Current Affairs Quiz - July, 2020

Notes:
Dr Rajiv Kumar, Vice Chairman, NITI Aayog presented India’s second Voluntary National Review (VNR) at the United Nations High-level Political Forum (HLPF) 2020.
The HLPF is the international platform for review of progress on the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It meets annually in July under the UN’s Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). The India VNR 2020 report was titled “Decade of Action: Taking SDGs from Global to Local”.

Notes:
The Chairperson of the Indian Space Research Organisation, Dr Kailasavadivoo Sivan has been named as the recipient of the 2020 Von Karman Award.
The award was constituted by the International Academy of Astronautics (IAA) and will be conferred in March 2021 in Paris. It is named after the aerospace engineer and aerodynamics expert Theodore von Karman. K Sivan is only the third Indian to receive this award after Kasturirangan and U.R. Rao.

Notes:
The Union Government has appointed Vikram Doraiswami as the new high commissioner to Bangladesh. Prior to this appointment, he was the Additional Secretary in charge of International Organisations and Summits at the Foreign Ministry.
Another Foreign Service Officer Rudrendra Tandon was named as the new envoy to Afghanistan. He is currently the Indian envoy to ASEAN at Jakarta.

Notes:
The United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations, headquartered at New York.
The High-Level Segment of UN ECOSOC (United Nations Economic and Social Council) is to be held on July 17 in New York in the theme of “Multilateralism after COVID19: What kind of UN do we need at the 75th anniversary”. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is to address the valedictory session.

Notes:
The state of Tamil Nadu is set to launch a trial to study the efficacy of the BCG vaccine in reducing mortality due to COVID-19 in the elder people.
The trial, which has been approved by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), would be taken up by the National Institute for Research in Tuberculosis (NIRT), Chennai. The BCG (Bacille Calmette-Guerin) is being administered to new-born for 50 years as a vaccine against tuberculosis.

Notes:
As per the recent data by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, India posted a trade surplus of USD 790 million in June 2020.
This surplus has been recorded for the first time after over 18 years. Due to the Covid-19 induced decrease in domestic demand for crude oil, gold and other industrial products, the country’s import was deeply reduced. This led to a trade surplus with imports of USD 21.11 billion and exports of USD 21.91 billion.

Notes:
The World Health Organization and UNICEF has warned about the huge decline in the number of children receiving life-saving vaccines around the world.
Due to the disruptions in the immunization services caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, this dip has been observed. The HPV (Human Papillomavirus) vaccines to be sent to 106 countries are in the verge of lapsing. The number of children completing 3 doses of the vaccine against diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis (DTP3) also reduced for the first, in the last 28 years.

Notes:
Neela Satyanarayan, the first woman Chief Election Commissioner of Maharashtra has recently passed away, at the age of 72.
She was a 1972 batch IAS officer and a celebrated author, poet and music composer. She was the additional Chief Secretary of Revenue Department and was made the state Chief Election commissioner after retirement.

Notes:
Cochin Shipyard Limited has signed a contract for construction and supply of two autonomous electric ferries for ASKO Maritime AS, Norway.
This firm is a subsidiary of NorgesGruppen ASA, one of the major players in the Norwegian retail market. The project is partially funded by the Norwegian government and aimed at emission-free transport of goods. The 67-metre-long vessels will be delivered as a full-electric transport ferry, initially. The Ship yard is also building 23 hybrid electric boats for the Kochi Water Metro.

Notes:
The Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh YS Jagan Mohan Reddy renamed the flagship Aarogyasri scheme into YSR AarogyaSri scheme in 2019.
Recently, the services of the healthcare scheme have been extended to another six districts of the state, to provide affordable health services to all. The new services include cancer and dicoclera implant and other such procedures. In April, the scheme has been extended to Covid-19 treatment.