Current Affairs Quiz - July, 2020

Notes:
A team of engineers at Indian Institute of Science (IISc) had developed an intensive care unit (ICU) grade ventilator under the name of ‘Project Praana’.
Recently, the team has successfully completed the prototyping of the ventilator, which is now in the process of being commercialised. The affordable ventilator uses only components made in India or components which are easily available in the domestic markets. The team developed the ventilator in a record 35 days.

Notes:
Union Minister for Food Processing Industries, Harsimrat Kaur Badal has launched the Pradhan Mantri Formalization of Micro Food Processing Enterprises (PM FME) scheme.
The scheme has been launched as a part of “Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan”. It is claimed to generate a total investment of Rs 35,000 crore and generate 9 lakh skilled and semi-skilled employment. The scheme would benefit 8 lakh units through access to information, training and better exposure.

Notes:
National Statistics Day is observed on June 29 every year in India. This year it was celebrated through virtual conference with the theme of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 3 (Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages) and SDG 5 (Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls).
The Ministry of Statistics and Program Implementation instituted a new award ‘Prof. P. C. Mahalanobis National Award in Official Statistics’, which was conferred upon Former RBI Governor C Rangarajan. ‘Prof. P.V. Sukhatme National Award in Statistics 2020’ was given to Dr Arvind Pandey and Dr. Akhilesh Chandra Kulshreshtha.

Notes:
The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) has approved the proposal for procurement of 21 MiG-29 and upgradation of existing 59 MiG-29 aircraft from Russia at a cost of Rs 7418 crore.
It has also approved the procurement of 12 Su-30 MKI aircraft from Hindustan Aeronautical Ltd, at an estimated cost of Rs 10,730 cr. DAC cleared the acquisition of 248 Astra Beyond Visual Range air-to-air missiles for the Indian Air Force and the Navy. Other important equipment required by the Armed Forces were also approved for Rs 38,900 crore.

Notes:
The Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has formally launched Andhra Pradesh Corporation for Outsourced Services (APCOS).
The Chief Minister handed over the 47,000 appointment letters to the outsourcing staff selected through the APCOS. The newly formed body ensures to maintain transparency in recruitments and payments of workers in outsourced services. The government will also follow reservation in recruitments.

Notes:
The Vice President of India is set to launch the first social media super-application of the country named ‘Elyments’. More than 1000 IT professionals have created the application.
The application, that will be available in more than 8 Indian languages, aims to combine the features of popular social media applications and present it on a single unified app. It also has features such as free audio and video calls and chats.

Notes:
Union Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY) in partnership with Atal Innovation Mission, Niti Aayog has launched Digital India AatmaNirbhar Bharat App Innovation Challenge.
The challenge seeks to support and build a strong ecosystem for Indian applications. In its first phase, the challenge will identify the potential Indian Apps that are being used, that are capable of becoming world class apps. The second phase will focus on developing new applications.

Notes:
Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has partnered with Bharat Biotech for development of potential COVID-19 vaccine called Covaxin.
The Drugs Controller General of India has granted permission to conduct phase-1 and 2 human clinical trials. Recently, ICMR has announced that it is acting in accordance with the globally accepted standards to develop the vaccine.

Notes:
The Haryana cabinet has approved the drafting of an ordinance to provide 75% reservation in private sector jobs.
As per the draft of the Haryana State Employment of Local Candidates Ordinance, 2020, 75% of the new employment would be provided to eligible candidates of state domicile. Another condition mentioned is the jobs would be of those having less than Rs 50,000 per month.

Notes:
The state government of Odisha has approved to provide around Rs 23,848 crore to its Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) and Urban Local Bodies (ULBs), for a period of six years.
This allocation has been done, on the recommendation of the fifth State Finance Commission. The state Secretary has directed to release the funds directly to the bodies through PRIASOFT portal. The second instalment will be provided only after 30% of the work taken is completed.