Current Affairs Quiz - August, 2020

Notes:
A 10-member Technical Response Team and 30 tons of Technical Equipment are sent by India to assist Mauritius in its effort to contain oil spill. This has been done in response to the request by the Government of Mauritius.
A Japanese ship named MV Wakashio, ran aground at Pointe d’Esny of Mauritius last month and oil began leaking from it. It is estimated that more than 1000 tons of oil leaked from the ship. Government of Mauritius has announced this as a National Emergency.

Notes:
The Government of United Kingdom (UK) has launched a £3 million Innovation challenge fund in India. The fund is aimed at supporting scientists in industry and academia to cope with acute global challenges like COVID-19 and other environment threats.
The fund aims to bring together best minds under “UK India Tech Partnership”. The fund has specifically invited innovators associated with “AI-Data cluster” in Karnataka and “Future Mobility cluster” in Maharashtra to submit research proposals.

Notes:
The Union Ministry of Home Affairs has recently approved to rename the Manduadih railway station in Uttar Pradesh as ‘Banaras’.
The state government of Uttar Pradesh had earlier sent a request to the Home Ministry for renaming the railway station in its Varanasi district. The Home Ministry issued a no-objection certificate after consulting with the Ministry of Railways, Department of Posts and Survey of India.

Notes:
The title sponsorship of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 is awarded to Dream11, an Indian fantasy sports platform. The sponsorship rights have been awarded for Rs.222 crore.
Byju’s came second in the bid at Rs 201 crore and Unacademy stood third in the bid at Rs 171 crore. The 2020 IPL is the 13th edition of the cricket event and is scheduled to be held at the United Arab Emirates.

Notes:
Iran has displayed a surface-to-surface ballistic missile, that has a range of 1,400 kilometres, named martyr Qassem Soleimani.
The country also displayed a new cruise missile called martyr Abu Mahdi, with a range of over 1,000 km, amidst the demand from the United States to stop its missile programme. The head of Iran’s Quds Force, Soleimani and Iraqi commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis were killed in a U.S. strike.

Notes:
The Southern Railways zone has recently conducted the trial of Roll on– Roll (RO-RO) off service, in the Tokur – Shoranur section of the Palakkad division.
According to the information from the Indian Railways, Trucks loaded with vegetables, coconuts and rubber from Kozhikode and Ernakulam regions in Kerala can be transported to Gujarat and Maharashtra. In the return direction, polymers, textiles and plastics can be transported.

Notes:
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has approved an increase in Fair and Remunerative Prices (FRP) of sugarcane by Rs.10 per quintal from the existing Rs 275 to Rs.285 per quintal.
The new FRP would come into force from October 2020. This is in line with the recommendations of the Commission of Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP).

Notes:
The rockets manufactured by Economic Explosives Ltd (EEL) have been successfully test fired by the Indian Army.
This is the first ever set of rockets fully manufactured by a private sector company, and is expected to reduce the single source dependency on Ordnance Factory Board (OFB). The Pinaka rockets were manufactured after a technology transfer agreement with the DRDO.

Notes:
The Department of Revenue, Ministry of Finance has notified the ‘Customs (Administration of Rules of Origin under Trade Agreements) Rules, 2020’.
The norms for enforcing the ‘rules of origin’ provisions has been released by the Government recently. These rules will come into effect from September 21, 2020 and will apply where preferential rate of duty is claimed by importer. The ”Rules of origin” provision mandates minimal processing in the FTA country.

Notes:
Karnataka has announced that it would be the first state to implement the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.
The Deputy Chief Minister of Karnataka participated in the ‘Highlights of the National Education policy and its implementation’ workshop. He announced that the state has started to launch administrative reforms and amendments to implement the policy.