Current Affairs Quiz - July, 2020

Notes:
The All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Delhi in collaboration with Union Health Ministry and NITI Aayog launched a national programme called ‘National Clinical Grand Rounds’.
Recently, the AIIMS held the first interactive session of National Clinical Grand Rounds led by AIIMS Director, Dr. Randeep Guleria. The session aimed to facilitate discussion on issues related to COVID-19 and was attended by Doctors from hospitals located across the country and abroad.

Notes:
India is in the process of developing a rapid testing kit for Covid-19, in collaboration with Israel. The proposed kit is expected to give results in less than 30 seconds.
A team from Israel’s Research and Development (R&D) Team of Defence Ministry will arrive in India to develop the rapid testing kit. The team has been working with India’s Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Principal scientific adviser, K. Vijay Raghavan.

Notes:
Gurugram-based Indian air carrier SpiceJet has been designated as Indian scheduled carrier to operate between India and the United States.
SpiceJet is the first air-carrier to operate to the US after Air India. This approval has been given in terms of the Air Services Agreement between the Government of India and the Government of the United States of America. It has also been selected to operate to the United Kingdom.

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:
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:
As per the recent statement from the Indian Railways, they will hand over as many as 10 broad-gauge diesel locomotives to Bangladesh.
Bangladesh had earlier sent a proposal to India in for procurement, as 72% of its present locomotives are at the verge of crossing their economic life. The country will deploy them for both intra-country and inter-country rail transport.

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:
IRCTC and SBI Cards & Payment Services have jointly launched their Co-branded Contactless Credit Card on RuPay Platform.
Railway Minister Piyush Goyal introduced this new card. The card has several advanced features like Near Field Communication and payback for AC tickets among others. The cards can also be used for retail, dining and entertainment payments.

Notes:
The Union Cabinet has approved the change in the name of Union Ministry of Human Resource Development.
The HRD Ministry that is currently headed by Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, has been renamed as Ministry of Education. The name change was a key recommendation of the National Education Policy. In 1985, Former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi changed the name of the Education Ministry to HRD Ministry.