Current Affairs Quiz - August, 2020

Notes:
A proposal for leasing out Jaipur, Guwahati and Thiruvananthapuram airports through public-private partnership (PPP) has been cleared by the Union Cabinet.
The rights to run these airports in addition to Lucknow, Ahmedabad and Mangaluru airports have been awarded to Adani Enterprises by way of competitive bidding. Presently, these six airports are owned by the Airports Authority of India (AAI).

Notes:
As per a recent release by the Government, India ranks first in terms of number of organic farmers and 9th in terms of area under organic farming.
In order to boost organic farming, the Union Government had launched “Mission Organic Value Chain Development for North East Region” (MOVCD) and “Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana” (PKVY) in 2015. Sikkim became the first state in the world to become fully organic in farming.

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:
Spain has recently reported an outbreak of West Nile Virus spread by mosquitos. It spreads due to mosquitoes and causes West Nile Fever.
It has claimed the lives of two people in Spain and several people were admitted in hospital. It was originally discovered in Uganda in 1937. It was indigenous to Asia, Africa, Europe and Australia. This RNA virus belongs to the Flaviviridae family, which also has Zika virus, yellow fever virus and Dengue virus.

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:
Software Technology Parks of India (STPI), under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology is set to have the largest ecosystem of incubation ecosystem in the country, in a year by setting up 21 centres of excellence.
The proposed 21 centres of excellence (CoEs) will incubate new technologies in various sectors. Out of the 21 CoEs, 12 of them are already operational. Three centres are related to Agriculture and one more is proposed to be launched.

Notes:
The water technology company “Va Tech Wabag” has been conferred with the Global Water Award. This award has been given to the company for setting up a tertiary treatment reverse osmosis plant (TTRO) with a capacity of 45 million litres a day, at Chennai.
The award has been given under ‘wastewater project of the year’ category. With this project, Chennai is the first Indian city to reuse more than 20 % of its treated wastewater.

Notes:
Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) has recently distributed over 700 bee boxes, to provide Self-Employment for Migrant Workers.
The boxes have been distributed to the workers of Uttar Pradesh at the KVIC’s training center in Panjokera. The Honey Mission was launched by KVIC before 3 years, to create employment for farmers, tribal people, women and unemployed youth.

Notes:
The COAS (Chief of Army Staff) Unit Appreciation was conferred to NSG’s (National Security Guard) 51 Special Action Group (SAG). The appreciation was conferred to the unit for the group’s exemplary achievements in combating terrorism.
The most important operation undertaken by the unit is “Operation Black Tornado” which was launched against the terror strikes in Mumbai in November 2008.

Notes:
Bajaj Allianz General Insurance has launched a new insurance product for pet animals, called ‘Bajaj Allianz Pet Dog Insurance Policy’.
This is said to be the first and only retail comprehensive pet insurance cover for pet dogs. It will provide a complete coverage to all breeds of pet animals over their life time from 3 months to 10 years. It also covers the treatment costs of specified diseases or deaths due to illness.