Current Affairs Quiz - July, 2020

Notes:
Reliance Industries (RIL) and the UK-based oil company BP, to start their new fuel retail and mobility joint venture (JV).
As per the joint statement released by the companies, the newly launched JV company is named as Reliance BP Mobility (RBML). Moreover, the JV will begin to rebrand RIL fuel retail outlets to Jio-BP. The new company also aims to provide electric vehicle charging facilities.

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 Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad (IITH) has recently partnered with the multinational technology company NVIDIA, to establish India’s first ‘NVIDIA AI Technology Centre’ (NVAITC).
The centre aims to accelerate research on Artificial Intelligence and its commercial adoption. In this technology centre, more than 200 faculty will carry out research in this field. NVIDIA is a partner to the government of Telangana, in its project to establish Hyderabad among the top 25 global AI innovation hubs.

Notes:
The United Arab Emirates has recently announced its plans to send its first Mars mission and it has become the first Arab country to do so.
Until now, only the United States, India, USSR and the European Space Agency have successfully sent their Mars orbiter missions. China is in the process of launching its first Mars rover. The Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) is heading the Mars project of the UAE.

Notes:
GOAL is a literacy and mentorship initiative, that aims to identify leaders and make them train 5,000 youth from tribal communities across the country. It is implemented by the Tribal Affairs Ministry.
The Ministry has hosted a webinar on Going Online As Leaders (GOAL) Project, to sensitise Members of Parliament from Scheduled Tribe (ST) Constituencies. Union Minister for Tribal Affairs Arjun Munda and other officials from the Ministry participated in the seminar.

Notes:
The United Nations declared July 12 as ‘Malala Day’ every year, to honour the sixteen-year old Pakistani activist Malala Yousafzai, who was advocating the promotion of education of girls.
On the same day in 2013, she delivered an inspiring speech at the United Nations (UN) headquarters on the need for gender equality in education. The Nobel Peace Prize Laureate has recently completed her degree at the Oxford University.

Notes:
The state of Andhra Pradesh has rolled out an initiative of online registration of crops named e-Crop.
The state’s Revenue and Agriculture Department officials will jointly register crops online. At village level, village revenue officers and the village agriculture assistants will register the names of the farmers, details of their land, bank account and about his crops cultivated.

Notes:
The Indian Railways has set the target to achieve net zero carbon emission by the year 2030. In order to achieve the target of becoming a Green Railways, it has accelerated the efforts.
Some of its initiatives include Electrification of lines, improving energy efficiency of trains, green certification for stations, fitting bio toilets in coaches and switching to renewable sources of energy. Recently, a 1.7 mega watt plant at Bina in Madhya Pradesh in collaboration with BHEL has been installed.

Notes:
Ace British racing driver and six-time Formula One World Champion, Lewis Hamilton has clinched his first victory of the season at Austria’s Styrian Grand Prix.
The 37-year old, who races for Mercedes, raised a clenched fist on the podium in support of anti-racism campaigners. He has also launched a commission to insist diversity in motorsport. The driver is only six wins short from surpassing Michael Schumacher’s all-time record of 91.

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.