Current Affairs Quiz - August, 2020

Notes:
The Union Civil Aviation Minister has recently announced that a total of 78 additional routes has been approved under the fourth batch of Regional Connectivity Scheme—Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagarik (UDAN).
Named as Udan 4.0, the new set of air operations connect Eighteen unserved/underserved airports to metro cities like Delhi, Kolkata, Kochi among others. With this, the total number of sanctioned routes has been increased to 766.

Notes:
Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has constituted a 5-member panel headed by V Ramagopal Rao (Director of Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi) to review the charter of its laboratories.
The panel has been set up by the DRDO chief G Satheesh Reddy. The panel is required to submit its report within 45 days. The panel is mandated to suggest measures to implement ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan’ in Defence sector and to reduce the dependence on imported weapons.

Notes:
A mobile training application for the National Cadet Corps (NCC) has been launched by the Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.
The application aims to conduct country wide online training to the NCC cadets. Since the schools and colleges have been closed on account of the COVID 19 pandemic, the app would enable the cadets to be trained through audio visual means.

Notes:
Recently, the 17th meeting of “India – Vietnam Joint Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific and Technological Cooperation” was organized via video conference.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar had represented India and discussed the recent developments with his Vietnamese counterpart Pham Binh Minh. Both the countries deliberated on the strategic partnership and decided to explore cooperation in emerging fields such as space, energy, marine science etc.

Notes:
Maldives has recently organised the Ground-breaking ceremony for development of the Hulhumalé Central Park and renovation of ‘Arrival Jetty’.
The projects are being developed by the Housing Development Corporation (HDC), through 10 million Maldivian Rupee assistance from India. This is a part of the 18 grant projects being financed by India in the island country.

Notes:
A typhoon named Bavi made its landfall in west coast of North Korea recently. The head of North Korea Kim Jong Un said that the typhoon had caused only minimal damage.
Kim stated that the scale of damage caused by the typhoon, which is referred by the country as Typhoon No. 8, is smaller than expected. Bavi had packed maximum wind speed when it made landfall. After hitting North Korea, it approached South Korea and China.

Notes:
The prestigious International Booker Prize for the year 2020 has been awarded to the Dutch author Marieke Lucas Rijneveld for her debut novel “Discomfort of Evening”.
The novel has been translated to English by Michele Hutchison. This prize is announced annually for the best book translated into English and published in UK or Ireland.

Notes:
The Border Security Force (BSF) has detected a trans-border tunnel originating from Pakistan across the Samba sector of Jammu and Kashmir.
After the force has discovered the tunnel, BSF is set to launch a major operation to check whether any other such tunnel has been developed. The place of opening of the tunnel is around 170 meters from the international border.

Notes:
The National Sports Awards ceremony for the year 2020, where India’s best sports persons are honoured by the President with various awards, was held virtually for the first time.
The award winners were connected virtually to the President of India at Rashtrapathi Bhavan from nine different Sports Authority of India designated locations. The prestigious ceremony was conducted virtually as a result of the restrictions imposed due to Covid-19 pandemic.

Notes:
Picodi.com, an international e-commerce platform has released a global ranking of nations based on average wages.
India has been ranked 72nd among 106 nations, with a monthly average income of Rs.32,800 (USD 437). Switzerland has topped the list with USD 5989 and Cuba is ranked the last at USD 36.