July 2020 (1st to 10th) – National and International Current Affairs (Test 1)

National Doctors’ Day is celebrated on July 1 all across India to honour the legendary physician and the second Chief Minister of West Bengal, Dr. Bidhan Chandra Roy.
The Theme of 2020 National Doctor’s Day: Lessen the Mortality of COVID 19

A new free trade agreement between the United States, Mexico, and Canada comes into effect from 1st July 2020 onwards. It is known as United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). It replaces earlier NAFTA

A duma was a Russian assembly with advisory or legislative functions.

Department of Science and Technology’s (DST’s) Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB) has launched a scheme named ‘Accelerate Vigyan’ on 1st July 2020. The scheme was launched with the objective to provide a single platform that will encourage high-end scientific research in the country by providing a common forum for conducting workshops. Internships and capacity building programs for research scholars and students.

In a bid to effectively track the progress on Agenda 2030, the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoPSI) launched India’s first Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) dashboard.

Japanese encephalitis (JE) is an infection of the brain caused by the Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV). While most infections result in little or no symptoms, occasional inflammation of the brain occurs. In these cases symptoms may include headache, vomiting, fever, confusion, and seizures. This occurs about 5 to 15 days after infection

June 30 is the day designated to celebrate the International Day of Parliamentarism. It is also the date, in 1889, on which the Inter-Parliamentary Union — the global organization of parliaments — was established.
The Inter-Parliamentary Union was the first permanent forum for political multilateral negotiations. It was established in 1889 with headquarters at Geneva
Note:
Althingi, the Icelandic Parliament, founded in 930 is World’s oldest parliament

The central government has banned 59 mainly Chinese mobile applications such as Tik-Tok invoking its powers under section 69A of the Information Technology Act of 2000 and provisions of the Information Technology (Procedure and Safeguards for Blocking of Access of Information by Public) Rules of 2009 to block the apps.
Section 69A of the IT Act 2000, provides for the central government to issue directions for blocking public access to any information through any computer resource.
This provision has been relied on by government agencies in the past to take down online content.
The grounds on which such a step can be taken are: in the interest of sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, the security of the country, friendly relations with foreign states or public order or for preventing incitement to the commission of any offence relating to above.

Double Asteroid Redirection Test is a planned space probe that will demonstrate the kinetic effects of crashing an impactor spacecraft into an asteroid moon for planetary defense purposes.
• NASA recently named the moon of the near-Earth asteroid Didymos of its DART MISSION.
• The target of the DART MISSION, the moon, has been given the name Dimorphos.
• Dimorphos is a near-Earth object – a class of asteroids and comets whose orbits place them within 30 million miles of Earth.
• Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) Mission is a planetary defence-driven test for preventing an impact of Earth by a hazardous asteroid, by a kinetic impactor.

The Indian Statistical Institute (ISI) was set up by Prof. Mahalanobis in 1931 in Kolkata. The Institute was declared an “Institute of National Importance” and made an autonomous body of Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation, through an act of Parliament in 1959. ISI celebrates 29th June as the “Workers Day”.
Note:
29th June-National Statistics Day

The Ministry of Home Affairs has constituted a national level committee for reforms in criminal law.
It is chaired by Ranbir Singh, chairperson, Vice-Chancellor, National Law University (NLU).

Jal Shakti Abhiyan was launched to accelerate water harvesting and conservation measures
The scheme is aimed at making water conservation and promotion of irrigation efficiency a mass movement through asset creation and communication campaigns.
The scheme mainly focuses on 256 districts with the lowest availability of groundwater

COVAXIN is the first indigenously developed COVID-19 vaccine to be approved for Human Clinical Trials. It is developed by Hyderabad based Bharat Biotech.

Garuda is the name of exercise between Indian Air Force & French Air Force
Note:
Varuna is a Indo-French Joint Naval Exercise.

On the World Environment Day on 5 June 2020, Nagar Van Scheme was announced under which the target was set for the development of 200 Urban Forests in the upcoming five years over the country.

The International Asteroid Day (IAD) is observed every year on June 30. The day is an annual global event which is held on the anniversary of the Siberian Tunguska event that took place on 30th June 1908, the most harmful known asteroid-related event on Earth in recent history.

