Current Affairs Quiz - October, 2020

Notes:
The President of United States of America Donald Trump has announced its plans to distribute 150 million “15 minute” rapid Covid-19 test kits in the coming weeks.
Out of these 50 million test kits would be used for most vulnerable communities of the country, like nursing homes, assisted living facilities etc.

Notes:
Serum Institute of India (SII) has partnered with Gavi COVAX and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to produce an additional 100 million doses of the COVID 19 vaccine.
The vaccine is presently being tested by SII. The additional production is targeted at 61 Low- and Middle-Income countries, including India.

Notes:
It is reported that fraudulent transactions amounting Rs 12,705 crore has taken place in Dewan Housing Finance Corporation Limited (DHFL) during FY17 to FY19. These frauds pertain to development of 2 Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) projects undertaken by DHFL.
This observation was made by “Grant Thornton”, a transaction investigating agency. The assistance of Grant Thornton was sought by the administrator of DHFL appointed under Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code.

Notes:
Leading Power Sector organisation, NTPC Ltd has recently signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Ministry of Power.
Under the MoU, the key targets were fixed for the year 2020-21, which include 340 BU of electricity generation, 15 MMT of coal production under excellent category. It also includes other financial parameters including Capex and Revenue from operations.

Notes:
India has successfully test fired a new version of the surface-to-surface supersonic cruise missile BrahMos.
The missile with a number of indigenously developed sub-systems including a Booster was flight-tested from the integrated test range at Balasore in Odisha. It has an extended range of about 400 km from the earlier 290 km range.

Notes:
As per the Reserve Bank of India, India’s external debt stood at USD 554.5 billion at the end of June 2020. It is recorded a decrease of USD 3.9 billion compared to March 2020 level. The main reason for the decrease in external debt was depreciation of INR against major currencies like USD, Euro.
RBI has also stated that external debt to GDP ratio has increased to 21.8 % compared to 20.6 % as of March 2020.

Notes:
India has committed to build a 100-bedded cancer hospital and a 22,000-seater cricket stadium in Hulhumale, Maldives.
According to the Indian Embassy in Maldives, this facility is provided under the USD 800 million Line of Credit (LoC) extended to the country, by the Export Import Bank of India (EXIM) Bank in March 2019.

Notes:
The Films Division has organized ‘Gandhi Filmotsav’, as a part of the final event of two years celebration of Mahatma Gandhi’s 150th Birth Anniversary.
The week-long online film festival was streamed on its Website and YouTube Channel. The birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi is celebrated on October 2 across the world. The birth anniversary of former Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri is also celebrated on the same day.

Notes:
The National Statistical Office (NSO) conducted the first of its kind “Time Use Survey in India” during the period from January to December 2019. The result of the survey has been released recently in the form of a report.
The survey measures the time spent on paid activities, care activities, unpaid activities, etc. NSO conducted the survey covering 1,38,799 households in both urban and rural areas.

Notes:
RAISE 2020 – `Responsible Artificial Intelligence for Social Empowerment 2020’ would be organized jointly by Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology and the national think tank NITI Aayog.
The event would be held from October 5 – 9, 2020 in a virtual mode. Prime Minister Narendra Modi would inaugurate the summit.