Current Affairs Quiz - October, 2020

Notes:
World Health Day was first established in 1999 by the World Heart Federation (WHF) in collaboration with the World Health Organisation (WHO).
World Heart Day is annually observed on September 29 to raise public awareness about cardiovascular diseases and their prevention. The World Heart Federation asks people around the world to ‘Use Heart to Beat CVD’.

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:
The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) headed by the Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has approved capital acquisition proposals in Defence sector worth Rs.229 crore.
The proposals include acquisition of 72,000 assault rifles from the United States of America. These proposals include material acquisitions from both Indian and foreign players and is aligned with Atma Nirbhar Policy of Self Reliance.

Notes:
International Translation Day is an international day celebrated annually on 30 September across the world.
The day is celebrated the feast of St. Jerome, the Bible translator who is considered the patron saint of translators. The celebrations have been led by International Federation of Translators, since it was set up in the year 1953.

Notes:
The CEO of NITI Aayog, Amitabh Kant has stated that the organization is fine tuning parameters and indicators used in ranking the 112 Aspirational Districts of India.
The Aspirational Districts Programme (ADP) was launched by the national think tank NITI Aayog in January 2018. It aims to transform 112 most backward districts that have shown relatively lesser progress in key social areas.

Notes:
The Island nation of Sri Lanka has recently announced to ban slaughtering of cows across the country.
The Prime Minister of Sri Lanka Mahinda Rajapaksa has announced that a legislature to implement the decision would be moved soon. The Cabinet has decided to import beef and provide it at a lower price to people who consume it.

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:
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has proposed to launch its Venus mission by the year 2025.
French space agency CNES would also participate in the mission. Presently, the two nations are working closely on ISRO’s human space mission Gaganyaan that aims to send 3 Indians to space by 2022.

Notes:
India has successfully test fired its indigenously developed nuclear capable hypersonic missile ‘Shaurya’.
The surface-to-surface tactical missile, with a strike range of around 1,000 km, has been test fired from a test range in Odisha. ‘Shaurya’ is the land variant of India’s K-15 missile and is capable of carrying payloads of 200 kg to 1000 kg.

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).