Current Affairs (August – 2020)

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This post contains important current affairs of 5 August 2020. It includes all Major National, International, Business and Sports related current affairs of 5 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 5 August 2020 Current affairs test.

Karnataka Medical Education Minister inaugurates nation’s first ICMR approved mobile RT-PCR Covid lab
Nation’s first ICMR approved mobile RTPCR Covid lab developed by Indian Institute of Science in Bengaluru was inaugurated by Karnataka Medical Education Minister Dr.K Sudhakar today. Packed with all the safety features, this unique lab is capable of producing accurate results within four hours. In a month the mobile lab can conduct 9000 tests. The lab can be utilised for testing H1N1,HCV,TB,HPV,HIV virus also. The mobile lab was handed over to Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences in Bengaluru.

West Bengal plans to provide 100% tap connections to all households by 2024 under Jal Jeevan Mission
West Bengal has planned to provide 100 per cent tap connections to all the households in the State by 2024 under Jal Jeevan Mission. Out of 1.63 Crore rural households in West Bengal, 2.19 lakh households have already got tap connections. The State is planning to provide tap connections to 55.60 lakh households in 2020-21.

J&K govt decides to resume Vaishno Devi yatra from Aug 16
Vaishno Devi Yatra will resume on August 16 after the Jammu and Kashmir government decided to open religious places in the Union Territory. Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board announced the resumption of the pilgrimage almost four months after it was suspended because of the coronavirus pandemic. The Jammu and Kashmir government has decided to open all religious places across the Union Territory from 16th of this month, a day after Independence Day celebrations.

Free online admission in 22 government degree colleges in Tripura
Tripura’s Education Minister Ratan Lal Nath announced that admission to the state’s 22 general degree colleges will be done online in view of the COVID-19 pandemic. Tripura’s Education Minister Ratan Lal Nath said the decision was taken by the government for the welfare of the students. The admission will be done on the basis of merit.

NIDM in collaboration with IMD organises webinar series on “Hydro-Meteorological Hazards Risk Reduction”
National Institute of Disaster Management in collaboration with India Meteorological Department organised a webinar series on “Hydro-Meteorological Hazards Risk Reduction”. The webinar series include four webinars focusing on Thunderstorms and Lightning, Cloudburst and Floods, Cyclones and Storm Surges and Climate Change and Extreme Weather Events. The webinar series exhorted on enhancing human capacity in terms of better understanding of Hydro-Meteorological Hazards Risk and effective collaborative actions.

All states, UTs lifted about 118 Lakh Metric Tonne of food grains for NFSA beneficiaries
All States and UTs have lifted about 118 Lakh Metric Tonne of three-month food grains from FCI depots and central pool for distribution among National Food Security Act beneficiaries. Further, all States and UTs have reported a distribution of over 111.52 Lakh Metric Tonne, which is 93.5 percent of allocated food grains for the period between April and June. According to FCI, 37.5 Lakh Metric Tonne food grains were distributed in April and May covering 75 crore beneficiaries in each month. In June, 36.54 Lakh Metric Tonne food grains were distributed covering about 73 crore beneficiaries.

India extends Line of Credit worth 18 million US dollars to Maldives for expansion of fishing facilities at MIFCO
India has extended Line of Credit worth 18 million US dollars to the Government of Maldives for the expansion of fishing facilities at Maldives Industrial Fisheries Company (MIFCO). The project envisages investment in fish collection and storage facilities and the setting up of a tuna cooked plant and fishmeal plant. It is part of the 800 million US dollars line of credit offered by India with repayment tenor of 20 years and a 5-year moratorium.

Centre accepts Bihar govt’s recommendation of CBI inquiry into the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput
The Centre today informed the Supreme Court that it has accepted the Bihar government’s recommendation for CBI investigation into the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre, told the court that Bihar government’s recommendation for CBI investigation in the case has been accepted.

Govt to create online courses in liberal arts in sync with new education policy
India’s education regulators are working to create online courses in liberal arts, lagging so far, keeping in mind the tenet of inter-disciplinary learning of the National Education Policy (NEP). In the first phase, UGC has proposed developing 171 undergraduate online courses in six subjects of humanities and social science like history, political science, commerce, sociology, public administration and anthropology.

Ram Temple is a Symbol of Unity, says Prime Minister Modi
Addressing the gathering after Bhoomi Poojan, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, Ram Temple is a symbol of national unity. Mr Modi said, a golden chapter is being written in the history of India and Lord Ram remains in our minds and hearts. The Prime Minister said that Lord Rama belongs to everyone and his ideals continue to inspire millions across the globe. Mr. Modi said the construction of Ram temple has been a fulfillment of the desire of the people of the country. He added that it will also give a fillip to the local economy.

