Daily Current Affairs August 20

Dear Champions, as you all know that a lot of competitive exams have been notified consequently. Candidates have to prepare themselves according to the level of competition and expectation of  the Recruitment board. Regarding that one of the most important topic is Daily Current Affairs August 20. Current Affairs in the form of contemporary events of national & international play a crucial role in almost every competitive exams like Banking, Insurance, SSC, UPSC, TNPSC, Railway etc.

Current affairs are the most dynamic yet scoring among all sections and need to be prepared from the right source. Here, we cafunsta team, providing  Daily GK Updates, Current Affairs Questions, and Monthly  current affairs pdf.

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August 20 | Daily Current Affairs 2021

IMPORTANT DAYS – Daily Current Affairs August 20

1. World Mosquito Day is observed on which date?
A) August 20
B) August 22
C) August 23
D) August 25
E) August 26
Answer: A) August 20

• Every year, August 20 is observed as the World Mosquito Day to raise awareness about the illness and disease caused by mosquitos.
• It marks the day when Sir Ronald Ross discovered the link between female mosquito and malaria, which changed the course of medical history.
• The mosquito is possibly the only predator in human history to have thrived through millennia, bringing death and destruction through a variety of vector-borne illness, particularly malaria.
• According to a survey of the world’s deadliest animals, mosquitoes surprisingly topped the list.

Sadbhavna Diwas:

• It is given on 20th of August, the birth anniversary of Rajiv Gandhi, which is celebrated as Sadbhavna Diwas (Harmony Day).
• The birth anniversary of former Prime Minister Late Shri Rajiv Gandhi on.
  20th August is observed as Sadbhavana Diwas’ every year.
• The theme of Sadbhavana is to promote National Integration and Communal Harmony among people of all religions, languages and regions

SPORTS – Daily Current Affairs August 20

2. El Hassan El Abbassi has been provisionally suspended after returning an adverse analytical finding for a homologous blood transfusion following a test at the Tokyo Olympics. He was related to which sports?
A) Athlete
B) Hockey
C) Baseball
D) Volleyball
E) Football
Answer: A) Athlete

• Bahraini marathon runner El Hassan El Abbassi has been provisionally suspended after returning an adverse analytical finding for a homologous blood transfusion following a test at the Tokyo Olympics, the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) said.
• The 37-year-old’s sample was collected after the Olympic marathon in Sapporo on Aug. 8 where he finished 25th with a time of 2:15:56 in a race won by Kenyan great Eliud Kipchoge.

3. The U-25 (State A) One dayers will be held in which date?
A) November 3
B) November 4
C) November 5
D) November 6
E) November 9
Answer: E) November 9

• The BCCI has issued a fresh itinerary for domestic cricket in India with the 2021-22 season of the Ranji Trophy tournament scheduled to be played between January 5 to March 20.
• The Ranji Trophy wasn’t held during last season due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the logistical obstacles faced for having an extended bio-bubble for 38 teams.
• The Vijay Hazare Trophy (National One Dayers) will be played from December 1 to 29th, while senior women will play their first tournament — National One Day — from October 20 to November 20.

4. India’s Manika Batra and G Sathiyan won the mixed doubles title at the WTT Contender in which country?
A) Australia
B) Iran
C) UAE
D) Hungary
E) Malaysia
Answer: D) Hungary

• India’s Manika Batra and G Sathiyan outplayed Hungary’s Dora Madarasz and Nandor Ecseki 3-1 to win the mixed doubles title at the WTT Contender Budapest.

OBITUARY – Daily Current Affairs August 20

5. OM Nambiar passed away. He won Dronacharya Award in which year?
A) 1982
B) 1983
C) 1984
D) 1985
E) 1987
Answer: D) 1985

• Sprint queen PT Usha’s coach OM Nambiar passed away.
• Usha finished fourth and missed out on bronze by one-hundredth of a second in the 400m hurdles at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.
• Even getting that close would not have been possible without the vision and wise counsel of the coach.
• Nambiar was keen to challenge Usha, who was still licking her wounds after bagging only silver in the 100m and 200m sprints at the 1982 Asiad in Delhi.
• The coach, after studying Usha’s stride pattern, told her she was suited for the hurdles, a relatively new event which was added to the Olympic roster for the first time.
• The 1983 Asian Championships in Kuwait City is where Nambiar tested Usha’s potential by making her run in the 400m.
• She won the gold, making Nambiar confident of his student being on the right track.
• Nambiar was one of the three recipients of the first Dronacharya Award in 1985.
• However, it was only earlier 2021 that he was conferred with the Padma Shri.