Van Gujjars are nomadic buffalo-herders inhabiting the foothills of Himalayan states like Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand.
They are deep dependent on wild habitats in India and for them, transhumance (the practice of moving livestock from one grazing ground to another in a seasonal cycle) has been a way of life for centuries.

The Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958 (AFSPA) was preceded by the Armed Forces (Assam and Manipur) Special Powers Ordinance 1958. The Ordinance gave the armed forces certain special powers in the ‘disturbed areas’ of Manipur and Assam.

It was replaced by AFSPA on September 11, 1958.
AFSPA empowers the governor of the state, or the central government to declare any part of the state as a ‘disturbed area’, if in its opinion there exists a dangerous situation in the said area which makes it necessary to deploy armed forces in the region.

The CZA is a statutory body chaired by the Environment Minister and tasked with regulating zoos across the country.
The authority lays down guidelines and prescribes rules under which animals may be transferred among zoos nationally and internationally.
Apart from the chairman, it consists of 10 members and a member-secretary.

J2157 is the fastest-growing black hole andthe brightest black hole known in the universe.
The black hole is 34 billion times the mass of our Sun and it eats the mass equivalent of one sun every day.
The supermassive black hole is only one step short of the largest black hole in the universe — Abell 85 — which has a mass of 40 billion suns.

e¬SANCHIT (e-Storage and Computerized Handling of Indirect Tax documents).
eSanchit was launched by the Central Board of Indirect Taxes & Customs (CBIC) for paperless processing, uploading of supporting documents and to facilitate the trading across Borders.

The Bhitarkanika National Park (BNP) of Odisha has become the largest habitat of the endangered estuarine crocodiles in India with a record number of their nesting sites spotted in it.

Japanese Encephalitis is a mosquito-borne viral infection. It is a flavivirus family related to dengue, yellow fever and West Nile viruses.
• It will not spread from one person to another.

• There is no cure for the disease.

• ‘SA 14-14-2’ vaccine become the most widely used vaccine in endemic countries, and it was prequalified by WHO.

• Migratory birds along with pigs in the community play an important role in the transmission of JE from one area to another

Multilateral Convention to Implement Tax Treaty Related Measures to Prevent Base Erosion and Profit Shifting, sometime abbreviated BEPS multilateral instrument, is a multilateral convention of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development to combat tax avoidance by multinational enterprises (MNEs) through prevention of Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS). The BEPS multilateral instrument was negotiated within the framework of the OECD G20 BEPS project and enables countries and jurisdictions to swiftly modify their bilateral tax treaties to implement some of the measures agreed

The Tehri Dam is the highest dam in India and one of the highest in the world. It is a multi-purpose rock and earth-fill embankment dam on the Bhagirathi River near Tehri in Uttarakhand

The Bhitarkanika National Park (BNP) of Odisha has become the largest habitat of the endangered estuarine crocodiles in India with a record number of their nesting sites spotted in it.

Namami Gange Programme is an Integrated Conservation Mission, approved as a ‘Flagship Programme’ by the Union Government in June 2014 to accomplish the twin objectives of effective abatement of pollution and conservation and rejuvenation of National River Ganga.
It is being operated under the Department of Water Resources,River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, Ministry of Jal Shakti.
The program is being implemented by the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG), and its state counterpart organizations i.e., State Program ManagementGroups (SPMGs).

The eight core sector industries include coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertiliser, steel, cement and electricity
These comprise 40.27% of the weight of items included in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP).
The eight Core Industries in decreasing order of their weightage: Refinery Products> Electricity> Steel> Coal> Crude Oil> Natural Gas> Cement> Fertilizers.

Recently, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has constituted a national level committee for reform in criminal law. The committee has been constituted under Ranbir Singh
Note:
Criminal law in India is governed by Indian Penal Code, 1860, Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, and Indian Evidence Act, 1872, etc.

The central government has extended the term of K.K. Venugopal as Attorney General (AG) for one year.
Venugopal was appointed the 15th AG of India in 2017. He succeeded Mukul Rohatgi who was AG from 2014-2017.
Note:
The Attorney General (AG) of India is a part of the Union Executive. AG is the highest law officer in the country.
Article 76 of the Constitution provides for the office of AG of India.

Non-Banking Financial Company is a company registered under the Companies Act, 1956.
• NBFC cannot accept demand deposits.
• NBFCs do not form part of the payment and settlement system and cannot issue cheques drawn on itself.
• Deposit insurance facility of Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation is not available to depositors of NBFCs.

