Current Affairs Quiz - July, 2020

Notes:
The historic Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple located at Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala, has been in dispute over its management. It is considered as one of the richest temples in the country.
The Supreme Court of India has recently upholded the rights of Travancore royal family in the administration of the temple. This dispute has been pending in the Supreme Court for the past nine years after charges of financial irregularities. The Travancore Royal house had ruled southern Kerala and some parts of Tamil Nadu.

Notes:
Union Minister Nitin Gadkari has recently inaugurated and laid foundation stones of 11 highway projects in Haryana worth over 20,000 crore rupees.
These projects are part of the new Economic corridors in the state, which includes the Ambala Kotputli corridor among others. The projects will provide better connectivity to neighbouring states such as Rajasthan, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Punjab.

Notes:
The Chairman of Tata Group N Chandrasekaran is selected for the US-India Business Council, USIBC Global Leadership Award this year.
Along with him, the CEO of Lockheed Martin, Jim Taiclet will also receive the award. The USIBC Global Leadership Awards are conferred on executives to recognise their leadership and their contribution in promoting trade and business between India and the United States.

Notes:
The flagship initiative of NITI Aayog, Atal Innovation Mission, (AIM) has launched a programme named ‘Demo-Days’.
The programme aims to identify start-ups with potential Covid-19 innovations and help them develop their ideas into workable solutions which will be deployed across the country. This was launched in partnership with other state-owned bodies including BIRAC, DBT, DST, Start-up India etc.

Notes:
The CMD of Reliance Industries Limited (RIL), Mukesh Ambani announced at the annual general meeting, that Jio platforms and Google will jointly develop a new Android-based smartphone system.
An entry level affordable smart phone by optimising the Android operating system would be jointly developed by the two giants. Google also announced that it will invest Rs 33,737 crores in Jio for developing 5G technology.

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 Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan has recently inaugurated the construction work at the Diamer-Bhasha dam in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
When completed, Diamer-Bhasha would be Pakistan’s third largest dam after Tarbela and Mangla dams. The project will generate 4,500MW electricity and is expected to be completed by 2028. Pakistan had signed a Rs 442 billion contract with a joint venture of Chinese state-run firm and Pakistan’s military arm.

Notes:
Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras-incubated start-up named Modulus Housing has developed a portable hospital unit.
The foldable unit called ‘MediCAB’ can be installed by four people anywhere within two hours. ‘MediCAB’ was launched recently in Wayanad District, Kerala to treat Covid-19 patients. The start-up was founded by two IIT alumni in 2008 and it is in the process of developing micro hospitals.

Notes:
Union HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank virtually launched the first online National Initiative for School Heads and Teachers Holistic Advancement (NISHTHA) programme for key resources persons of Andhra Pradesh.
After the scheme was launched in 2019, 33 states and UTs launched the programme in collaboration under Samagra Shiksha. The NCERT provides NISHTHA training programme at the state level.

Notes:
The Health Minister of Kerala KK Shailaja has recently announced that the rate of community transmission in Covid-19 clusters in the state is more than 50%.
In the 84 clusters in the state, local transmission is more than 50%. However, the rate of transmission is less than 10% outside the clusters. The Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan also confirmed that community transmission was detected in two coastal villages of Thiruvananthapuram.