Top Current Affairs 25 July 2020

Top Current Affairs 25 July 2020

Top Current Affairs 25  July 2020: We have collected the latest current affairs for 25 July 2020 that are important for all competitive exams like Bank, SSC, IBPS, SBI exams. The GK current affairs will help you score more in these competitive exams. Improve your general knowledge with our daily online current affairs. 

National News

Indian Navy’s Largest solar power plant commissioned at Indian Naval Academy in Kerala

• The largest solar power plant of the Indian Navy has been commissioned at the Indian Naval Academy, Ezhimala, located near Payyanur, in Kannur district of Kerala.
• The 3 MW Solar Power Plant was commissioned via virtual conferencing, by Vice Admiral Anil Kumar Chawla on 23 July 2020.
• This is in line with the Government of India initiative of ‘National Solar Mission’ to achieve 100GW of solar power by 2022.
• The solar plant  is the largest in the Indian Navy and has an estimated life of 25 years.
• The project has been executed by Kerala State Electronics Development Corporation Ltd (KELTRON).

Amit Shah launches Tree Plantation Campaign-2020 of the Coal Ministry

• The Union Home Minister Shri Amit Shah virtually launched the Tree Plantation Campaign “Vriksharopan Abhiyan” of the Ministry of Coal, on 23 July 2020, which also marks the birth anniversaries of Lokmanya Balgangadhar Tilak and Chandrashekhar Azad who devoted their life to the service of the nation.
• Union Minister of Coal, Mines and Parliamentary Affairs, Shri Pralhad Joshi was also present on the occasion.
• The tree plantation campaign was conducted at more than 130 locations in 38 Districts of 10 coal/lignite bearing States.
• 6 lakh seedlings were planted across 600 acres in 38 districts of 10 States. Additional 5 lakh seedlings were distributed to the local people on the occasion.
• The Minister also inaugurated and laid the Foundation stone of 6 Ecoparks/ Tourism sites. The total cost involved in the 5 Eco-Parks and 1 Sal Plantation project is Rs. 27.60 crores.
• It must be noted that the Government has set an ambitious target of achieving one billion tonnes (annual) production of coal by 2023-24.
• The PM has set up the District Mineral Fund with a corpus of Rs.39,000 crore for the development of the mining areas and 35,000 minor projects have been completed.

Union Minister Nitin Gadkari launches ‘RestartIndia’ advisory platform for MSME sector

• The Union Minister for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise (MSMEs), Shri Nitin Gadkari launched a mentoring platform ‘www.restartindia.in’, on 23 July 2020, with the main objective to help the sector in restarting businesses across the country.
• This website has been developed jointly by Muthoot Fincorp and INKtalks as an open platform for advisory support, and is in sync with Atmanirbhar project.
• The portal will act as a single platform to bring together professionals/ experts from various fields and industry domains, to address the questions and provide information on various schemes and initiatives of the government.
• This in turn will help the MSME sector, particularly the nano and micro enterprises, by bringing global management information and expertise to the doorstep.
• The objective of RestartIndia is to raise the self-confidence primarily of small businesses by creating an environment for the re-establishment and progress of their businesses.

Kakrapar Atomic Power Project (KAPP-3) Gujarat attains its first criticality

• The Unit 3 of the Kakrapar Atomic Power Project (KAPP-3) in Gujarat achieved its ‘first criticality’ at 9.36 am on 22 July 2020.
• KAPP-3 is India’s first 700 MWe (megawatt electric) Pressurised Heavy Water Reactor (PHWR) as well as biggest indigenously developed variant of the Pressurised Heavy Water Reactor (PHWR)..

Significance of attaining criticality 

• A nuclear reactor attains criticality when every nuclear fission event releases a sufficient number of neutrons to sustain an ongoing series of reactions or a self-sustaining chain reaction.
• This reaction then produces heat, which is used to generate steam that then spins a turbine to create electricity.

APSEZ becomes the first Indian port to sign up for Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi)

• Adani Ports and Special economic Zone Limited (APSEZ) has become the first Port in India and 7th Port in the world to sign the commitment letter to Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi).
• Overall, 43 Indian companies have signed a commitment letter to SBTi, till date from a total of 909 companies.

What is SBTi?

• The science-based targets are the targets adopted by companies to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions that are in line with meeting the goals of the Paris Agreement – to limit global warming to well-below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and pursue efforts to limit warming to 1.5°C.
• Through SBTi, companies commit to set science-based emissions reduction targets, across their entire value chain, which in turn provides companies with a clearly defined pathway to future-proof growth by specifying how much and how quickly they need to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions.
• Committed companies have 24 months to have their targets approved and published by the SBTi.
• The Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) is a collaboration between CDP, the United Nations Global Compact, World Resources Institute (WRI) and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF)

DRDO sets up Covid testing facility at DIHAR in Leh

• The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has set up a Covid-19 testing facility in Leh, Ladakh.
• The testing facility was inaugurated by Ladakh Lieutenant Governor R K Mathur on 22 July 2020 and will increase the rate of testing to identify corona cases in the region.
• The facility has been established at the Defence Institute of High Altitude Research (DIHAR), Leh, one of the life sciences laboratories of DRDO.
• The DIHAR testing facility is capable of screening 50 samples per day.
• It can also be utilised for training manpower for Covid testing.
• Besides, the facility will be of great help to address future bio-threats and carrying out R&D activities pertinent to agro-animal diseases.

International News

WHO launches New COVID-19 Law Lab for implementing legal frameworks for the global Pandemic response

• The World Health Organization (WHO) has launched COVID-19 Law Lab on 22 July 2020, which is a database of laws that countries have implemented in response to the pandemic.
• The main aim of this law lab is to ensure that laws protect the health and wellbeing of individuals and communities and that they adhere to international human rights standards.
• The new Lab (at www.COVIDLawLab.org) is a joint project of United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the World Health Organization (WHO), the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and the O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law at Georgetown University.
• The COVID-19 Law Lab initiative will gather and share legal documents from over 190 countries across the world to help states establish and implement strong legal frameworks to manage the pandemic.

Obituary

Dancer-choreographer Amala Shankar passes away at 101

• Kolkata based eminent danseuse and choreographer Amala Shankar has passed away. She was 101.
• Amala was the wife of the renowned classical dancer Uday Shankar.
• She was awarded the West Bengal government’s Banga Bibhusan award in 2011 for her contributions to art.