Current Affairs as on 20th July 2020
COVID-19 NEWS
(1.) Northern Railway to provide 503 isolation coaches as COVID Care Centers in Delhi :- Northern Railway has made available 503 isolation coaches equivalent to 8,048 beds as COVID Care Centers at nine stations in Delhi. These stations include Anand Vihar Terminal, Shakurbasti, Sarai Rohilla, Safdarjung, Shahdara, Adarsh Nagar, Delhi Cantt, Badli and Tughlakabad.
(2.) COVID-19 fatality rate in India falls below 2.5% for first time; one of the lowest in world :- Government today said that India’s Case Fatality Rate of COVID-19 falls below 2.5 per cent for the first time. Union Health Ministry said, India has one of the lowest fatality rates in the world. It said, due to the focused efforts of Center and State and Union Territories governments on efficient clinical management of hospitalized cases have ensured that the Case Fatality Rate falls to 2.49 per cent. The Ministry said, with effective Containment Strategy, aggressive testing and standardized clinical management protocols based on holistic Standard of Care approach, the Case Fatality Rate has significantly dipped.
NATIONAL NEWS
(1.) Statement of Intent signed for partnership with UNICEF India, YuWaah India, UN in India :- Youth Affairs Secretary Usha Sharma today signed a Statement of Intent for partnership with UNICEF India, YuWaah India and United Nations in India to work together with young people for empowering them and to make them change makers with access to aspirational socio-economic opportunities. The statement of intent was signed with UNICEF representative in India Dr. Yasmin Ali Haque in the presence of Youth Affairs and Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju.
(2.) UPSC to hold Personality Test for remaining candidates of Civil Services Exam-19 from 20th to 30th July :- The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) will hold Personality Test (PT) for remaining candidates of Civil Services Examination-19 from 20th July to 30th July. The Commission had earlier deferred the Personality Tests for 623 candidates due to nationwide lockdown amidst COVID-19 pandemic.
(3.) Health Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan launches PNB’s campaign to distribute face masks & sanitizers :- Union Health Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan launched Punjab National Bank’s campaign to distribute face masks and sanitizers to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in New Delhi on 20th July. S.S. Mallikarjuna Rao, MD and CEO, and other senior officials of PNB were also present.
STATE NEWS
(1.) Union Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal virtually inaugurates Mega Food Park in Mizoram :- Food Processing Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal today virtually inaugurated the first Mega Food Park in Mizoram. The Minister said, it will benefit farmers, growers, processors, consumers and prove to be a big boost to the growth of the food processing sector in the North East Region.
(2.) BJP appoints party presidents for Gujarat, Ladakh :-Navsari MP CR Patil has been appointed as President of Gujarat BJP. Young MP from Ladakh, Jamyang Tsering Namgyal has been appointed Ladakh BJP President.
(3.) Jammu and Kashmir Chief Secretary chairs meeting of NHIDCL to review progress of various road projects :- In Jammu and Kashmir, Chief Secretary, B V R Subrahmanyam today chaired a meeting of National Highway Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL), to review the progress of various road projects being undertaken in the Union Territory.
(4.) ‘Godhan Nyay Yojana’ commences in Chhattisgarh today :- In Chhattisgarh, first of its kind scheme of the country- Godhan Nyay Yojana has been commenced today. On the occasion of the traditional festival of Hareli, Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel inaugurated the scheme by symbolically procuring cow dung. Under the scheme, government will procure cow dung at two rupees per kilogram from livestock owners and use it to prepare organic fertilizers.
(5.) Telangana: Covid-19 vaccine trials begin at NIMS today :- In Telangana, the Covid-19 vaccine trials have begun today at the Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences (NIMS) with hospital officials administering the first vaccine dose to a health volunteer. The first indigenous Covid-19 vaccine, being developed by Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), National Institute of Virology, Pune and a pharma giant Bharat Biotech is expected to be tested on 30 healthy volunteers at NIMS.
BUSINESS AND FINANCE
(1.) Government starts e-campaign on Voluntary Income Tax Compliance for taxpayers :- The Income Tax Department is all set to start an e-Campaign on voluntary compliance of Income Tax for the convenience of the taxpayers from 20th July. The 11-day campaign will focus on the assessees or taxpayers who are either non-filers or have discrepancies in their returns for the financial year 2018-19. The objective of the e-campaign is to facilitate taxpayers to online validate their tax and financial transaction information available with the Income Tax Department and promote voluntary compliance, especially for the assessees for financial year 2018-19 so that they do not need to get into notice and scrutiny process.
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
(1.) UAE launches its first space mission to Mars from Japan :- UAE’s historic journey to Mars has been successfully started from the Tanegashima Space Center in Japan. The spacecraft Hope Probe took off in an early morning launch.
DEFENCE
(1.) 3-day long Air Force Commanders’ Conference to begin from Wednesday in Delhi :- The three day long Air Force Commanders’ Conference will begin from Wednesday at Air Headquarters (Vayu Bhawan) in New Delhi. The theme of the conference is “Indian Air Force in the Next Decade”. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh is likely to inaugurate the conference on Wednesday.
(2.) Indian Navy undertakes passing exercise with US Navy in Indian Ocean Region :- Indian Navy undertook a passing exercise with the US Navy in the Indian Ocean Region. US Navy carrier strike group, led by USS Nimitz and Indian Navy conducted the maritime drills, PASSEX, which aims at further enhancing interoperability between Navies of both the countries.
(3.) 1st batch of five Indian Air Force Rafale likely to arrive in India by July end :- The first batch of five Indian Air Force Rafale is likely to arrive in India by end of this month. Indian Air Force said, the aircraft will be inducted at Air Force Station Ambala on 29th July subject to weather.
Thanks for Reading Current Affairs as on 20th July 2020
Compiled By : CS Surbhi Saxena
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