Current Affairs Quiz - July, 2020

Notes:
Economist and former Indian Administrative Service officer N K Singh is the Chairperson of the 15th Finance Commission.
Recently, the Finance Commission has decided to form a group to develop a mechanism to incentivise states for carrying out the agricultural reforms, that were announced as part of the Rs 20 lakh crore stimulus package. The group consists of Finance Commission member Ramesh Chand, Agriculture Secretary Sanjay Agarwal and Agriculture, Research and Education Secretary T Mahapatra.

Notes:
Veteran American Designer Milton Glaser, who was famous for his “I (HEART) NY” logo, passed away recently at the age of 91.
He was considered as a Pioneer in using brightly coloured, extroverted posters and book covers in American visual culture in the 1960s and ’70s. Glaser had designed more than 400 posters during his long art career. A book titled “The Push Pin Graphic: A Quarter Century of Innovative Design and Illustration” describes his life.

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:
The International Asteroid Day is celebrated on June 30, every year across the world, to raise public awareness about the asteroid impact hazard.
The United Nations General Assembly adopted resolution declaring 30 June as International Asteroid Day. The day also marks the anniversary of the impact of Tunguska explosion caused by an asteroid, on Siberia and Russian Federation in 1908.

Notes:
Former Union minister and Rajya Sabha member Suresh Prabhu is to lead a Co-Operative Development Forum (CDF).
The CDF forum, that is likely to be formally launched on July 24, aims to work towards promoting cooperative movement in the country and boost the rural economy. Suresh Prabhu is also the Sherpa of India for G 20. The forum also aims to formulate the modern National/ State Cooperative Policy.

Notes:
The World Bank has approved a USD 750 million MSME Emergency Response program, to support micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
As per the World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors, the programme will help in improving funding capacity of Small finance banks (SFBs) and Non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) for the MSME sector. This is expected to provide liquidity to about 1.5 million viable MSMEs. The loans have a maturity period of 19 years.

Notes:
The World Bank has recently announced that it has enhanced its support for India’s flagship program to rejuvenate Ganga river.
World Bank would provide a USD 400 million assistance to the program, which will help reduce pollution and strengthen river basin management. The Second National Ganga River Basin Project (SNGRBP) will support the government’s Namami Gange program. The loan has a maturity of 18.5 years including a grace period of 5 years.

Notes:
India’s Public Service Broadcaster, All India Radio is set to broadcast its first ever News magazine program in Sanskrit.
The program is named as ‘Sanskrit Saptahiki’ and it will be broadcasted on every Saturday. The program would comprise of news from the world of Sanskrit and prominent developments of the week. The 20-minute programme can also be heard on All India Radio FM News Channel.

Notes:
As per the recent announcement from the Indian embassy, a new school building built with Indian assistance of Rs 1.94 crore has been inaugurated in Nepal.
The new four-storey building has been built in the premises of the Shri Saptmai Gurukul Sanskrit Vidyalaya school, which was constructed in the year 2009. It is a prestigious institution which teaches both Vedic and Modern education.

Notes:
The Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Yogi Adityanath has launched a plantation campaign named ‘Mission Vriksharopan’.
He planted a sapling at Kukrel forest Lucknow, on the occasion of the Guru Purnima, which is celebrated across the state. Under the mission, the state government has planned to plant at least 25 crore saplings in a single day, across the state.