Current Affairs Quiz - July, 2020

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 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 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:
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 state Government of Madhya Pradesh is set to launch a new scheme called ‘Hamara Ghar-Hamara Vidyalaya’.
It means My Home-My school and the scheme aims to teach the school-going children, in a school-like environment. Under the scheme, the children of the state will learn to read and write and perform yoga, as per the State Education Centre.

Notes:
Pulitzer Prize-winning Indian-American author and oncologist Siddhartha Mukherjee has been named as the ‘2020 Great Immigrants’ honourees by the Carnegie Corporation of New York.
Another Indian American Professor of Economics at Harvard University Raj Chetty also jointly received the honour. They have been honoured for their contribution towards the efforts in containing the COVID-19 crisis.

Notes:
The state government of Assam has decided to upgrade the Dehing Patkai wildlife sanctuary into a national park.
Earlier, the National Board of Wild Life (NBWL) under the Environment Ministry had recommended coal mining to be allowed within a portion of Dehing Patkai Elephant Reserve. After the upgradation of tis sanctuary, Assam will have 6 national parks. Dehing Patkai comprises of a variety of unique flora and fauna.

Notes:
Himachal Pradesh has recently become the first state in the country to provide LPG connections to all its households.
The state has been implementing ‘Himachal Grihini Suvidha Yojana’ scheme for implementing this objective. Under the scheme, around 2.76 lakh families in the state have benefitted by receiving LPG connections. The state also implemented Pradhan Mantri Ujjawala Yojana to provide free LPG connection to BPL families.

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:
As per the recent communication from the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC), all custom stations would set up Turant Suvidha Kendras (TSKs) by July 15.
The centres would act as the only interface point with Customs officers for physical submission of documents. The Union Budget 2020 proposed to launch nation-wide faceless assessment and this is considered as the first step in the process. CBIC has also inducted several modern testing equipment into the Central Revenues Control Laboratory.