Top Best Current Affairs 31 July 2020

Ministry of Human Resource Development has been renamed as Ministry of Education.The Union Cabinet has approved the change in the name of the ministry. The HRD Ministry is currently headed by Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank.The name change was a key recommendation of the draft New Education Policy. The HRD ministry name was adopted in 1985, during the tenure of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, as it was changed from the Ministry of Education.

July 25 is celebrated as World In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) Day. The world witnessed the birth of world's first test tube baby or IVF baby Louis Brown, in Royal Oldham Hospital, United Kingdom on July 25, 1978. In order to commemorate this revolution, World IVF day was celebrated on July 25.

The PFC (Power Finance Corporation) signed an agreement with the Indian Institute of Technology- Kanpur (IIT-K) in order to provide training, research and Entrepreneurship Development (ED) in Smart grid technology. Objective: To provide support for the IIT-Kanpur to develop the infrastructure of the research and development on smart grid technology. Budget: The PFC will provide financial assistance of Rs. 2.38 crore to the IIT-K under its CSR initiative.

Guwahati Development Department Ministry has inaugurated first manhole cleaning robot 'BANDICOOT' to ensure minimal human involvement to clean the sewers.Guwahati is the first city in the entire Northeast region to get a manhole cleaning robot.Guwahati is the third city in the entire country to procure this innovative technology to clean manholes after Gurugram and Coimbatore.

A debut novel 'Burnt Sugar' authored by Avni Doshi has been published in the United Kingdom (UK) and it was one among the 13 authors longlisted for the prestigious 2020 Booker Prize. A version of the same novel has been published in India under the title Girl in White Cotton.

During the meet it was also decided that the sixth Annual Meeting will be held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Oct. 27-28, 2021 which will be the first annual meeting in the Middle East. It will take place in parallel with the Dubai World Expo. UAE was also one of the founding members of AIIB.

The recently approved National Education Policy 2020 will replace the thirty-four year old National Policy on Education (NPE), 1986. National Education Policy 2020 is aligned to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and is based on the foundational pillars of Access, Equity, Quality, Affordability and Accountability.It has a target of 50% Gross Enrollment Ratio by 2035 and provision for multiple entry and exits.

Kerala government announced a new scheme namely "Chief Minister's Entrepreneurship Development Programme" to address the issues of shortage of working capital and availability of credit faced by startups and small entrepreneurs amid COVID-19 pandemic. The programme will be implemented through the Kerala Financial Corporation (KFC).