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:
In the month of May, the Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had reduced EPF contribution by 4% for three months of May, June and July.
2% of employer’s contribution and 2% of employee’s contribution were reduced. This step was taken as a part of relief measures announced by the Government during the Covid-19 pandemic. From the month of August, the effective contribution will come back to the old deduction rate of 24%.

Notes:
The Parliament of Turkey approved a new legislation that gives its authorities more power to regulate social media content.
As per the law, major social media companies such as Facebook and Twitter will have to keep representative offices and also would store user data in Turkey. The government said this law will combat cyber-crime and protect users and Authorities can remove cyber bullying posts.

Notes:
The United Kingdom is set to imprint the image of Mahatma Gandhi in a new set of coins, as a part of efforts to celebrate the contributions of non-white individuals.
Rishi Sunak, the Chancellor of the Exchequer has sent the recommendation to the Royal Mint Advisory Committee (RMAC). It is conducting a campaign called “We Too Built Britain”. If the coins are minted with Gandhi’s image, he would be the first non-White person to feature on a British coin.

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’.

Notes:
On August 5 2019, the special status of Article 370 and 35-A of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir was abrogated and it was bifurcated into two Union Territories.
The first anniversary of the event was observed on the same day this year. During the past year, several initiatives carried out in the UTs include National Generic Document Registration System (NGDRS), Extension of all allowances of Central Government employees, J&K Socially and Educationally Backward Classes Commission.

Notes:
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) held its second bi-monthly monetary meeting of FY 2020-21 on August 6, 2020.
After the meeting, the RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das announced that the central bank has decided to keep the key policy rates unchanged with ‘accommodative stance’. Hence, the repo rate will remain at 4 per cent and the reverse repo at 3.35 per cent. There were two rate cuts in March and May.

Notes:
The Founder and Chief executive of SpaceX, Elon Musk announced that the company has successfully flight-tested a prototype of its Mars rocket ship.
The test rocket was launched hundreds of feet into the air for nearly 45 seconds and it was landed upright. Some more shorter launches are being planned before the full version of ‘Starship’ would be launched. SpaceX is now the only private company to fly people to and from orbit.

Notes:
The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) took over the security at the strategic Leh airport from local Police.
The Kushok Bakula Rimpochee Airport is one among the country’s highest-altitude commercial aerodromes. It is also the 64th civil airport to be brought under the security cover of the CISF. Around 185 CISF personnel will provide round-the-clock armed security in the airport.

Notes:
Pulitzer Prize-winning fiction writer, Shirley Ann Grau has recently passed away at the age of 91. She was born in New Orleans and was brought up on Alabama.
All her six novels and four short story collections were all set in the southern states of the United States. She won the prestigious Pulitzer Prize for her fourth book titled ‘The Keepers of the House’ in the year 1965. Her first book was ‘The Black Prince and Other Stories’.