Top Weekly Current Affairs – 2020 August 17 to 23

Current affairs is one of the inevitable and compulsive topic in almost every competitive examinations. It is inevitable for an aspirant to get updated on daily current affairs happening around the world. Daily newspaper reading and follow-ups are necessary for mastering these current affairs section. In this article, we have provided the top weekly current affairs from August 17 to 23, 2020 which will help all aspirants to improve scores in their competitive examination like PSC, SSC, RRB and Banking.

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Top Weekly Current Affairs for all Competitive Exams 2020 August 17 to 23

Here are the list of top current affairs of the week  August 17 to 23, 2020 which will be helpful for all competitive examinations like PSC, SSC, RRB, Banking etc.

MS Swaminathan award for environment protection conferred upon RS Paroda

• The Rotary Club of Madras East has conferred the MS Swaminathan Award for Environment Protection 2019 upon RS Paroda the Founder Chairman of the Trust for Advancement of Agricultural Sciences (TAAS), New Delhi.
• The award was presented for his outstanding contribution in the area of agricultural research, education and extension, especially in the field of conservation and management of agrobiodiversity.
• A Padma Bhushan awardee, Paroda was a former Director General of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and Secretary, Department of Agricultural Research and Education, Government of India.

UAE became the first Gulf country to sign peace agreement with Israel

• The United Arab Emirates became the first Gulf country to sign a peace agreement with Israel recently.
• The Agreement is also called the Abraham Accord.
• Israel is the third Arab country after Egypt (1979) and Jordan (1994) to sign the peace agreement.

National Digital Health Mission launched

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the National Digital Health Mission during his address at the 74th Independence Day celebrations.
• Under the mission, every Indian is to get a Health ID card.
• The ID card will contain all relevant information about the person’s past medical condition, treatment and diagnosis.
• It operates under Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana or Ayushman Bharat.

Punjab’s ‘Smart connect scheme’ to provide free smartphones for more than 1.74 lakh students

• On the occasion of International Youth Day and Janmastami, Captain Amarinder Singh, Chief Minister of Punjab launched the “Punjab Smart Connection Scheme”.
• It is worth Rs. 92 crores to provide free smartphones to the students of class 12 and he also handed over the smartphones to 6 students.
• The major beneficiaries of the scheme belong to the Other Backward class(OBC) and Scheduled Caste (SC)and Scheduled Tribe (ST)categories.

Indian Railways constructing world’s tallest pier bridge across river Ijai in Manipur

• As a part of the 111 kilometre-long Jiribam-Tupul-Imphal line project, Indian Railways’ North East Frontier Railway zone is constructing the world’s tallest pier bridge.
• It has a height of 141 metres, across river Ijai in Manipur with an outlay of Rs 280 crore.
• After completion, it will surpass the existing height record of 139 meters of the Mala – Rijeka Viaduct, Montenegro in Europe.

A book titled “Full Spectrum: India’s Wars, 1972-2020″ by Arjun Subramaniam

• Retired Air Vice Marshal, Arjun Subramaniam has authored a new book titled, “Full Spectrum: India’s Wars, 1972-2020″.
• It is the sequel to his 1st book, ‘India’s Wars: A Military History, 1947-1971’.
• The book portrays the comprehensive account of war and conflict in contemporary India over the past five decades next month. It will be published by HarperCollins Publishers India Pvt. Ltd.

Kerala Assembly to launch its TV channel

• Sabha TV, an initiative of the Kerala Legislative Assembly, will serve as a bridge connecting the people, the government, and the Assembly.
• Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla inaugurated Sabha TV via videoconference.
• Kerala became the first state in India to launch a television channel to telecast assembly proceedings.
• The house plans to launch the channel during the 16th session of the assembly set to begin on October 28.

Ashok Lavasa resigns as Election Commissioner to join ADB as Vice-President

• The Election Commissioner of India, Ashok Lavasa has announced his resignation on 18 August to join Asian Development Bank (ADB) as vice president.
• The 62-year-old Lavasa had submitted his resignation to President Ram Nath Kovind on 18 August, which has been accepted by the President.
• On 15 July 2020, Philippines-based multilateral funding agency Asian Development Bank (ADB) had named Lavasa as next Vice President.
• He was appointed Election Commissioner in January 2018 and has two years left in his tenure.

Mannuthy police station wins CM’s Trophy

• The Mannuthy police station has been selected for the Chief Minister’s Trophy for the best police station in the State.
• It shared the first prize with the Pathanamthitta police station.
• The Pampady police station in Kottayam secured the second prize while the Thampanoor police station in Thiruvananthapuram won the third prize.
• The Mannuthy station was selected for the prize considering the excellence in its functioning, usage of technology, time-bound investigations, clean offices and the systematic maintenance of the station and surroundings.

