Current Affairs Quiz - August, 2020

Notes:
Indian Navy has signed a deal with Uttar Pradesh Expressway Industrial Development Authority (UPEIDA) for setting up a “Centre of excellence”. The Centre of excellence is to come up in the Defence corridor of Uttar Pradesh.
The centre of excellence would provide solutions to the problems and challenges of the Indian Navy. The centre is proposed to be established with the help of IIT, BHU and other prominent institutions of the country.

Notes:
A new strain of coronavirus has been detected in Malaysia which is found to be 10 times more infectious than the existing Corona virus.
The mutated form of the virus called D614G was found in 3 of the 45 cases in a test cluster. The detection of new strain has implied that studies on COVID 19 vaccines may be incomplete or ineffective against the mutation. WHO has explained that the new strain will not cause a more severe disease.

Notes:
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has released the framework for setting up of a new umbrella entity for retail payments.
It will operate as a ‘for-profit’ company that will have minimum paid-up capital of Rs 500 crore. It will set up and operate the payment systems such as ATMs, white-label PoS and Aadhaar-based payments. The company will also manage clearing and settlement systems of banks/ non-banks.

Notes:
A recent survey by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has revealed that, over 27 % students do not have access to smart phones or laptops to attend online classes.
The survey also pointed out that lack of electricity was an obstacle in the learning process for nearly 28 % students and parents. Over 34,000 participants participated in the survey by the NCERT on the challenges of online education.

Notes:
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla has attended the inaugural ceremony of the 5th World Conference of Speakers of Parliament (5WCSP).
It is a two-day virtual Conference organized jointly by Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), Geneva and Parliament of Austria. The programme is supported by United Nations (UN). The theme of the Conference is “Parliamentary leadership for more effective multilateralism that delivers peace and sustainable development for the people and planet.”

Notes:
The President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan has recently announced that the country has discovered a large natural gas reserve along the Black Sea coast.
Around 302 billion cubic meters area of natural gas reserve has been discovered that will reduce the import dependency of the country. As per the country, it will start extracting and using the gas by 2023, when Turkey marks the centenary of the founding of Republic.

Notes:
HSBC India launched its ‘Green Deposit Programme’, to finance green initiatives including renewable energy.
Under this new initiative, the bank will ask their corporate clients to deposit money, which will in turn be used for financing green projects by letting the clients indirectly participate in the sustainability projects. The product offers stable principal, pre-agreed return and protection.

Notes:
The Department of Revenue, Ministry of Finance has notified the ‘Customs (Administration of Rules of Origin under Trade Agreements) Rules, 2020’.
The norms for enforcing the ‘rules of origin’ provisions has been released by the Government recently. These rules will come into effect from September 21, 2020 and will apply where preferential rate of duty is claimed by importer. The ”Rules of origin” provision mandates minimal processing in the FTA country.

Notes:
Technology major Microsoft has launched a new program to teach quantum computing skills to train around 900 faculty from across the country.
As a part of this initiative, Microsoft is organizing a ‘Train the Trainer’ program in association with Electronics and ICT Academies at Malaviya National Institute of Technology (MNIT), Jaipur and National Institute of Technology, Patna.

Notes:
The UEFA Champions League 2020 has been won by the Germany-based football club, the Bayern Munich.
The team won 1-0 against the Paris Saint Germain (PSG) at the final match held at Estadio da Luz, Lisbon. Kingsley Coman scored the only goal of the match during the 59th minute. Bayern Muncih has won the league after 7 years.