Daily Current Affairs Quiz: October 21, 2020

Notes:
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.

Notes:
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has released a report titled ‘The Global Tuberculosis Report, 2020’ recently.
As per the report, India recorded a decline in the notification of tuberculosis (TB) cases by about 85 per cent in April 2020, after the imposition of Covid-19 induced lockdown. However, India has the highest TB burden across the globe at 26 per cent.

Notes:
Union Minister of Finance & Corporate Affairs Nirmala Sitharaman participated in the 102nd meeting of World Bank Development Committee Plenary through video conferencing.
She highlighted the measures taken by the Government to tackle the Covid-19 crisis, including the USD 23 billion and USD 271 Billion as a part of the economic stimulus package.

Notes:
The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has operationalized an advanced high-resolution air quality early warning system for the national capital named ENFUSER (Environmental Information Fusion Service).
Another model has also been made operationalized for the rest of the country. IMD has also improved the air quality forecast model ‘System for Integrated Modelling of Atmospheric Composition (SILAM)’, by implementing global emission inventories.

Notes:
Russian President Vladimir Putin has proposed that the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) that expires in February, to be extended.
However, the USA has rejected the Russian President’s proposal of extending the accord for at least a year without imposing any conditions. The New START treaty, that was signed in 2010, limits the numbers of strategic nuclear equipment that the two countries can deploy.