Current Affairs Quiz - July, 2020

Notes:
Indian Navy has commenced Passage Exercise (PASSEX) along with the United States Navy near the Andaman and Nicobar Islands in the Indian Ocean.
The training exercise involved a total of eight Indian and US warships, including the flagship USS Nimitz, USS Princeton, USS Sterett and USS Ralph Johnson. India was represented by INS Rana, INS Sahyadri, INS Shivalik and INS Kamorta.

Notes:
The World Federation of Direct Selling Associations (WFDSA) has released the Global Direct Selling –2019 Retail Sales report.
As per the latest edition of the report, India’s direct selling industry has recorded sales of USD 2.47 billion in 2019, reporting a growth of 12.1 per cent. Due to the growth in sales, India has been ranked 15th in the report, from its previous year rank of 19. The list is topped by the US. In terms of the number of direct sellers, India is at 6th rank.

Notes:
As per the data published in the Lancet journal, the potential Covid-19 vaccine developed by Oxford University has produced strong immune response.
The institution has completed phase 1 and phase 2 trials and the study highlighted that the trials have not led to any unexpected reactions. Jenner Institute of the University of Oxford has developed the potential vaccine, which is backed by the British-Swedish pharmaceutical company, AstraZeneca.

Notes:
Pune-based Serum Institute of India announced that the company will start trials of the Covid-19 vaccine candidate developed by Oxford University-AstraZeneca.
The trials are to be carried out by the end of August on about 5,000 Indian volunteers after getting the necessary permissions. The company also hoped that the vaccine will be hopefully launched by June next year. To manufacture 300 million doses, the company is to spend USD 200 million.

Notes:
Award-winning Spanish novelist Juan Marsé has recently passed away at the age of 87. He was considered one of the most-respected novelists of Spain.
He had won several prestigious awards including the Spain’s’ top literary award, the 2008 Cervantes Prize and the Planeta Prize, among others. His most popular novel was Úlitmas tardes on Teresa (Last Afternoons with Teresa) that was published in 1965.

Notes:
The Prime Minister of Vietnam Nguyen Xuan Phuc has recently signed an order that bans all imports of wildlife either dead or alive including eggs and larvae.
The order also includes tougher penalties for crimes involving the trade in wildlife. Amidst the coronavirus spread, this ban has been imposed in Vietnam, which is a popular destination for endangered wildlife products used in medicine or cuisine.

Notes:
The Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar announced that the Union Government is to collaborate with the World Bank, to convert the Gwalior-Chambal belt of Madhya Pradesh into arable land.
This has been decided in the virtual meeting with the World Bank representative. As per the statement, more than 3 lakh hectares of rugged land that remains not cultivable can be improved. As a result, the region’s agricultural development, environmental protection and employment opportunities can be improved.

Notes:
According to the recently released United Nations World Wildlife Crime Report, India and Thailand supplied highest illegal tiger products in the world.
It also highlighted that the biggest destination of the tiger parts was China, followed by Thailand and Vietnam. The most valuable body part of the tigers is their bones which are used to treat bone and ligament injuries in humans.

Notes:
Ministry of Rural Development has announced that the average completion time for houses under restructured Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Gramin (PMAY-G) has come down to 114 days.
Earlier, the number of days for construction under the scheme used to be 314 days. The scheme was launched the scheme in the year 2016, with an objective of Housing for all by the year 2022. It strives to construct as many as 2.95 crore houses with all basic amenities by the year 2022.

Notes:
Indian climate activist Archana Soreng has been named by the United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to his new advisory group.
The new advisory group comprises of young leaders, aged between 18 and 28 years, who will provide solutions and opinions on tackling the problems of climate crisis. Archana Soreng is a student of Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) is to join six other young climate leaders from around the world.