DAILY Current Affairs 20 MAY 2020


DAILY Current Affairs 20 MAY 2020
1. GOVERNMENT IMPLEMENTS SHEKATKAR COMMITTEE’S RECOMMENDATIONS
Government has accepted and implemented 3 important recommendations of Committee of Experts (CoE) under the Chairmanship of Lieutenant General D B Shekatkar (Retd) relating to border Infrastructure so as to speed up road construction, which leads to socio-economic development in the border areas.
In relation to creating border infrastructure, the Government has implemented the CoE’s recommendation  to outsource road construction work beyond the optimal capacity of the Border Roads Organisation(BRO).
Other recommendations are in relation to introduction of modern construction plants, equipment and machinery implemented by delegating enhanced procurement powers from Rs 7.5 crores to Rs 100 crores to BRO, for domestic and foreign procurements.
Completing land acquisition and obtaining statutory clearances such as forest and environmental clearance will be prerequisites for approval of Detailed Project Report (DPR) for a new road.
2. 6 CITIES RATED 5 STAR FOR GARBAGE FREE CITIES
Hardeep Singh Puri announced the results of the Star Rating of Garbage Free Cities, for the assessment year 2019-2020, where 6 Cities(Ambikapur, Rajkot, Surat, Mysuru, Indore and Navi Mumbai) were rated 5 Star, 65 Cities rated 3 Star and 70 Cities rated 1 Star out of 141 cities & also launched  the revised protocol for the Star Rating of Garbage Free Cities.
Swachh Survekshan(SS) was introduced 5 years ago to ensure a high degree of cleanliness and sanitation in urban areas. As it is a ranking system, many cities despite doing exceptionally well, were not being recognized appropriately.


4. ARMY -“THREE-YEAR SHORT SERVICE” SCHEME
Indian army is considering a proposal to allow civilians, including young working professionals, to join the force for 3 years as officers and in other ranks (ORs) in areas like logistics and front-line formations under the “Tour of Duty” or “Three-Year Short Service” Scheme.
The cumulative approximate cost of pre-commission training, salary and other expenses after three years would be just Rs 80 lakh to Rs 85 lakh each which results in saving of around Rs 11,000 crore, which can be used for modernisation of the armed forces.
8. 2019 ALEXANDER DALRYMPLE AWARD FROM UK
The National Hydrographer to the Government of India, Vice Admiral Vinay Badhwar is honored with the 2019 Alexander Dalrymple Award. The award was first presented in 2006 by the UK Ministry of Defence sponsored UK Hydrographic Office (UKHO) named after the first Hydrographer of the Admiralty, Alexander Dalrymple.
The recipients are selected by the Executive Committee of the UK Hydrographic Office (UKHO) from all over the world for their efforts in raising the standards of the hydrography, cartography and navigation.
9. ACCENTURE ACQUIRES STARTUP BYTE PROPHECY
Accenture plc an Irish-domiciled multinational professional services company, has acquired Ahmedabad (Gujarat)-based AI (Artificial Intelligence) startup Byte Prophecy for an undisclosed sum.
Under this acquisition, more than 50 data science engineers from Byte Prophecy will now join Accenture’s Applied Intelligence unit.
10. SCR DEVELOPS ROBOT “RAIL-BOT (R-BOT)”
South Central Railway (SCR) zone developed a robotic device, “RAIL-BOT” (R-BOT) to assist in hospital management functions towards patient care in the wake of COVID-19 outbreak. The R-BOT robotic device was developed by Hem Singh Banoth, Additional Divisional Railway Manager.
The R-BOT underwent extensive trial and demonstration before being deployed for use in Central Railway Hospital, Lallaguda, Secunderabad.
12. BAN ON USE OF SALIVA TO SHINE BALL
The International Cricket Council (ICC) Cricket Committee, chaired by former Indian cricketer & commentator, Anil Kumble has recommended a ban on the use of saliva to make the ball shine due to the Covid-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic. However, the committee considered ball-shining as safe from the use of sweat.
The use of saliva to shine the ball, especially in the red-ball format, is meant for swing bowling.