Current Affairs Quiz - October, 2020

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:
The Ambedkar Social Innovation and Incubation Mission (ASIIM) has been launched by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment under the Venture Capital Fund for SCs.
The mission has been launched with an aim to promote innovation and entrepreneurship among Scheduled Caste students studying in higher educational institutions.

Notes:
The Union Defence Ministry has designated Alpha Design Technologies Limited (ADTL) to upgrade the soviet era Pechora surface to air systems.
As per the Rs.591 crore contract, the firm would be upgrading 16 such systems. Alpha Design Technologies Limited is a Bengaluru based company that is specialized in defence electronics, avionics and space satellite systems.

Notes:
The ‘World Day for Farmed Animals’ is celebrated on October 2, the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.
The Day is being observed since 1983 by various international organisations including ‘World Day for Farmed Animals Asia’, World Animal Protection and Asia for Animals coalition. In this year, a campaign of ‘Pledge to #FastAgainstSlaughter’ was held.

Notes:
India and Myanmar have agreed to work towards the operationalization of the Sittwe port, located in the Rakhine state of Myanmar.
The Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General M M Naravane and Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla held a two day long visit to Myanmar. The countries also agreed to strengthen their mutual partnership in other connectivity projects, power and energy.

Notes:
Union External Affairs Minister of India Dr S. Jaishankar held 13th India-Japan Foreign Ministers’ Strategic Dialogue with his Japanese counterpart, Mr MOTEGI Toshimitsu in Tokyo.
They reviewed the mutual partnerships in various sectors including maritime security, trade and investment, manufacturing and skill development. They also affirmed to conduct the next Annual Bilateral Summit in India.

Notes:
Union Minister of Textiles Smriti Irani has recently launched the first-ever brand and logo for Indian Cotton.
It was launched on the second World Cotton Day, which is celebrated across the world on October 7. India’s premium Cotton would be known as ‘Kasturi Cotton’ in the World Cotton trade. The Minister also released a new logo for the Indian Cotton.

Notes:
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has recently announced that Finance companies cannot be set up with foreign direct investment (FDI) from Mauritius or other domains that do not meet the benchmarks laid down by Financial Action Task Force (FATF).
This move of the Reserve Bank is expected to impact the huge annual inflows in the Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFC) space.

Notes:
As per the World Bank’s ‘South Asia Economic Focus’ report, India’s GDP is estimated to contract by 9.6 per cent in 2020-21.
Earlier the World Bank had forecasted that the country’s economy would suffer a 3.2 per cent contraction due to the impact of the nationwide lockdown. The report also highlighted that India’s growth would touch 5.4 per cent in 2021-22.

Notes:
Reserve Bank of India Governor Shaktikanta Das announced that Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) payment system will be available round the clock from December 2020.
At present, in the RTGS service, customer transactions are allowed from 7am to 6pm only on a working day. The relaxation of time constraints would make online payment more efficient. The minimum amount to be remitted through RTGS is Rs 2 lakhs with no upper ceiling.