Current Affairs Quiz - July, 2020

Notes:
National Productivity Council (NPC) is a national level autonomous organization under the administrative control of the Department for Promotion of Industry & Internal Trade (DPIIT), Ministry of Commerce & Industry, to promote productivity culture in India.
Recently, Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal chaired the 49th Governing Council Meeting of National Productivity Council (NPC).

Notes:
The government of New Delhi has recently announced the launch of the country’s first dedicated plasma bank for treating Covid-19 patients.
The facility would be set up at the Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences (ILBS), and it will be made available to all government and private hospitals of the UT. The therapy involves drawing blood from patients who have recovered from covid-19 and using the plasma and antibodies to treat active patients.

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:
According to a study published in the US science journal PNAS, researchers in China have discovered a new type of swine flu that is capable of triggering a pandemic.
The G4 flu is genetically descended from the H1N1 strain that caused a pandemic in 2009. As per the China’s Center for Disease Control and Prevention, G4 was observed to be highly infectious, replicating in human cells and causing more serious symptoms. More researches are being carried out on ferrets.

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:
The State Government of Nagaland has banned the sale of dog meat and commercial import and trading of dogs.
Several animal rights activists have been protesting the consumption of dog meat in the state. Earlier, the ‘animal bazaar’ of Dimapur, which sells dog meat was highlighted by several animal activists. Sale of cooked and uncooked dog meat is completely banned.

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:
The Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh Shivraj Singh Chouhan, the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate Asia’s largest solar plant in the state.
The 750 MW Rewa Ultra-Mega Solar plant would be inaugurated through video conferencing. It is claimed to be the one of the largest single-site solar power plants in Asia. The plant is located in the Rewa district of Vindhya region of the state.

Notes:
The Madhya Pradesh Tourism Board has launched a campaign on social media platforms named ‘Intzaar Aap Ka’.
The campaign aims to attract tourists to the iconic tourist places of the state. The board has described every tourist destination of the state with this tagline in social media. It has also announced tour packages to the destinations, with safety measures.

Notes:
The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has signed an MoU with Indian Institute of Technology, Hyderabad to establish a Research cell at the IIT.
The Defence research cell aims to meet the upcoming defence technological requirements of the country. This DRDO – IITH Research Cell will conduct research programmes in specific technology areas. This will be established as an extension of the DRDO Research and Innovation Centre (RIC), Chennai.