Current Affairs Quiz - July, 2020

Notes:
Union Information and Technology minister Ravi Shankar Prasad represented India in the G20 Digital Ministers’ Meet.
The Ministerial meet is hosted by Saudi Arabia, which holds the current Presidency. The Union Minister called for digital platforms to be accountable and sensitive to the concerns of all countries in terms of safety and privacy.

Notes:
The All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Delhi in collaboration with Union Health Ministry and NITI Aayog launched a national programme called ‘National Clinical Grand Rounds’.
Recently, the AIIMS held the first interactive session of National Clinical Grand Rounds led by AIIMS Director, Dr. Randeep Guleria. The session aimed to facilitate discussion on issues related to COVID-19 and was attended by Doctors from hospitals located across the country and abroad.

Notes:
The Ministry of Defence has recently issued formal sanction order for granting Permanent Commission (PC) to Women Officers in the Indian Army.
As per the order, permanent commission has been granted to Service Commissioned (SSC) Women Officers in all ten streams of the Indian Army including Army Air Defence (AAD), Army Service Corps (ASC) among others.

Notes:
India is set to procure HAMMER (Highly Agile Modular Munition Extended Range) standoff missiles from France.
The Indian Air Force is expected to receive first five Rafale combat aircrafts from France by July 29. HAMMER is a medium-range air-to-ground weapon. It was originally designed and manufactured for the French Air Force and Navy.

Notes:
Reserve Bank of India releases a bi annual report called the financial stability report (FSR). The latest edition was released recently.
RBI has estimated that the gross non performing asset (GNPA) ratio of all banks may increase from 8.5% in March 2020 to 12.5% by March 2021. GNPA ratio of public sector banks will increase to 15.2% in March 2021. The main reason for this dip is the slowdown in the economy due to the Covid-19 induced lock-down.

Notes:
National Intelligence Grid “NATGRID” is an attached office under the Union Ministry of Home Affairs. It aims to allow investigation and law enforcement agencies to access real-time information.
Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) is to partner with the NATGRID to share the financial details of any entity with 10 agencies including the CBI, Enforcement Directorate and the NIA. This information-sharing mechanism is done under the NATGRID platform.

Notes:
The Indian government has recently sent USD 1 million worth of anti-tuberculosis medicine to North Korea after requested by the World Health Organization (WHO).
As per the press release issued by the Ministry of External affairs, the medical assistance is under the ongoing WHO anti-tuberculosis programme in North Korea.

Notes:
India Meteorological Department, Union Ministry of Earth Sciences launched a weather forecast application for general public.
Named as Mausam, the application offers information on five details including current temperature, humidity, wind speed and wind direction for 200 cities. The information is updated eight times a day. While this app is meant for everyone, IMD already has another app meant only for farmers and agriculturists called Meghdoot.

Notes:
Bijapur district in Chhattisgarh has topped the list of aspirational districts ranked by Niti Aayog for the February-June 2020 period.
Ri-Bhoi district in Meghalaya and Bahraich district in Uttar Pradesh have been placed at the second and third positions respectively. This delta ranking considers incremental progress made by over 112 aspirational districts across six developmental areas including Health and nutrition, education, agriculture and water resources, financial inclusion, skill development and basic infrastructure.

Notes:
The government has released guidelines for four schemes to boost domestic manufacturing of bulk drugs and medical devices.
Union Minister for Chemicals and Fertilizers DV Sadananda Gowda launched and issued guidelines for the schemes, which aim to reduce imports in pharmaceutical raw materials like drug intermediates, active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) and medical devices.