Union Agriculture Minister launches Sahakar Cooptube NCDC Channel
Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar today launched the Sahakar Cooptube NCDC Channel, a new initiative by National Cooperative Development Corporation. Mr Tomar said that his Ministry is in the forefront of operationalizing different aspects of Atma Nirbhar Bharat call given by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Indian Army begins process to grant Permanent Commission to eligible women officers
Indian Army has kickstarted the process to grant Permanent Commission to eligible women officers, nearly two weeks after the defence ministry approved the proposal. Women Officers who have joined the Indian Army through the Women Special Entry Scheme and Short Service Commission Women are being considered and all of them have been instructed to submit their application forms, option certificate and other related documents to Army.

S Jaishankar discussed the key challenges in the world with his Ireland counterpart
External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar discussed the key challenges in the world with his Ireland counterpart Simon Coveney. Dr Jaishankar said, India and Ireland will serve together in the United Nations Security Council, UNSC. He said, they look forward to working closely.

Western Railway loads onion in goods train for its transportation to Bangladesh
In Gujarat, the Bhavnagar division of Western Railway successfully loaded onions in a goods train for its transportation to Bangladesh. This is the first time that agriculture goods have been sent to neighbouring country through the train route. The first rake of such goods train has been loaded with onions at Dhoraji Railway Station of Bhavngar division.

UK government invests $18 million in Scottish vaccine site
The UK agreed to invest in a Scottish factory that will make French biotech firm Valneva SE’s Covid-19 vaccine, in a move to secure domestic production of the shot. The British government and Valneva will each invest 14 million pounds ($18 million) in the existing plant. Britain has reached deals for at least 250 million doses from four different vaccine developers in recent weeks.

UPI to launch NFC-based payments
National Payments Corp. of India (NPCI), which operates the Unified Payments Interface (UPI), plans to add near-field communication (NFC) capabilities to its payments infrastructure and is in talks with payment aggregators to push the product across point-of-sale (PoS) devices. The move is expected to expand UPI’s reach to offline merchants by tapping the PoS ecosystem and thus trigger more peer-to-merchant transactions.

Edtech startup Springboard raises $31 million from Telstra Ventures
Online education startup Springboard, which offers courses, employability tools and career services for professionals, has raised $31 million in Series B funding, led by new investor Telstra Ventures. Vulcan Capital and SJF Ventures also participated along with existing investors Costanoa Ventures, Pearson Ventures, Reach Capital, International Finance Corporation (IFC), 500 Startups, Blue Fog Capital and Learn Capital.

HP starts manufacturing operations near Chennai facility
Tech major HP has started manufacturing operations at contract electronics manufacturer Flex Ltd’s facility at Sriperumbudur near Chennai, Tamil Nadu. HP, which already has its own manufacturing plant in Pantnagar district of Uttarakhand since 2006, said the latest expansion is a part of the company’s “long-term commitment to the Indian market”. The plant will manufacture desktops and workstations that enable HP to meet current and future customer needs.

Adani Ports SEZ raises ₹5,600 cr
Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) has raised USD 750 million (about ₹5,600 crore) by issuing fixed rate senior unsecured notes.

Reliance ranked No 2 brand globally after Apple in FutureBrand Index 2020 list
Billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s oil-to-telecom conglomerate Reliance Industries has been ranked second biggest brand after Apple on the FutureBrand Index 2020. Samsung is ranked third, followed by Nvidia, Moutai, Nike, Microsoft, ASML, PayPal and Netflix in the FutureBrand Index 2020 list.

Ajay Tyagi gets an extension of 18 months as SEBI chief
Opting for continuity the finance ministry decided to extend the incumbent Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) chief’s tenure for 18 months. In effect his appointment which was for three years starting March 2017 has been extended by two years. Ajay Tyagi, an Indian Administrative Service (IAS) Officer of Himachal Pradesh Cadre will now head the regulator till at least 28 February 2022.

BDR Pharma launches Favipiravir at ₹63 per tablet for treatment of COVID-19
BDR Pharmaceuticals, a Mumbai based drug company, announced the launched its antiviral drug Favipiravir for the treatment of coronavirus patients in India. The drug has been launched under the brand name ‘BDFAVI’. BDR Pharma’s antiviral drug ‘BDFAVI’ is available as 200 mg tablets in the form of a strip of 10 tablets, and priced at ₹630 per strip.

Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju chairs 1st General Council meeting of Khelo India Scheme
Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju today chaired the 1st General Council meeting of the Khelo India Scheme. Mr Rijiju urged the states to organise State-level Khelo India Games annually with an effort to identify a larger number of grassroot-level talents. He said, the annual competitions being organized at the national level under the Khelo India Scheme, like the Khelo India Youth Games and University Games, have helped to identify sporting talent from all states.

Indian men’s, women’s hockey teams for Tokyo Olympics to join National camp in Bengaluru
Members of the Indian men’s and women’s hockey teams bound for Tokyo Olympics will join the National Camp at National Centre of Excellence (NCOE) in Bengaluru. The decision was taken by Sports Authority of India (SAI) after formal permission was received from the State Government to begin training in Bengaluru.