RANKING – Daily Current Affairs August 20

6. Which company is topped in list of Hurun Global 500 for 2021 in India company category?
A) Reliance Industries Ltd
B) Tata Consultancy Services Ltd
C) Wipro
D) HDFC Bank
E) HCL Tech
Answer: A) Reliance Industries Ltd

Rank	Company	Market Cap
1	Apple	$ 2.4 Trillion
2	Microsoft	$ 2.1 Trillion
3	Amazon	$ 1.8 Trillion
4	Google	$ 1.7 Trillion
57	Reliance Industries Ltd	$ 188 billion
74	Tata Consultancy Services Ltd	$164 billion
124	HDFC Bank	$ 113 Billion
163	Infosys	$ 88.5 Billion
268	ICICI Bank	$62 Billion
301	HDFC	$56.7 Billion

 

• As many as 12 Indian companies found a place among the Hurun Global 500 for 2021 as Wipro Ltd, Asian Paints Ltd and HCL Technologies Ltd made it to the list of 500 most valuable firms in the world, while ITC Ltd dropped out.

BANKING AND FINANCE – Daily Current Affairs August 20

7. India-ADB sign how much amount loan agreement to expand metro rail network in Bengaluru?
A) USD 200 mn
B) USD 300 mn
C) USD 400 mn
D) USD 500 mn
E) USD 600 mn
Answer: D) USD 500 mn

8. In a bid to boost advertisements, Facebook India tied up with which company to help provide loans to small businesses?
A) Indifi
B) RuPay
C) Visa
D) Innoviti
E) Mastercard
Answer: A) Indifi

• The programme will provide loans ranging from Rs 50,00,00 to Rs 50,00,000 at annual interest rates of up to 20 per cent, to small businesses who advertise on Facebook or its group apps for at least 180 days.

9. NPCI International Payments Ltd (NIPL) has partnered with Mashreq to offer acceptance of its mobile-based real-time payment system, Unified Payments Interface (UPI), in which country?
A) Australia
B) Iran
C) UAE
D) Singapore
E) Malaysia
Answer: C) UAE

APPOINTMENTS – Daily Current Affairs August 20

10. Ismail Sabri Yaakob appointed as new Prime Minister of which state?
A) Australia
B) Iran
C) India
D) Singapore
E) Malaysia
Answer: E) Malaysia

• Former Deputy Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob was appointed as the new Prime Minister of Malaysia.
• He will succeed Muhyiddin Yassin, who resigned on Monday after losing majority support in the lower house of parliament.

11. Shanti Lal Jain has been appointed Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of which Bank for three years?
A) Indian Overseas Bank
B) State Bank of India
C) Indian Bank
D) Bank of Baroda
E) Bank of Maharashtra
Answer: C) Indian Bank

AWARDS – Daily Current Affairs August 13

12. IndiGo bags 3 awards at the 2nd edition of Future of Contact Center Summit and Awards 2021. What is the headquarters of IndiGo?
A) Bangalore, Karnataka
B) Hyderabad, Telangana
C) New Delhi, Delhi
D) Mumbai, Maharashtra
E) Gurgaon, Haryana
Answer: E) Gurgaon, Haryana

• India’s leading carrier, IndiGo, has been honoured with three awards at Future of Contact Center Summit and Awards 2021.
• The airline won the awards for Contact Centre Unique Innovations & Transformation and Customer Experience Excellence in Aviation.
• Priyaah Sundaraam, Associate Vice President – Customer Relations, IndiGo was announced as the winner of the Disruption Management Leader Award, for a swift response to disruptions in business continuity and thinking out of the box to handle situations, an official here.

13. Matheran toy train (Neral-Matheran Light Railway) is nominated for the 2021 edition of the UNESCO-Greece Melina Mercury International Prize. This award is established in which year?
A) 1997
B) 1995
C) 1994
D) 1993
E) 1992
Answer: B) 1995

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS – Daily Current Affairs August 20

14. India will be chairing the UNSC Counter Terrorism Committee in which year?
A) 2025
B) 2024
C) 2023
D) 2022
E) 2021
Answer: D) 2022

• India will be taking over as chair of the UN Security Council’s Counter-Terrorism Committee (CTC) next year, which will help in building from the gains of the ministerial briefing on counter terrorism.
• India will be chairing the UNSC Counter Terrorism Committee. We are taking over from Tunisia in 2022, and we hope to build on the gains from today’s meetings during the chairmanship of the CTC.
• The CTC, established in the wake of the 9/11 terror attacks in the US, works to bolster the ability of UN member states to prevent terrorist acts both within their borders and across regions.
• Its focus areas include countering the financing of terrorism, border security and arms trafficking, law enforcement, legal issues, human rights, integrating gender into counter terrorism, countering violent extremism and terrorist narratives, information and communication technologies, foreign terrorist fighters and counter terrorism strategies.

