Current Affairs Quiz - August, 2020

Notes:
The Union Cabinet has recently approved to set up a new entity named ‘National Recruitment Agency (NRA)’ to carry out a national Common Entrance Test (CET).
This exam would be a common screening test for non-gazetted vacancies in both departments of Central government and public sector organisations. It is to conduct first level tests currently conducted by agencies like SSC, RRB and IBPS among others.

Notes:
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has approved a one-time relaxation to Power Finance Corporation (PFC) and Rural Electrification Corporation (REC) for extending loans to state-owned electricity distribution companies (Discoms).
This measure has been made by the Government to inject liquidity into Discoms, as a part of the Atma Nirbhar Bharat Scheme. As per the existing guidelines, Discoms can avail working capital loans equal to 25% of last year’s revenues, under UDAY scheme from PFC and REC.

Notes:
Leading multi-national company IBM India, has collaborated with National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) to offer a free digital education platform.
The training focuses on recent technologies like cybersecurity, blockchain, artificial intelligence and machine learning and professional development skills. The online courses developed by IBM will be offered through NSDC’s eSkill India portal to the learners between 18 to 22 years.

Notes:
HSBC India launched its ‘Green Deposit Programme’, to finance green initiatives including renewable energy.
Under this new initiative, the bank will ask their corporate clients to deposit money, which will in turn be used for financing green projects by letting the clients indirectly participate in the sustainability projects. The product offers stable principal, pre-agreed return and protection.

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.

Notes:
The Republican Party of the United States has formally re-nominated President Donald Trump as the party’s Presidential candidate and Vice President Mike Pence as the running mate of the President.
The Presidential Election is to be held on November 3 in the United States. Elected Republican Party delegates from all 50 States of the country polled votes to re-nominate Trump. Democratic party had earlier nominated Joe Biden and Kamala Harris as their nominees of President and VP respectively.

Notes:
Rare fish called Mahseer, whose scientific name is Tor, has been spotted in the upper part of river Sileru in Andhra Pradesh.
It has been spotted by a team of researchers of the Department of Zoology, Andhra University. This fish is listed under the endangered category by IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature). It is usually found in the Himalayan region in the rivers running through Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Nepal and Bhutan.

Notes:
The country’s longest river crossing ropeway has been built and opened across river Brahmaputra.
It is a 1.8 km long ropeway built across the river extending from central to northern Guwahati. It will reduce the time of travel to 8 minutes. The cost of the project is Rs.56 crore and has been completed after 11 years of starting the work.

Notes:
The Central Government Health Scheme (CGHS) has initiated tele-consultation services using the e-Sanjeevani platform of the Health Ministry.
The tele-medicine services will initially be available to beneficiaries in Delhi and NCR on all working days. As a pilot measure, services for four specialties namely Medicine, Orthopaedics, Eye and ENT will be made available.

Notes:
A hurricane named “Laura” is expected to hit Texas and Louisiana, the coastal states of the USA. Thousands of residents of the states have been ordered to vacate their homes to safe shelters.
The president of USA has issued a Disaster Declaration along with federal assistance and relief efforts. Recently, a storm named Marco struck Louisiana caused strong winds and heavy rains in the state.