Current Affairs Quiz - July, 2020

Notes:
Union Bank of India that was amalgamated with Corporation Bank and Andhra Bank, has announced a corporate agency agreement with the Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC).
Under the agreement, the bank will market various LIC products including term insurance, pension and endowment schemes among others, to its account-holders.

Notes:
For the first time, Russia has conducted a successful flight test of the MGTD-20 gas turbine engine, which is a 3D-printed aircraft engine.
As per the Russian Foundation for Advanced Research Projects in the Defense Industry, the production of the engines is scheduled for the year 2021-2022. The bench tests of small-sized gas turbine aircraft 3-D printing technology engines were reported in 2019.

Notes:
India’s third-largest public sector bank, Bank of Baroda (BoB) has recently launched ‘Insta Click Savings Account’.
This is a completely paperless, digital and self-assisted online savings account. The process uses a new form of digital KYC and Aadhaar-based OTP authentication of the customer. A customer can access the bank’s website to open the account, which gets activated in real-time. Baroda M Connect Plus is to be used for further transactions.

Notes:
The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has extended the suspension of the National Dope Testing Laboratory (NDTL) by another six months.
The reason for the current extension is due to non-conformation to international standards. The WADA had initially suspended NDTL in August 2019 for six months. After being suspended, the lab cannot carry out any anti-doping activities, including all analyses of urine and blood samples.

Notes:
The Director General of the Railway Protection Force (RPF), Arun Kumar, has been nominated to be the Vice-Chairman of the Security Platform of International Union of Railways (UIC).
The Paris-based union also called as Union Internationale Des Chemins, is a global platform for railway systems for improving inter-operability and developing common standards. India has been working closely with the UIC in several initiatives. After the two-year tenure of vice-chairmanship, the DG will hold the chairmanship for the next two years.

Notes:
The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has approved acquisition of Krishnapatnam Port Company Ltd by Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd.
Along with the equity shareholding, the management control of the total share capital of Krishnapatnam Port company will be acquired, as per the statement of CCI. Krishnapatnam Port Company is the developer and operator of the deep-water port at Krishnapatnam.

Notes:
Human Resources and Development Ministry of India conducted the first ever Indian Scholastic Assessment (Ind-SAT) Test 2020 under its Study in India programme.
Based on the scores obtained in the Ind-SAT, foreign students for studying in select universities in India will be granted admissions and scholarships for under graduate as well as post graduate programmes. Over 5000 students attended the first exam conducted by the National Testing Agency.

Notes:
Union Ministry of Human Resource Development has recently launched the ‘Indian Report on Digital Education, 2020’.
The report has details on innovative methods adopted by Education Departments of various States and Union Territories for providing inclusive education to children at home. Initiatives of HRD Ministry including DIKSHA platform and Swayam Prabha TV Channel are highlighted.

Notes:
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has recently attended the 5th Annual Meeting of Board of Governors of Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB).
A roundtable discussion was conducted on the theme ‘AIIB 2030-Supporting Asia’s Development over the Next Decade’. The bank had earlier provided a financial assistance of about USD 10 billion to combat Covid-19.

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.