Current Affairs Quiz - July, 2020

Notes:
Central Public Sector Undertaking under Ministry of Power NTPC Ltd has won the prestigious CII-ITC Sustainability Award 2019, under Outstanding Accomplishment in Corporate Excellence Category.
The enterprise also received Commendation for Significant Achievement in category of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). The company runs a CSR program called GEM (Girl Empowerment Mission), which is a residential program for school going girls, who are residing near the company’s power stations.

Notes:
The officials at Wimbledon club has announced that will pay out USD 12.5 million in prize money to over 600 players despite the tournament’s cancellation.
The oldest tennis tournament in the world, London-based prestigious Wimbledon championship was cancelled because of the coronavirus pandemic. After consultations with their insurance provider, all the 256 players who would have competed in the main event will be paid equally.

Notes:
Russia has become the first nation to complete clinical trials of a Covid-19 vaccine on humans, in a major step towards the vaccine.
Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University has successfully completed the clinical trails of the vaccine, produced by the Gamalei Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology, Russia. As per the WHO, there are as many as 21 vaccines under key trials across the world.

Notes:
India’s oldest apex industry body Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) has projected India’s annual median GDP growth for 2020-21 at -4.5%.
This has been projected in the association’s Economic Outlook Survey in the SBI Banking and Economics Conclave. It had previously predicted India’s growth rate to be 5.5 per cent in the January 2020 survey. In the conclave, RBI Governor said that Indian economy has started showing signs of getting back to normalcy.

Notes:
The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Boris Johnson announced that the country is set to ban Chinese technology giant Huawei from the country’s 5G network.
This news has been announced amidst the rising tensions between the United States and China. The UK’s move is aligned towards supporting the US, in limiting the expansion of global telecom leader Huawei’s expansion in the west. The process will be completed by 2027.

Notes:
Andhra Pradesh state government officials along with Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) launched ‘Operation Muskaan’ in the state.
This week-long drive aims to trace the missing children, prevent child labour and bonded labour, and rescue children engaged in domestic works. Hundreds of children are being rescued in the drive and are united with parents or provided with shelters.

Notes:
The Union Health Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan announced during the meeting with the 15th Finance Commission, that the Government is to gradually increase the public health expenditure to 2.5 per cent of the country’s GDP by 2025.
This is the government’s target of the National Health Policy 2017. He also confirmed that the primary health expenditure will be made about two-third of the total public health expenditure in the country.

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:
NITI Aayog has recommended that the Government of India should use 25 per cent use of recycled products in large infrastructure projects to promote secondary products across India.
The chief executive officer of Niti Aayog, Amitabh Kant announced that the recycled products including metals, plastics and paper will promote secondary products that are now hardly found in our country. India levies 2.5 per cent customs duty on the scrap while importing.

Notes:
The Supreme Court of India has extended the tenure of the chairperson and members of the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) by three months.
The chairperson of TDSAT is former Supreme Court judge Justice Shiva Kirti Singh. His tenure was to end on July 20 this year and the tenure of other members of the tribunal has already ended. TDSAT has recently set aside TRAI’s order that blocked Vodafone-Idea’s premium tariff plan RedX.