Current Affairs Quiz - August, 2020

Notes:
The Union Ministry of Housing and Urban affairs has formed a five-member central team under Smart Cities Director Rahul Kapoor.
The panel will formulate project reports for both the cities, to improve infrastructure and employment opportunities in Ladakh. These cities have been selected in addition to the 100 smart cities in different states. This idea was initially proposed by the Home Affairs Ministry.

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:
The Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) has launched a knowledge portal named ‘MSME Saksham’, in association with TransUnion CIBIL.
The comprehensive financial education and knowledge platform will provide financial awareness to the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) and assist them in getting quick access to formal and affordable credit facilities.

Notes:
Veteran Folk musician Sonam Tshering Lepcha has recently passed away at Kalimpong, West Bengal at the age of 92.
He travelled to various parts of Sikkim and compiled several Indian folk and traditional Lepcha songs. He was also known for his efforts to popularise and represent Lepcha culture. He was awarded the prestigious Padma Shri award by the Government.

Notes:
United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and non-profit Pure Earth jointly released a report titled “The Toxic Truth: Children’s exposure to lead pollution undermines a generation of potential”.
As per the report, one third of the world’s children (800 million) are affected by lead poisoning and 275 million of them are in India. The report also highlights that around half of the affected children were from South Asia. Informal recycling of lead-acid batteries is a major contributor to lead poisoning.

Notes:
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jaganmohan Reddy launched a cybercrime awareness programme E-Rakshabandhan.
It is a first-of-its-kind virtual programme of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and the State Police. The one-month-long programme aims to create awareness among the public, especially women, youth and children in cyberspace.

Notes:
The United Kingdom is set to imprint the image of Mahatma Gandhi in a new set of coins, as a part of efforts to celebrate the contributions of non-white individuals.
Rishi Sunak, the Chancellor of the Exchequer has sent the recommendation to the Royal Mint Advisory Committee (RMAC). It is conducting a campaign called “We Too Built Britain”. If the coins are minted with Gandhi’s image, he would be the first non-White person to feature on a British coin.

Notes:
The United States astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley, who flew to the International Space Station in SpaceX’s new Crew Dragon, landed back on the Earth.
The astronauts splashed down aboard Crew Dragon ‘Endeavor’ in the Gulf of Mexico after a 64-day voyage in space. This is NASA’s first crewed mission from American soil in nine years. This splash down is the first of its kind by NASA in 45 years.

Notes:
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has enhanced the amount of loan that banks can provide against the pledge of gold ornaments and jewellery.
As per the guidelines, banks can give 90 per cent of the pledged gold as loan for non-agricultural purposes. Earlier, the loan to value (LTV) limit was 75 per cent. This will only be applicable to banks and not to gold loan companies and will be valid till March 2021.

Notes:
Pune-based Defence Institute of Advanced Technology (DIAT), a deemed university under the Defence Ministry’s Department of Defence Research and Development, has won the first prize in the Smart India Hackathon (SIH) 2020.
SIH is a national-level digital product building competition, jointly organised by the Ministry of Education and AICTE. The DIAT team developed a technology called ‘DRISHTI’ to recognise face, expression and gesture using artificial intelligence (AI).