Current Affairs Quiz - July, 2020

Notes:
The Asia Cup is a popular cricket tournament organised by the Asian Cricket Council (ACC). It was established in 1983 and includes men’s One Day International and Twenty20 International cricket tournament.
Recently, the Asian Cricket Council announced that the tournament that was scheduled to be held in September this year in Sri Lanka, has been postponed till June 2021.

Notes:
As per the recent data from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), Tamil Nadu has topped market borrowings among states in the country during 2020-21.
Tamil Nadu has raised Rs 30500 crores so far, which is approximately 17% of the borrowings made through issuing bonds. Maharashtra has raised Rs 25000 crores, which is 14% of the borrowings. The state of Tamil Nadu is expected to sustain a revenue shortfall of Rs 12,000- Rs 13,000 crore in a month, due to the effect of lock-down.

Notes:
The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDAI) has constituted a working group to study feasibility of forming a ‘pandemic risk pool’.
A pool is proposed to be formed, which addresses the risks that are arising out of the pandemic. The existing insurance laws do not cover business interruption losses and this pool is aimed to address this issue. The panel is expected to submit its report in eight weeks.

Notes:
The Union Shipping Ministry has issued a draft ‘Aids to Navigation Bill, 2020’ and sought suggestions from stakeholders and general public.
This draft bill seeks to replace the colonial Lighthouse Act, 1927, which is over nine decades old. The bill seeks to empower the Directorate General of Lighthouses and Lightships (DGLL) with additional power. It also proposes to include global best practices.

Notes:
Technology Information, Forecasting and Assessment Council (TIFAC), an autonomous organization under the Department of Science & Technology has prepared a white paper on “Focused Interventions for ‘Make in India’: Post COVID 19” and “Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients: Status, Issues, Technology Readiness and Challenges”.
Union Minister Harsh Vardhan released the white papers prepared by TIFAC, during a virtual event. The paper highlights high priority sectors, technologies and strategies to accelerate growth in the time of COVID-19.

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:
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:
The state government of Madhya Pradesh is set to launch a ‘Roko -Toko’ campaign for urging people to wear masks.
Roko-Toko in Hindi means stop and campaign and it seeks to nudge people who do not wear masks in public places to practise mask-wearing. The state also runs a scheme called ‘Jeevan Shakti Yojana’, under which selected organisations will provide masks to people at a price of Rs 20 per piece.

Notes:
The comet C/2020 F3 comet also called as NEOWISE was discovered on March 27, this year. It was seen in news recently, as the comet would be visible in the sky.
In India, the NEOWISE comet will be visible in the northwest sky which is 20 degrees from the horizon. It is expected to be visible after sunset for around 20 minutes for 20 days from July 14, 2020 and it will fade away in the month of August.

Notes:
Chhattisgarh government’s Mukhyamantri Darpan website and mobile application has been awarded “Elites Excellence Awards-2020”.
The website and app contains all the flagship schemes of the Chhattisgarh government, including the ‘Suraji Gaon Yojna’. The award was announced under the ‘Digital India initiative’ of Elites Technomedia in a virtual conference inaugurated by Union Minister Nitin Gadkari in New Delhi.