Current Affairs Quiz - August, 2020

Notes:
Union Minister of Tribal Affairs Arjun Munda has recently launched a new e-portal named ‘Swasthya’ and a e-newsletter named ALEKH.
The portal aims to consolidate all health and nutrition related information of the tribal population of India. It also provides best practices collected from different parts of India and enables an effective decision making related to the nutrition of tribal population.

Notes:
Considered as extinct over seventy years back, the Woolly flying squirrel was spotted at Gangotri National Park in Uttarakhand.
As per the Forest Research Institute, the flying squirrel was added in the IUCN Red List. It was spotted during the survey conducted in the national park. The animal uses its wool-like furry claws like a parachute and fly.

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 Union Cabinet has recently approved to set up a new entity named ‘National Recruitment Agency (NRA)’ to carry out a national Common Entrance Test (CET).
This exam would be a common screening test for non-gazetted vacancies in both departments of Central government and public sector organisations. It is to conduct first level tests currently conducted by agencies like SSC, RRB and IBPS among others.

Notes:
Vijay Rupani, the Chief Minsiter of Gujarat has given approval for construction of sky scrapers and high-rise buildings of 70 floors or more in five major cities of the state namely Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Surat, Rajkot and Gandhinagar.
The present rule governing the construction of buildings permits construction only up to 23 floors. A special technical committee would be set up to give approval to such projects.

Notes:
The Union Government has announced the results of annual survey of cleanliness, the ‘Swachh Survekshan 2020’.
Indore of Madhya Pradesh bagged the top spot in the list, for four years consecutively. Gujarat’s Surat was ranked at the second place while Maharashtra’s Navi Mumbai on third place. This is the fifth edition of the survey, that ranks states based on their performance in Swachh Bharat Mission.

Notes:
India is set to launch a new direct cargo ferry service to the Maldives, in the third week of September, as per the Indian high commission in the Maldives.
The service will link Kochi and Tuticorin with Male and will boost bilateral trade relations. A vessel operated by the Shipping Corporation of India, will be used for the ferry service. The vessel is to carry electrical machinery, medicines, construction material as well as perishable goods.

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 President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan has recently announced that the country has discovered a large natural gas reserve along the Black Sea coast.
Around 302 billion cubic meters area of natural gas reserve has been discovered that will reduce the import dependency of the country. As per the country, it will start extracting and using the gas by 2023, when Turkey marks the centenary of the founding of Republic.

Notes:
HSBC India launched its ‘Green Deposit Programme’, to finance green initiatives including renewable energy.
Under this new initiative, the bank will ask their corporate clients to deposit money, which will in turn be used for financing green projects by letting the clients indirectly participate in the sustainability projects. The product offers stable principal, pre-agreed return and protection.