Current Affairs Quiz - August, 2020

Notes:
The Union Government has recently constituted the National Council for Transgender Persons’ under the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019.
This is the first-of-its-kind council and will be headed by the Union Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment. The council includes representatives from 10 central departments, five states and members of the trans-gender community. It advises the Government on the related policies.

Notes:
The state of Kerala is set to host the first-ever State Dragonfly Festival named ‘Thumbimahotsavam 2020’.
This is a part of the National Dragonfly festival being organised by the WWF India, Bombay Natural History Society & Indian Dragonfly Society. It also involves the collaboration of NBB, UNDP, UNEP and IUCN- CEC. The official mascot of the festival is named ‘Pantalu’.

Notes:
Renowned scientist and the present head of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) Dr.G.Satheesh Reddy has been given a 2 year extension as the Secretary, Department of Defence Research and Development and Chairman DRDO.
This extension in his service was approved by the Appointments committee of the Union Cabinet. Earlier, he was appointed for the post in August 2018.

Notes:
From 3rd September 2020, India and Bangladesh would commence commercial operation of riverine trade route.
Both the countries signed Addendum to the Protocol on Inland Water Transit and Trade (PIWTT) in May 2020. As per the agreement, the Sonamura (Tripura) – Daudkandi (Bangladesh) route is being operationalised. This move would enhance the regional connectivity to North Eastern India and reduce the transportation cost.

Notes:
Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has launched the prototype of the ‘National GIS-enabled land bank system’.
It enables the investors to get real-time information about the availability of industrial land and resources. The project is initially launched for six states and will expanded to all states/UTs by December 2020.

Notes:
The United States has imposed sanctions on 24 Chinese companies and officials recently. These companies are said to be involved in building and militarization of an artificial island in South China Sea.
All the 24 firms are state owned companies of China. These companies have been put under USA’s “Entity List” by which USA would block exports of materials and goods to these companies.

Notes:
The State Government of Andhra Pradesh headed by YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has announced that Rs.22,000 crore worth residential building sites would be registered to 30 lakh women belonging to weaker sections of the state.
The Government is the process of marking layouts and selection of beneficiaries for the house sites. After favourable verdict from the Supreme Court, the state will distribute the sites.

Notes:
UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has launched a new initiative named ‘Beirut’.
The initiative seeks to raise funds to be used in rehabilitating the heritage buildings situated in Beirut. UNESCO will host a meeting for donors by the end of September. Earlier, during a massive explosion that hit Lebanon, several of is buildings were damaged.

Notes:
E commerce and technology Major Amazon has launched ‘Halo Band’, thus officially venturing into the health monitoring segment.
The wrist band uses AI software to monitor personal wellness parameters. The device is said to have three-dimensional scan feature for measuring body fat and voice detection to evaluate the user’s emotion.

Notes:
The Union Minister of Electronics and Information Technology (IT) Ravi Shankar Prasad, launched a challenge named “CHUNAUTI” (Challenge Hunt Under NGIS for Advanced Uninhibited Technology Intervention).
The challenge encourages start-ups to develop solutions to address the problems being faced by the nation during the COVID 19 pandemic. The challenge has been launched under Next Generation Incubation Scheme (NGIS).