Current Affairs Quiz - July, 2020

Notes:
As per the World Health Organisation’s new release, the Maldives and Sri Lanka have become the first two countries in the South East Asian Region, to eliminate both measles and rubella.
The countries have completely eliminated the diseases ahead of the deadline of 2023. WHO declares a country to have eliminated measles and rubella, when there is no evidence of transmission of the disease for over three years.

Notes:
The state Cabinet of Uttar Pradesh has recently cleared the new Uttar Pradesh ‘Start-up policy 2020’, to promote start-ups in the state.
The policy seeks to establish at least one incubator in each district and 100 incubators across the state. It also aims to create an ecosystem in the state to establish 10,000 start-up companies. The policy will be applicable for the next five years.

Notes:
Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) is a Central Public Sector Undertaking functioning under the Union Ministry of New and Renewable Energy.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has recently launched Asia’s largest solar plant in Madhya Pradesh’s Rewa through video-conferencing. It has been developed by the Rewa Ultra Mega Solar Limited (RUMSL), a joint venture company of Madhya Pradesh Urja Vikas Nigam Limited (MPUVN) and SECI.

Notes:
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has recently revamped its advisory committee on mutual funds.
As per the recent release of SEBI, the 20-member advisory committee is headed by the former deputy governor of Reserve Bank of India (RBI), Usha Thorat. The panel which was originally created in 2013 had 15 members, headed by Janki Ballabh. The committee advises SEBI on regulation and development of mutual fund industry.

Notes:
A place called Swabhiman Anchal located in Malkangiri district of Odisha was seen in news recently, as the first bus service was inaugurated there, after independence.
The place also known as the cut-off area, was originally covered by water from three sides. The Gurupriya Bridge connects this remote region with the rest of the State. Until this passenger bus service, motor launches and boats were the only modes of communication.

Notes:
According to the data of the commerce ministry, the United States was the top trading partner for the second consecutive fiscal in 2019-20.
In the year 2019-20, the bilateral trade between the US and India was at USD 88.75 billion compared to USD 87.96 billion in 2018-19. China was India’s top trading partner from 2013 to 2017. The US surpassed China to become the top trading partner of India in 2018-19.

Notes:
The state government of Madhya Pradesh is set to launch a ‘Roko -Toko’ campaign for urging people to wear masks.
Roko-Toko in Hindi means stop and campaign and it seeks to nudge people who do not wear masks in public places to practise mask-wearing. The state also runs a scheme called ‘Jeevan Shakti Yojana’, under which selected organisations will provide masks to people at a price of Rs 20 per piece.

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:
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.