Current Affairs Quiz - August, 2020

Notes:
IPS officer Rakesh Asthana has been appointed as the Director General of Border Security Force (BSF). The incumbent head RK Shukla is set to retire in February 2020.
Prior to this appointment, he was the head of the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security since January 2019. SS Deswal is set to replace him in the said post. Asthana was a 1984-batch IPS Officer and a former official of the Central Bureau of Investigation.

Notes:
The Governor of Goa, Satya Pal Malik has been transferred as the Governor of Meghalaya, as per a recent communication from the Rashtrapathi Bhavan.
He is to replace the incumbent Governor of the North Est state, Tathagata Roy who completed his five-year tenure. The Governor of Maharashtra, Bhagat Singh Koshyari, will discharge the additional functions of the Goa Governor.

Notes:
The Government of United Kingdom (UK) has launched a £3 million Innovation challenge fund in India. The fund is aimed at supporting scientists in industry and academia to cope with acute global challenges like COVID-19 and other environment threats.
The fund aims to bring together best minds under “UK India Tech Partnership”. The fund has specifically invited innovators associated with “AI-Data cluster” in Karnataka and “Future Mobility cluster” in Maharashtra to submit research proposals.

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:
USD 1 billion (equivalent to Rs 7,485 crore) financial support by way of loan has been approved by the Manila based-Asian Development Bank (ADB) for Delhi-Meerut regional rapid transit system.
The project is first of the three priority rail corridors in country. The financial assistance from ADB will be used for construction of railway tracks, station buildings, maintenance facilities and power supply.

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:
A recent survey by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has revealed that, over 27 % students do not have access to smart phones or laptops to attend online classes.
The survey also pointed out that lack of electricity was an obstacle in the learning process for nearly 28 % students and parents. Over 34,000 participants participated in the survey by the NCERT on the challenges of online education.

Notes:
Every year, August 19 is observed as the World Humanitarian Day by the United Nations (UN), to commemorate humanitarian workers killed and injured in the course of their work.
This year, the UN has initiated a global conversation / campaign -to thank #RealLifeHeroes to celebrate the humanitarians who have committed their lives to help others. The day marks the 2003 bomb attack killing 22 people, including the Iraqi chief humanitarian, Sergio Vieira de Mello.

Notes:
Joe Biden has accepted the nomination of the Democratic Party for Presidential Candidature. Joe Biden is the former Vice President of USA and is 77 years old.
Joe Biden served as the 47th Vice president of the United States from 2009 to 2017 and as the United States Senator from Delaware from 1973 to 2009. The Presidential elections in the USA are scheduled to be held on November 3, 2020.

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.