Current Affairs Quiz - August, 2020

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:
Minister of Railways Piyush Goyal and Minister of Coal & Mines Pralhad Joshi inaugurated a new Railway Museum at Hubbali, through video conferencing.
Hubli or Hubbali is a city in North Karnataka and the museum is located near the Hubballi Railway Station on Gadag Road. It aims to preserve the heritage of branches of Railways and exhibit the evolution of advanced system in the Railways ecosystem.

Notes:
The state government of Andhra Pradesh launched its Industrial Development Policy 2020-23. It seeks to provide best infrastructure, set-up, skilled labour and hand-holding support for units.
The policy aims to give an industry-friendly environment aligned with international standards. Some of the incentives include reimbursement of 100 % stamp duty, power reimbursement of Rs 1 per unit for five years, reimbursement of 100 % net SGST for five years, interest subsidy of 3 % for five years, among others.

Notes:
A set of 10 ventilators were gifted by the Indian Army to the Army of Nepal in order to support Nepal tackle Covid-19. The ventilators were handed over by the Indian Ambassador to Nepal to the Nepal Army Chief.
The ventilators are to be deployed for a broad range of applications and advanced respiratory support. They are compact in size and are portable for using in intensive care. This assistance is a part of the humanitarian assistance and relief operations of the Indian Army.

Notes:
International Youth Day is celebrated every year on 12th August. The theme of this year’s International Youth Day is, “Youth Engagement for Global Action”.
In 1998, a resolution to observe August 12 every year as International Youth Day was passed in the World Conference of Ministers Responsible for Youth, which was hosted by the Government of Portugal in cooperation with the United Nations.

Notes:
World Animal Protection, an international animal welfare organisation has released a new report titled “Elephants. Not commodities”.
The third edition of the report reveals that India has the second-highest number of elephants used in tourism in Asia. It also reveals that as many as 225 of the elephants, which is more than 45%, were kept in severely inadequate conditions.

Notes:
The Ammunition Factory Khadki, Pune, has designed and manufactured 40 mm UBGL (Under Barrel Grenade Launcher) Ammunition, by using components procured from Indian Industries.
The first consignment of such indigenously manufactured UBGL was sent to Border Security Force (BSF). Earlier, this ammunition used to be imported by the Indian Army and other Defence units under Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).

Notes:
The Bombay Stock Exchange has signed a MoU with two Maharashtra Based Bullion trade associations namely Akola Sarafa Association and Akola Sarafa Va Suvarnakar Yuva Sangh.
Through this MoU, the BSE aims to create awareness on price risk management for bullion traders, and move them towards organised trading. The MoU is aimed at enhancing the cooperation between Bombay Stock Exchange and physical markets in areas of knowledge sharing, education and training.

Notes:
The construction work of the Katra (Jammu and Kashmir) – Delhi Express Road Corridor is proposed to be completed in 3 years and will be operational by 2023. The express corridor would bring down the travel time from Katra to Delhi to around six and half hours.
One key feature of this road is that it will connect the holy cities of Katra and Amritsar, and other major religious shrines between the two destinations.

Notes:
An assistance of USD 1 million has been extended by India to the Caribbean country Antigua & Barbuda for combating the COVID-19 pandemic.
Ventilators, full cover goggles, disposable gowns, face shields, examination gloves and disposable masks and hydroxychloroquine tablets were supplied as a part of the assistance. This assistance is for improving health infrastructure facilities in Antigua and Barbuda.