Current Affairs in Short: 21 July 2020

Indian Army acquires 'Bharat' drones for accurate surveillance along China border

• The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has provided its indigenously-developed drone named Bharat to the Indian Army. The drones will help the army carry out accurate surveillance in high altitude areas and mountainous terrain, especially along the Line of Actual Control in Eastern Ladakh.
• The Bharat drones have been developed by a Chandigarh-based laboratory of the Defence Research and Development Organisation. The series of drones can be listed among the world’s most agile and lightest surveillance drones. 
• The small yet powerful drone can work autonomously at any location with great accuracy. The drone is equipped with artificial intelligence to detect friends and foes and can take action accordingly. It has also been made capable to survive in extreme cold weather temperatures and is being developed further for harsher weather.

Indian women's cricket team likely to pull out of England tour

• The Indian women’s cricket team is likely to pull out of their upcoming England tour due to the COVID pandemic. India was originally scheduled to tour England in June 2020 but it was pushed back to September due to the virus outbreak. 
• The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) was then planning to turn the September tour into a tri-series, involving South Africa, England, India. However, the plan has now been put on hold due to a large spike in COVID-19 cases in India.
• England was originally supposed to play a bilateral series against South Africa comprising two T20Is and four ODIs but now the matches may get extended to give each team the most number of fixtures as possible in this season.
• The venue for the South Africa series is likely to be announced soon. The England men’s cricket team has already resumed international cricket with a Test series against West Indies. 

Amarnath Yatra cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic

• The Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board (SASB) announced on July 21, 2020 that this year's Amarnath Yatra has been cancelled due to conditions created by coronavirus. The decision was taken during a meeting of the shrine board to discuss the conduct of the Yatra 2020. 
• The meeting was presided by J&K Lieutenant Governor Girish Chandra Murmu, who is also the Chairman of the shrine board. The board decided that it was not advisable to conduct the yatra this year based on the current circumstances. 
• The Board stated that it is aware of and respects the sentiments of the devotees and to keep the sentiments alive, the board has decided to continue the live telecast of the morning and evening Aarti at the shrine. The traditional rituals will also be carried out as per past practice. 

US lists Reliance Jio among 'Clean Telcos'

• The United States has listed Reliance Jio among the companies that are becoming "Clean Telcos", saying they are rejecting doing business with companies like Huawei that are tools of the Chinese Communist Party's surveillance state.
• The US State Department described the Clean Network as a combine effort by like-minded countries and companies to secure their critical telecommunications, analytics, data, cloud, mobile apps, Internet of Things and 5G technologies from malign actors by relying only on trusted vendors.
• RIL Chairman Mukesh Ambani had announced last week during the 43rd RIL AGM that Reliance is soon going to launch a fully ingenuously developed 5G solution. It is expected to be ready for trials as soon as 5G spectrum is available.

Indian naval ships, USS Nimitz carrier strike group hold passage exercise

• The Indian Naval Ships conducted a passage exercise (PASSEX) with the United States Navy's USS Nimitz carrier strike group on July 20, 2020 near the Andaman and Nicobar islands as it is transiting the Indian Ocean.
• The passage exercise is aimed at improving the cooperation between the US and Indian maritime forces. 
• The two naval forces are conducting exercises to maximize training and interoperability, including air defence.
• The USS Nimitz Carrier Strike Group comprises - USS Nimitz (CVN 68), Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers - USS Sterett (DDG 104) and USS Ralph Johnson (DDG 114) and Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Princeton (CG 59).