Daily Current Affairs, 24th July 2020

1) National Broadcasting Day celebrated on 23rd July

•National Broadcasting Day is observed on 23rd July all over India. On this day in 1927, the first-ever radio broadcast in the country went on the air from the Bombay Station under the Indian Broadcasting Company.

2) Nicaragua becomes the 87th Country to sign ISA agreement

•The Central American country, Republic of Nicaragua became the 87th country to sign the International Solar Alliance(ISA) Framework Agreement. The agreement was signed by the Permanent Representative of Nicaragua to the United Nations Jaime Hermida Castillo at the Permanent Mission of India to the United Nations in New York.

3) Russia successfully holds fight test of 3D-printed aircraft engine

•Russia has conducted a successful flight test of an MGTD-20 gas turbine 3D-printed aircraft engine. The flight tests were held at Kazanbash aviation centre in Tatarstan. Its production is scheduled for 2021-2022.

•With the new technology, the production time of the main engine elements has been reduced by 20 times and the cost of their production has been reduced by more than two times. In December 2019, the foundation reported successful bench tests of small-sized gas turbine aircraft engines made using 3D printing technology.

4) Turkmenistan gets observer status in World Trade Organization

•World Trade Organization (WTO) General Council has granted the “Observer” status to the central Asian country Turkmenistan. After receiving the observer status from WTO, Turkmenistan has become the last former Soviet republic to establish formal ties with the trade body. Turkmenistan has become the 25th observer of the organization.

•Turkmenistan will now be able to reap the benefits of acquisition of the status as it would help the country to develop its economy, promote multilateral cooperation, attract foreign investment and develop international trade relations.




5) Kakrapar Atomic Power Plant, Unit-3 attains Criticality

•Kakrapar Atomic Power Plant, Unit-3 (KAPP-3), Gujarat has attained criticality at around 09:36 Hrs on 22 July 2020. It is India’s first 700 MWe (megawatt electric) Pressurized Heavy Water Reactor (PHWR) with innovative features.

What is meant by “Nuclear reactor attaining criticality”?

•A nuclear reactor is said to attained criticality when every nuclear fission event releases a sufficient number of neutrons in order to sustain an ongoing series of reactions or a self-sustaining chain reaction.

•KAPP-3 is located at Kakrapar Site, Gujarat, along with two 220 MWe PHWRs (KAPS-1 & KAPS-2) which are in operation and another 700 MWe PHWR (KAPP-4) which is under advanced stage of construction. An exhaustive safety review of various safety aspects was carried out by the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) to ensure satisfactory compliances to regulatory requirements. The permission for First Approach to Criticality of KAPP-3 was granted on 17 July, 2020.

6) Largest Solar Power Plant of Indian Navy Commissioned in Ezhimala

•Largest Solar Power Plant at Indian Naval Academy, Ezhimala has been commissioned by the Vice Admiral Anil Kumar Chawla. It is a 3 MW Solar Power Plant which has been set-up in line with the Indian Government’s initiative of ‘National Solar Mission’ which aims to achieve 100GW of solar power by 2022.

•The 3 MW Solar Power Plant established at Indian Naval Academy, Ezhimala is the largest in the Indian Navy and has an estimated life of 25 years. Kerala State Electronics Development Corporation Ltd (KELTRON) has executed the this project. The project will also support Naval Station Ezhimala in decreasing the carbon foot print.

7) CCI approves acquisition of KPCL by Adani Ports

•Acquisition of Krishnapatnam Port Company Limited (KPCL) by Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Limited (Adani Ports) has been approved by the Competition Commission of India (CCI). According to the proposed combination, Adani Ports will acquire equity shareholding along with management control of KPCL.

•Adani Ports is a customer-facing integrated port infrastructure services provider and manages the logistics chain. The company is currently presented in ten domestic ports in six maritime states of Gujarat, Goa, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Odisha.

•KPCL operates the deep water port at Krishnapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, as per the the concession agreement on Build-Operate-Share-Transfer basis with Government of Andhra Pradesh for a period of thirty years from the date of commercial operations. It is also entitled for a further period of 20 years.

8) Sonu Sood launches ‘Pravasi Rojgar’ app to help migrants

•Bollywood actor, Sonu Sood has launched ‘Pravasi Rojgar’ app to help migrants to find job opportunities across India. The initiative will be supported by community outreach in the villages to find the right employment opportunities for migrant workers in different parts of the country.