Current Affairs Quiz - July, 2020

Notes:
The Union Government has announced the launch of Taxable Floating Rate Savings Bonds, 2020, that will be available for subscription for retail investors from July 1, 2020.
The bonds are issued by the Reserve Bank of India on behalf of the Government, replacing the recently withdrawn 7.75% bonds. The interest rate on these bonds will be reset every six months while the initial rate of interest is fixed at 7.15 per cent. The bonds shall be repayable on the expiration of seven years from the date of issue.

Notes:
The state government of Madhya Pradesh is set to launch a campaign called ‘Kill Corona’, to control the spread of coronavirus in the state.
The 15-day campaign, which is to be carried out from July 1, involves door-to-door survey and tests for other diseases. During the campaign, 2.5 lakh tests will be carried out and about 20,000 samples would be collected daily.

Notes:
The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has recently released the ‘State of World Population 2020’ report.
UNFPA is the sexual and reproductive health agency of the United Nations (UN) located in New York. As per the report, the number of missing women has more than doubled over the past 50 years, from 61 million in 1970 to 142.6 million in 2020. Out of that, India accounts for 45.8 million of missing females of the world.

Notes:
A MoU was recently signed between Indian Oil, NTPC Ltd and South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC), to develop a demonstration Waste-to-energy Plant at Okhla landfill site in Delhi.
The plant is to be developed using Gasification technology and it shall process 17500 tons per annum of Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF) from combustible components of Municipal Waste. Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas & Steel, Dharmendra Pradhan and Minister of State for Power and New & Renewable Energy, R K Singh were present during the virtual event.

Notes:
An Artificial Intelligence enabled digital platform of the Indian Government named MyGov Corona Helpdesk bagged two awards at the Global Leadership Summit, CogX 2020.
The helpdesk bagged two awards under categories namely “Best Innovation for Covid-19 – Society” and “People’s Choice Covid-19 Overall Winner”. CogX 2020 is a prestigious Global Festival of AI & Emerging Technology held annually in London.

Notes:
The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) is set to launch a cashless scheme for road accident victims.
The Ministry is to establish a Motor Vehicle Accident Fund under its aegis, for implementing the scheme. It will have an insurance coverage cap of Rs 2.5 lakh per case and enables all road accident victims of Indian or foreign nationality, to be eligible.

Notes:
The Union Government has recently launched the Special Liquidity Scheme improve the liquidity of Non-Banking Finance Companies (NBFCs) and Housing Finance Companies (HFCs).
The corpus of the scheme is Rs 30000 crore rupees and it was launched through a Special Purpose Vehicle in the form of a trust set up by SBI Capital Markets. The Union Government will provide unconditional and irrevocable guarantee to the special securities issued by the Trust.

Notes:
The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) has approved the proposal for procurement of 21 MiG-29 and upgradation of existing 59 MiG-29 aircraft from Russia at a cost of Rs 7418 crore.
It has also approved the procurement of 12 Su-30 MKI aircraft from Hindustan Aeronautical Ltd, at an estimated cost of Rs 10,730 cr. DAC cleared the acquisition of 248 Astra Beyond Visual Range air-to-air missiles for the Indian Air Force and the Navy. Other important equipment required by the Armed Forces were also approved for Rs 38,900 crore.

Notes:
The UN Security Council has unanimously adopted the first COVID-19-related resolution and demanded an end to hostilities around the world.
The resolution was drafted by France and Tunisia. The council was severely criticised for its failure to draft a resolution since the Covid-19 crisis. UNSC’s two permanent veto-wielding members namely the US and China delayed its attempts to adopt a resolution.

Notes:
Former Chief Executive Officer and present Chairperson of Maruti Suzuki R C Bhargava has authored the book titled ‘Getting Competitive: A Practitioner’s Guide for India’.
In his book which is set to release, R C Bhargava explains his experience of more than 60 years as an industry leader. He has also given practical solutions to create a globally competitive country.