October 3rd Week 2020 Current Affairs Online Test English

The Union Cabinet has approved the MoU with Japan for the exchange of knowledge and
technology on cyber–security. The Cabinet also approved a standardized and transparent e–
bidding process in natural gas pricing. It also gave nod for the revised cost of a project of the
Kolkata metro rail. The cabinet also gave its approval to public awareness campaign on COVID–19.

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently launched a campaign on Jan Andolan for COVID–19 Appropriate Behaviour. The campaign has been launched considering the festivals, winter season and the opening up of the economy. The Prime Minister asked the people to wear a mask, wash hands and follow social distancing by maintaining ‘Do Gaz Ki Doori.’

• Union Minister of Textiles Smriti Irani has recently launched the first–ever brand and logo for Indian Cotton. It was launched on the second World Cotton Day, which is celebrated across the world on October 7. India’s premium Cotton would be known as ‘Kasturi Cotton’ in the World Cotton trade. The Minister also released a new logo for the Indian Cotton.

• Veteran Indian Foreign Service (IFS) Officer of 1990 batch Pradeep Kumar Rawat has been appointed as the next Ambassador of India to Kingdom of Netherlands. As per the recent statement of the Union Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), Pradeep Kumar, who is presently Ambassador of India to the Republic of Indonesia, is expected to take up the new role shortly.

• The Central government has appointed M Rajeshwar Rao as the new Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). He is currently serving as the Executive Director of the country’s central bank. The Appointment Committee of the Union cabinet has approved the appointment and he will succeed NS Vishwanathan as the fourth Deputy Governor.

• India’s first advanced manufacturing hub (AMHUB) is to be established in the state of Tamil Nadu. The Guidance, nodal investment promotion and facilitation agency of the state has partnered with the World Economic Forum (WEF) in this regard. AMHUB is one of the nineteen platforms designed by the WEF. It will help the production ecosystem in Tamil Nadu by identifying and addressing the regional opportunities of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has recently announced that Finance companies cannot be set up with foreign direct investment (FDI) from Mauritius or other domains that do not meet the benchmarks laid down by Financial Action Task Force (FATF). This move of the Reserve Bank is expected to impact the huge annual inflows in the Non–Banking Financial Companies (NBFC) space.

• As per the Forbes India Rich List 2020 that was released recently, the chairman of Reliance Industries Limited remains the richest Indian for the 13th consecutive year. His net worth stands at USD 88.7 billion. Mukesh Ambani is followed by Gautam Adani with a net worth of $25.2 billion and Shiv Nadar at $20.4 billion. The new entrant in the top 10 is Cyrus Poonawalla, the Chairman of Serum Institute of India (SII).

• The Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has virtually inaugurated the state’s largest oxygen plant in Modinagar, Ghaziabad. The plant is commissioned by the leading manufacturers of industrial and medical gases, INOX Air Products (INOX). The project outlay of the plant is Rs 135 crore and it has a capacity of 150 tonnes liquid medical oxygen per day.

• The Special Accelerated Road Development Programme in the North East (SARDP–NE) was launched by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways. Recently, the Central Government has increased funding for road development in the Northeast by 95 per cent from Rs 390 crore to Rs 760 crore. This is the second consecutive increase of funding for the region this year.

• Veteran political leader who fought for Dalit rights and the founder of Lok Janshakti Party, Ram Vilas Paswan passed away at the age of 74. He entered the Guinness World Record for winning a parliamentary election with the highest margin. He won with a margin of 4.24 lakh votes from his Hajipur constituency in Bihar in 1977. After the leader’s demise, who was serving ans the Consumer Affairs Minister, Union Minister Piyush Goyal was assigned the additional charge.

• Reserve Bank of India Governor Shaktikanta Das announced that Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) payment system will be available round the clock from December 2020. At present, in the RTGS service, customer transactions are allowed from 7am to 6pm only on a working day. The relaxation of time constraints would make online payment more efficient. The minimum amount to be remitted through RTGS is Rs 2 lakhs with no upper ceiling.

