Current Affairs Quiz - July, 2020

Notes:
The comet C/2020 F3 comet also called as NEOWISE was discovered on March 27, this year. It was seen in news recently, as the comet would be visible in the sky.
In India, the NEOWISE comet will be visible in the northwest sky which is 20 degrees from the horizon. It is expected to be visible after sunset for around 20 minutes for 20 days from July 14, 2020 and it will fade away in the month of August.

Notes:
India and Iran partnered to construct a rail line from Chabahar port to Zahedan, along the border with Afghanistan, four years ago.
Recently, Iran decided to proceed without India’s assistance and its Transport Minister has inaugurated the track-laying process for the Chabahar-Zahedan line. Recently, China finalised a 25 year-USD 400 billion strategic deal with Iran.

Notes:
Union Minister of State for Shipping Shri Mansukh Mandaviya has recently approved Rs. 107 Crore for improving fire-fighting facilities at Haldia Dock Complex, Kolkata Port.
The existing fire fighting facility does not support handling of petroleum products as per the guidelines of Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas. This augmentation is a step towards compliance of global standards for fire safety and secure handling of petroleum products.

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:
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:
Elyes Fakhfakh, the Prime Minister of the North African country Tunisia, has recently submitted his resignation.
Earlier, there was an allegation that the Prime Minister holds a stake in a waste processing company that won government contracts worth 15 million euro. Investigations are being carried out in this case.

Notes:
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has postponed the 2022 Dakar Youth Olympics for four years, to 2026.
This decision has been taken due to the coronavirus pandemic. The Youth Summer Games, to be held in Senegal’s capital, will be the first Olympics to be organised in Africa. The Tokyo Olympics is scheduled to be held in July 2021 and Beijing Winter Olympics in February 2022.

Notes:
The state government of Andhra Pradesh has recently constituted a high-level committee constitute new districts with Lok Sabha constituency as base.
As per the decision made during the Cabinet meeting presided over by Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, this high-level committee will be headed by the Chief Secretary. The committee will study the feasibility of forming new districts and reducing expenditure.

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:
As per the recent report released by the property consultant Cushman & Wakefield, India ranks third in the list of most-suitable locations for global manufacturing, in terms of cost competitiveness and operating conditions.
Among 48 countries, China and the US bagged the top two positions of the Global Manufacturing Risk Index (MRI). Last year, India was in the fourth position in the list, which ranks 48 countries in Europe, America and the Asia-Pacific.