Current Affairs Quiz - August, 2020

Notes:
China has recently claimed that the Diaoyu islands are Chinese territory and it has the right to conduct law enforcement activities in the area.
The Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin denied the criticism of the U.S. of incursions of China. The islands located in the East China sea has also been claimed by Japan for several year. Japan calls the territory as Senkaku and China calls as Diaoyu.

Notes:
Mizoram has recently launched the Green-Ag project, funded by Global Environment Facility (GEF). It is the only North Eastern state to be named for the project.
In addition to Mizoram, four states namely Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Rajasthan and Uttarakhand are implementing the scheme. The project aims to promote sustainable transformation of agriculture without compromising the country’s food security and farmers income.

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:
Muslim Women’s Rights Day is being observed on July 31, to commemorate the first anniversary of the passage of law against instant Triple Talaq.
On the same day in 2019, the Union Government passed the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Act that prohibits the practice of instant divorce. As per the law, any violation of the law is punishable by jail term of up to three years. The Supreme Court of India declared this practice as unconstitutional.

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 Sports Ministry has constituted a 12-member committee to select this year’s National Sports Awards winners.
The committee is to be headed by retired Supreme Court Justice, Mukundakam Sharma. It will select the award winners among both athletes and coaches. The members include Former India Cricketer Virender Sehwag, Hockey star Sardar Singh and Paralympic silver-medallist Deepa Malik.

Notes:
The Union Government has expanded the Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) by doubling the upper ceiling of loans to Rs 50 crore.
The scheme also includes individual loans given for business purposes to professionals like doctors, lawyers and chartered accountants under its scope. The maximum amount of guaranteed emergency credit line funding under the ECLGS scheme is also increased from Rs 5 crore to Rs 10 crore.

Notes:
Sanskrit Diwas also known as ‘Vishva samskrita dinam’ is celebrated on the full moon of the ‘Shravana’ month of Hindu calendar.
This year, Sanskrit Day that promotes the revival of the language is celebrated on August 3. All India Radio broadcasted the first special program in Sanskrit titled ‘Bahujan Bhasha – Sanskrit Bhasha’ to mark the occasion.

Notes:
British racing driver Lewis Hamilton has recently won the British Grand Prix tournament, to clinch his 87th career victory.
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen came second and is followed by Charles Leclerc who finished third for Ferrari. Due to a technical glitch, Valtteri Bottas had to come back for a tire change and he could get only 11th spot. Four-time F1 champion Sebastian Vettel was placed 10th.

Notes:
Union Minister of Jal Shakti, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, and Union Minister of Textiles and Women & Child Development Smriti Irani officially launched the book with essays on the journey of Swachh Bharat Mission.
Named the ‘Swachh Bharat Kranti’ (Swachh Bharat Revolution), it has been edited by the Secretary of the Department of Water and Sanitation and has been translated to Hindi. The book has as many as 35 essays by several stake holders involved in the mission.