Current Affairs (August – 2020)

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This post contains important current affairs of 20 August 2020. It includes all Major National, International, Business and Sports related current affairs of 20 August 2020. We have collected the latest current affairs and compiled them date wise. These current affairs are important for all competitive exams like bank, ssc, ibps, sbi exams. The GK current affairs will help you score more in these competitive exams. A brief explanation of every current affair is provided to further enhance your general knowledge. Once you have gone through these current affairs we would recommend to you to try 20 August 2020 Current affairs test.

World Mosquito Day is observed on 20 August
World Mosquito Day is observed on 20 August every year to commemorate the British doctor, Sir Ronald Ross’s discovery in 1897 that ‘female mosquitoes transmit malaria between humans’.

Sadbhavna Diwas is observed on 20 August
Sadbhavna Divas is observed on 20 August every year to commemorate the memory of our late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. In English, Sadbhavna means goodwill and bonafide.

Indian Akshay Urja Day is observed on 20 August
Indian Akshay Urja Day is celebrated on 20 August annually to raise awareness about the development of renewable energy in India. It is a campaign that is celebrated since 2004. This day commemorates the birthday of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.

Vijaynagar, one of the remotest corners in Arunachal Pradesh, gets mobile connectivity
Vijaynagar in Arunachal Pradesh, one of the remotest and easternmost part of the country, has been connected with mobile connectivity this month. Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited has installed a network tower which has become functional now. The 2G mobile service that Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited, BSNL launched in Vijaynagar area on first of August this month will be a boon for the people of this isolated place.

Chandigarh administration launches new website
Environment Information System (ENVIS) of the Department of Environment of Chandigarh Administration has launched a new website. The URL of the website is http://chandigarhenvis.gov.in .

MP emerges as leading state in implementation of Pradhan Mantri Street Vendors Atma-Nirbhar Scheme
Madhya Pradesh has emerged as the leading state in the implementation of Pradhan Mantri Street Vendors Atma-Nirbhar Scheme-PM Swa-Nidhi. PM Swa-Nidhi is a Central Sector Scheme to facilitate street vendors to access affordable working capital loan for resuming their livelihoods activities.

Odisha govt forms multi-disciplinary technical committee to monitor COVID-19 treatment
The government of Odisha has formed a multi-disciplinary technical committee to monitor and provide technical assistance to covid healthcare facilities round the clock. Senior professors and doctors of each of the 7 medical colleges in the state have been formed as technical groups to guide the doctors of districts assigned to them.

Tamil Nadu govt launches post COVID-19 follow up clinic in Chennai for patients who recovered from the virus
The Tamil Nadu Health Department has launched the Post-Covid-19 Follow Up Clinic in Chennai. It is exclusively for those who recovered from the viral infection and later suffer from other diseases.

J&K govt publishes its work done under ‘Back to Village (B2V)’ programme
In a first of its kind, government of Jammu and Kashmir published its work done under ‘Back to Village (B2V)’ programme. All the 1930 projects finished during the financial year 2019-20 have been showcased in an e-book recently released by the Finance department. The same has been done to bring in transparency and accountability in the expenditure-making by the government departments.

Mysuru Division of South Western Railways achieves highest ever yearly loading of 8.137 million tonnes of material
The Mysuru Division of South Western Railways has turned adversities into opportunities by maintaining a supply chain of 125 rakes of essential and 173 non-essential commodities at six goods sheds since May. The Divisional Railway Manager Aparna Garg has informed media persons that they achieved the highest ever yearly loading of 8.137 million tonnes of material during the 2019-20 financial year, surpassing previous year record of 6.624 million tonnes of goods.

Union Cabinet gives a go ahead to setting up of National Recruitment Agency, to benefit job seeking youth of the country
The Cabinet has approved the setting up of the National Recruitment Agency (NRA) to conduct Common Eligibility Test. The National Recruitment Agency will conduct a Common Eligibility Test to screen and shortlist candidates for the Group B and C (non-technical) posts. The NRA will have representatives from the Ministry of Railways, Ministry of Finance, SSC, RRB and IBPS. Special focus on creating examination infrastructure in the 117 Aspirational Districts would go a long way in affording access to candidates at a place nearer to where they reside. The CET score of the candidate shall be valid for a period of three years from the date of declaration of the result. The best of the valid scores shall be deemed to be the current score of the candidate.

India ranks first in the number of organic farmers
The growth story of organic farming is unfolding with increasing demand not only in India but also globally. India ranks first in number of organic farmers and ninth in terms of area under organic farming. Sikkim became the first state in the world to become fully organic and other states including Tripura and Uttarakhand have set similar targets.

PM Modi pays tribute to former PM Rajiv Gandhi on his 76th birth anniversary
Prime Minister Narendra Modi today paid tributes to former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi on his 76th birth anniversary. In 1984, Rajiv Gandhi assumed office of the Prime Minister at the age of 40 to become the youngest individual to hold the office in the country. He served in the post till 2nd December 1989.

