10 PM Current Affairs Quiz: March 20, 2020

Microsoft India and NASSCOM Foundation announced the launch of the Innovate for Accessible India campaign in partnership with the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (DEPwD), Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment, Department of Science & Technology (DST), Ministry of Science and Technology and ERNET (National Research and Education Network under MeitY). Innovate for Accessible India is a nation-wide innovation challenge aimed at empowering people with disabilities with the technology and tools required for better integration into society and access to equal opportunities. The campaign will be an aggregator of workable technology solutions developed using Microsoft Cloud, Artificial Intelligence and other technologies that address gaps faced by people with disabilities, especially in acquiring services and support in education, skill building, employment, mobility, rehabilitation and other government services.

Cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar joined WHO’s #SafeHandsChallenge to promote the importance of washing hands amid the coronavirus outbreak. In a video shared by the Master Blaster, Tendulkar is seen washing his hands thoroughly and also talking about the importance of washing hands with soap. In an attempt to spread the importance of hygiene amid the coronavirus pandemic, star Indian athlete Hima Das also took up the #SafeHands challenge and urged the likes of Tendulkar, M.C. Mary Kom, Sania Mirza and Rani Rampal to take it forward. Earlier, ace Indian shuttler P.V. Sindhu had also taken up the challenge and had posted a video on Twitter in which she was seen washing her hands with soap for almost 30 seconds. The World Health Organisation, which has declared coronavirus outbreak a pandemic, has been continuously asking people to wash their hands with soap regularly to avoid infection.

GreenCo Rating has been developed by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). Its aim is to facilitate companies to make a substantial improvement in their environmental performance thereby saving both natural and financial resources. Under this,companies are evaluated on major environmental areas including- energy efficiency, renewable energy, water conservation, waste management, resource conservation, green supply chain and life cycle assessment. Recently GreenCo Rating has been acknowledged in India’s Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC) document submitted to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in 2015.

The ‘Samudrayaan’ project undertaken by the NIOT, Chennai, is in line with the ISRO’s ambitious ‘Gaganyaan’ mission of sending an astronaut to space by 2022. The ‘Samudrayaan’ is a part of the Ministry of Earth Sciences’ pilot project for deep ocean mining for rare minerals. The indigenously developed vehicle is capable of crawling on the sea bed at a depth of six kilometre for 72 hours. The success of the ‘Samudrayaan’ will help India to join the league of developed nations in exploration of minerals from oceans.

The Defense Acquisition Council (DAC), chaired by Defense Minister. The objective of the Defense Acquisition Council is to ensure expeditious procurement of the approved requirements of the Armed Forces in terms of capabilities sought, and time frame prescribed, by optimally utilizing the allocated budgetary resources.

• in-principle approval of 15 Year Long-Term Integrated Perspective Plan for Defence Forces,
• accord of Acceptance of Necessity to acquisition proposals,
• categorization of the acquisition proposals relating to ‘Buy’, ‘Buy & Make’ and ‘Make’,
• issues relating to Single vendor clearance,
• Decision regarding ‘offset’ provisions in respect of acquisition proposals above Rs. 300 crores.