Current Affairs 14 July 2020

We are here for you to provide the important Recent and Latest Current Affairs 14 July 2020, which have unique updates of Latest Current Affairs 2020 events from all newspapers such as The Hindu, The Economic Times, PIB, Times of India, PTI, Indian Express, Business Standard and all Government official websites.

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Top 20 Current Affairs of 14 July 2020

NATIONAL AFFAIRS

NATGRID signed MOU with NCRB to access database that links around 14,000 police stations

i.The National Intelligence Grid (NATGRID) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) to access the centralised online Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems (CCTNS) database for getting details of First Information Reports (FIRs) and stolen vehicles. The project aims to go live by December 31, 2020.
ii.With access to CCTNS database, NATGRID will act as a link between intelligence and investigation agencies to access a database related to immigration entry and exit, banking and telephone details of a suspect on a secured platform. 
iii.Notably, the State police will not be part of NATGRID.
About National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB):
Director– Ram Phal Pawar
Headquarters– New Delhi
<< Read Full News >>

Smart City Mission opens the registration for India Cycles4Change Challenge

On 10th July 2020, The Smart City Mission of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs opened the registration for India Cycles4Change Challenge launched by Hardeep Singh Puri, Minister of State Housing and Urban Affairs on 25th June 2020. During the event a brief description of the challenge was given and the online portal for application submission of the participating cities was launched.
India Cycles4Change Challenge:
Aim: To connect the cities with citizens and experts to develop a vision to promote cycling.
The eligible cities can register through the portal from 10th July 2020 to 21st July 2020.
Portal for application: https://smartnet.niua.org/indiacyclechallenge/
<< Read Full News >>

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

NITI Aayog presented India’s 2nd Voluntary National Review at UN’s High-Level Political Forum; held virtually

i.NITI (National Institution for Transforming India) Aayog presented India’s second Voluntary National Review (VNR) at the United Nations High-level Political Forum (HLPF) on Sustainable Development, 2020, which is being held virtually from July 7, 2020 to July 16, 2020, under the aegis of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), amid COVID-19 pandemic. 
ii.The theme of HLPF is “Accelerated action and transformative pathways: realizing the decade of action and delivery for sustainable development”.
iii.The India VNR 2020 presented by Dr Rajiv Kumar, Vice Chairman, NITI Aayog represented NITI Aayog’s efforts towards the whole-of-society approach and its commitment towards localisation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
iv.The India VNR 2020 report titled Decade of Action: Taking SDGs from Global to Local was also unveiled during this event.
About Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC):
President– Mona Juul
Headquarter– New York, United States (US)
<< Read Full News >>

BANKING & FINANCE

Visa Partners with Federal Bank to Deploy Visa Secure to the Bank’s Cardholders

i.Visa, enters into partnership with Federal Bank to deploy Visa Secure to the bank’s cardholders. 
ii.Visa Secure will provide additional authentication layers for issuers and merchants to combat online frauds. 
iii.In addition to this, the upgraded technology provides a quick and smooth checkout experience to consumers.
iv.This partnership will also enhance the focus of the bank on customer-centric digital solutions that make online shopping experiences seamless.
About Visa:
Headquarters– Foster City, California
Chairman and CEO– Alfred F. Kelly, Jr.
About Federal Bank:
Headquarters– Aluva, Kerala
MD & CEO– Shyam Srinivasan
Tagline– Your Perfect Banking Partner
<< Read Full News >>

ECONOMY & BUSINESS

India’s annual median GDP growth in FY21 to contract 4.5%: FICCI survey

i.In accordance with the latest round of Economic Outlook Survey of FICCI (Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry), India’s annual median Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth forecast for FY2020-21 has been declined to (-) 4.5% with a minimum and maximum growth estimate of (-) 6.4% and 1.5% respectively, as compared to January 2020 estimate of 5.5%.
ii.As per the survey, there is a possibility of V-shaped recovery with government expenditure as in the current situation; it is the only helping hand for the financial position of the economy.
iii.Economic activity-wise annual forecast indicated a median growth of 2.7% for agriculture and allied activities for 2020-21.
About FICCI (Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry):
Secretary General– Dilip Chenoy
President– Sangita Reddy
Headquarter– New Delhi
<< Read Full News >>

US remain India’s top trading partner in 2019-20 with USD 88.75 billion bilateral trade

i.In accordance with the data of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, the United States (US) remained India’s top trading partner for the second consecutive fiscal in 2019-20 as bilateral trade between the US and India stood at USD 88.75 billion as against USD 87.96 billion in 2018-19.
ii.The trade gap between the countries has also increased to USD 17.42 billion in 2019-20 from USD 16.86 billion in 2018-19. 
iii.On the other hand, the bilateral trade between India and China has dropped to USD 81.87 billion in 2019-20 from USD 87.08 billion in 2018-19. 
About Ministry of Commerce and Industry:
Union Minister– Piyush Goyal (Constituency- Maharashtra)
Minister of State (MoS)– Hardeep Singh Puri, Som Parkash
<< Read Full News >>

