Current Affairs Quiz - August, 2020

Notes:
The Union Ministry of Housing and Urban affairs has formed a five-member central team under Smart Cities Director Rahul Kapoor.
The panel will formulate project reports for both the cities, to improve infrastructure and employment opportunities in Ladakh. These cities have been selected in addition to the 100 smart cities in different states. This idea was initially proposed by the Home Affairs Ministry.

Notes:
Major technology company Microsoft has unveiled the latest edition of its Security Endpoint Threat Report 2019.
As per the report, India has been placed among the countries with the highest cryptocurrency mining encounters in the last year. India registered the seventh highest malware encounter rate in the past year and the third highest ransomware encounter rate across the Asia-Pacific region.

Notes:
The Indian Space Research Organisation recently announced that IN-SPACe (Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre) will be the single nodal agency to regulate space activities and the use of ISRO facilities by private sector.
The Union Cabinet cleared the setting up of IN-SPACe as a separate body. Announcing the detailed structure of IN-SPACe, ISRO said that the body will have its own Chairman, technical experts from academia and industries and members of Prime Minister’s Office and Ministry of External Affairs.

Notes:
Veteran Folk musician Sonam Tshering Lepcha has recently passed away at Kalimpong, West Bengal at the age of 92.
He travelled to various parts of Sikkim and compiled several Indian folk and traditional Lepcha songs. He was also known for his efforts to popularise and represent Lepcha culture. He was awarded the prestigious Padma Shri award by the Government.

Notes:
The Directorate of Cashew Research (DCR) located in the state of Karnataka has developed the ‘Cashew India’ application for farmers of cashew in India.
The app gives information on cashew grafts, cultivation, post-harvest processing, and market information to stakeholders such as farmers, researchers and processors. The app is available in 11 languages and funded by the Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture.

Notes:
Global chemical company SABIC’s polycarbonate plant in Spain is set to become the world’s first that will run entirely on renewable power.
The Riyadh-headquartered company has signed a major agreement with an electricity utility company Iberdrola, in this regard. This plant is expected to be completely operational by the year 2024.

Notes:
Union Health and Family Welfare Minister Harsh Vardhan launched a national- level programme named ‘Vidyarthi Vigyan Manthan’ 2020-21.
This initiative aims to promote scientific temper among school students of Class 6 to 11. It is jointly organised by Vijnana Bharati, in collaboration with Vigyan Prasar, an autonomous organisation under Science and Technology Ministry and NCERT of Education Ministry. It identifies and trains bright students with interest in Science.

Notes:
Northern Railway operated the first-ever Vyapar Mala Express train from Delhi to Jirania in Tripura. It has 46 wagons and 34 of them were loaded with wheat and the remaining with rice and pulses.
Railways is said to have earned more than 94 lakh rupees from this Vyapar Mala Express train. This is an express service which aims to reach its destination in a shorter time, as the train will be monitored on a real-time basis.

Notes:
Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar has recently launched the official YouTube channel of the National Cooperative Development Corporation.
It is called the ‘Sahakar Cooptube NCDC Channel and is a new initiative by NCDC, a statutory Corporation under the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare. The Union Minister also launched instruction videos produced by NCDC on ‘Formation and Registration of a Cooperative’.

Notes:
Veteran theatre mentor and the longest serving director of the National School of Drama, Ebrahim Alkazi has passed away recently at the age of 94.
He won several prestigious awards including Padma Shri, Padma Bhushan, Padma Vibhushan, Sangeet Natak Akademi Award & Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship. He had trained several artists and his significant plays include Tughlaq and Andha Yug.