Current Affairs Quiz - August, 2020

Notes:
The World’s tallest Pier bridge is being constructed by Indian Railways in Manipur across the river “Ijai”. The height of its tallest pier is 141m. The bridge is a part of Jiribam-Tupul-Imphal railway line project. The existing record for the tallest pier bridge is 139m at Montenegro in Europe.
The bridge is being constructed at an estimated cost of Rs.280 crore and the construction work is expected to be completed by March 2020. The total length of the bridge is estimated to be 703 meters.

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.

Notes:
The High Court of Madras has rejected reopening of “Sterlite Copper” smelting plant in Tuticorin, Tamil Nadu. Sterlite Copper, a unit of Vedanta Ltd had been catering to nearly 40 % of India’s copper demand from its smelting plant at Tuticorin.
The High Court’s order dismissed all 10 petitions filed by Vedanta to reopen the plant. The Court upheld the orders issued to close the plant by the Tamil Nadu Government and Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board.

Notes:
Iran has displayed a surface-to-surface ballistic missile, that has a range of 1,400 kilometres, named martyr Qassem Soleimani.
The country also displayed a new cruise missile called martyr Abu Mahdi, with a range of over 1,000 km, amidst the demand from the United States to stop its missile programme. The head of Iran’s Quds Force, Soleimani and Iraqi commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis were killed in a U.S. strike.

Notes:
Veteran Indian author Sudha Murty’s latest collection of short stories, ‘Grandparents’ Bag of Stories’ is to be released in the month of November.
The Penguin Random House India announced the collection which is a sequel of her recent release ‘Grandma’s Bag of Stories’ and will have 20 stories. Sudha Murty has authored several books in English and Kannada especially for children.

Notes:
Union External Affairs Minister S Jai Shankar has represented India in the roundtable of ASEAN-India Network of Think Tanks (AINTT) held recently.
The 6th Roundtable of AINTT was held through a webinar and its theme was “ASEAN-India: Strengthening Partnership in the Post-COVID Era”. As per the Minister, the global loss due to Covid-19 is in the range of USD 5.8 to 8.8 trillion or 6.5 to 9.7 per cent of the global GDP.

Notes:
The Chief Minister of Rajasthan, Ashok Gehlot has launched a subsidised meal scheme named ‘Indira Rasoi Yojana’.
It aims to provide subsidised meals to the poor and needy in the state at Rs 8 per plate with dignity. Earlier, the state was implementing a similar scheme named Annapurna Rasoi Yojana from 2016. The scheme was launched on the birth anniversary of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, the ‘Sadbhavana Diwas’.

Notes:
Under the Atal Bimit Vyakti Kalyan Yojana, Employees and State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) has relaxed its norms, wherein it would pay 50% (up from earlier 25%) of average wages of three months as unemployment benefit.
The scheme would be available to people who have lost their jobs due to the pandemic between March 24 and December 31 this year. This is expected to benefit nearly 40 lakh industrial workers.

Notes:
IIT Kharagpur has recently inaugurated the Academy of Classical and Folk Arts on its campus, to offer training on music, fine arts and other performing arts.
This is in lines with the New Education Policy, 2020 to spark innovation and multidisciplinary teaching. The academy hosts a ‘100 ragas’ initiative, which will be headed by the Hindustani classical vocalist Pandit Ajoy Chakrabarty.

Notes:
Interceptor Boat ‘ICGS C-454’, that has been built by Larsen and Toubro, was recently launched into the service of the Coast Guard.
The newly-built boat of the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) was launched in Surat, as per the recent notification from the Defence Ministry. It has a length of 27 meters and a maximum speed of 45 nautical miles or 83 kilometers per hour.