Current Affairs Quiz - July, 2020

Notes:
The President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan has recently announced that the iconic architectural place of the country Hagia Sophia would be made a mosque, which gained criticism from across the world.
After the top Turkish court revoked the museum status of the monument, the President made this announcement. The UNESCO World Heritage site in Istanbul was first constructed as a cathedral but was converted into a mosque after the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople in 1453. It has been a museum since 1935 and open to people of all faiths.

Notes:
The incumbent Prime Minister of Singapore, Lee Hsien Loong’s People’s Action Party has retained its power in the recently held general elections.
The ruling party has been in power in Singapore since 1965. This time it has won 83 of 93 parliamentary seats, which implies 61.2 per cent of the vote. In a surprise move, the opposition Workers’ Party made their best performance by securing a record 10 seats, for the first time.

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:
India’s leading telecom service provider Bharti Airtel has recently launched its new video conferencing app named ‘BlueJeans’.
This application is expected to compete its rival applications namely Zoom, Google Hangouts, Microsoft Teams and the recently launched JioMeet. BlueJeans has been launched in partnership with US-based telecom company Verizon.

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:
Former captain of Australian Football team recently announced that he is retiring from all forms of football.
He had earlier announced retirement from international football in the year 2018. The 35-year old footballer led the Australian men’s national team, also called as Socceroos, to the 2015 Asian Cup title.

Notes:
Minister of State for Defence Shripad Naik recently inaugurated the 5th edition of the Conference on Aerospace and Defence Manufacturing Technologies.
The webinar was jointly organised by Tamil Nadu Technology Development & Promotion Centre (TNTDPC), Society of Indian Defence Manufacturers (SIDM), and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). The theme of the conference is Empowering India with ‘Aatma Nirbhar Bharat Mission’.

Notes:
India and Bhutan have recently opened a new trade route between Jaigaon in West Bengal and Pasakha in Bhutan.
Vehicles carrying goods and commodities plied through the alternate trade route between Jaigaon and Ahlay in Pasakha. As per the Indian Embassy in Thimpu, an additional Land Customs station has been opened at Ahllay, Pasakha by the Government of India.

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.

Notes:
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has announced has released guidelines for ‘Fair Practices Code’ for Asset Reconstruction Companies (ARCs).
The guidelines are released by the RBI, under the powers conferred by the SARFAESI Act, 2002. As per the recent guidelines ARCs have to follow transparent and non-discriminatory practices in acquisition of assets.