Current Affairs is the most important area in all competitive exams. But the difficulty level is very high. That’s why; many aspirants get confused, how to select Current Affairs for Preparation of Competitive Examination? In this Post, Daily Current Affairs 20 July 2021, we have tried to cover each and every point and also included all important facts from National/ International news that are useful for upcoming competitive examinations such as UPSC, SSC, Railway, State Govt. etc.
Daily Current Affairs 20 July 2021
Government launched National Logistics Excellence Awards
The Government of India launched the National Logistics Excellence Awards with a view to turn the spotlight on the logistics sector.
The framework of awards has been finalised in consultation with the logistics associations and forum user industry partners.
The awards are in two categories, the first group includes logistics infrastructure/service providers and second one is for various user industries.
There was wide scale appreciation from user industries for giving the due recognition to various players involved in the logistics supply chain.
Start-up India Showcase Platform draws onboard 104 start-ups from diverse areas
As many as 104 startups from diverse sectors such as food-tech, green energy, defence, ed-tech and health-tech, have currently on-boarded the ‘Startup India Showcase Platform’.
Startup India Showcase Platform is an online discovery platform for the most promising startups of the country.
These innovations span across various cutting-edge sectors such as Fintech, EntrepriseTech, Social Impact, HealthTech, EdTech, among others.
Ecosystem stakeholders have evaluated, nurtured, and supported these startups.
These startups are solving critical problems and have shown exceptional innovation in their respective sectors.
Govt to set up Indian Institute of Heritage at Noida
The government of India recently decided to set up the Indian Institute of Heritage at Noida.
The Institute is being set up as Deemed to be University by integrating
- Institute of Archaeology (Pt. Deendayal Upadhyaya Institute of Archaeology),
- School of Archival Studies under National Archives of India, New Delhi,
- the National Research Laboratory for Conservation of Cultural Property (NRLC), Lucknow,
- National Museum Institute of History of Art, Conservation and Museology (NMICHM) and
- Academic Wing of Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA), New Delhi.
These shall become various schools of Institute.
Indian Institute of Heritage will be a world-class university that would focus on the conservation and research in India’s rich tangible heritage, while offering research, development and dissemination of knowledge associated with heritage.
Implementation of CoE Recommendations Related to Defence Reforms
Union Defence Ministry recently informed Rajya Sabha about the status of Implementation of CoE Recommendations Related to Defence Reforms.
The Committee of Experts (CoE) constituted by the Ministry of Defence under the chairmanship of Lt Gen (Retd) DB Shekatkar to recommend measures to enhance combat compatibility and rebalance defence expenditure of the armed forces, submitted its report in December 2016.
The Report was taken up by the Ministry of Defence to frame key action points and roadmap for implementation.
Measures recommended by the Committee and taken up for the implementation include:
- Optimisation of Signals Establishments to include Radio Monitoring Companies, Corps Air Support Signal Regiments, Air Formation Signal Regiments, Composite Signal Regiments and merger for Corps Operating and Engineering Signal Regiments.
- Restructuring of repair echelons in the Army to include Base Workshops, Advance Base Workshops and Static/Station Workshops in the field Army.
- Redeployment of Ordnance echelons to include Vehicle Depots, Ordnance Depots and Central Ordnance Depots apart from streamlining inventory control mechanisms.
- Better utilisation of Supply and Transportation echelons and Animal Transport Units.
- Closure of Military Farms and Army Postal Establishments in peace locations.
- Enhancement in standards for recruitment of clerical staff and drivers in the Army.
- Improving the efficiency of the National Cadet Corps.
Government set up Dairy Investment Accelerator
Government of India set up Dairy Investment Accelerator to promote & facilitate investments in the Dairy sector.
This Investment Accelerator is a cross functional team constituted to serve as the interface with investors.
It shall provide support across the investment cycle:
- Offering specific inputs for evaluation of investment opportunities.
- Addressing queries about application to govt. schemes.
- Connecting with strategic partners.
- Providing on-ground assistance with state departments & relevant authorities.
Dairy Investment Accelerator is also generating awareness among investors about Animal Husbandry Infrastructure Development fund (AHIDF).
Status of Green National Highway Corridor Project
The Government had signed loan agreement with the World Bank to develop Green National Highway Corridors (GNHCP).
The project includes Upgradation of about 781 km length of various National Highways passing through the states of Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh.
Out of total length of 781 km, work on 287.96 km having Civil Cost of Rs. 1664.44 cr. has been awarded.
The schedule date of completion is December, 2025.
