Current Affairs Quiz - July, 2020

Notes:
The Union Government has recently announced that the Work-from-home exemption for IT and IT-enabled services companies is extended till December 31, 2020.
In March, the Department of Telecommunication had relaxed the norms till April to facilitate work from home amid the Covid-19 pandemic, which was then extended till July 31 and now to December 31. At present, more than 90% of the IT workforce are working remotely.

Notes:
Social media Giant WhatsApp announced that it is set to partner with banks to expand banking services in India.
India is the biggest market of WhatsApp with over 400 million users. The messaging platform has already collaborated with banks including ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank for automated business messaging. This partnership would help expand banking services for low-income people and in rural areas.

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:
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 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:
The Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) is to set up its own Cotton warehouse in Vietnam, to boost Exports.
A government-to-government Memorandum of Understanding is also being prepared to export 1.5-2 million bales of cotton to Bangladesh. CCI holds surplus stocks of cotton before the next harvest season and this plan has been made.

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:
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has recently launched a dedicated job portal, to revive economy amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
The portal (jobs.delhi.gov.in) named Rozgar Bazar will connect the recruiters with the job aspirants. The Chief Minister asked the traders, businessmen, industrialists and people to work together in reviving the UT’s economy.

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:
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.