National Current Affairs

July 21, 2020

According to the initial timeline of Indian railways to launch 151 private trains by 2027, the first set of 12 private trains will start operation in 2023 followed by 45 more trains that will be in service next year.
In a formal kick-start to its plans to allow private entities to operate passenger trains on its network. The project would require a private sector investment of about ₹30,000 crores.

July 21, 2020

The Minister of Power, New and Renewable Energy Shri R K Singh inaugurated first public Electric Vehicle charging plaza at Chelmsford club in New Delhi.
Along with the charging plaza, the minister also inaugurated RAISE. RAISE is Retrofit of Air-conditioning to improve Indoor Air Quality for Safety and Efficiency (RAISE). It is a joint initiative of EESL and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
The charging Plaza was established by EESL (Energy Efficiency Services Limited) and NDMC (New Delhi Municipal Council).

July 20, 2020

On 18th July, the central government announced that the Central Institute of Petrochemicals Engineering and Technology’s (CIPET) unit in Bhubaneshwar, Odisha has received NABL accreditation to test and certify Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) kit.
PPE kit includes coverall, masks, face shields and goggles, and the triple-layer medical masks.

July 20, 2020

A mobile Application of Prime Minister Street Vendor’s AtmaNirbhar Nidhi (PM SVANidhi) was virtually launched by Durga Shanker Mishra, Secretary, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) from New Delhi, in order to bring paper-less Microcredit facility for street vendors at their doorsteps and also to give force to the implementation strategy of the Scheme.
The aim of the app is to ease the sourcing and processing of loan applications of street vendors under the Scheme by providing a user-friendly digital interface for Lending Institutions (LIs) and their field functionaries like Banking Correspondents (BCs) and Agents of Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs)/ Micro-Finance Institutions (MFIs).

July 19, 2020

The Union Health Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan on July 19 launched the ‘Plasma Donation Campaign’.
It has been launched in association with Delhi Police at All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Delhi.
The Union Health Minister highlighted the role of Corona warriors and mentioned the importance of giving plasma donation a much bigger platform.

July 19, 2020

The All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) is starting its human clinical trial of the indigenously-developed COVID-19 vaccine COVAXIN from today.
AIIMS Ethics Committee has given its nod for the human clinical trial of COVAXIN.
AIIMS-Delhi is among the 12 sites selected by the Indian Council for Medical Research(ICMR) for conducting phase I and II human trials of COVAXIN.

July 19, 2020

The International Centre for Automotive Technology (ICAT) is developing a technology platform for the Indian Automotive Industry.
The objective behind this is to build a strong and self-reliant automotive industry in line with the vision of Make in India and Atma-Nirbhar vision of Government of India.
e-portal named ASPIRE (Automotive Solutions Portal for Industry, Research and Education) will be launched in different Phases.
Phase I of the portal has been launched on 15 July 2020 and includes connecting the users and experts on the portal for functionality assessment.
Phase II of the portal which is expected to be launched by August 15, 2020, will include the posting of domain-specific challenges, team formation, and finalizing the milestones for the execution of projects for the said challenges and industry problems.
The final phase of the portal is expected by 15 September 2020, with hosting of the Grand challenges and providing an elaborated resource database and project monitoring and execution.

July 18, 2020

As per the Special Bulletin on MMR released by the Registrar General of India, “Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) of India has declined by 9 points in one year.
The ratio has declined from 122 in 2015-17 to 113 in 2016-18 (7.4 % decline).
Northern states registered a higher MMR: Assam (215), Bihar (149), Madhya Pradesh (173), Chhattisgarh (159), Odisha (150), Rajasthan (164), Uttar Pradesh (197) and Uttarakhand (99).
The southern states registered a lower MMR: Andhra Pradesh (65), Telangana (63), Karnataka (92), Kerala (43), and Tamil Nadu (60).
The target 3.1 of UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) aims to reduce the global maternal mortality ratio to less than 70 per 1,00,000 live births.
Maternal Mortality Ratio MMR is defined as the number of maternal deaths per 1,00,000 live births

July 18, 2020

The apex development finance institution, National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) has launched development projects worth Rs 44 lakhs in Andaman and Nicobar Islands, with the aim to strengthen the concept of Atmanirbhar Bharat through rural entrepreneurship.

The development projects of NABARD consist of following initiatives:

Formation and development of Self-Help Groups (SHGs) and providing Skill development training to these SHGs members to promote rural entrepreneurship at the micro-level.
Women attached to SHGs in Little Andaman will be trained for Mushroom Cultivation and Bamboo Handicrafts making.
A four-month-long training program for tour and travel agents in Swaraj Dweep
Yearly Micro-Entrepreneurship Development Programme will be carried out for 150 members of various SHGs in Mayabunder in Middle Andaman.
The apex institution is also providing a platform for sales of local products by financing Rural Haats in Gram Panchayats.
Total of Rs. 7.6 lakhs have been released to establish one such Haat in Namunaghar Panchayat of South Andaman.

July 18, 2020

A first-of-its-kind footwear training center for the marginalized community was inaugurated here by the Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC).
It will provide a comprehensive two-month training program to leather artisans for making high-quality footwear.
The center has been established with the help of the Central Footwear Training Institute (CFTI), Agra, a unit of the MSME ministry.
The training center will also provide logistics support to the artisans in starting their own shoe-making business once their two-month training is completed.
The artisans will also be provided a tool kit worth Rs 5,000 for carrying out their activities in the future.
The Khadi and Village Industries Commission is also setting up a similar footwear training center in Varanasi.

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