BSE signs MoU with IIT Alumni Council to Encourage Startups Listing and Develop a ‘High Investor Depth’ Platform 

i.BSE(formerly Bombay Stock Exchange) informed that it has signed a  Memorandum of Understanding(MoU) with IIT Alumni Council  to encourage the listing of startups and develop a ‘High Investor Depth’ platform for those startups.
ii.The partnership will ensure transparency of the entity, improvement in governance, market discovery of share price, provide liquidity for private equity investors and enable retail participation.
iii.IIT Alumni Council proposes to use Artificial Intelligence(AI)and other automation tools to reduce time, cost and efforts involved in the listing process.
About IIT Alumni Council:
The IIT Alumni Council is the largest global body of alumni, students and faculty across all the 23 Indian Institute of Technology(IITs) with over 100 city chapters globally. It is a virtual, borderless, volunteer-led, flat organization.
President and Chief Volunteer- Ravi Sharma
<< Read Full News >>

Google Launches $10 Billion Digitization Fund in India:Google for India 2020

On 13 July, Alphabet Inc. & Google Chief Executive Officer Sundar Pichai had announced an investment of $10 billion (Rs 75,000 crore) in India through the “Google for India Digitisation Fund” at the 6th Annual, Google for India Event 2020 and also a First virtual event of Google in India.This will be utilised in another five to seven years to digitize the Indian Economy.The fund will build India-first products and services.
Key Points:

• The fund will be used to accelerate Google’s effort through a mix of Investments, partnerships, operations, infrastructure, and ecosystem investments.
• Google will partner with CBSE and provide new initiatives to digitize classrooms.
• It partners with Prasar Bharti, a public broadcasting agency for edutainment series for small and medium-sized business in the country.
• Google Pay ,one of the familiar global product and Google’s AI-powered reading tutor app Bolo (now called Read Along) is currently running in 180 countries.

About Google:
Headquarters- California, United States
CEO- Sundar Pichai
About CBSE:
Headquarters- New Delhi
Chairperson- Manoj Ahuja, I.A.S
<< Read Full News >>

AWARDS & RECOGNITIONS     

IAA named ISRO Chief K Sivan As the Recipient of 2020 Von Karman Award

i.The International Academy of Astronautics(IAA) has announced Dr. Kailasavadivoo Sivan, Chief of Indian Space Research Organisation(ISRO) as the recipient of the 2020 Von Karman Award, the highest distinction of the IAA. 
ii.The award will be presented to Dr.K.Sivan in March 2021 at Paris.
About International Academy of Astronautics (IAA):
President- Peter Jankowitsch (Austria)
Headquarters– Paris, France
<< Read Full News >>

NTPC Wins CII-ITC Sustainability Awards 2019

i.NTPC Limited(formerly- National Thermal Power Corporation Limited) wins CII-ITC Sustainability Award 2019 under the category Corporate Excellence for Outstanding Accomplishment. 
ii.In addition to this it also has received a Commendation for Significant Achievement in the category of Corporate Social Responsibility(CSR).
NTPC’s Initiatives
GEM(Girl Empowerment Mission), a 4 weeks residential program is its flagship CSR program. It is institutionalized near its power stations to help school girls from underprivileged backgrounds to support their overall development.
About NTPC:
Registered Office– New Delhi, India
Chairman and Managing Director– Gurdeep Singh
<< Read Full News >>

Chhattisgarh’s Chief Minister Darpan Portal and Mobile App Receives Elites Excellence Awards 2020 by IT Institutions 

i.Chhattisgarh’s Chief Minister Darpan (Mukhyamantri Darpan) Portal and Mobile app, which contains the details of the schemes of the Government of Chhattisgarh received the Elites Excellence Awards 2020 by the IT institution Elites Technomedia under the Digital India Initiative. 
ii.The award was given for the Government category under the innovation for monitoring important schemes of the government.
iii.The e-certificate was presented during the three-day virtual conference from 10th July to 12th July organised to encourage innovation in the IT Sector of the Government.
About Chhattisgarh:
Chief Minister– Bhupesh Baghel
Governor– Anusuiya Uikey
Capital– Raipur
<< Read Full News >>   