Diphtheria:
It is an infectious disease caused by the bacterium Corynebacterium diphtheria.
• The infection spread only among humans.

• The primary infection affects the throat and upper airways.

• It is spread by direct physical contact

Pinaka is an all-weather, indirect fire, free flight artillery rocket system developed by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).
The Pinaka weapon system consists of Rocket, Multi Barrel Rocket launcher, Battery Command Post, Loader cum Replenishment Vehicle, Replenishment Vehicle and Digicora MET Radar.

Article85-Sessions of Parliament, prorogation and dissolution
(1) The President shall form time to time summon each House of Parliament to meet at such time and place as he thinks fit, but six months shall not intervene between its last sitting in one session and the date appointed for its first sitting in the next session
(2) The President may from time to time
(a) prorogue the Houses or either House;
(b) dissolve the House of the People

Article 164 (1A) of the Constitution prescribed that the total number of Ministers, including the Chief Minister, in the Council of Ministers in a State shall not exceed 15% of the total number of members of the Legislative Assembly of that State.
Provided that the number of Ministers, including the Chief Minister in a State shall not be less than twelve.

Every year, the World Bank classifies countries into four income groups- (i) Low (ii) Lower-Middle (iii) Upper-Middle (iv) High Income.
This classification of the economies of countries across the world is updated on the 1st of July every year by the World Bank. The classification of a country is done by using the Atlas Method by the World Bank.
As per the 2020 Classification, India remains a Lower-Middle Income country.

To enable additional funding of up to Rs. three lakh crore to eligible MSMEs and interested MUDRA borrowers by way of “Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme.”
Under the Scheme, 100% guarantee coverage to be provided by National Credit Guarantee Trustee Company Limited (NCGTC) for additional funding of up to Rs. three lakh crore to eligible MSMEs and interested MUDRA. borrowers, in the form of a Guaranteed Emergency Credit Line (GECL) facility.

International Day of Parliamentarism is observed globally on 30 June every year. The Day celebrates parliaments and ways during which parliamentary systems of government improve the everyday lives of individuals throughout the world

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate Asia’s largest 750 MW Rewa ultra mega solar plant in Madhya Pradesh via video conference

Recently, China has made new territorial claims in the eastern sector of Bhutan’s Trashigang district. According to China, the Sakteng Wildlife Sanctuary is located in the China-Bhutan disputed areas which is on the agenda of China-Bhutan boundary talk.

Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter is a NASA moon mission that has been in operation since 2009. The mission particularly focuses on the moon’s poles to search for water or ice that could exist in permanently shadowed craters.
Recently, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has found evidence of greater quantities of metals such as iron and titanium on the Moon’s subsurface.
The metallic distribution was observed by the Miniature Radio Frequency (Mini-RF) instrument aboard the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) spacecraft.

Article-78. Duties of Prime Minister as respects the furnishing of information to the President, etc
It shall be the duty of the Prime Minister
(a) to communicate to the President all decisions of the council of Ministers relating to the administration of the affairs of the union and proposals for legislation;
(b) to furnish such information relating to the administration of the affairs of the Union and proposals for legislation as the President may call for; and
(c) if the President so requires, to submit for the consideration of the Council of Ministers any matter on which a decision has been taken by a Minister but which has not been considered by the Council

Recently, the government of Turkey has decided to convert Istanbul’s iconic Hagia Sophia Museum into a mosque.

International Day of Cooperatives is observed on 4 July. The day is observed on the first Saturday of July every year.
The theme of 2020 International Day of Cooperatives 2020 is “Cooperatives for Climate Action”.

Jal Jeevan Mission was launched to provide potable water to every rural household by 2024.

Swachh Survekshan was launched as a part of the Swachh Bharat Mission, it is an annual survey of cleanliness, hygiene and sanitation in cities and towns across India.
The ranking exercise is taken up by the Government of India to assess rural and urban areas for their levels of cleanliness and active implementation of Swachhata mission initiatives in a timely and innovative manner.

Swachh Survekshan-Urban is conducted by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs.
Swachh Survekshan-Rural is conducted by the Ministry of Jal Shakti.

