Current Affairs Quiz - July, 2020

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 Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India (TRIFED) has entered into a partnership with IIT Delhi under the ‘Unnat Bharat Abhiyan’ (UBA) programme.
The scheme aims to connect higher education institutions with villages for economic and social betterment of rural areas. A MoU was signed between TRIFED, IIT Delhi and Vijnana Bharati for the implementation. Under ‘Van Dhan’ programme, tribal entrepreneurs will be provided guidance from academic and research institutions.

Notes:
The Chief Minister of Assam Sarbananda Sonowal has unveiled three Special Surveillance Quadcopters and an Anti-degradation Quick Response Vehicle, for surveillance in forest areas.
These vehicles will be deployed to strengthen surveillance and reduce man-animal conflict by the Forest Department. The surveillance drone will be used to identify poaching in the national parks, wildlife sanctuaries and other reserve forests.

Notes:
The World Health Organization (WHO) has recently launched a new initiative named ‘COVID-19 Law Lab’, to ensure that laws are adhered to protect health and wellbeing of individuals and communities.
It is a joint project of United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), WHO, the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and the O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law at Georgetown University.

Notes:
The United States has announced that it has relaxed standards for exporting drones that fly at below 800 km per hour to its friendly countries.
This step has been taken to increase the national security of the United States by improving the capacities of its partners. The exposure of drone market to the US industry will also improve its economic security. However, higher-speed systems such as cruise missiles and advanced unmanned combat aerial vehicles are not affected by this revision.

Notes:
Australia has recently filed a formal declaration statement to the United Nations to reject the claims of China in the South China Sea.
Australia has claimed that there were no legal issues to the disputed claims of China in the sea, including those related to construction of artificial islands on shoals and reefs. Earlier, the US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo declared China’s claims of territory and resources in the South China Sea as illegal.

Notes:
Australia’s consumer regulator, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has accused Google of privacy breaches.
It has alleged that Google has misled millions of Australians in collecting their personal information. To target advertising, Google is alleged to have obtained consent and expanded the scope of personal information collected on internet activity of the users.

Notes:
One of the oldest flying clubs in India, the Bombay Flying Club has become the first drone training school approved by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).
DGCA has approved the application of the club for conducting remote pilot training for remotely piloted aircraft systems. All drones should be registered with the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and should receive Drone acknowledgement numbers (DANs).

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.