Current Affairs 20 July 2020

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Current Affairs 20 July 2020

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1. 20 July to be observed as World Chess Day
  • The International Chess Day is celebrated on July 20 every year as the founding day of the FIDE (World Chess Federation). This year will mark FIDE's 96th anniversary.
  • In the fifth century, chess was invented in India. It was called "Chaturanga" at the time. 
  • Chess is one of the most ancient games of the period. This game was then spread to Persia.
Foot Notes:
About FIDE:
Headquarters: Lausanne, Switzerland
President: Arkady Dvorkovich
Founded: 20 July 1924, Paris, France
CEO: Geoffrey D. Borg 
 
2. AIIMS Delhi starts registration for human clinical trial of “Covaxin” coronavirus vaccine
  • AIIMS Delhi has begun the registration process for conducting human trials of the indigenously developed coronavirus vaccine- COVAXIN
  • Dr. Sanjay Rai, the Principal Investigator for conducting these trials at AIIMS Delhi said that the response for registration has been overwhelming. Rai stated that the first dose of the vaccine is likely to be administered to the volunteers on July 23rd.
  • AIIMS-Delhi is one of the 12 institutes chosen by the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) to conduct phase I and phase II human trials of COVAXIN. The phase I human trials is likely to involve around 375 volunteers, among whom about 100 would be from AIIMs. 
Foot Notes:
About AIMS Delhi:
Director: Randeep Guleria
 
3. Bangladesh bans free internet for social media to stop ‘unhealthy’ competition
  • The Bangladesh Telecom Regulatory Commission (BTRC) has directed the telecom companies to stop free internet services to its subscribers for accessing social media. 
  • The regulatory authority asked the telecom service providers to stop the free-internet service because it gives rise to unhealthy competition between the companies. 
  • The authority also stated that the facility was being used by some people for carrying out criminal activities on social media.
Foot Notes:
About Bangladesh:
Capital: Dhaka
President: Abdul Hamid
Prime Minister: Sheikh Hasina
 
4. UAE launches its first space mission “Hope” 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.
  • H2A, the rocket carrying the Hope Probe to space, was launched from the Tanegashima Space Centre in Japan. 
  • It is the Arab world’s first interplanetary landmark mission, putting UAE firmly ahead of all the countries in the Middle East in the area of space and technology.
  • Hope Probe Spacecraft is expected to reach the Red Planet by February 2021, to coincide with UAE’s 50th anniversary of its formation.
  • The orbiter Hope is expected to take images and send back data of the distant Red Planet.
Foot Notes:
About UAE:
Capital: Abu Dhabi
President: Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan
Prime Minister: Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum
 
About Japan:
Capital: Tokyo
Prime Minister: Shinzo Abe
Currency: Japanese yen
 
5. Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath launches employment scheme for Scheduled Castes
  • Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Saturday launched ‘Navin Rojgar Chhatri Yojana’ for an all round development of the Scheduled Castes. 
  • He transferred a financial assistance of 17.42 crore online to 3,484 people under the ‘Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay Swarojgar Yojana’ and interacted with some beneficiaries from Rae Bareli, Gorakhpur, Basti, Meerut, Azamgarh and Moradabad districts through video conferencing.
  • The state government is extending financial help to make people self-dependent.
Foot Notes:
About Uttar Pardesh:
Capital: Lucknow
Governor: Anandiben Patel
 
 
6. India ranked among 10 worst countries for working people: ITUC
  • On July 20, 2020, the International Trade Union Confederation released it ranking of 144 countries on degree of respect for workers’ rights
  • Unfortunately, India was among the least performing 10 countries in the list.The other least performing countries include Brazil, Bangladesh, Columbia, Kazakhstan, Honduras, Philippines, Egypt, Zimbabwe and Turkey.
  • The middle east region has been named the worst region in the world for working people. This is mainly due to the ongoing insecurity and conflicts in Syria, Palestine, Syria, Libya, Yemen coupled with most regressive region of worker representation and union rights.
  • The ranking of the countries has been made based on the value of Global Rights Index. The index is prepared based on 97 metrics. This includes workers’ rights, right to strike, freedom from violent conditions.
Foot Notes:
About ITUC:
Founded: 1 November 2006
Headquarters: Brussels, Belgium
President: Ayuba Wabba 
General Secretary: Sharan Burrow
 
7. Civil Rights Veteran C.T. Vivian Died at the age of  95
  • The Cordy Tindell Vivian (95), a civil rights veteran died out of natural causes at his residence in Atlanta. He has served as head of the organisation co-founded by the civil rights icon.
  • He was the key adviser to the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. who organized pivotal civil rights campaigns and spent decades advocating for justice and equality.
Foot Notes:
About Cordy Tindell:
Cordy Tindell Vivian was born on 28 July 1924 in Howard County, U.S state of Maryland.
His first victory was in 1955 Montgomery Bus Boycott. He was an American minister and an author.
 
8. Germany’s forward player & World Cup winner, Andre Schurrle  announced retirement 
  • Germany’s forward player & World Cup winner, Andre Schurrle has announced retirement from the sport. 
  • He helped his country to win the 2014 FIFA World Cup. 
  • He represented Germany in 57 matches, scoring 22 goals. 
  • He also played for Chelsea from 2013-15 and also won a Premier League winners medal in 2015.
Foot Notes:
About Germany:
Capital: Berlin
Currency: Euro
President: Frank-Walter Steinmeier    
Chancellor: Angela Merkel
 
9. Various important events including Captain Sourabh Kalia Cup cancelled in Kargil due to COVID- 19
  • Though Kargil, Ladakh is slowly getting back to normalcy with relaxations in the Lockdown after unlock 2.
  • However many important events and programmes are being cancelled due to the threat of Spread of Covid 19. 
  • The pandemic has also affected the celebration of this year 21st Kargil Vijay Diwas both from the Indian Army Side as well as from the Local Level as no event has been organised.
  • The most popular Captain Sourabh Kalia cricket Cup has also been postponed due to the pandemic in Kargil.
Foot Notes:
About Ladakh:
Capitals: Leh, Kargil
Lt. Governor: R. K. Mathur
 
10. Private Trains To Begin Plying By March 2023: Railways Ministry
  • The Railway Ministry has said that the private trains are slated to run from March 2023.
  • The Ministry has issued the clarification regarding timeline of introduction of private trains, as some section of the media had mentioned that the private trains project will start in March 2024.
  • The Railways said the tenders will be finalised by March 2021 and trains will operate from March 2023.
Foot Notes:
Railway Minister: Piyush Goyal
Chairman: Vinod Kumar Yadav
 
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