The CZA is a statutory body under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. It was constituted in 1992 under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.
Members: It is chaired by the Environment Minister and has 10 members and a member-secretary.
Recently, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has reconstituted the Central Zoo Authority (CZA) to include an expert from the School of Planning and Architecture, Delhi, and a molecular biologist.

Note:
For Delhi, There shall be a Council of Ministers consisting of not more than ten percent, of the total number of members in the Legislative Assembly, with the Chief Minister at the head to aid and advise the Lieutenant Governor in the exercise to his functions in relation to matters with respect to which the Legislative Assembly has power to make laws, except in so far as he is, by or under any law, required to act in his discretion.

Asia-Pacific Trade Agreement (APTA), previously named the Bangkok Agreement, signed in 1975 as an initiative of ESCAP, is a preferential tariff arrangement that aims at promoting intra-regional trade through exchange of mutually agreed concessions by member countries.
APTA has seven members namely Bangladesh, China, India, Republic of Korea, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Mongolia and Sri Lanka.

International Day of Cooperatives is being celebrated on July 4, 2020. The United Nations International Day of Cooperatives is celebrated annually on the first Saturday of July.

Telangana government has introduced the Japanese “Miyawaki” method of forestation to grow urban forests and expand the green cover as well as to meet the stipulated plantation target under the Telanganaku Haritha Haaram (TKHH).

BBBP is a government scheme launched to end female foeticide, infanticide and help promote the education of the girl child. It was launched in 2015.

Gudni Johannesson has been elected as the president of Iceland

Indicator of pollution levels in the Himalayas, Uttarakhand forest department has claimed to have developed country’s first lichen park in Kumaon’s Munsiyari area, spread over 1.5 acres with over 80 species of lichens collected from across the Himalayan state.

The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) released its first global report on the illegal wildlife trade titled the “Money Laundering and the Illegal Wildlife Trade” report.
FATF:
The Financial Action Task Force is an intergovernmental organization founded in 1989 on the initiative of the G7 to develop policies to combat money laundering. In 2001, its mandate was expanded to include terrorism financing.

The Bibek Debroy Committee, which was set up to suggest ways to mobilise resources for the Indian Railways and restructure the Railway Board, had favoured privatisation of rolling stock

Injeti Srinivas has been appointed as the 1st Chairman of the International Financial Services Centre Authority (IFSCA)

Israel has successfully launched its intelligence satellite ‘Ofek-16’ into the Low Earth Orbit (LEO).

Assam State Government has decided for the up-gradation of the status of the Dehing Patkai Wildlife Sanctuary to National Park.

Shree Saptmai Gurukul Sanskrit Vidhyalaya was constructed under the Nepal-Bharat Maitri: Development Partnership (a High Impact Community Development Project of Indian Government in Nepal).

All households in the state of Himachal Pradesh have access to LPG Gas Connection, making Himachal Pradesh the first state in the country to achieve the goal set by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the launch of Ujjwala Yojana for providing a cooking gas connection to every household in the country.

The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment’s notification proposing an amendment of the Right of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016, to de-criminalise minor offences for improving business sentiment and unclogging court processes have met with protests from the community of disabled persons, activists and organisations.
The Right of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 ensures right to education, right to employment and the right to livelihood, with 4 % reservation in government offices and 5 % reservation in educational institutions.

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology in partnership with Atal Innovation Mission – Niti Aayog launched a Digital India Aatma Nirbhar Bharat App Innovation Challenge for Indian tech entrepreneurs and startups.

To enhance sources of capital for infrastructure financing, the Central government will set up a Credit Guarantee Enhancement Corporation in the current financial year 2019-20
The regulations for setting up a Credit Guarantee Enhancement Corporation have been notified by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

The Karnataka Forest Department will soon put in place a traffic monitoring mechanism along the roads adjacent to Nagarhole National Park and criss-crossing Mysuru and Kodagu districts.

Russia’s President has ordered amendments that would allow him to remain in power until 2036.

Sovereign Gold Bonds scheme was launched by Government of India in November 2015 with the goal of reducing the demand for physical gold and shifting a part of domestic savings, used for purchase of gold, into financial savings.
• Minimum Investment: in bonds is 1 gram and a maximum limit of subscription of 500 gram/person/fiscal year (April/March).