Sachin Awasthi is honoured as the Top Publicist in Global Humanitarian Award 2020 – London

i.On 28th June 2020, Sachin Awasthi, the president of National Media Club and Founder of Shri Ram Seva Mission was honoured with the “Top Publicist” award in the Global Humanitarian Awards 2020 held as a webinar over a virtual platform in London.
ii.The Global Humanitarian Award 2020 is instituted as a part of the “Honoring the Honorable” initiative of the World Humanitarian Drive(WHD).
iii.He inaugurated the Swachh Bharat – Sundar Bharat Mission in 2014 and released a first toll free number for cleanliness in India.
About World Humanitarian Drive (WHD):
Founder & Chairman– Abdul Basit Syed
Headquarters– London, United Kingdom
<< Read Full News >>

APPOINTMENTS & RESIGNATIONS       

Poland’s Incumbent Andrzej Duda Wins Presidential Election

On 13 July 2020, Andrzej Sebastian Duda of the Law and Justice (PiS) party won the Presidential Election of Poland by securing over 51.2% of votes leaving behind Warsaw Mayor Rafał Trzaskowski (almost 49% of votes).
About Andrzej Duda:

• Andrzej was born in 1972.
• He is a lawyer and politician, and served as president of Poland since August 2015.
• He has served as a member of Polish Lower house (2011-2014) and European Parliament (2014-2015).

About Poland:
Capital: Warsaw
Currency: Polish zloty

  ACQUISITIONS & MERGERS      

Qualcomm Ventures buys 0.15% stake in Jio Platforms for Rs 730 crore

US-based Qualcomm Ventures, the investment arm of chipmaker Qualcomm Incorporated to invest upto Rs 730 crore in Reliance Industries Limited(RIL)’s Jio Platforms for 0.15% stake.With this investment Jio Platforms has raised a total of Rs 1,18,318.45 crore.
Key Info
i.With this investment, RIL holds 74.76% stake in Jio and 25.24% by the investors.
ii.The investment of Qualcomm Ventures will translate 0.15 % equity stake in Jio Platforms on a fully diluted basis.
iii.The equity value of Jio Platforms is Rs 4.91 lakh crore and an enterprise value of Rs 5.16 lakh crore.
Purpose of the investment– This investment will strengthen the association between the companies and also helps them to achieve the goal of advanced 5G infrastructure and services.
List of other companies invested– Facebook, Silver Lake Partners, TPG, KKR, L Catterton, Intel Capital, General Atlantic, Vista Equity Partners, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, Mubadala, and Public Investment Fund from Saudi Arabia.
About Qualcomm Ventures:
Headquarters– California, United States
Senior Vice President & Global Head– Quinn Li

 SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

NITI Aayog’s AIM launched ATL App Development Module for school students & teachers nationwide; #TinkerfromHome

On July 11, 2020, as a part of Atal Tinkering Lab (ATL) initiative of Atal Innovation Mission (AIM), NITI (National Institution for Transforming India) Aayog has launched pan India “ATL App Development Module”, a free online course for school students and teachers on the lines of the Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi’s vision of AtmaNirbhar Bharat. Developed by NITI Aayog’s AIM and Indian startup, Plezmo, this course will comprise six project-based learning modules and online mentoring sessions.
i.This would be one of the largest App learning and development initiatives at a school level in any country.
ii.The hashtag or campaign for this state of the art platform is “#TinkerfromHome”, which enables learning of the latest technologies from the comfort and safety of their homes amid COVID-19.
About NITI Aayog:
Chairman– Narendra Modi
Chief Executive Officer (CEO)– Amitabh Kant 
Headquarter– New Delhi
About Plezmo:
It is a trademark of Gunakar Private Limited.
Chief Executive Officer (CEO)– Amol Palshikar
Headquarter– Pune, Maharashtra
<< Read Full News >>

SPORTS

Lewis Hamilton Won the Styrian Grand Prix in Spielberg

On 12th July 2020, Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes Driver won the Styrian Grand Prix(GP) in Spielberg, Austria with this win Hamilton has won at least one race of his 14-year career on the circuit.
Key Points:
i.This is the 85th career win of Hamilton and he moves within six of Formula one (F1) record of Michael Schumacher.
ii.He finished the race 13.7 seconds and 3.7 seconds ahead of Valtteri Vottas of Mercedes and Max Verstappen of Red Bull respectively.
iii.His record-extending 89th career pole on a rain-drenched track was one of his best in extreme conditions.
iv.The trophies of the winners were delivered through a remote controlled device to maintain social distancing amid COVID-19 pandemic.
v.Bottas leads in points 43-37 challenging Hamilton for the F1 title.

