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:
ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) leaders have met during the recent annual summit held via video conference.
ASEAN is a regional association with 10 member countries including Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines, Cambodia, Myanmar (Burma), Brunei, Laos. The Chair of ASEAN in 2020 is Vietnam, which hosted the virtual summit, due to travel restrictions amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

Notes:
The state government of Maharashtra has launched the world’s largest convalescent plasma therapy project named PLATINA, for treating COVID-19.
The trial-cum-project is expected to save at least 500 lives of critically-ill Covid-19 patients in the state. The trial will be carried out in government medical colleges and BMC medical colleges. All critical patients will receive two doses of 200 ml of convalescent plasma under the project, free of cost.

Notes:
The United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) is set to replace the 25-year-old NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement).
The renegotiated deal comes into effect from July 1. USMCA is a trilateral agreement between three countries namely the United States, Mexico and Canada. The deal was originally signed in 2018 and since then the countries have been working to implement the new deal. It seeks to support the technology sector and include USD 600 million to address environmental problems.

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:
The Vice President of India is set to launch the first social media super-application of the country named ‘Elyments’. More than 1000 IT professionals have created the application.
The application, that will be available in more than 8 Indian languages, aims to combine the features of popular social media applications and present it on a single unified app. It also has features such as free audio and video calls and chats.

Notes:
Union Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju announced that the ministry will launch Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) Junior.
The scheme aims to train to train young athletes for the 2024 and 2028 Olympics. Under the existing TOPS scheme, senior athletes who have been identified as medal achievers for the Olympics are being trained. This was announced during the ‘Fit Hai To Hit Hai Fit India’ webinar.

Notes:
Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) has deployed 120 Mobile Medical Vans named ‘Dhanvantri Rath’ across the city.
It is a mobile van that provides non-COVID essential healthcare services to every household of the corporation. Every van has an AYUSH Doctor, a paramedic and nursing staff and a local Medical Officer from the Corporation’s Urban Health Centre. It conducts regular out-patient consultations.

Notes:
Social Media giant WhatsApp has launched its first brand campaign named ‘It’s Between You’ in India.
WhatsApp has collaborated with Indian director Gauri Shinde along with advertising agency BBDO India to create two advertisements, that highlight how the features of WhatsApp help to imitate in-person conversations.

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.