• Maximum Limit: of subscription is 4 kg for an individual and Hindu Undivided Family (HUF) and 20 kg maximum subscription limit for trusts and similar entities per fiscal (April-March)

The Baba Kalyani led committee constituted by the Ministry of Commerce & Industry to study the existing Special Economic Zone policy of India submitted its report in 2018.

Tribunals were added in the Constitution by Constitution (Forty-second Amendment) Act, 1976 as Part XIV-A, which has only two articles viz. 323-A and 323-B. While article 323-A deals with Administrative Tribunals; article 323-B deals with tribunals for other matters

National Housing Bank, a wholly owned subsidiary of Reserve Bank of India, was set up on 9 July 1988 under the National Housing Bank Act, 1987

Recently, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has decided to undertake performance assessment and ranking of the highways in the country.
The assessment activity majorly intended to improve the quality of roads in the country.
The criteria for the assessment have been broadly categorised in three main heads namely, Highway Efficiency (45%), Highway Safety (35%) and User Services (20%).

Recently, scientists have identified a new strain of Swine Flu (H1N1) virus namely, G4 EA H1N1. It has started infecting Chinese pigs and also has the potential of triggering a pandemic.

With 189 member countries, the World Bank Group is a unique global partnership which consists of five development institutions.
• International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) provides loans, credits, and grants.
• International Development Association (IDA) provides low- or no-interest loans to low-income countries.
• The International Finance Corporation (IFC) provides investment, advice, and asset management to companies and governments.
• The Multilateral Guarantee Agency (MIGA) insures lenders and investors against political risk such as war.
• The International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) settles investment-disputes between investors and countries.

NASA, UN Space Agency, has successfully carried out Ascent Abort-2, a test of a launch-abort system, for the Orion capsule designed to take U.S. astronauts to the Moon
Ascent Abort-2 was aimed to test in almost real-life conditions the evacuation of astronauts from the capsule in the event of an explosion or rocket booster failure.

Recently, a fire broke out at Natanz, an Underground Nuclear Facility of Iran used for enriching uranium.
Enriched uranium is a type of uranium in which the percent composition of uranium-235 is increased.

Karan 4 (Co 0238) is sugarcane variety developed at ICAR- Sugarcane Breeding Institute (SBI) Regional Centre, Karnal in Haryana. It has revolutionized sugar production in India and is preferred by farmers and sugar industry.

Agreement for Emergency Response Programme was signed by The World Bank Group and the Government of India.
It is a $750 million agreement for the MSME Emergency Response Programme to support the increased flow of finance into the hands of MSMEs, severely impacted by the COVID-19 crisis.

Bathukamma is a floral festival of Telangana and celebrated by women. It is also celebrated in Andhra Pradesh and some parts of Vidarbha region of Maharashtra.

NASA said that it’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) spacecraft had found evidence that the Moon’s subsurface might have greater quantities of metals such as iron and titanium than thought before.
The metallic distribution was observed by the Miniature Radio Frequency (Mini-RF) instrument aboard the LRO.

The International Atomic Energy Agency is an international organization that seeks to promote the peaceful use of nuclear energy, and to inhibit its use for any military purpose, including nuclear weapons. The IAEA was established as an autonomous organisation on 29 July 1957.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) will hold a special session to address concerns of Iran’s nuclear activity.

Elyments is a social media app developed in India. It was recently launched by the Vice President. The app will be available in eight Indian languages.

Indian Railways (South East Central Railway zone) recently operated its longest train called SheshNaag. It is 2.8 km long train.
Previously, the same railway zone operated a 177-coach freight train called Super Anaconda.

Conference of Parties (COP) 21, also known as the Paris Climate Conference is a landmark environmental accord that was adopted in 2015 to address climate change and its negative impacts.
It aims to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions in an effort to limit the global temperature increase in this century to well below 2°C above pre industrial levels, while pursuing means to limit the increase to 1.5°C.

World Zoonoses Day is held every year on July 6. The day commemorates July 6, 1885, when Louis Pasteur successfully administered the first vaccine against Rabies virus, a zoonotic disease. Theme day raises awareness for the risk of zoonotic diseases.
Zoonoses are infectious diseases (virus, bacteria and parasites) that can be spread from animals to humans, and vice versa. Zoonoses can spread from direct contact with animals or indirectly, vector-borne or food-borne.

