Current Affairs Quiz - August, 2020

Notes:
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla has attended the inaugural ceremony of the 5th World Conference of Speakers of Parliament (5WCSP).
It is a two-day virtual Conference organized jointly by Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), Geneva and Parliament of Austria. The programme is supported by United Nations (UN). The theme of the Conference is “Parliamentary leadership for more effective multilateralism that delivers peace and sustainable development for the people and planet.”

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:
A first-of-its-kind interactive game on COVID-19 named the “Corona Fighters” has been launched by the Union Health Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan.
The game has been designed creatively to teach people about the right tools and behaviours to fight the Covid-19 pandemic. In addition to the game, the Minister also launched two new videos to inculcate appropriate behaviours, to be followed during the pandemic.

Notes:
Yes Bank has executed an agreement with GPL Finance and Investments Limited for the complete sale of equity shareholding of YES Asset Management Limited “YESAMC” and YES Trustee Limited “YTL”.
Both these firms are wholly owned subsidiaries of YES Bank Limited. It is expected that the sale would be completed in the next 8 to 12 months. After completion of the sale, the two firms Yes Bank will completely exit from its mutual fund business.

Notes:
Software Technology Parks of India (STPI), under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology is set to have the largest ecosystem of incubation ecosystem in the country, in a year by setting up 21 centres of excellence.
The proposed 21 centres of excellence (CoEs) will incubate new technologies in various sectors. Out of the 21 CoEs, 12 of them are already operational. Three centres are related to Agriculture and one more is proposed to be launched.

Notes:
Indian Institute of Management Kozhikode (IIM-K) has signed a MoU with Switzerland based HELP Logistics.
This partnership is aimed to develop humanitarian logistics in India through consulting services and logistics training to United Nations bodies, Government Institutions and Non-Governmental Organizations. The MoU will be in force of a period of 1 year.

Notes:
Renowned scientist and the present head of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) Dr.G.Satheesh Reddy has been given a 2 year extension as the Secretary, Department of Defence Research and Development and Chairman DRDO.
This extension in his service was approved by the Appointments committee of the Union Cabinet. Earlier, he was appointed for the post in August 2018.

Notes:
India’s central Bank the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has proposed to conduct a special Open Market Operations (OMO) aggregating Rs.20,000 crore where simultaneous purchase and sale of government securities would happen in two equal tranches.
This special OMO by sale and purchase of Government securities would manage the yield in Bond Markets. The prime objective of this operation is to raise the short-term yields and lower the long-term yields.

Notes:
The NITI Aayog has recently released a report on Export Preparedness Index 2020, in partnership with the Institute of Competitiveness. It ranked states on four key parameters namely Policy, Business Ecosystem, Export Ecosystem and Export Performance.
As per the report, Gujarat has topped the index, followed by Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu. Among the top ten places of the list, six out of the country’s coastal states found place. Rajasthan topped among the landlocked states and Uttarakhand topped among the Himalayan states.

Notes:
Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) has recently announced that the Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) are permitted to first clear the goods imported by them through Customs and then pay Customs duty within 14 days.
This measure is a part of the ‘Turant Customs’ initiative which seeks to introduce a Faceless and Paperless Customs environment. This announcement will lead to faster clearance of the goods imported by the PSUs.