Current Affairs Quiz - August, 2020

Notes:
The US House of Representatives has recently passed a legislation to promote the legacies of Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr.
The bill seeks to set up an educational forum and an exchange programme for Indian and American students to study about the two great leaders. It also seeks to develop a professional development training initiative based on the principles of non-violence.

Notes:
Major technology company Microsoft has unveiled the latest edition of its Security Endpoint Threat Report 2019.
As per the report, India has been placed among the countries with the highest cryptocurrency mining encounters in the last year. India registered the seventh highest malware encounter rate in the past year and the third highest ransomware encounter rate across the Asia-Pacific region.

Notes:
India has recently imposed restrictions on the import of Colour Television sets, in an effort to promote its domestic production.
The import of the TV sets was freed from previous restrictions two decades ago and since then there has been no amendments in the import policy. Now the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) notified to change the policy from free to ‘restricted’. However, there is no restriction on importing monochrome TVs.

Notes:
For the first time in the world, US Technology Giants Facebook and Google will pay the media outlets of Australia for news content.
Australia is set to pass a dedicated law which mandates a royalty-style system. This is a historic move by the country to protest independent journalism. Last year, the Australian government asked the tech firms to negotiate with media companies to use their content.

Notes:
Former Taiwan President Lee Teng-hui has recently passed away at the age of 97, after having suffered from Pneumonia.
After a landslide victory, Lee Teng-hui served as the first democratically elected president of Taiwan in the year 1996. He resisted China’s activities to absorb the country and wanted Taiwan to be a ‘country of democracy, freedom, human rights and dignity’.

Notes:
Veteran bureaucrat Rajesh Bhushan has recently assumed charge as the Union Health Secretary. He will succeed the previous Health Secretary Preeti Sudan.
Preeti Sudan superannuated and she was given a three-month extension in April. Rajesh Bhushan is a 1987 batch Bihar cadre IAS officer. He has been serving as an Officer on Special Duty in the Ministry of Health from April.

Notes:
The All India Institute of Ayurveda (AIIA) is an apex Ayurveda medicine and research institution located in New Delhi.
It was seen in news as the institute has started providing free testing and treatment to patients in its COVID 19 Health Centre (CHC). AYUSH Minister Shri Naik inaugurated the ventilator-equipped Intensive Care Unit of the centre as well as a COVID Call Centre at AIIA.

Notes:
Indian journalist and Special Correspondent of the Indian Express Dipankar Ghose has won the Prem Bhatia Award for political reporting.
He covered various issues related to the Covid-19 pandemic including the migrant labour crisis. People’s Archive of Rural India (PARI), a journalism website has been selected for the award for the reporting on environmental and development issues.

Notes:
As per the National Hurricane Center of the United States, North Carolina has recently witnessed a Hurricane Isaias.
The hurricane has made a landfall near Ocean Isle Beach in North Carolina. More than a dozen tornadoes have been reported in North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland and Delaware. At least 2 people is said to have been killed in the hurricane.

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’.