NATIONAL AFFAIRS – Daily Current Affairs August 20

15. Uddhav Thackeray and which Minister inaugurated Metro’s Zero Mile Freedom Park Station in Nagpur?
A) Road Minister
B) Sports Minister
C) Education Minister
D) Home Minister
E) Women Minister
Answer: A) Road Minister

• Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and Union Minister Nitin Gadkari inaugurated Metro’s Zero Mile Freedom Park Station in Nagpur.
• The duo later opened the Freedom Park and Kasturchand Park Metro stations and also inaugurated the 1.6 km Sitabuldi -Kasturchand park stretch of Nagpur Metro.
• Commercial service will now start from Kasturchand Park instead of Sitabuldi.
• Similarly, trains for Khapri will depart from the new station instead of Sitabuldi.

16. Which state launches Rs 520 cr debt relief scheme for farm labourers, landless farmers?
A) Assam
B) Delhi
C) Haryana
D) Maharashtra
E) Punjab
Answer: E) Punjab

• Asserting his continued support to the farmers agitating against the three contentious farm laws, Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh launched a Rs 520 crore debt relief scheme for 2.85 lakh farm labourers and landless farmers, in a tribute to former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi’s pro-poor vision.
• Government had decided to waive off loans amounting to Rs 520 crore of farm labour and landless farmers with respect to the principal amount against their cooperative loans as on July 31, 2017, and simple interest at 7 per cent p.a. on the above amount till March 6, 2019.

Amarinder launches helpline to provide citizen-centric services:

• Chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh virtually launched “Unified State Helpline Number 1100” to provide citizen-centric services and redressing grievances, besides extending the “State Admission Portal” (https://admission.punjab.gov.in) till August 31 to enable students desirous of getting admissions in government colleges across the state in a hassle-free manner.
• Amarinder said nearly 42,000 students have already enrolled on the portal.
• With this common admission portal, 100% admissions would be contactless as applicants would not have to present themselves physically.

17. Which state launched distribution of Smart Health Cards under Biju Swasthya Kalyan Yojana?
A) Assam
B) Delhi
C) Odisha
D) Maharashtra
E) Punjab
Answer: C) Odisha

• Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Friday launched distribution of Smart Health Cards under Biju swasthya kalyan yojana.
• The Smart Health card, first of its kind service in the entire country which can change the face of healthcare services to people in Odisha, was launched in Malkangiri, a remote place from the state capital.
• Sukri Dhangda Majhi from the Bonda tribal community was the first recipient of the Smart Health Card.
• With this card, People can avail quality healthcare services in as many as 200 hospital chains of the country including Odisha.
• About 3.5 crore people from 96 lakh families will be benefited under the scheme in the state.
• Official sources said about 1.55 lakh families from Malkangiri alone will be benefited.

18. Which company has launched Urja, a virtual assistant with AI/NLP (Artificial Intelligence/Natural Language Processing) capabilities and trained on more than 600 use cases?
A) HAL
B) BPCL
C) BDL
D) BHEL
E) BEL
Answer: B) BPCL

• The virtual assistant is designed to deliver a seamless self-service experience and enable faster resolution of consumer queries/issues.

19. The government has approved a how much amount scheme for the development of Jabalpur airport?
A) 321 crore rupees
B) 421 crore rupees
C) 521 crore rupees
D) 621 crore rupees
E) 721 crore rupees
Answer: B) 421 crore rupees

20. NHB disburses over how much amount in interest subsidy under PMAY?
A) Rs 20,000 crore
B) Rs 30,000 crore
C) Rs 40,000 crore
D) Rs 10,000 crore
E) Rs 60,000 crore
Answer: B) Rs 30,000 crore

• The National Housing Bank said it has disbursed over Rs 30,000 crore so far in interest subsidy to affordable home loan borrowers under the Prime Minister Housing Scheme (PMAY) since the launch of the scheme in June 2016.
• The PMAY offers up to 3 percentage points in interest subsidy on low-cost housing loans (at 6.5 per cent) but caps the one-time subsidy at Rs 2.35 lakh per eligible borrower.
• It was effective from June 2016 and was launched as part of the national housing mission that seeks to ensure a roof over every household by 2030.

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