Current Affairs Quiz - July, 2020

Notes:
According to the guidelines issued by the insurance regulator, the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDAI) has directed the general and health insurance companies to offer one short-term Covid-19 policy.
Named as the “Corona Kavach Policy”, the standard health policy would have a tenure period of 3.5 months to 6.5 months, and 9.5 months. As per the guidelines, the mode of payment would be a single premium. Another policy called Corona Rakshak, a standard benefit policy is also to be launched.

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:
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:
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 Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has constituted a national level committee for reform in criminal law.
The committee is to be headed by Ranbir Singh, who is the Vice-Chancellor, National Law University-Delhi. The committee has many veteran legal academicians and it has invited opinions online on the possible reforms in the Indian Penal Code, Code of Criminal Procedure and Indian Evidence Act.

Notes:
Russia has recently held polls for a nationwide referendum on constitutional amendments, which include the reset in the term limits of the incumbent Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The amendments allow him to seek two more 6-year terms when his presidency ends in 2024. As per the preliminary results, more than 76% of Russians voted supporting the amendments. Putin has been the President from 2012 and will remain till 2036, as per the amendment.

Notes:
Nimu is a small village located in the Union Territory of Ladakh. It is surrounded by the Zanskar range and located on the banks of the Indus river.
The place was seen in news recently, as Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi travelled to Nimu, to interact with Indian troops. Nimu is the reserve brigade headquarter of the Indian Army, situated at 11,000 feet near Kargil. The Border Road Organisation (BRO) is constructing a road from Padum in the Zanskar Valley to Nimu.

Notes:
Edelweiss Asset Management Company manages the Bharat Bond Exchange Traded Fund (ETF). It has formally launched the second series of the ETF.
During December 2019, it had launched the first series. With this tranche, the fund house seeks to raise up to Rs 14,000 crore from retail and institutional investors. Bharat Bond ETFs invest in AAA-rated papers of public sector companies (CPSEs and PSEs).

Notes:
The fourth edition of the Ministerial on Climate Action (MoCA) was recently held through video conferencing.
India’s Union Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Prakash Javadekar represented the country in the meeting. It was co-chaired by European Union, China and Canada to discuss on the implementation of the Paris Agreement under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

Notes:
As per the news reported by the official China Daily, China will build six to eight nuclear reactors per year between 2020 and 2025.
China is set to raise total capacity to 70 gigawatts (GW), which is around 43.5 per cent more than that of the capacity estimated at the end of May. The country also aims to increase its total nuclear capacity to about 200 GW by 2035.