NASA’s new spacecraft NEA Scout completed all required tests
NASA announced that its new spacecraft, named NEA Scout, has completed all required tests and has been safely tucked inside the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket.
NEA Scout is one of several payloads that will hitch a ride on Artemis I, which is expected to be launched in November.
Near-Earth Asteroid Scout, or NEA Scout, is a small spacecraft, about the size of a big shoebox.
Its main mission is to fly by and collect data from a near-Earth asteroid. It will also be America’s first interplanetary mission using a special solar sail propulsion.
The spacecraft will take about two years to cruise to the asteroid and will be about 93 million miles away from Earth during the asteroid encounter.
Beijing’s first human infection case with Monkey B virus died
A Beijing-based veterinarian who was confirmed as China’s first human infection case with Monkey B virus (BV) has died.
The virus, initially isolated in 1932, is an alphaherpesvirus enzootic in macaques of the genus Macaca.
B virus is the only identified old-world-monkey herpesvirus that displays severe pathogenicity in humans.
The infection can be transmitted via direct contact and exchange of bodily secretions of monkeys and has a fatality rate of 70 per cent to 80 per cent.
Macaque monkeys commonly have this virus, and it can be found in their saliva, feces (poop), urine (pee), or brain or spinal cord tissue. The virus may also be found in cells coming from an infected monkey in a lab.
Humans can get infected if they are bitten or scratched by an infected monkey; get an infected monkey’s tissue or fluid on broken skin or in eyes, nose, or mouth; scratch or cut oneself on a contaminated cage or other sharp-edged surface or get exposed to the brain (especially), spinal cord, or skull of an infected monkey.
Government is promoting Ethanol Blending of Petrol
The Government of India has been promoting use of ethanol as a blend stock with main automotive fuel like petrol in line with the National Policy on Biofuels -2018 under the Ethanol Blended Petrol (EBP) Programme.
This policy envisages an indicative target of blending 20% ethanol in petrol by 2030.
Ethanol Blending has Improved from 1.53% during Ethanol Supply Year 2013-14 to 7.93% ongoing ESY 2020-21
Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas has published a Notification dated June 02, 2021, wherein, it has been stated that OMCs shall sell ethanol blended petrol with percentage of ethanol upto 20% as per BIS Specifications in the whole of India and Union Territories and shall come into effect from April 01, 2023.
E-100 pilot projects has been launched at Pune city by Public Sector Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) on June 05, 2021.
Bad Bank for stressed assets as a measure to clean up bank books
The Central Government of India launched a Bad Bank with all the regulatory approvals in place.
In February, state-run Punjab National Bank (PNB) put its entire 10.01% stake in Arcil, one of India’s oldest ARCs with assets worth ₹12,000 crore under management, for sale.
This was followed by private lender IDBI Bank, which, too, has begun looking for a buyer to sell its 19.18% stake in Arcil.
SBI Capital Markets Ltd (SBI Caps) has been mandated as the sell-side adviser for the transaction.
It has stipulated that a potential bidder “should have a net worth of not less than ₹100 crore or should have assets under management of not less than ₹500 crore”.
India becomes the 5th largest foreign exchange reserves holder in World
India has emerged as the fifth largest foreign exchange reserves holder in the world after China, Japan, Switzerland and Russia.
In a written reply in Lok Sabha, the Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary said the country’s forex reserves stood at around 609 billion Dollars on 25th of last month.
The country’s foreign exchange reserves position is comfortable in terms of import cover of more than 18 months and provides cushion against unforeseen external shocks.
The government and Reserve Bank of India are closely monitoring the emerging external position calibrating policies or regulations to support robust macroeconomic growth.
In 2020-21, India’s balance of payments recorded surplus in both current account and capital account which contributed to the increase in foreign exchange reserves during the year.
NextGen Broadcasting Technology Center of Excellence
Prasar Bharati and IIT Kanpur will collaborate on NextGen Broadcasting Technology Center of Excellence to spur Aatmanirbhar Bharat in Media and Broadcasting.
As a follow up to the Memorandum of Understanding, signed between Prasar Bharati and the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, a Center of Excellence for Media and Broadcasting Technologies will be established at IIT Kanpur.
Subsequent to the collaboration agreement, three areas have been identified to be taken up under the aegis of the Center of Excellence – Direct to Mobile Broadcasting and Convergence with emerging 5G standards, Artificial Intelligence and advanced algorithms for audio-visual media.
Prasar Bharati and IIT Kanpur will explore the development of direct to mobile broadcasting capabilities with an aim to align emerging technologies with the global standards for 5G.
