Current Affairs Quiz - July, 2020

Notes:
A MoU has recently been signed between the Indian Coast Guard and Indonesia Coast Guard, to boost maritime relations.
This agreement will enhance the partnership between the two countries in the fields of maritime law enforcement, search and rescue and pollution response. The Coast guards of the two countries would be engaged in exchange of information for reducing maritime crimes.

Notes:
The Chief Minister of Odisha has recently launched a monitoring system named ‘BLUIS’, and it has become the first state to use Space Technology & Artificial Intelligence to safeguard Government Lands.
BLUIS stands for Bhubaneswar Land Use Intelligence System, which would monitor changes in government lands in Bhubaneswar by deploying high resolution satellite imagery. BLUIS is a geo-tagged repository, which works both in web and mobile.

Notes:
The fifteenth summit between India and the European Union (EU) is scheduled to be held on July 15, through video conferencing.
Prime Minster Narendra Modi is to represent India. The President of European Council, Charles Michel and the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen will represent the EU. The summit was supposed to be held in March and Indian Prime Minister was scheduled to visit Brussels, the capital of EU.

Notes:
As per the latest announcement from the World Bank Group and the Sexual Violence Research Initiative (SVRI), a research team of Cambodia has won the 2020 ‘Development Marketplace: Innovations to Address Gender-Based Violence’ award.
The award provides fund to the research team to implement a WhatsApp chatline that offers 24×7 support against gender-violence for female entertainment workers in Cambodia.

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:
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:
‘India Cycles4Change Challenge’ is a new initiative of the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, under its Smart Cities Mission.
The Ministry has recently opened the registration for the Challenge, which was originally launched on June 25, 2020. All cities under the Smart Cities Mission, capital cities of States/UTs and all cities with above 5 lakh population can apply through the newly launched portal and provide quick solutions for promoting cycling.

Notes:
The tropical Storm Fay has created heavy rains and floods and has made landfall in New Jersey, before it weakened and moved over the region.
As per the U.S. National Hurricane Center, the storm was moving north at 27 kph and producing top sustained winds of 64 kph. The storm created landfall along the coast of New Jersey. Several beaches in the place were closed and flash flooding is also expected.

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:
The UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) released a report titled the ‘World Wildlife Crime Report 2020’.
As per the report, Pangolin is the world’s most trafficked mammal and the number of times the mammal’s scales were seized increased nearly ten times between 2014 and 2018. The report also highlighted that zoonotic diseases account for 75 per cent of all emerging infectious diseases.