Current Affairs Quiz - August, 2020

Notes:
The US House of Representatives has recently passed a legislation to promote the legacies of Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr.
The bill seeks to set up an educational forum and an exchange programme for Indian and American students to study about the two great leaders. It also seeks to develop a professional development training initiative based on the principles of non-violence.

Notes:
Apple surpassed multinational petroleum company Saudi Aramco to become the world’s most valuable publicly listed company.
The market capitalisation of the technology company surged to USD 1.82 trillion, as per the regulatory filing of the company. Whereas, the market capitalisation of Aramco stood at USD 1.760 trillion.

Notes:
NITI Aayog’s Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) has recently launched an Incubator Capabilities enhancement program named ‘AIM iCREST’.
AIM has collaborated with Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Wadhwani Foundation for support and expertise in entrepreneurship and innovation. The program aims to support start-ups in knowledge transfer and reaching global markets.

Notes:
Nokia is set to establish a robotics lab at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru to study about 5G technology.
Nokia Center of Excellence (CoE) for networked robotics lab will be deployed to research on socially-relevant use cases based on 5G and emerging technologies. This will promote cooperation between colleges and industries.

Notes:
Union MSME Minister Nitin Gadkari has approved the employment generation program proposed by Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) to promote Agarbatti production.
Named the ‘Khadi Agarbatti Atma Nirbhar Mission’, the scheme aims to create employment for the unemployed and migrant workers across the country. KVIC will provide Automatic Agarbatti making machines in subsidised prices.

Notes:
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) has estimated that around 24 million children may drop out of their schools next year.
UNESCO released a policy brief on the Covid-19 pandemic’s impact on education. It also estimated that the educational financing gap is also likely to increase by one third. Girls and young women are likely more vulnerable to child marriage, early pregnancy and gender-based violence.

Notes:
The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare is implementing the Electronic Vaccine Intelligence Network (eVIN) under the National Health Mission (NHM).
It is an innovative technological solution that aims to strengthen immunization supply chain system across the country. It aims to provide real-time information on vaccine stocks and storage temperatures. At present the network has been used in 22 states and will be rolled out in all states.

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:
National Handloom Day is being celebrated on August 7 across India, to commemorate the Swadeshi Movement.
The Movement was launched on the same day in the year 1905. National Handloom Day also aims to create awareness about the Indian Handloom Industry among the general public. A virtual event was organised by the Ministry of Textiles to mark the occasion.

Notes:
The Reserve Bank of India has constituted an expert group on Debt resolution under the chairmanship of KV Kamath.
The committee would recommend to the RBI on the financial parameters and their sector-specific benchmark ranges, for deploying in Debt resolution plans. RBI will provide a window under the ‘Prudential Framework on Resolution of Stressed Assets’.