Current Affairs Quiz - July, 2020

Notes:
European Union leaders have approved 1.82 trillion-euro (approximately 2.1 trillion) budget after discussions of four days at a Summit held in Brussels.
The EU also finalised a 750-billion-euro coronavirus recovery fund, which is sent to be provided as loans and grants to the member countries that are hardly hit by the coronavirus. The grants were finalised at a total of 390 billion euros.

Notes:
India and Russia are set to sign a Defence logistics sharing pact by the end of this year. Under the pact, both the countries can have seamless access to each other’s military bases and support facilities.
An annual summit is expected to be held for signing this agreement. As Russia continues to be a leading arms supplier to India, this agreement will enhance more interoperability and support to military platforms like warships and aircraft.

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:
Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi has recently laid the foundation stone for a Water Supply Project in the state of Manipur.
It is an externally funded project with an outlay of Rs 3054.58 crores with a loan funded by the New Development Bank. The Centre had provided funds under Jal Jeevan Mission for freshwater household tap connections (FHTCs). The project aims to provide FHTCs to remaining households across 16 districts of Manipur.

Notes:
E-Commerce Giant Flipkart has announced that it will acquire parent Walmart’s wholesale business, ‘Best Price’.
The loss-ridden cash-and-carry business of Walmart in India is the last part of Walmart to be acquired by Flipkart marking a complete consolidation. This acquisition is expected to help Flipkart to expand its business-to-business vertical.

Notes:
Union Minster for micro, small and medium enterprise (MSME) sector Nitin Gadkari launched a mentoring platform named ‘RestartIndia’.
The platform has been conceptualised by Muthoot Fincorp and INKtalks. Restart India is a single platform which provides information on various schemes being implemented by the government. It also helps the businesspersons to connect with experts from various sectors.

Notes:
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) announced that it has started to work on a new mission named ‘ASTHROS’.
It stands for Astrophysics Stratospheric Telescope for High Spectral Resolution Observations at Sub millimeter-wavelengths (ASTHROS). The mission aims to send a telescope on a football stadium-sized balloon into the stratosphere to observe far-infrared light, that is invisible from the Earth. It is proposed to be launched in 2023 from Antarctica.

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 Reserve Bank of India has released the ‘Report of the Committee for Analysis of QR (Quick Response) Code’.
The Committee was constituted by RBI in December 2019 under the Chairmanship of Prof. D.B. Phatak, to review the present system of QR Codes in India in digital payments. The report asked the Government to provide incentive schemes to popularise QR code transactions among consumers. It also recommended phasing out proprietary and closed loop QR codes.

Notes:
World Nature Conservation Day is celebrated every year on July 28, to create and increase awareness about the importance of natural resources.
The day encourages people to protect Earth’s natural resources and lead a sustainable life style. It also educates people to use the resources judiciously without exploiting the nature Earth. Ministry of Culture has said that Worshipping Nature is a part of Indian culture.