Current Affairs Quiz - July, 2020

Notes:
The ‘World Population Day’ is observed across the world, on July 11 every year. The day was first celebrated in the year 1990.
Inspired by the awareness created by ‘Five Billion Day’ on the same day in 1987 when the world’s population reached 5 billion, UNDP recommended the observance of Population Day on July 11. “Putting the brakes on COVID-19: how to safeguard the health and rights of women and girls now” is the theme of the campaign for 2020.

Notes:
The Tiger Census of India has set a new Guinness Record for being the world’s largest camera trap wildlife survey.
The fourth edition of the census, which was carried out between 2018-19, has entered the Guinness Book, for being the most comprehensive in resources and data taken. India conducts Tiger Census once in every four years.

Notes:
Union Home Minister Amit Shah has recently launched the nationwide tree plantation drive of the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF).
Under this nationwide drive, Jawans of Central Armed Police Forces plated saplings in Chhattisgarh. The personnel of CAPF’s child agencies: BSF, CRPF, ITBP and CISF also planted saplings in their campuses. CAPFs have fixed a target of planting more than 1.35 crore saplings by this month.

Notes:
Madhya Pradesh has topped in implementing the Pradhan Mantri Street Vendors Atma Nirbhar Nidhi-PM SvaNidhi scheme.
The scheme was launched to provide a free working capital of 10,000 rupees for one year to street vendors. The state also provides assistance for vendors of rural areas in the state, along with those in urban areas. Over 15000 cases have been approved in the state and loans worth above 15 crore have been approved.

Notes:
The state of Tamil Nadu is set to launch a trial to study the efficacy of the BCG vaccine in reducing mortality due to COVID-19 in the elder people.
The trial, which has been approved by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), would be taken up by the National Institute for Research in Tuberculosis (NIRT), Chennai. The BCG (Bacille Calmette-Guerin) is being administered to new-born for 50 years as a vaccine against tuberculosis.

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:
India has recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the United States, to store strategic reserves of Petroleum in the US.
The countries are also planning to store oil in America’s strategic reserve to increase India’s oil reserves. Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan co-chaired a virtual US-India Strategic Energy Partnership Ministerial with his American counterpart Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette.

Notes:
Union Environment, Forest and Climate Change Minister Prakash Javadekar has informed that the Zonal Master Plan of Bhagirathi Eco-Sensitive Zone has been approved by the government.
The Minister announced this during the review meeting of the Chaardhaam Road Project. This approval will fast-track the execution of the project of the Uttarakhand state and will help to conserve ecology in the state.

Notes:
Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi has recently crossed six crore followers on micro-blogging platform Twitter.
The Prime Minister joined Twitter in the year 2009 and his handle is following 2,354 accounts. The Twitter handle of the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) has 3.7 crore followers. US President Donald Trump has over 8.3 crore followers on Twitter.

Notes:
On July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin became the first humans to land on the surface of the Moon.
To commemorate the historic achievement, it is celebrated as the Space Exploration Day, which is also called as the Moon Day. US President John F. Kennedy had set a goal of ‘landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to Earth within a decade.’ After Armstrong’s feat, the US launched six Apollo missions to the moon from 1969 and 1972.