• The Nobel Peace Prize 2020 was awarded to the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) for feeding millions of people amid the coronavirus pandemic. The WFP was founded in the year 1961.
• The UN organisation had helped 97 million people last year and distributed to over 15 billion rations to people in 88 countries last year. The award consists of a gold medal, a diploma and a cheque for 10 million Swedish kronor.

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi is to launch the physical distribution of property cards under the SVAMITVA (Survey of Villages and Mapping with Improvised Technology in Village Areas) scheme. Under the scheme, the rural people are empowered to use the property as a financial asset. The physical copies of property titles will be handed over to over 132,000 landowners during the event. The state governments will also physically distribute the cards to people.

• The Labour Ministry announced that the Labour Bureau is set to evaluate the employment situation in the country.
• The expert group headed by SP Mukherjee will conduct three surveys on migration, domestic workers and professional bodies. He is an Emeritus Professor at the University of Kolkata. The group also consists of economists, statisticians and government functionaries.

• Japan’s Maritime Self–defense Force has commenced anti–submarine drills in the South China Sea, as per the recent statement from the Japanese Defence Ministry. The exercise deployed three vessels including a helicopter aircraft carrier and a submarine. The entire South China Sea is claimed by China, which has established military outposts on artificial islands. The United States has been accusing China of militarising the South China Sea.

• World Migratory Bird Day (WMBD) is observed every year on the second Saturday of May and October, to create awareness about the need to conserve migratory birds and their habitats. It also highlights the threats faced by migratory birds, their ecological importance and the need for global cooperation to conserve them. This year the theme of the World Migratory Bird Day, celebrated on October 10 is “Birds Connect Our World”.

• Taiwan–Asia Exchange Foundation (TAEF) is a leading think tank from Taiwan and the organizer of the Yushan Forum. The think tank was seen in the news recently, as it has signed a memorandum with India’s National Maritime Foundation (NMF), to promote cooperation in the Indo–Pacific region. The agreement also aims to conduct joint research.

• The Government of India has constituted the ‘Rashtriya Kamdhenu Aayog’, under the Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying It aims to promote animal husbandry on modern and scientific means and to preserve and improve breeds of cattle. Recently, RKA started a nation–wide campaign to celebrate Kamdhenu Deepawali Abhiyan on the occasion of Diwali festival.

• Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) conducted a successful test of the New Generation Anti Radiation Missile (NGRAM) called the Rudram–1. The missile has been tested at the Integrated Test Range (ITR) in Balasore. This is India’s first indigenous anti–radiation missile and it would be launched from various fighter aircraft used by the Indian Air Force.

• The Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India (TRIFED), Ministry of Tribal Affairs in association with Chhattisgarh MFP Federation and IIT Kanpur launched the ‘Tech for Tribals’ initiative. It has been launched under the ‘Entrepreneurship Skill Development Programme’ (ESDP), in collaboration with the Ministry of Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME). Van Dhan beneficiaries across all districts of Chhattisgarh State are being trained for 6 weeks.

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi has recently released the biography of late Member of Parliament Dr Balasaheb Vikhe Patil. The autobiography is titled ‘Deh Vechava Karani’ which means dedicating one’s life for a noble cause. He served as the Member of Parliament for seven times. He was awarded the prestigious Padma Bhushan award in 2010 for his contribution in the field of Social Work.

• The founders of stock brokerage company ‘Zerodha’, Nithin Kamath and Nikhil Kamath topped the IIFL Wealth Hurun India 40 & under Self–Made Rich List 2020.
• They also manage the asset management company (AMC) True Beacon. The total net worth of the young businessmen stands at Rs 24,000 crores. The list ranks the self–made entrepreneurs with a wealth of INR 1,000 crore, aged below forty years and under from India.

• The Gujarat State Fertilizers and Chemicals India Ltd (GSFC) has launched the indigenous variety of calcium nitrate and boronated calcium nitrate. These two chemicals are being manufactured for the first time in India and till now they were imported.
• Calcium Nitrate is a very soluble component and is widely used in Fertigation. It is also used for wastewater treatment and to increase the strength of cement. Boronated Calcium Nitrate is a water–soluble fertilizer which contains high–quality macro and essential nutrients.

