Current Affairs Quiz - August, 2020

Notes:
Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan has released e-book on Standard Treatment Guidelines for the Management of Substance Use Disorders (SUD) and Behavioural Addictions.
The Minister cautioned that the World Drug Report 2020 suggests that COVID-19 will induce disorders in the country. The substance use is associated with non-communicable disorders like cardiovascular, cancer and mental health. He also highlighted that smoking increases the risk for Covid-19.

Notes:
Union Environment Minister of India Prakash Javadekar attended the 6th BRICS Environment Ministers’ Meeting.
The meeting was attended by the Environment Ministers of the five BRICS countries, Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa through video conference. It was chaired by the current BRICS President Russia. India will assume the BRICS Presidency in 2021.

Notes:
The Union Cabinet of India has given approval to Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between India and Zimbabwe on cooperation in the field of Traditional Systems of Medicine and Homeopathy.
The MoU that was originally signed on November 3, 2018, will mutually benefit the two countries in the field of Traditional Medicine including recognition of educational qualifications, provision of scholarships etc.

Notes:
United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and non-profit Pure Earth jointly released a report titled “The Toxic Truth: Children’s exposure to lead pollution undermines a generation of potential”.
As per the report, one third of the world’s children (800 million) are affected by lead poisoning and 275 million of them are in India. The report also highlights that around half of the affected children were from South Asia. Informal recycling of lead-acid batteries is a major contributor to lead poisoning.

Notes:
The 15th Finance Commission had set up an eight-member High-Level Group on Agricultural Exports headed by the Chairman of ITC, Sanjiv Puri.
It was set up to recommend performance incentives for States to encourage agricultural exports. The group has recently submitted the report that recommended a State-led Export Plan for a crop Value chain cluster (VCC). It also suggested to focus on 22 crop value chains.

Notes:
Apple surpassed multinational petroleum company Saudi Aramco to become the world’s most valuable publicly listed company.
The market capitalisation of the technology company surged to USD 1.82 trillion, as per the regulatory filing of the company. Whereas, the market capitalisation of Aramco stood at USD 1.760 trillion.

Notes:
Large companies with turnover of over Rs 500 crore are mandated to submit sales invoices electronically.
This has been notified by the Government under the Goods and Services tax (GST) regime. As per the notification released, Units in special economic zones have been exempt from complying with e-invoicing. Earlier, the limit of turnover was Rs 100 crore.

Notes:
The Rajasthan state government is set to launch the ‘Indira Rasoi Yojana’ in urban areas of the state from August 20.
Under the scheme, the poor and needy people will get nutritious food for Rs 8. As many as 358 kitchens in 213 urban bodies will be made functional. The state government is to spend Rs 100 crore per year on this scheme.

Notes:
State-owned oil and gas company and the largest commercial oil company in the country, Indian Oil has partnered with France’s Total.
The Joint Venture has been formed to make Superior Quality Bitumen derivatives and specialty products for India’s road construction industry. The JB would initially take over the existing plant of Total at Jodhpur, Rajasthan and then invest Rs 226 crore to set up six new plants across India.

Notes:
Veteran politician and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, John Hume passed away recently at the age of 83 due to age related illness.
He was a Catholic leader of the moderate Social Democratic and Labour Party. John Hume was known for initiating the agreement that ended violence in his native Northern Ireland. He was also called as the ‘Champion of Peace’.