Luis Abinader becomes new President of Dominican Republic

• Luis Rodolfo Abinader Corona has been sworn in as the 54th President of Dominican Republic.
• He succeeds Danilo Medina of the Liberation Party.
• Dominican Republic Capital: Santo Domingo.
• Dominican Republic Currency: Dominican Peso.

Indore adjudged as cleanest city of India in Swachh Survekshan 2020

• Indore city of Madhya Pradesh has been ranked as the cleanest city of India under the Swachh Survekshan 2020. It has won the Cleanest city tag for the fourth consecutive year.
• The results were announced on 20 August by the Union Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoUHA), Hardeep Singh Puri.
• Surat (Gujarat) and Navi Mumbai (Maharashtra) are the second and third most cleanest city, respectively in the ranking.

Kerala University becomes first varsity in country with digital garden

• The visitors can learn more about the garden flora at Palayam Senate House and Karyavattom campus of the University of Kerala just by scanning a unique QR code.
• With this move, the University of Kerala has become the first university in the country to have a digitised garden.
• The digital garden was inaugurated by V P Mahadevan Pillai, vice-chancellor of the University of Kerala.

‘Abhaya Kiranam’ (Ray of Protection) scheme

• This scheme is implemented by the Social Justice Department and Woman and Child Development Department of Kerala.
• ‘Abhaya Kiranam’ (Ray of Protection) is a scheme that provides financial aid to the relatives of hapless widows who give protection and a family’s support to them.
• This scheme which is implemented through the Women and Child Development Directorate will provide financial aid at the rate of Rs 1,000/- per month.

India Post issued stamps on UNESCO World Heritage Sites in India

• India Post has released a set of five commemorative postage stamps and a miniature sheet on UNESCO World Heritage Sites in India.
• The stamps depict following five cultural sites of India:
  1. The Historic City of Ahmedabad
  2. Churches and Convents of Goa
  3. Group of Monuments at Pattadakal
  4. Khajuraho Group of Monuments
  5. Qutub Minar

RAJIV GANDHI KHEL RATNA AWARD 2020

• This award is being conferred for the spectacular and most outstanding performance in the field of sports by a sportsperson over a period of four years.
• The Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, officially known as Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award in Sports and Games, is the highest sporting honour of the Republic of India.

ARJUNA AWARD 2020

This award is being conferred for consistent outstanding performance in the field of sports by a sportsperson over a period of four years.

DRONACHARYA AWARD 2020

This award is being conferred to coaches for producing medal winners at prestigious international sports events.

Life- Time Category

Regular Category

DHYAN CHAND AWARD 2020

This award is being conferred for the lifetime contribution towards the development of sports.

RASHTRIYA KHEL PROTSAHAN PURASKAR 2020

This award is being conferred to the corporate entities (both in private and public sector) as well as individuals who have played a visible role in the area of sports promotion and its development.

Chandrayaan-2 completes a year around Moon

• Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on August 20 said that the second lunar mission of India Chandrayaan-2 has completed one year around the Moon in lunar orbit.
• According to ISRO, all the instruments of Chandrayaan-2 are performing well at present.

Chandrayaan-2

• The second lunar mission of the country, Chandrayaan-2 was launched on July 22, 2019 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Andhra Pradesh and was inserted into the lunar orbit of Moon on August 20, 2019.
• The first lunar mission Chandrayaan-1 was launched by ISRO in October 2008 and was operated till August 2009.

Ronnie O’Sullivan wins World Snooker Championship 2020

• Ronnie O’Sullivan defeated Kyren Wilson with a score of 18-8 to win the World Snooker Championship 2020.
• He has claimed his sixth World Championship title at Sheffield’s Crucible Theatre.
• With his victory, Ronnie O’Sullivan has also become the oldest winner of the World Snooker Championship since Reardon, who was 45 in 1978.

National Council for Transgender Persons constituted

• The Government of India has constituted National Council for Transgender Persons.
• The Council is to be headed by the Union Social Justice Minister.
• The Council has been formed under Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019.

A Book Titled ‘One Arranged Murder’ Authored by Chetan Bhagat to be Released

• A Book Titled ‘One Arranged Murder’ authored by Chetan Bhagat will be released worldwide on September 28, 2020.
• The fiction book portrays a murder mystery in the backdrop of an arranged marriage.
• The book will be published by Westland Publications Ltd. It is the author’s 9th novel and 11th book overall.

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