Current Affairs Quiz - August, 2020

Notes:
Indian e-commerce company Flipkart has signed a strategic partnership with Nepal’s leading e-commerce company Sastodeal.
This partnership will provide lakhs of sellers registered with Flipkart, an access to the e-commerce market of Nepal. Sastodeal will host more than 5,000 products from Flipkart sellers including the Flipkart Private Brands, MarQ and SmartBuy in various categories.

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:
Former Indian footballer turned coach Bhaskar Maity passed away at a Navi Mumbai. He was 67 years old.
He was celebrated as one of the most reliable goalkeepers of India in the 1970s and ’80s. Bhaskar Maity made his debut for India at the 1978 Asian Games in Bangkok, against Iraq. He has also represented Maharashtra State in the Santosh Trophy from 1975 to 1979. Maity served as the Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilisers (RCF) coach.

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:
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:
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:
South Africa’s cricket all-rounder Jacques Kallis has been recently inducted into the ICC hall fame.
In addition, Australian women all-rounder Lisa Sthalekar and former Pakistani cricketer Zaheer Abbas were also inducted into the ICC Hall of Fame. Jacques Kallis is the 4th South African player to be inducted.

Notes:
In order to enhance the ease of doing business, the Aadhaar authentication has been activated by the Government for registration to GST. The Aadhaar based GST registration of an entity would be completed in 3 working days and there is no requirement for physical verification.
Those not opting for Aadhaar based registration will be subjected to physical verification of place of business activity and other related documentary verification. The time required for non-Aadhaar registration would be up to 21 days.

Notes:
The administration of New Delhi has launched a new campaign named ‘Nirmaan Mazdoor Registration campaign’ from August 24 to September 11.
Through the campaign, the Government fast-tracks the process of analysing the applications received under the initiative for online registration of construction workers. Delhi has received over 70,000 applications for the registration.

Notes:
The COAS (Chief of Army Staff) Unit Appreciation was conferred to NSG’s (National Security Guard) 51 Special Action Group (SAG). The appreciation was conferred to the unit for the group’s exemplary achievements in combating terrorism.
The most important operation undertaken by the unit is “Operation Black Tornado” which was launched against the terror strikes in Mumbai in November 2008.