• Tennis player Rafael Nadal defeated Novak Djokovic to win his 13th French Open and 20th Grandslam title. Nadal also equalled Roger Federer’s all–time record of 20 Grand Slam titles. This is also the 100th match win at Roland Garros of Nadal against just two defeats since his 2005 debut. YoungPolish player Iga Swiatek became the lowest–ranked woman to win the French Open.

• The Zoological Survey of India and the Botanical Survey of India released a report titled ‘Animal Discoveries 2019 and Plant Discoveries 2019’. As per the report, 544 new species including 364 animal species and 180 plant species were discovered in the year 2019. Some of the important species include Cnemaspisanandani (a rock dwelling gecko) and Ginger Amomum nagamiense (a wild ginger variety discovered in Nagaland).

• The Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi released a commemorative Rs 100 coin as part of the end of birth centenary celebrations of Vijaya Raje Scindia. She was also called as the Rajamata of Gwalior and was born on the same day in the year 1919. Vijaya Raje Scindia started her political career from the Congress and later joined the Swatantrata Party before becoming a member of the BJP’s parent party, Jana Sangh.

• The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has directed all NGOs seeking foreign donations to open a designated FCRA account at the State Bank of India’s New Delhi branch by March 31, 2021. The NGOs registered under FCRA shall not receive any foreign donations in any other bank account from April 1, 2021. The Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, 2020 was amended by Parliament in September.

• Union Law Minister of India Ravi Shankar Prasad will host the seventh meeting of Ministers of Law and Justice of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO).
• The virtual meeting which is to be held on October 16 will be attended by Law and Justice Ministers of China, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyz Republic. India will also host the second meeting of the Experts Working Group.

• The 2020 State of Climate Services report has been released by the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) along with 16 international agencies and financing institutions. The WMO revealed that more disasters attributed to weather are taking place every year. It also warned that the number of people who need international humanitarian help could rise by 50 percent by 2030 when compared to 2018.

• The Berlin–based Anti–corruption watchdog Transparency International released its recent study entitled ‘Exporting Corruption 2020: Assessing Enforcement of the OECD Anti–Bribery Convention’. As per the study, India is one among the biggest global exporters with the worst track records along with China, Japan, the Netherlands, South Korea, Hong Kong, Canada and Mexico. It also revealed that India lacks a mechanism to crack down on bribery of foreign officials by its exporters.

• The International Monetary Fund has released the “World Economic Outlook 2020” report titled “A Long and Difficult Ascent”. As per the report, the Indian economy would contract by 10.30% for FY 2020–21. The report has estimated the global growth to be – 4.4% (contraction) for this year.

• India’s largest power producer NTPC Ltd has tied up with Cement manufacturers across the country to supply fly ash. This is a part of NTPC’s objective to achieve % by–product utilisation. NTPC is using the services of Indian Railways to transport fly ash from its thermal power plants to various cement plants. NTPC Rihand is the first power plant in Uttar Pradesh to send conditioned fly ash to cement manufacturers.

• Regional Raw Drug Repository (RRDR) of the Ministry of Ayush has been inaugurated at National Institute of Siddha – Chennai, Tamil Nadu. This repository will play an important role in medicinal plant cultivation. The RRDRwould help in collection, documentation, and authentication of raw drugs from the Southern Plateau Region.

• During the third assembly of International Solar Alliance, India and France were re–elected as the President and co–President of ISA for a term of two years. The representatives of Fiji and Nauru for Asia–Pacific, Mauritius and Niger for Africa, the UK and the Netherlands for Europe and others, Cuba and Guyana for Latin America and the Caribbean are elected as Vice–Presidents.

• ANGIKAAR–campaign was launched in 2019, under which the beneficiaries of Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) are trained and given access to other welfare schemes. The Union Minister of State (IC) for Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri participated in a webinar to launch a portal for Affordable Rental Housing Complexes (ARHCs). During the webinar, he also launched a national report on ANGIKAAR campaign.

• The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) gave in–principle approval to the demerger of Chhattisgarh–based Nagarnar Steel Plant (NSP) from National Minerals Development Corporation (NMDC). It also approved the strategic disinvestment of the demerged company by selling the entire government stake to a strategic buyer. This process is expected to be completed by September 2021. Earlier in 2016, it had been decided to disinvest NSP as a unit of NMDC.

