Current Affairs Quiz - July, 2020

Notes:
The Government of India has banned 59 Chinese mobile apps, including TikTok, UC Browser among others, by invoking its power under Section 69 A of Information Technology (IT) Act.
As per the statement from the Information Technology Ministry, the applications are prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, Defence of India and public order. The Government has arranged talks with some firms including TikTok, after the ban was imposed.

Notes:
National Statistics Day is observed on June 29 every year in India. This year it was celebrated through virtual conference with the theme of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 3 (Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages) and SDG 5 (Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls).
The Ministry of Statistics and Program Implementation instituted a new award ‘Prof. P. C. Mahalanobis National Award in Official Statistics’, which was conferred upon Former RBI Governor C Rangarajan. ‘Prof. P.V. Sukhatme National Award in Statistics 2020’ was given to Dr Arvind Pandey and Dr. Akhilesh Chandra Kulshreshtha.

Notes:
Kholongchhu is the first joint venture hydroelectric project between India and Bhutan. A concession agreement for project was recently signed virtually.
This agreement will commence the construction and related works of the project, which is expected to be completed in the second half of 2025. The 600 MW project is located on the Kholongchhu river in eastern Bhutan. It will be implemented by Kholongchhu Hydro Energy Limited, a JV company formed between DGPC of Bhutan and Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam Limited (SJVNL) of India.

Notes:
Wisden has named Ravindra Jadeja as ‘India’s Most Valuable Test Player of the 21st Century’. He is also named as the second most Valuable Test player in the world.
The list is topped by Sri Lanka’s legendary cricketer Muthiah Muralithatan. Wisden used CricViz, a detailed analysis tool in cricket to analyse performance of the players and award an ‘MVP rating’ to each player in world cricket. The 31-year old India’s spin-bowling all-rounder has scored an MVP rating of 97.3.

Notes:
The President of India has re-appointed K.K. Venugopal as the Attorney General (AG) of India for one more year. The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC), headed by Prime Minister approved the extension in term of Tushar Mehta as the Solicitor General (SG) for three years.
Six new Additional Solicitors General (ASGs) were appointed and tenure of five existing Additional Solicitors General (ASGs) was extended. Venugopal took over as the AG in 2017, succeeding Mukul Rohatgi.

Notes:
Union Minister for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying Giriraj Singh has launched the first edition of the Fisheries and Aquaculture Newsletter.
The newsletter has been named MATSYA SAMPADA and it is published by the Department of Fisheries, Ministry for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying. The Minister also launched the Operational Guidelines of the Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY).

Notes:
The United States has recently eliminated the special status under U.S. law and halted Defence Exports to Hong Kong.
U.S has also restricted the access of the country to high technology products. This decision has been taken while China is preparing new Hong Kong security legislation. U.S also proposed to end the export of dual-use technologies to the territory, which have both commercial and military uses.

Notes:
Veteran diplomat Indra Mani Pandey has been appointed as India’s next Permanent Representative to the United Nations and other international organisations in Geneva.
The Indian Foreign Service officer is currently serving as an additional secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). He is to succeed the current representative hRajiv K Chander in Geneva. I.M Pandey had served in Indian missions in several places including Cairo, Islamabad and Kabul among others.

Notes:
The Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB) has launched a new scheme called ‘Accelerate Vigyan’.
It aims to provide a single exclusive platform for research internships and science workshops across the country. It also aims to encourage high-end scientific research and research careers. Several programmes to identify research potential, training programmes are to be carried out across the country.

Notes:
Everton Weekes, who was considered as one of the finest cricketers of the West Indies, has recently passed away at the age of 95.
During his eminent cricket career, he scored an average of 58.61 per innings, which included a world-record of five consecutive centuries in 1948. Weekes also jointly holds the record as the fastest to reach 1000 Test runs. He was also a member of the prestigious ICC Hall of Fame.