Current Affairs Quiz - July, 2020

Notes:
NITI Aayog has recommended that the Government of India should use 25 per cent use of recycled products in large infrastructure projects to promote secondary products across India.
The chief executive officer of Niti Aayog, Amitabh Kant announced that the recycled products including metals, plastics and paper will promote secondary products that are now hardly found in our country. India levies 2.5 per cent customs duty on the scrap while importing.

Notes:
Solar Orbiter Mission is the collaboration between NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) and it was launched in the month of February 2020.
NASA has recently released the images from the Orbiter including the closest pictures ever taken of the Sun, to the public. The spacecraft has closely passed the Sun for the first time in the month of June. The orbiter carries six imaging instruments, to capture the layers of Sun.

Notes:
As per the data recently released by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI), India has recorded the largest reduction in the number of people living in multi-dimensional poverty between 2005-06 and 2015-16.
About 273 million Indians moved out of multi-dimensional poverty in the said decade. As per the report, 65 out of 75 countries reduced their multi-dimensional poverty levels between 2000 and 2019.

Notes:
The birth anniversary of one of the greatest leaders of the world, Nelson Mandela on July 18, is observed as Nelson Mandela International Day across the world.
Nelson Mandela is the first black President of South Africa, who fought against apartheid movement. He was also awarded the prestigious Nobel Prize for peace. The UN General Assembly declared July 18 as Nelson Mandela International Day in the year 2009.

Notes:
Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve (KNPTR) is located in the state of Assam. Assam is witnessing heavy floods, which has affected around 40 lakh people.
The Tiger reserve, which is also a UNESO World Heritage site, remains submerged in water, due to the heavy floods. As many as 86 animals have died, including rhinoceros, deer and wild boar. This year’s flood is said to be the sixth worst flood since 1988.

Notes:
International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) is the world’s largest trade union federation, headquartered at Brussels, Belgium.
ITUC releases Global Rights Index that ranks 144 countries on the basis of respect for workers’ rights. In this year’s index, India has been ranked among the 10 worst countries for working people, for the first time. Egypt and Honduras are also named in the list for the first time. The Middle East and North Africa is the worst region for working people in the world.

Notes:
US-India Business Council is set to play host to the ‘India Ideas Summit’ 2020 on July 22. Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi and U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will deliver the keynote addresses.
Discussions on the future of the U.S.-India Partnership, trade and investment, and the future of work in the COVID-era etc are to be undertaken in the summit. Various business and government leaders are to address the summit, including the External Affairs minister Dr. S. Jaishankar.

Notes:
As per the research study of the scientists, released in ‘Nature Climate Change’ scientific journal, Polar bears are pushed to extinction due to climate change.
The study estimates that the carnivorous animal could nearly disappear within the span of a human lifetime. In 12 out of the 13 subpopulations analysed, Polar bears are estimated to be destroyed within 80 years.

Notes:
The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) had asked all insurance companies to launch a standardised insurance cover for COVID-19 disease.
Under the Corona Kavach Policy, the minimum sum insured will be Rs 50000 and the maximum sum insured will be Rs 5 lakh. Recently, IRDAI has allowed the insurers to offer this policy as a group insurance product. A discount of 5% is provided to the group of doctors or healthcare workers.

Notes:
The Kakrapar Atomic Power Plant-3 in Gujarat has recently achieved criticality. This is an indigenously designed 700 MWe (megawatt electrical) reactor.
Achieving criticality means that it has reached normal operating condition of a reactor. It therefore indicates that the plant is ready to generate power. Prime Minister and Home Minister congratulated the nuclear scientists for this achievement.