Test: July 2020 Weekly Current Affair - 4 - UPSC MCQ

Pakistan and Gezhouba Group Company Limited of China signed an Engineer Procurement and Contract (EPC) agreement for the 700 MW Azad Pattan Hydel Power Project on Jhelum River in the Sudhnoti District of Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK). Imran Khan, Prime Minister of Pakistan witnessed the signing in a ceremony in Islamabad. This 1.5 billion USD project is a 2nd power project under the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

Union Bank of India (UBI), after its amalgamation with Corporation Bank and Andhra Bank, has announced a corporate agency agreement with Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) to distribute latter’s policies. As per the pact, UBI can act as a financial supermarket by offering LIC products of term insurance, pension, plan, children plan, ULIPs, and endowment schemes to its account holders, whereby they can select products according to their choice.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), a paramilitary force, launched the underground ballistic missiles from the depths of the Earth for the 1st time in a completely camouflaged way during the last day of ‘Great Prophet 14’ (code name- “Payambar e Azam 14”) military exercise near Gulf waters.

Indian Grandmaster P. Harikrishna finished overall second spot in the Grandmaster Triathlon Tournament at 53rd Biel International Chess Festival which took place in Biel/Bienne, Switzerland. Poland’s Radoslaw Wotjaszek finished first in the Biel Chess Festival. The Grandmaster Triathlon Tournament consists of three rounds of chess competition – Classical, Rapid & Blitz and it is part of Biel Chess Festival. He grabbed the top spot in Accentus Chess960, another separate tournament which was held in the Biel International Chess Festival 2020.

Non-life insurer SBI General Insurance Company Limited announced that it has appointed Prakash Chandra (P C) Kandpal as its Managing Director(MD) and Chief Executive Officer(CEO), effective from July 20. He succeeds Pushan Mahapatra, who has been appointed as a director (strategic investments & digital initiatives), effective from 18th July, 2020.

A 17 years old climate activist from Sweden namely Greta Thunberg became the first recipient of the inaugural (1st edition) Gulbenkian Prize for Humanity, awarded by Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation. The award in the amount 1 million euro ($1.15 million) recognized her ability to mobilize younger generations for the cause of climate change.

The Russian Foundation for Advanced Research Projects in the Defense Industry informed that Russia for the first time conducted a successful flight test of the MGTD-20 gas turbine engine made by 3D-printing. The flight tests were held at Kazalbash aviation center in Tatarstan. The production of the aircraft is scheduled on 2021-2022.

The Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) announced that, Unit-3 of Kakrapar Atomic Power Project (KAPP-3), India’s First 700 MWe (megawatt electric) and indigenously developed Pressurized Heavy Water Reactor (PHWR) in Surat, Gujarat achieved its first criticality – initiation of controlled and sustained nuclear fission reaction on 22nd July 2020 (Wednesday).

India and Maldives inked an agreement to set up Geydoshu Mas Plant (Neighborhood Fish Processing Plants) at two islands in the Addu city of Maldives namely Maradhoo and Hulhudhoo. The Contract signing ceremony was held virtually in Addu City, which was attended by Maldives’ Foreign Secretary Abdul Ghafoor Mohamed, High Commissioner of India to the Maldives Sunjay Sudhir, along with other members of Maldives’ Ministry of Foreign affairs.

The Republic of Nicaragua became the 87th country to sign the International Solar Alliance (ISA) Framework Agreement, an initiative to promote sustainable energy, led by India. Out of the 87 signed countries 67 countries have also ratified the ISA Framework agreement.

As stock market data, Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) becomes the 1st Indian company to reach Market Capitalisation (m-cap) of Rs 13 lakh crore. It becomes the world’s 48th largest company by m-cap, ahead of Abbott Labs, Oracle, Chevron and Unilever. It also crossed the stock price of Rs 2000 for the 1st time. Globally, Saudi Aramco is the company with the highest market cap of $1.7 trillion, followed by Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, and Alphabet. Reliance is the 10th highest m-cap company in Asia. China’s Alibaba Group is ranked 7th globally.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi delivered the keynote address at the two days long (July 21-22) virtual India Ideas Summit 2020 which was hosted by US-India Business Council (USIBC) under the theme “Building a Better Future”. The year 2020 marked the 45th anniversary of the formation of the Council.

