sabha of the Parliament for the officials and staff of the Lok Sabha Secretariat.
The course has been inaugurated by the Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla. This course is an initiative by Parliamentary Research and Training Institute for Democracies (PRIDE). In future, courses in German, Spanish, Russian and other important world languages would also be organized.

Notes:
A Data Recovery Centre of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) named KRISHI MEGH has been launched at Hyderabad by the Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar. The objective of establishing the Recovery Centre is to protect the precious data of ICAR.
It is set up at National Academy of Agricultural Research Management (NAARM) in Hyderabad. This data center has been set up under National Agricultural Higher Education Project (NAHEP), which is funded by the Government of India and World Bank.

Notes:
Kolkata Metro Rail Corporation and a private engineering firm Afcons jointly completed India’s deepest underground ventilation shaft.
The ventilation shaft is 43.5m deep and is part of the East West Metro Line of Kolkata. These special purpose shafts are used for ventilation of the tunnels and for evacuation during critical times or emergencies.

Notes:
The state of Assam has proposed to launch a Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) scheme named “Arunodoi”.
This scheme will be launched in lines with the flagship DBT scheme Jan Dhan Yojana. This is claimed as the largest DBT scheme of Assam till date. The scheme also called as Orunodoi, seeks to transfer Rs 830 per month to around 19.7 lakh families. The main beneficiaries of the scheme will be women.

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:
The cabinet of Odisha has approved the tender amounting Rs.1138 crore for implementation of its ambitious irrigation project named “Gangadhar Meher Lift Canal System”.
The irrigation project would irrigate 25,600 hectares of agricultural land in drought hit regions of Barghar and Sonepur districts of Odisha. The project was first announced in the year 2017. The implementing agency will be announced soon.

Notes:
A five-month time extension has been given by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) from 25th March 2020 to 24th August 2020 to all the Renewable Energy Projects under implementation.
The implementing agencies have been directed to treat COVID 19 as a “Force Majeure”. This move is followed by the representation from various implementing agencies demanding extension of time due to COVID 19-imposed national lockdown.