Current Affairs Quiz - October, 2020

Notes:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated six mega development projects in Uttarakhand under the Namami Gange Mission.
A first of its kind Museum named ‘Ganga Avalokan’ on the River Ganga at Haridwar, was also inaugurated. The Prime Minister also released a book titled “Rowing Down the Ganges” and a new logo for the Jal Jeevan Mission.

Notes:
Famous Actor Sonu Sood has been conferred with “SDG Special Humanitarian Action Award” by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
The award has been conferred upon him for his selfless assistance rendered to migrants, stranded students abroad and bring them back to India. He also opened his hotel in Mumbai for health care workers of nearby hospitals.

Notes:
General Atlantic has proposed to invest Rs 3,675 crore in the Retail arm of Reliance.
With this investment, the company would get 0.84% stake in Reliance Retail Ventures. The fresh investment would value Reliance Retail Ventures at Rs.4.285 lakh crore. This is the second investment of General Atlantic in Reliance after its investment of Rs.6,598.38 crore in Jio.

Notes:
NITI Aayog has organized a two-day national-level consultation programme on natural farming from 29th to 30th September.
The programme aims to bring out the socio-economic and environmental benefits of natural farming and to boosting farming income. Central and state government officials, scientists and experts from agriculture universities participated in this event.

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 19th round of Foreign Office Consultations between India and Myanmar was recently held through virtual mode.
India committed to provide debt service relief under the G-20 Debt Service Suspension Initiative, for the period May 1, 2020 to December 31, 2020. Both the countries agreed to enhance their mutual cooperation. A Joint Trade Committee Ministerial Meeting is also to be held on October 20.

Notes:
Indian Army has signed a Rs.7,796 crore project with ITI Limited, a telecom & Defence equipment manufacturing PSU.
The project has been signed for Phase IV of Army Static Switched Communication Network (ASCON) project. The ASCON is a telecom network for secured communication across the country. The project also includes maintenance of the network for a period of 10 years by ITI Limited.

Notes:
A United States Navy P-8A long range Maritime Patrol Aircra landed at Port Blair in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
This is seen as a significant incident as this is the first time a U.S. P-8 aircraft landed at Port Blair for refuelling under the bilateral logistics support agreement. The agreement is called the Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement (LEMOA).

Notes:
The authorities of Saudi Arabia have announced that the Umrah pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca has been resumed.
Due to the spread of Covid-19, Saudi Arabia had earlier suspended the pilgrimage for foreign and domestic Muslims in March. The country has decided to open up the pilgrimage in gradual phases with precaution, depending upon the pandemic’s spread.

Notes:
The Union Government has recently appointed economists Ashima Goyal, Jayanth R Varma and Shashanka Bhide as members of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC), headed by the prime minister, approved the names. The new members will replace Chetan Ghate, Pami Dua and Ravindra Dholakia. The RBI had earlier postponed the last meeting of the MPC.