Tianwen-1, China’s first fully homegrown Mars Mission, was launched by Long March 5 Rocket from the Wenchang Satellite Launch Center in Hainan Island, China.

The Union Home Minister, Amit Shah launched ‘Vriksharopan Abhiyan’ the tree plantation campaign of the Coal Ministry in the presence of Shri Pralhad Joshi, Union Minister of Coal, Mines and Parliamentary Affairs.

In accordance with the “Special Bulletin on Maternal Mortality in India 2016-18”, released by the Office of the Registrar General’s Sample Registration System (SRS), the Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) in India has declined to 113 in 2016-18 from 122 in 2015-17 and 130 in 2014-2016 and almost 100 deaths lesser than in the period of 2007-2009.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Green Climate Fund (GCF) agreed to partner toward the “Green Recovery”. This is to help hands for the people who are facing the harsh economic impact due to COVID-19 pandemic. They agreed to strengthen collaboration on non-sovereign operations while ensuring GCF’s processes are as flexible as possible to foster at-scale financing. ABD has offered a support package of USD 20 billion for COVID-19.

The 1st edition of two days long (July 22-23, 2020) world’s largest Global Fintech Fest (GFF) was held virtually, which was organized by Payments Council of India (PCI) and Fintech Convergence Council (FCC) at National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) under the theme “Fintech: With and Beyond COVID”. The aim of the fest was to bring together the global FinTech and Banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI) sector.

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) publicized the “Report of the Committee for Analysis of QR (Quick Response) Code” under the chairmanship of Prof. Deepak B. Phatak on its website for comments / suggestions of various industry players currently involved in or associated with the use of QR codes before August 10, 2020.

Indian Overseas Bank (IOB) has appointed Mr. Partha Pratim Sengupta as its new Managing Director (MD) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), and his tenure ends by December 31, 2022 or until further orders. He succeeds Karnam Sekar who was retired on June 30, 2020.

Australia’s 1999 World Cup-winning skipper and legendary batsman Steve Waugh had been in India before the Coronavirus pandemic wreaked havoc in the world. Waugh was on a mission to discover cricket in India with his camera for his photobook “Spirit of Cricket”.

On the request of the World Health Organization (WHO), the Government of India (GoI) has extended medical assistance in the form of anti-tuberculosis medicines worth about US$ 1 million to Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) popularly known as North Korea. It is to be noted that New Delhi’s medical assistance is under the aegis of an ongoing WHO’s anti-tuberculosis programme in North Korea and hence exempted from the sanctions imposed by the United Nations Security Council (UNSC).

India builds one kilometer (km) long World’s first electrified rail tunnel that fits double stack containers. It cuts through Aravalli mountain on the Western Dedicated Freight Corridor (WDFC) near Sohna, Haryana. The project is implemented by the DFCCIL (Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India Limited).

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has agreed to a USD 400 million currency swap facility for Sri Lanka, valid till November 2022. This will help Sri Lanka to meet its short-term international liquidity requirements and to boost its foreign exchange reserves following the economic crisis resulting from COVID-19.

In accordance with the 21st issue of Financial Stability Report (FSR), July 2020 by Reserve Bank of India (RBI) released on July 24, 2020, the gross nonperforming assets (GNPA) ratio of all scheduled commercial banks (SCBs) may increase from 8.5% in March 2020 to 12.5% by March 2021 under the baseline scenario; the ratio may escalate to 14.7% under a very severely stressed scenario.

Arnab Chaudhuri posthumously awarded with The ‘Legend of Animation’ award, 2020. This award is instituted by the Toonz Media Group (TMG) as a part of the Animation Masters Summit (AMS), 2020 – Digital Edition.