Current Affairs Quiz - July, 2020

Notes:
China has launched its most ambitious Mars mission, in an attempt to land the spacecraft on Mars. So far, only the United States has successfully landed a spacecraft on the soil of Mars.
Tianwen-1 was launched on a Long March-5 carrier rocket from Hainan Island. It contains both an orbiter and a rover and will take about seven months to reach the red planet. It will investigate on underground water and evidences of any ancient life. Tianwen means ‘quest for heavenly truth’.

Notes:
United States President Donald Trump has announced a program named ‘Operation Legend’ in the country.
The plan aims at sending federal agents to more U.S. cities including Chicago and Albuquerque, New Mexico, to take firm action on violent crimes. The federal law enforcement agents will be deployed to assist local police in combatting crimes.

Notes:
Following a leak at a Lavera petrochemical refinery in southern France, an orange-brown chemical sheet spread over 15 acres in the Mediterranean Sea.
This area includes the nationally recognized marine life area. The plant is said to have spilled 200 gallons or more of iron chloride into the sea. The chemical could harm eyes and mucous membranes and could even cause death.

Notes:
The Union Government has issued a certificate of Geographical Indication (GI) registration for Saffron grown in the Union Territory of Jammu &Kashmir.
The GI tag would ensure better remunerative price to the farmers growing Saffron in Kashmir Valley. This would also increase export of the unique Kashmir saffron and curb the fake products being sold. The UT is also inaugurating a Spice Park next month.

Notes:
The Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India (TRIFED) has entered into a partnership with IIT Delhi under the ‘Unnat Bharat Abhiyan’ (UBA) programme.
The scheme aims to connect higher education institutions with villages for economic and social betterment of rural areas. A MoU was signed between TRIFED, IIT Delhi and Vijnana Bharati for the implementation. Under ‘Van Dhan’ programme, tribal entrepreneurs will be provided guidance from academic and research institutions.

Notes:
‘Kumhar Sashaktikaran Yojana’ is a scheme of the Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) for empowering the potters community.
Under the scheme, Training for advanced pottery products and Market linkages are provided through KVIC exhibitions. Recently, the Union Home Minister distributed 100 Electric Potter Wheels to trained artisans in Gandhinagar.

Notes:
The Sree Sree JoyKali Matar temple, one of the oldest temples in Bangladesh, has been reconstructed with the Indian assistance of Taka 97 lakh.
The High Commissioner of India to Bangladesh Riva Ganguly Das has inaugurated the reconstructed temple at Natore. The MoU for the process was signed in the year 2016. The Indian assistance was given under its High Impact Community Development Project (HICDP). Several other community projects are also being carried out under this fund.

Notes:
A digital platform created for information exchange between the government and citizens India called ‘MyGov’ completed six years from its inception.
The first-of-its-kind participatory governance platform was on July 26, 2014 by the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The portal engaged the citizens on important policy issues and governance. There are over 1.22 crore registered members of MyGov platform.

Notes:
Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) has recently announced the National Awards for excellence in Earth System Science.
The Life Time Excellence Award is being awarded to Professor Ashok Sahni for his contribution in the field of Geology and Biostratigraphy. The National Award for Ocean Science and technology is being awarded to Dr. V. V. S. S. Sarma and Dr. M. Ravichandran.

Notes:
Australian Minister for Immigration and Citizenship recently announced that out of the over 2,00,000 people who became Australian citizens in 2019-2020, around 38,000 were Indians.
They are the largest international community to be granted the Australian citizenship. This figure is also 60 per cent increase from the previous year. India is followed by the people of the UK, China and Pakistan.