Current Affairs Quiz - July, 2020

Notes:
The United States has formally notified the United Nations about its withdrawal from the World Health Organisation (WHO).
The withdrawal notice was sent to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and it will take effect in a year, on July 6, 2021. The US is the largest donor of WHO and provides more than USD 400 million per year. It currently owes the WHO around USD 200 million in current and past dues.

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 World Health Organization (WHO) has recently set up an independent panel to review its response to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The panel is headed by former New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark and former Liberian president Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. This action has been taken after the United States has been criticising the organisation over its handling of the crisis.

Notes:
The President of Hockey India Mohammed Mushtaque Ahmad has recently resigned from his post, citing personal commitments.
There had been controversies after the election of Ahmad as the President of HI in the year 2018. The Executive board of Hockey India has named Manipur’s Gyanendro Nigombam as the officiating president, in his place. Prior to this, Nigombam was the Senior Vice-President in the federation.

Notes:
India has become the second largest source of foreign direct investment (FDI) for the United Kingdom in 2019.
As per the UK government figures recently released, India is up from its third position in 2018 and it is second only to the United States. India has invested in 120 projects and created above 5000 new jobs in the UK. India is followed by Germany, France and China.

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:
Russia has become the first nation to complete clinical trials of a Covid-19 vaccine on humans, in a major step towards the vaccine.
Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University has successfully completed the clinical trails of the vaccine, produced by the Gamalei Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology, Russia. As per the WHO, there are as many as 21 vaccines under key trials across the world.

Notes:
India’s oldest apex industry body Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) has projected India’s annual median GDP growth for 2020-21 at -4.5%.
This has been projected in the association’s Economic Outlook Survey in the SBI Banking and Economics Conclave. It had previously predicted India’s growth rate to be 5.5 per cent in the January 2020 survey. In the conclave, RBI Governor said that Indian economy has started showing signs of getting back to normalcy.

Notes:
The Imagineering Laboratory department of IIT Kanpur has developed an Ultraviolet sanitizing product named SHUDH.
SHUDH is an abbreviation of Smartphone operated Handy Ultraviolet Disinfection Helper. The device comprises of six ultra-violet lights, which can be monitored even from a distance. It can disinfect a small room in 15 minutes.

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.