Current Affairs Quiz - July, 2020

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 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 Reserve Bank of India has signed necessary documents for extending USD 400 million currency swap facility to the Central Bank of Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka had earlier requested for a currency swap facility under the SAARC Currency Swap Framework. This swap arrangement will remain available till November 2022 and is expected to assist Sri Lank to address the economic crisis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Notes:
The Union Human Resources and Development Ministry has set up a committee under the Chairperson of University Grants Commission (UGC) D P Singh.
The committee will give suggestions on retaining Indian students in the country’s institutions. The Minister also said that the seat capacity in all premier institutions would be increased by 50% by 2024. Under this plan, the number of institutions under the Institutes of Eminence (IoE) programme will also go up to 50.

Notes:
The United Kingdom Prime Minister Boris Johnson has launched a strategy to encourage the citizens to be physically fit.
A new evidence showed that obese people who are being infected by coronavirus are more likely to die or develop severe illness. Under the drive, Doctors prescribe cycling or running to patients. There will be ban on junk food advertisements and calorie warnings will be provided on food items.

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:
At the 2016 high-level meeting at the UN General Assembly, India pledged to fast track efforts towards ending HIV/AIDS as a public health threat in the next five years, and to end the epidemic by 2030.
Recently, a study published by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) stated that India may miss the national target to end AIDS by 2030. The decline in annual new HIV infections is only 27% from 2020 to 2017 against the national target of 75% by 2020.

Notes:
Pune based Defence Institute of Advanced Technology (DIAT) has developed a Medical Bed Isolation System named Aashray, to fight COVID-19.
The system has individual envelopes made up of specialized material that stops the virus spread from patient to others. It consists of negative pressure suction near exhale and tools to filter and disinfect aerosol. The portable and reusable system can be used in quarantine facilities.

Notes:
The government has recently notified changes in the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) norms on civil aviation.
As per the amendments, it will permit Non-resident Indian (NRI) nationals to own 100 per cent stake of Air India. The divestment process for the national carrier, Air India was initiated in the month of January and the deadline to bid has been for three times. Recently, the deadline was extended till August 31.

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.