Health Ministry’s ‘eSanjeevani’ digital platform records 2 lakh consultations
The ‘e-Sanjeevani’ digital platform of the Health Ministry has completed two lakh tele-consultations. This milestone was achieved within a short span of ten days since the 9th of August when Health Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan presided over a meeting to commemorate the completion of 1.5 lakh tele-consultations. The e-Sanjeevani platform has proved its utility and easy access for the caregivers and the medical community and those seeking health care services in the times of COVID.

Ministry of Skill Development, Ministry of Shipping ink MoU for skill development in port & maritime sector
A Memorandum of Understanding, MoU was signed between Ministry of Skill Development and Ministry of Shipping today for skill development in port and maritime sector. The MoU is aimed at skilling, re-skilling and up-skilling manpower for the growing maritime industry and development of coastal community.

Senator Kamala Harris becomes first Indian American to accept Democratic Party nomination for Vice President post in US
US Senator Kamala Harris has accepted her nomination for the US Vice Presidential candidate for Democratic Party. In her acceptance speech she said that she was honoured to accept the nomination for Vice President of the United States. Beginning her speech she spoke about her own story of how growing up shaped her.

Banks sanction loans worth over one lakh 50 thousand crore rupees under Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme
Public and Private sectors banks have sanctioned loans worth over one lakh 50 thousand crore rupees under the Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme. Finance Ministry said, more than one lakh crore rupees has already been disbursed. The scheme was announced by the government as a part of Aatma Nirbhar Bharat Package, to mitigate the distress caused by lockdown due to COVID-19 by providing credit to different sectors, especially MSMEs.

IDFC Mutual Fund enables video e-KYC for first-time investors
IDFC Mutual Fund has enabled Aadhaar- based and non-Aadhaar based paper-less e-KYC on its website. The Aadhaar-based KYC will be done through an XML upload. Non-Aadhaar based KYC is a video-based KYC procedure. The e-KYC facility will help those investors who were planning to delay their investments due to social distancing norms. These facilities do not require paper-based KYC documentation. IDFC Mutual Fund has enabled these feature under the ‘Services’ tab on its website.

RBI releases framework for pan-India entity for retail payments
Reserve Bank of India has unveiled the framework for setting up of pan-India Umbrella Entity for Retail Payments. As per the framework, the companies with a net worth of over 500 crore rupees will be eligible to set up an umbrella entity which among other things will be permitted to set up, manage and operate new payment systems in the retail space comprising ATMs, White Label PoS, Aadhaar-based payments and remittance services.

Maruti Suzuki partners with IIM Bangalore to incubate mobility startups
To engage with startups in the area of mobility, India’s largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki India today announced its partnership with Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore (IIMB). Maruti Suzuki will co-create technology-led mobility business solution with startups. The program will select professionals who have technology in digital, data and AI/ML.

IIT Roorkee inks MoU with Bureau of Indian Standards
Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee has signed an MoU with the Bureau of Indian Standards for collaboration in the areas of standardisation and conformity assessment based on equality and reciprocity. As per the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), both entities will collaborate in a number of fields including civil, electrical, mechanical, chemical, earthquake engineering, development and management of water resources and renewable energy projects.

Delhivery partners Volvo Trucks for express operations
Logistics unicorn Delhivery and Volvo Trucks have joined hands to test and deploy a new transport solution for express operations that will help them address the challenges in speedy delivery and cost efficiencies of services.

EPFO records 6.55 lakh net new enrolments in June
Net new enrolments with retirement fund body EPFO rose to 6.55 lakh in June from 1.72 lakh during May 2020, according to its latest payroll data, providing a perspective on employment in the formal sector amid the COVID-19 crisis.

Lava launches feature phone with heart-rate, blood pressure sensor, priced below ₹2000
Indian smartphone and feature phone manufacturer, Lava has launched a new feature phone that has some smartphone-like features. The feature phone called Lava Pulse gets features like heart rate and blood pressure sensor. Despite the additional hardware, the phone is still priced reasonably at ₹1,599. The device will be available on Amazon, Flipkart and at 100K+ retail stores across the country.

Indore in Madhya Pradesh declared as the cleanest city in national Swachh Survekshan 2020 awards
Indore in Madhya Pradesh has been awarded as the cleanest city in the country in the Swachh Survekshan 2020 awards. The city bagged the position for the fourth consecutive time. The awards were presented by Union Urban Development Minister Hardeep Singh Puri in a function held virtually.

Satya Pal Malik appointed as Meghalaya Governor
The Governor of Goa, Satya Pal Malik has been transferred and appointed as Governor of Meghalaya. Rashtrapati Bhavan in a communique said that Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari will discharge the functions of the Governor of Goa in addition to his own duties.