Current Affairs Quiz - July, 2020

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 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.

Notes:
The 15th summit between the India and the European Union was held recently through a virtual mode. India was represented by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The EU was represented by Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission and Charles Michel, President of the European Council. The leaders adopted the “India-EU Strategic Partnership: A Roadmap to 2025”, a strategic guide for mutual cooperation, over the next five years.

Notes:
Neela Satyanarayan, the first woman Chief Election Commissioner of Maharashtra has recently passed away, at the age of 72.
She was a 1972 batch IAS officer and a celebrated author, poet and music composer. She was the additional Chief Secretary of Revenue Department and was made the state Chief Election commissioner after retirement.

Notes:
India has signed bilateral agreements named ‘Air Bubbles’ with France and the US to operate international flights.
Under the agreement, the airlines of each country will operate international flights between each other. American air carrier United Airlines will be operating 18 flights between India and the US and Air France will be operating 28 flights between Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Paris.

Notes:
India has signed a new agreement with Israel to collaborate in the field of cyber security and to tackle the challenges in the field amidst the Covid-19 pandemic.
The MoU has been signed between the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT), Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, and Israel’s National Cyber Directorate (INCD). Under the MoU, technological assistance and mutual services in cyber security will be exchanged.

Notes:
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has postponed the 2022 Dakar Youth Olympics for four years, to 2026.
This decision has been taken due to the coronavirus pandemic. The Youth Summer Games, to be held in Senegal’s capital, will be the first Olympics to be organised in Africa. The Tokyo Olympics is scheduled to be held in July 2021 and Beijing Winter Olympics in February 2022.

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:
India’s third largest services company, HCL Technologies announced that its Co-founder Shiv Nadar had stepped down as Chairman of the board of directors.
His daughter Roshni Nadar Malhotra has been named as the next Chairperson of the company. Shiv Nadar will continue in the post of Chief strategy officer. Roshni Nadar became the vice-chairman of the board in 2018. HCL was founded in the year 1976 by Shiv Nadar as one of the 5 founders.

Notes:
Union HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank virtually launched the first online National Initiative for School Heads and Teachers Holistic Advancement (NISHTHA) programme for key resources persons of Andhra Pradesh.
After the scheme was launched in 2019, 33 states and UTs launched the programme in collaboration under Samagra Shiksha. The NCERT provides NISHTHA training programme at the state level.