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:
India has signed a cultural agreement with Israel for a three-year programme of cooperation and strengthening of bilateral ties between the two countries.
This cooperation is expected to raise awareness on the history and culture of both countries. This cooperation programme India and Israel for the years 2020-23 is based on the cultural agreement signed between them on May 18, 1993.

Notes:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had laid the foundation stone for Zojila tunnel project in 2018, as the Asia’s longest bi-directional tunnel.
The project with estimated cost of Rs 4,509 crore, aims to provide all-year connectivity between Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh region. Recently, Megha Engineering and Infrastructure is set to construct the Zojila pass tunnel. The project is expected to completed in six years.

Notes:
India’s leading private non-life insurer, ICICI Lombard General Insurance is set to acquire Bharti AXA General Insurance.
The merger of Bharti AXA with ICICI Lombard is to be made by means of a share swap deal. Once completed, the combined entity would become the third largest general insurance entity of the country, as of today.

Notes:
The state of California in USA is struggling with more than 500 lightning sparked fires, burning more than 9 lakh acres. More than 1.19 lakh people have been evacuated.
LNU Lightning Complex, SCU Lightning Complex and CZO August Complex had some of the largest fires. It has adversely affected the northern part of California. Several people are involved in containing the fire.

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:
With more than 15 crore users and more than 6.6 million Bluetooth traced contacts, the official contact tracing application of India, Aarogya Setu is the most downloaded contact tracing app in the world, as on date.
The application team has recently introduced ‘Open API Service’, which is used to obtain answers for real-time queries about the health status of their employees or any other Aarogya Setu User who has consented to share their health status.

Notes:
As per the recent notification from the Personnel Ministry, over 700 districts have participated in the Prime minister’s awards for excellence in public administration.
The awards will be conferred on October 31, the Ekta Diwas (Unity Day), at the Statue of Unity in Gujarat by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The award is to recognise the performance of District Collectors towards economic development of their regions.

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.