Current Affairs Quiz - August, 2020

Notes:
As per a recent release by the Government, India ranks first in terms of number of organic farmers and 9th in terms of area under organic farming.
In order to boost organic farming, the Union Government had launched “Mission Organic Value Chain Development for North East Region” (MOVCD) and “Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana” (PKVY) in 2015. Sikkim became the first state in the world to become fully organic in farming.

Notes:
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has approved a one-time relaxation to Power Finance Corporation (PFC) and Rural Electrification Corporation (REC) for extending loans to state-owned electricity distribution companies (Discoms).
This measure has been made by the Government to inject liquidity into Discoms, as a part of the Atma Nirbhar Bharat Scheme. As per the existing guidelines, Discoms can avail working capital loans equal to 25% of last year’s revenues, under UDAY scheme from PFC and REC.

Notes:
In order to reduce the dependency of China, three countries namely India, Japan and Australia have begun discussions to launch a trilateral “Supply Chain Resilience Initiative” (SCRI).
The initiative was originally proposed by Japan, which had approached India to take forward the initiative. The first meeting of the commerce and trade ministers of the three countries will be held next week.

Notes:
Government owned power major NTPC Limited has recently announced that it is to establish a wholly-owned subsidiary for its renewable energy business.
The company has recently obtained the approval from the Niti Aayog and Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM), Ministry of Finance for formation of a wholly-owned subsidiary.

Notes:
Social networking major Twitter released its latest transparency report, which has the data between July -December 2019 on its rule enforcement, legal demands on content removal among others.
As per the report, India stands at fifth position in requesting Twitter and Periscope to remove content, based on local laws. Japan, Russia and Turkey ranked in the top 3 positions in the list. Twitter recorded a 21% rise in global account information requests and 789 requests from India.

Notes:
Banks Board Bureau has recommended Ashwini Bhatia for the position of Managing Director (MD) of the State Bank of India (SBI).
The Personnel Ministry has appointed Ashwani Bhatia for the said position, up to the date of his superannuation (May 31, 2022). He is currently serving as the MD and CEO at SBI Mutual Fund, and will replace P K Gupta who retired on March 31.

Notes:
The Government of India has appointed former finance secretary Rajiv Kumar as the new Election Commissioner. He is set to succeed Ashok Lavasa, who has resigned from the post, to join the Asian Development Bank.
Rajiv Kumar is a 1984 batch Indian Administrative Service officer of Jharkhand cadre. He has been instrumental in merger of 10 public sector banks into four.

Notes:
Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA), has signed a MoU with AFC India Limited, to mutually work together in the field of agriculture and allied sectors.
AFC India Ltd, formerly known as Agricultural Finance Corporation Ltd., is wholly owned by Commercial Banks, NABARD and EXIM Bank. APEDA has also signed a MoU with National Cooperative Union of India (NCUI), Delhi.

Notes:
Bajaj Allianz General Insurance has launched a new insurance product for pet animals, called ‘Bajaj Allianz Pet Dog Insurance Policy’.
This is said to be the first and only retail comprehensive pet insurance cover for pet dogs. It will provide a complete coverage to all breeds of pet animals over their life time from 3 months to 10 years. It also covers the treatment costs of specified diseases or deaths due to illness.

Notes:
One of the most successful women Table Tennis players of India, Poulomi Ghatak has announced her retirement.
She is a seven-time National title winner in Table Tennis, just short of the record of 8 titles currently held by Indu Puri. She is to concentrate on Table-Tennis coaching. Poulomi’s had inaugurated her academy in June last year, along with her husband Soumyadip Roy, who is also a former National TT Champion.