Current Affairs Quiz - August, 2020

Notes:
Mizoram has recently launched the Green-Ag project, funded by Global Environment Facility (GEF). It is the only North Eastern state to be named for the project.
In addition to Mizoram, four states namely Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Rajasthan and Uttarakhand are implementing the scheme. The project aims to promote sustainable transformation of agriculture without compromising the country’s food security and farmers income.

Notes:
India’s leading credit rating agency ICRA Ltd has appointed N Sivaraman as the Managing Director and Group Chief Executive Officer.
The appointment has been made for three years with effect from August 10. His tenure may also be extended for two more years. He had held senior positions in L&T Finance Holdings and he has served as the Chief Operating Officer at IL&FS till July 31, 2020.

Notes:
Technology giant Amazon recently announced that it will invest more than USD 10 billion to build a network of over 3000 satellites.
The network is expected to provide high-speed broadband internet services to people around the world. Named as ‘Project Kuiper’, the plan aims to build a network of low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellites. This will compete with the SpaceX’s Starlink network.

Notes:
Union Environment Minister of India Prakash Javadekar attended the 6th BRICS Environment Ministers’ Meeting.
The meeting was attended by the Environment Ministers of the five BRICS countries, Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa through video conference. It was chaired by the current BRICS President Russia. India will assume the BRICS Presidency in 2021.

Notes:
Ciro Immobile is an Italian professional footballer who plays for the football club Lazio and the national team of Italy.
Ciro Immobile was seen in news, as he has won the domestic Golden Boot and the European Golden Shoe award. In a recent match, he matched Gonzalo Higuain’s record of 36 goals in a single season. The striker had a record 14 penalties out of the total goals.

Notes:
PTC India Limited, previously called as Power Trading Corporation of India has been approved to set up the third Power exchange of India.
At present, India has two power exchanges namely Indian Energy Exchange (IEX) and Power Exchange India (PXIL), to enable over-the-counter sale and purchase of power. The Central Electricity Regulatory Commission has approved the proposal of PTC India made along with BSE Investments and ICICI Bank.

Notes:
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) held its second bi-monthly monetary meeting of FY 2020-21 on August 6, 2020.
After the meeting, the RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das announced that the central bank has decided to keep the key policy rates unchanged with ‘accommodative stance’. Hence, the repo rate will remain at 4 per cent and the reverse repo at 3.35 per cent. There were two rate cuts in March and May.

Notes:
The Founder and Chief executive of SpaceX, Elon Musk announced that the company has successfully flight-tested a prototype of its Mars rocket ship.
The test rocket was launched hundreds of feet into the air for nearly 45 seconds and it was landed upright. Some more shorter launches are being planned before the full version of ‘Starship’ would be launched. SpaceX is now the only private company to fly people to and from orbit.

Notes:
The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), an organisation under the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi.
The MoU seeks to set up a Centre of Excellence (CoE) for using Artificial Intelligence in Decision making and Advance Data Management System for Highways. IIT Delhi will develop simulation models in this regard and provide space and infrastructural facility for the CoE.

Notes:
In the recently held Parliamentary Elections of Sri Lanka, the Sri Lanka People’s Freedom Alliance led by the ruling party has secured a landslide victory.
The Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) has secured around 60% of the total votes polled and a two-thirds majority. Mahinda Rajapaksa is to be sworn in as the new Prime Minister of Sri Lank and he is the elder brother of the Sri Lankan President, Gotabaya Rajapaksa.