• Mount Kilimanjaro is a dormant volcano located in Tanzania. It is also the tallest mountain of Africa and the highest single free–standing mountain in the world. Recently, over 500 volunteers have been trying to put out a fire on the Mount Kilimanjaro. Thought the fire spread could be controlled, the area known as ‘Kifunika Hill’ was still burning, as per the news. The fire is said to have consumed 28 square kilometers of vegetation.

• The United States regulator body Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the first drug for the treatment of Ebola. The drug named ‘Inmazeb’ has been developed by Regeneron Pharmaceuticals increased the survival rate in participants than other treatments. The drug was tested during an outbreak in Congo that killed over 2000 people.

• As per the World Economic Outlook 2020 released by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) recently, India’s Per Capital GDP is expected to fall to USD 1877 in the year 2020. The corresponding figure for Bangladesh is USD 1888, indicating that the per capita GDP for Bangladesh would be more than that of India in 2020. As per the report, India’s fall in per capita GDP is a result of COVID 19 related lock–down and economic slowdown.

• The scheme for “Waiver of compound interest (interest on interest)” accumulated during moratorium against loans of up to Rs 2 crore has been proposed for eight different sectors. These include MSME, education, housing, consumer durables, credit card, auto, personal and consumption loans. The Supreme Court of India has recently advised the Union Government to come out with a definite plan for implementing this scheme by 2nd November 2020.

• The World Bank has called for an emergency financing of USD 25 billion, to help the poorest countries of the world, to tackle the challenges of Covid–19 pandemic. Recently, the World Bank head David Malpass told the Finance ministers and Central bank Governors of the G20 major economies that he would propose the supplemental financing package to deputies of the International Development Association (IDA).

• The World Food Day 2020 is celebrated every year on October 16 across the world, to raise awareness about the importance of good food and nutrition.
• The World Food Day 2020 theme is “Grow, Nourish, Sustain. Together. Our actions are our future”. The Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) is leading the celebrations and activities conducted on this day across the world.

• Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has recently inaugurated operations of the first phase of the International Institute of Advanced Virology. It has been located at the Life Science Park at Thonakkal in Thiruvananthapuram. Renowned virologist, Dr Akhil Banerjee was appointed as the Head of the research Institute, which is currently under the Department of Science and Technology.

• Israel’s parliament has recently approved the normalization deal signed between Israel and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Israel and the UAE signed an agreement to normalize their relations in Washington on September 15. Israel also signed a peace deal with Bahrain and the UAE and Bahrain became the first Gulf countries to agree for official relations with Israel.

• Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare Dr Harsh Vardhan launched the second phase of “Thalassemia Bal Sewa Yojna” for the underprivileged Thalassemic patients. This scheme is a part of the Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation (HSCT) program which is funded by Coal India’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). It was launched in the year 2017 that aims to provide a one–time cure opportunity for Thalassaemia and Sickle Cell Disease

• Union Health minister Harsh Vardhan recently announced that the government is looking at procuring and utilizing about 400–500 million vaccine doses, covering about 200–250 million people. Electronic Vaccine Intelligence Network (eVIN) that is used for the immunisation programme, is used for real–time tracking of vaccine movement, from procurement to storage, to delivery and distribution.

• The India – International Food and Agri Week has been launched by the Ministry of Food Processing and industries. The Union Minister Narendra Singh Tomar launched the event virtually. During the inaugural event, the minister stated that 32% of India’s food market is constituted by food processing. The Ministry has also started an awareness programme named “Anna Devo Bhava”.

• An android based application named “SCALE India” has been launched by Leather Sector Skill Council, a non–profit organization (NGO). The app aims to cater the needs of stakeholders of the skilling and employment ecosystem. The app was launched by the Union Minister of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Mahendra Nath Pandey, at a virtual event.

• ‘BepiColombo’ is a joint mission of the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), which aims to explore Mercury. Recently, the spacecraft has crossed Venus for the first time and captured an image of Venus from a distance of 17,000 kilometres. The spacecraft was launched in 2018 to undergo a seven–year trip to Mercury.