Current Affairs Quiz - July, 2020

Notes:
The Institute of Life Sciences (ILS), an autonomous institute of the Department of Biotechnology, has successfully established stable cultures of coronavirus from patient samples.
The Seventeen in-vitro cultures have been established using Vero cells, from samples of different locations and different virus loads. The cultured SARS-Cov-2 can be used in developing antibodies or antidotes, testing of antibodies and identifying therapeutic agents.

Notes:
The Union Government has appointed Vikram Doraiswami as the new high commissioner to Bangladesh. Prior to this appointment, he was the Additional Secretary in charge of International Organisations and Summits at the Foreign Ministry.
Another Foreign Service Officer Rudrendra Tandon was named as the new envoy to Afghanistan. He is currently the Indian envoy to ASEAN at Jakarta.

Notes:
The CMD of Reliance Industries Limited (RIL), Mukesh Ambani announced at the annual general meeting, that Jio platforms and Google will jointly develop a new Android-based smartphone system.
An entry level affordable smart phone by optimising the Android operating system would be jointly developed by the two giants. Google also announced that it will invest Rs 33,737 crores in Jio for developing 5G technology.

Notes:
National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) has launched development projects worth Rs 44 lakhs in Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
The projects include the formation and development of Self-Help Groups (SHGs). The SHG members are provided training and skill development to promote rural entrepreneurship in Mushroom Cultivation and Bamboo Handicrafts making etc. An annual Micro-Entrepreneurship Development Programme will also be organised by NABARD in the UT.

Notes:
The FIFA World Cup 2022 football tournament is to played in Qatar, for the first time in the history of FIFA.
FIFA has released the new schedule for the World Cup to be played in November and December, 2022. The 60,000-capacity Al Bayt Stadium will be the venue for the inaugural session of the tournament. FIFA will finalise the 30 contestants of the World Cup in April 2022

Notes:
Union Shipping Minister has recently flagged off first trial container ship from Kolkata Port to Agartala through the Chattogram port of Bangladesh.
This trial run has been done under the Agreement on using Chattogram and Mongla Ports for movement of India’s transit cargo through Bangladesh. It will provide a shorter route to connect the North East Region of India through Bangladesh.

Notes:
As per the recent report released by the property consultant Cushman & Wakefield, India ranks third in the list of most-suitable locations for global manufacturing, in terms of cost competitiveness and operating conditions.
Among 48 countries, China and the US bagged the top two positions of the Global Manufacturing Risk Index (MRI). Last year, India was in the fourth position in the list, which ranks 48 countries in Europe, America and the Asia-Pacific.

Notes:
The Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan has recently inaugurated the construction work at the Diamer-Bhasha dam in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
When completed, Diamer-Bhasha would be Pakistan’s third largest dam after Tarbela and Mangla dams. The project will generate 4,500MW electricity and is expected to be completed by 2028. Pakistan had signed a Rs 442 billion contract with a joint venture of Chinese state-run firm and Pakistan’s military arm.

Notes:
Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs is implementing the PM SVANidhi (PM Street Vendor’s AtmaNirbhar Nidhi) scheme.
PM SVANidhi was launched by the government on June 1, 2020, to provide working capital loan to street vendors. Recently, the Ministry has launched a mobile application of PM SVANidhi scheme, in a virtual event from New Delhi.

Notes:
The 88-year-old veteran Indian Mathematician C.S. Seshadri has recently passed away. He was considered as a leader of Mathematics especially in the field of algebraic geometry.
He started the School of Mathematics as part of the SPIC Science Foundation in 1989, which then transformed into the Chennai Mathematical Institute (CMI). He was also awarded the Padma Bhushan award in 2009.