CAATSA (Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act )is a United States federal law that imposed sanctions on Iran, North Korea, and Russia.
It includes sanctions against countries that engage in significant transactions with Russia’s defense and intelligence sectors.

Plague is caused by the bacteria Yersinia pestis usually found in small mammals and their fleas.
It is transmitted between animals and humans by the bite of infected fleas, direct contact with infected tissues and inhalation of infected respiratory droplets.

Recently, the Union Cabinet has given approval to a pan India central sector scheme i.e. Agriculture Infrastructure Fund, to inject formal credit into farm and farm-processing based activities.
Duration: Financial Year 2020 to 2029.

The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, earlier known as the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act was passed in 2005 to augment employment generation and social security in India.
It functions under the Ministry of Rural Development.
The primary objective of the scheme is to guarantee 100 days of employment in every financial year to adult members of any rural household willing to do public work-related unskilled manual work.
It covers all districts of India except the ones with 100% urban population

In January 2020, it was announced that the entire network of the Indian Railways will run on electricity by 2024 and become a net-zero emission network by 2030.

The Logistics Performance Index (LPI), developed by the World Bank Group, is an interactive benchmarking tool created to help countries identify the challenges and opportunities they face in their performance on trade logistics and what they can do to improve their performance.
India ranked 44th on the LPI in 2018.

NASA has announced a new mission to Saturn’s moon Titan. NASA plans to launch an unmanned nuclear-powered drone, Dragonfly as early as 2026 to search for life on Saturn’s largest moon, Titan
The mission will succeed NASA’s Cassini probe, which ended its 13-year mission orbiting Saturn

The World Health Organisation (WHO)’s Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network (GOARN) is one of the initiatives which makes scientific predictions based on global data about diseases.

The country’s first Indigenous Aircraft Carrier (IAC), Vikrant, is in advanced stage of construction and will be delivered to the Navy in 2021 for advanced trials
Vikrant, weighing 40,000 tonnes, is being built by Cochin Shipyard Limited. It works on Short Take-Off But Arrested Recovery (STOBAR) mechanism similar to the present carrier INS Vikramaditya with an angular ski-jump. The ship is powered by four General Electric (GE) gas turbines. It will operate Russian origin MiG-29K fighters, which also fly from Vikramaditya.

The Indian Space Research Organisation has signed a contract with a Russian company Glavkosmos.
The contract has been signed for selection support, medical examination and space training of Indian astronauts for the country’s proposed maiden manned space mission ‘Gaganyaan’.

Glavkosmos is a Russian launch service provider and a subsidiary of the state corporation Roscosmos.

The World Bank and the Government of India signed the $750 million agreement for the MSME Emergency Response Programme
World Bank’s MSME Emergency Response Programme will address the immediate liquidity and credit needs of some 1.5 million viable MSMEs to help them withstand the impact of the current shock and protect millions of jobs.

A Himalayan butterfly named golden birdwing is now India’s largest, a record the southern birdwing held for 88 years.

Nag was one of the first five strategic missiles planned to be developed under the Integrated Missile Development Programme initiated in the 1980s. The other missiles developed under the project include the Agni, Prithvi and Akash and all three of them have been successfully developed and inducted into the armed forces.

The Sustainable Development Report 2020 presents the SDG Index and Dashboards for all UN member states. It was prepared by teams of independent experts at the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN)
Sweden is placed at the top of the latest SDG index for year 2020 with an overall score of 84.7.
India stands at the 117th position with an overall score of 61.92. China is ranked at 48, Brazil at 53 and Russia at 57.
The SDG index frames the implementation of 17 SDG goals among UN member states in terms of six broad transformations- education and skills, health and wellbeing, clean energy and industry, sustainable land use, sustainable cities, and digital technologies.

Hong Kong was formerly a British colony and was handed over to mainland China in 1997, becoming one of its Special Administrative Regions (SAR).
It is governed by a mini-constitution called the Basic Law, which affirms the principle of “one country, two systems”.

Recently, the Prime Minister has inaugurated the 750 MW (Mega Watt) solar project set up in Rewa, Madhya Pradesh.
It is in line with India’s commitment to attain the target of 175 GW of installed renewable energy capacity by 2022 including 100 GW of solar installed capacity.
It is Asia’s largest solar power project.

