Current Affairs Quiz - August, 2020

Notes:
The state Government of Assam has extended the AFSPA (Armed Forces Special Powers Act, 1958) in the state for a period of 6 more months, from August 28
Assam has been declared a “disturbed area” due to various insurgent attacks on the security forces in the near past. The AFSPA is in force in Assam since 1990 and is renewed every 6 months. The Act empowers the security forces to make security operations, arrest anyone anywhere without prior notice.

Notes:
The Union Culture Ministry has announced the formation of seven new circles of Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).
This has been announced following the Prime Minister’s call to preserve and register archaeological monuments. The new circles are – Trichy (Tamil Nadu), Raiganj (West Bengal), Rajkot (Gujarat), Jabalpur (Madhya Pradesh), Jhansi (Uttar Pradesh), Meerut (Uttar Pradesh) and Hampi (Karnataka). Earlier there were 29 circles of ASI in India.

Notes:
The Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitaraman chaired the 41st GST Council meet, which discussed about the options that can be given to states to meet shortfall of GST compensation.
Earlier in the month of May, the Centre amended the FRBM act to raise the borrowing limit of States from 3 per cent to 5 per cent of GSDP for FY21. After the meeting, the Finance Minister said, a further relaxation of 0.5 per cent in the limit will be given. This year, there is a GST compensation gap of 2.35 lakh crore rupees.

Notes:
Apex body on data protection in India, set up by NASSCOM, the Data Security Council of India (DSCI), along with PayPal India released a report titled ‘Fraud & Risk Management in Digital Payments’.
The report suggests to safeguard payments for consumers, MSMEs, businesses, as the e-commerce market in India and UPI transactions are growing manifold during the recent times. It also discussed about the threats in the payment ecosystem and its prevention.

Notes:
Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has recently announced that it has established a new forum on Artificial Intelligence chaired by Sandip Patel.
Sandip Patel is the Managing Director of India/South Asia region of IBM. The CII AI Forum will focus on building a strong AI ecosystem in India. It also seeks to generate awareness at grassroot level and reskill the Indian workforce in emerging technologies.

Notes:
Japan’s Prime Minister (Premier) Shinzo Abe, who is also the longest-serving premier, has resigned due to poor health.
The term of the ruling party leader and Premier ends in September 2021. After his resignation, the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) will select a nominee and the winner must be formally elected in Parliament. Abe is known for his famous economic strategy named ‘Abenomics’.

Notes:
The United Nations (UN) Secretary General Antonio Guterres delivered the 19th Darbari Seth Memorial lecture, organised by the Energy and Resources Institute (TERI).
The UN Secretary General delivered the lecture titled ‘The rise of renewables: shining a light on a sustainable future’. He called India and other G20 countries to invest in clean and sustainable systems after the world recovers from Covid-19 pandemic.

Notes:
As per the recent statement from the India Meteorological Department (IMD), India has received highest rainfall in August this year since 1976.
The rainfall recorded in August is 296.2 millimetres, which is around 25 percent more than the average rainfall (237.2 millimeters). IMD also forecasted that the monsoon may slow down in September.

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:
The India-Singapore Defence Policy Dialogue (DPD) was conducted virtually where the two parties reviewed their bilateral defence ties in a comprehensive manner.
The two countries resolved to enhance their cooperation in defence and security with special focus on maritime security. The meeting was co-chaired by Defence Secretary Dr Ajay Kumar. During the event, the Implementing Arrangement on “Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief” (HADR) was signed between the two countries.