Current Affairs Quiz - July, 2020

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:
Union Defence Ministry has launched a new portal to issue No Objection Certificate (NOC) for power projects and Research Survey Exploration Exploitation (RSEE) activities in the Indian Territorial Waters and Exclusive Economic Zone.
The Ministry of Defence gives security clearances to various Private and Public Sector Undertakings for power, wind and solar projects in areas near defence installation. The new portal will allow applicants to submit their proposals online for seeking security clearance from the Ministry.

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:
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:
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:
Union HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank and Health Minister Harsh Vardhan have jointly launched the online competition to identify drugs against coronavirus.
The competition is named “Drug Discovery Hackathon” 2020. Students, researchers and experts from across the country and the world can participate in the event, to submit their discoveries on potential drugs. While HRD Innovation cell and AICTE will identify potential drug, CSIR will conduct synthesis and laboratory testing.

Notes:
The Cabinet Secretary of India Rajiv Gauba has ordered to revamp the e-SamikSha platform of the Indian Government.
It is a real time, online system for monitoring projects and decisions taken by the Union government and the follow-up actions by ministries. In the revamped platform, additional information related to milestones with target dates, beneficiary states and districts will also be captured.

Notes:
The Lieutenant Governor of Delhi Anil Baijal has recently inaugurated the Sardar Patel COVID care centre, which is claimed to be the largest in the world.
The 10,000-bed care centre has been built in a record time of 10 days. It has a COVID Care Centre (CCC), to treat asymptomatic positive patients and a Dedicated COVID Health Care (DCHC), to treat symptomatic cases.

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.