The Office of the Registrar General is under the Ministry of Home Affairs. It issues the Sample Registration System bulletin, which provides estimates of birth rate, death rate and infant mortality rate for states.

India is procuring 37 Military Helicopter- 22 were AH-64E Apache Helicopter and 15 were CH-47F(I) Chinook heavy-lift Helicopters from USA

From the LaunchPad 3 of the Xichang Satellite Launch Centre, China Great Wall Industry Corporation (CGWIC- the sole commercial organization for providing commercial satellite launch services of the Chinese Government) had successfully launched the communication satellite ‘APSTAR-6D’

Indian Space Research and Research Organisation (ISRO) gets ready to launch Brazil’s Amazonia -1 satellite next month onboard PSLV.
At the 6th BRICS Summit in 2014, the two countries –India and Brazil had an agreement all signed which talked about setting up a Brazilian earth station to receive data from the Indian satellites. For operating the station and gathering data through remote sensing, the Brazilian scientists have been getting training at the ISRO facility.

The primary regulator for insurance in India is the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI).
Recently, the Union Cabinet has approved the capital infusion of Rs.12,450 crore in the three Public Sector General Insurance Companies (PSGICs) namely Oriental Insurance Company Limited (OlCL), National Insurance Company Limited (NICL) and United India Insurance Company Limited (UIICL).

On July 6, Earth was at aphelion, officially at its farthest from the sun

The North Eastern Council is the nodal agency for the economic and social development of the North Eastern Region which consists of the eight States of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura. The North Eastern Council was constituted in 1971 by an Act of Parliament.
Sikkim was added to the council in the year 2002
The headquarters of the council is situated in Shillong and functions under the ministry of home affairs

The International Code of Conduct against Ballistic Missile Proliferation, also known as the Hague Code of Conduct (HCOC), was established on 25 November 2002 as an arrangement to prevent the proliferation of ballistic missiles.

Lok Adalat is one of the alternative dispute redressal mechanisms, it is a forum where disputes/cases pending in the court of law or at pre-litigation stage are settled/ compromised amicably. Lok Adalats have been given statutory status under the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987.

Article-141: Law declared by Supreme Court to be binding on all courts
Article-142: Enforcement of decrees and orders of Supreme Court.

Lee Hsien Loong has been elected as the prime minister of Singapore

Government is planning to bring 4 codes that would subsume 44 labour laws. The four codes will deal with wages, social security, industrial safety and welfare, and industrial relations.

To bridge the demand-supply gap in the market across all the sectors in the country for the skilled workforce, on 10 July 2020, an Artificial Intelligence (AI) based digital portal was launched that will address the same by improving the information flow. The name of the digital portal is ‘Aatamanirbhar Skilled Employee Employer Mapping (ASSEM)’.
The portal is launched by the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship

National Fish Farmers Day is celebrated 10th July every year to commemorate the epoch-making innovation in the field of induced breeding of Indian major carps by the renowned scientists Dr.K.H.Alikunhi and Dr.H.L Chaudhury on this day in 1957

Hezbollah is a Shi’a Islamist political party and militant group based in Lebanon

The Post-Devolution Revenue Deficit for the entire Financial Year 2020-21 was estimated Rs 74,340 crore by the 15th Finance Commission. A total of 14 states in the country are eligible for the grants.

Solid-Fuelled Carrier Rocket of China- Kuaizhou-11 suffered a failure during its maiden flight

Equalization Levy was first introduced by Finance Act, 2016, at the rate of 6 per cent on payments for digital advertisement services received by non-resident companies without a permanent establishment in India, if these exceeded Rs 1 lakhs a year.

Plague is an infectious disease caused by the bacteria Yersinia pestis, usually found in small mammals and their fleas.

National Commission for Protection of Child Rights is a statutory body set up in March 2007 under the Commissions for Protection of Child Rights (CPCR) Act, 2005.
It is under the administrative control of the Ministry of Women and Child Development.

The 86th amendment to the constitution of India in 2002, provided Right to Education as a fundamental right in Part III of the Constitution.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) board finalized a three- year roadmap to improve regulation and supervision, among other functions of the central bank. This medium term strategy — named Utkarsh 2022 — is in line with the global central banks’ plan to strengthen the regulatory and supervisory mechanism