Current Affairs Quiz - July, 2020

Notes:
The Union Government has announced the launch of Taxable Floating Rate Savings Bonds, 2020, that will be available for subscription for retail investors from July 1, 2020.
The bonds are issued by the Reserve Bank of India on behalf of the Government, replacing the recently withdrawn 7.75% bonds. The interest rate on these bonds will be reset every six months while the initial rate of interest is fixed at 7.15 per cent. The bonds shall be repayable on the expiration of seven years from the date of issue.

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:
Veteran Opposition leader of Ireland Micheál Martin has been named as the next Prime Minister of the country, by the Parliament.
The 59-year-old leader took charge as the Prime Minister, to head the first coalition uniting the two prime parties. Micheál Martin had earlier held several important ministries including health, trade, foreign affairs and education.

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:
June 30 is the day designated by the United Nations to celebrate the International Day of Parliamentarism.
The United Nations General Assembly recognized the role of parliaments in developing the world, and designated the special day. On the same day in the year 1889, the global organization of parliaments called the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) was established.

Notes:
International Zinc Association (IZA) has launched Asia’s first-ever Continuous Galvanized Rebar (CGR) manufacturing facility in Punjab.
The project would be supported by Hindustan Zinc Limited. It has been launched in collaboration with a private manufacturing company Madhav KRG Group. The new product called Continuously Galvanized Rebars (CGR) are value added rebars for better life and lower maintenance. Rebar is the short form of Reinforced Bar.

Notes:
The United Nation’s trade and development body, UNCTAD (United Nations Conference on Trade and Development) has recently released a report ‘COVID-19 and Tourism’.
As per the report, the world’s tourism sector could lose at least USD 1.2 trillion or 1.5% of the global gross domestic product (GDP). If the break in international tourism lasts for 8 months, the loss could rise to USD 2.2 trillion or 2.8% of the global GDP.

Notes:
‘Dharma Chakra Parvattana’ is a famous celebration of Buddhism, which commemorates Gautam Buddha’s first discourse to his first five disciples at Sarnath.
The International Buddhist Confederation, under the Ministry of Culture, celebrates Ashadha Poornima as Dharma Chakra Day. The Prime Minister has recently conveyed his greetings on Ashadha Poornima, also known as Guru Purnima.

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.