OBITUARY

Veteran Gujarati Journalist, Columnist, Writer and Padma Shri Awardee Nagindas Sanghvi Passed Away at 100

On July 12, 2020 Veteran Gujarati journalist, columnist, writer, political analyst and Padma Shri Awardee(2019) Nagindas Sanghvi passed away at 100 in Surat due to a brief illness. He was suffering from acute asthma.  He was born on March 10, 1920 in Burma(Myanmar).
About Nagindas Sanghvi 
i.He was in the profession of teaching at Bhavan’s College Andheri from 1951 to 1980
ii.After which he taught political science in Ruparel College, Mahim and Mithibai College, Vile Parle
iii.He had written many books on Mahatma Gandhi, Gujarat and other subjects. His books include, Ramayan Ni Antaryatra and Narendra Modi A political Journey among others. He is known for his work in Chitralekha.
Awards– ‘Vyoshrestha Samman’ from Government of India in 2017. 
About Myanmar
Capital– Nay Pyi Taw
Currency– Myanmar kyat (MMK)
President– U Win Myint

1966 England World Cup winner, Footballer Jack Charlton dies at the age of 85

On 10th July 2020, Footballer Jack Charlton (nicknamed “Big Jack”), the former central defender and a part of England’s 1966 World Cup winning Football team, passed away at the age of 85 in his residence in Northumberland in northeast England. He was born in Northumberland colliery village of Ashington, London, United Kingdom on 8 May 1935.
Note:
He was the brother of Bobby Charlton, midfielder.
Career:
i.He made 773 appearances during his club career at Leeds from 1952 to 1973.
ii.He made 35 appearances for England between 1965 to 1970 and he played in the European Championship and 1970 World Cup.
iii.He led Ireland in Euro 88 and World cup quarter finals at Italia 90.
iv.He resigned after losing to Netherlands in the 1996 Euro playoff.
Awards and Honours:
i.He was the 1967 footballer of the year in England and he won every domestic honours including the 1969 league title.
ii.He was awarded the freedom of the City of Dublin in 1994.
iii.The government of Ireland awarded the honorary Irish citizenship and honoured him with a life-size statue at Cork Airport.
iv.He was named as the Football Writers Association (FWA) Footballer of the Year in 1967.

IMPORTANT DAYS

Malala Day 2020 –  July 12

i.The United Nations(UN) designated 12th July of every year as Malala Day, to commemorate the birthday of Malala Yousafzai, Pakistani activist and the youngest recipient of the Nobel prize for peace. In 2013 first “Malala Day: An Education for All Children” was celebrated.
ii.The Former Secretary General of United Nations Ban Ki Moon addressed Malala’s 16th Birthday as Malala Day.
iii.The Publishers of HarperCollins India announced that a book documenting the struggles and fights against the social norms of 25 brave girls for their right to education.
About United Nation(UN):
Secretary General– António Guterres
Headquarters– New York, United States of America
About HarperCollins India:
Chief Executive Officer- Ananth Padmanabhan
Chief Financial Officer and Operations Head– Amit Abrol
Head Office– Noida, Uttar Pradesh
<< Read Full News >>

STATE NEWS

MP Govt to Launch ‘Roko -Toko’, a Campaign for those who do not Wear Masks

Government of Madhya Pradesh has announced to launch a campaign ‘Roko -Toko’, which means stop and campaign for those who do not wear masks. It is to ensure that all wear masks as the usage of masks is made mandatory in all public places in the state.
Key Info
i.Selected voluntary organizations will provide masks to the people who do not wear masks in public places and will charge an amount of Rs 20 per mask from the concerned.As per the issued guidelines of the state, the collector will select voluntary organizations in the district for the work.
ii.While making selection, the number of persons available, credibility and efficiency of the organization will be taken into consideration.
iii.Under ‘Jeevan Shakti Yojana’ the selected organizations will be provided 100 masks on credit.
About Jeevan Shakti Yojana
Jeevan Shakti Yojana was launched on April 25, 2020. It is to help women in urban areas to earn by making masks at home. The government will pay them Rs 11 per mask. 
About MP:
Chief Minister– Shivraj Singh Chauhan
Governor– Lalji Tandon (On June 28, 2020 Anandiben Patel was given additional charge as the governor of Madhya Pradesh due to the absence of Lal Ji Tandon).
Capital– Bhopal
National Park(NP)– Bandhavgarh NP, Kanha NP, Madhav NP, Mandla Plant Fossils NP, Van Vihar NP, Panna NP, Pench NP, Sanjay NP, Satpura NP .

AC GAZE

Google relaunches Google Plus as Google Currents

Google, an Internet search giant has relaunched Google plus(shutdown on april 2019) as Google Currents, it helps to exchange documents and have meaningful discussion by enabling  leaders and workers to exchange ideas across the organization and collect valuable feedback & input from other people.

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