Current Affairs Quiz - August, 2020

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:
Ashok Lavasa has recently steeped down from his Election Commissioner position as he is to join the Asian Development Bank.
ADB has appointed Ashok Lavasa as Vice-President for Private Sector Operations and Public-Private Partnerships. His resignation has been accepted by the Indian President Ram Nath Kovind. He was next in the row to become the Chief Election Commissioner.

Notes:
The Department of Revenue, Ministry of Finance has notified the ‘Customs (Administration of Rules of Origin under Trade Agreements) Rules, 2020’.
The norms for enforcing the ‘rules of origin’ provisions has been released by the Government recently. These rules will come into effect from September 21, 2020 and will apply where preferential rate of duty is claimed by importer. The ”Rules of origin” provision mandates minimal processing in the FTA country.

Notes:
Technology major Microsoft has launched a new program to teach quantum computing skills to train around 900 faculty from across the country.
As a part of this initiative, Microsoft is organizing a ‘Train the Trainer’ program in association with Electronics and ICT Academies at Malaviya National Institute of Technology (MNIT), Jaipur and National Institute of Technology, Patna.

Notes:
The international day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition is observed by UNESCO on 23rd August every year. This date was adopted by the resolution at UNESCO’s 29th session. 
The date is significant because, it was on the night of 22nd August to 23rd August, 1791 an uprising occurred on the island of Saint Domingue, which was primarily responsible for abolition of the transatlantic slave trade.

Notes:
The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) has introduced a product Structured Finance and Partial Guarantee Programme to NBFC-MFIs.
This is intended to promote unhindered flow of credit in rural areas, which has been affected by COVID 19 pandemic. The product provides partial credit guarantee on pooled loans extended to small and mid-sized micro finance institutions (MFIs).

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:
Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA), has signed a MoU with AFC India Limited, to mutually work together in the field of agriculture and allied sectors.
AFC India Ltd, formerly known as Agricultural Finance Corporation Ltd., is wholly owned by Commercial Banks, NABARD and EXIM Bank. APEDA has also signed a MoU with National Cooperative Union of India (NCUI), Delhi.

Notes:
The NITI Aayog has recently released a report on Export Preparedness Index 2020, in partnership with the Institute of Competitiveness. It ranked states on four key parameters namely Policy, Business Ecosystem, Export Ecosystem and Export Performance.
As per the report, Gujarat has topped the index, followed by Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu. Among the top ten places of the list, six out of the country’s coastal states found place. Rajasthan topped among the landlocked states and Uttarakhand topped among the Himalayan states.

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.