Current Affairs Daily Digest – July 26 2020
1. TRIFED partnered with IIT-Delhi for Unnat Bharat Abhiyan
Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India (TRIFED) has entered into a partnership with IIT-Delhi (on behalf of the UBA, as the National Coordinating Institute) and Vijnana Bharati (VIBHA, a Swadeshi Science Movement) at IIT, Delhi for the Unnat Bharat Abhiyan (UBA), a flagship national programme of Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) , Government of India (GoI).
2. ASTHROS Mission: Football Stadium sized balloons of NASA to study Cosmos
NASA is to launch ASTHROS Mission from Antarctica in December 2023. The mission is to spend three weeks observing air currents above the continent. The ASTHROS Mission will send a football stadium sized balloons into the stratosphere. The balloon will observe wavelengths of invisible light from the earth. The balloon has a telescope, sub systems, science instruments, electronic systems and cooling system.
3. Rajasthan launches the first plasma bank of the state
Rajasthan Government is to set up the first plasma bank of the state in Jaipur. The first ever plasma bank of India was established in Delhi. Following Delhi, the state governments of Kerala, Odisha started plasma banks. Maharashtra Government recently announced that about its launch of plasma banks in Malegaon and Dharavi.
4. Haryana to host Khelo India Youth Games 2021
Haryana Chief Minister, Manohar Lal Khattar, and the Union Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports, Kiren Rijiju on July 25 announced that Haryana will host the 4th edition of Khelo India Youth Games (KIYG). The games are currently scheduled to take place after Tokyo Olympics.
5. India celebrates 21st anniversary of Kargil Vijay Diwas
The nation is observing the 21st anniversary of Kargil Vijay Diwas (July 26), remembering its brave martyrs who sacrificed their lives to uphold and safeguard the integrity of the nation.
This day commemorates the success of ”Operation Vijay” which was launched by the Indian Army to recapture the Indian territories captured by the Pakistani intruders in the Kargil-Drass sector in 1999.
6. India agrees for $400 million currency swap with Sri Lanka
India and Sri Lanka agreed for US $400 million currency swap agreement. The agreement signed by Reserve Bank of India extends the swap facility for Sri Lanka till November 2022.
The development comes as a relief to Sri Lanka amidst COVID-19 and will help in its post-pandemic economic recovery.
7. Amala Shankar, Renowned Dancer, Dies In Kolkata At 101
Amala Shankar, the renowned dancer died in Kolkata at the age of 101. Wife of Uday Shankar, the legendary dancer who was instrumental in popularising Indian fusion dance across the world, Amala Shankar learned dancing in the 1930s. She was one of path-breakers for Indian women who rarely performed on public stage at those times.
8. Indian Air Force: Air Marshal VR Chaudhary appointed new chief of Western Air Command
Air Marshal Vivek Ram Chaudhary has been named as the new head of Western Air Command of Indian Air Force, which looks after the country’s defence in North India, including Ladakh region where Indian Army has been in a tense military stand-off with the Chinese PLA for the last three months.
9. Rajesh Bhushan appointed Secretary Health
Senior IAS officer Rajesh Bhushan, who was appointed as Officer on Special Duty (OSD) in the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in the central government in April this year, has been appointed as new Health Secretary to succeed Preeti Sudan, whose extended tenure is coming to an end in July 31. Bhushan is a 1987 batch Bihar cadre officer.
