Current Affairs Quiz - October, 2020

Notes:
SBI Cards and American Express have entered into a strategic partnership. This partnership will allow SBI Card’s premium products – SBI Card ELITE and SBI Card PRIME to be available on American Express global network.
It would offer enhanced premium experience to the customers of SBI Cards like complimentary domestic lounge program, access to VIP upgrades and privileges at hotels, restaurants and retail outlets around the world.

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:
Union Science and Technology Minister Harsh Vardhan has launched the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) Technologies for Rural Development.
The technologies have been launched under a joint initiative of CSIR, Unnat Bharat Abhiyan (UBA), Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (IITD) and Vijnana Bharti (VIBHA). The technologies include improved beehive, dehumidified drier and agricultural waste-based biodegradable plates.

Notes:
The Union Finance Ministry has permitted Uttar Pradesh to raise an additional Rs.4851 crore of debt which is linked to the reforms undertaken in Public Distribution System (PDS). The additional borrowing can be done by rolling out “One Nation One Ration Card” scheme in the state.
Andhra Pradesh has been permitted for additional borrowing of Rs.2,525 crore for which it will have to make reforms on Ease of Doing Business. In May, the centre increased the borrowing limits of states from 3% to 5% of GSDP. Out of the additional 2%, 0.25% is linked to reforms in PDS and 0.25% is linked to ease of doing business.

Notes:
The Japanese automobile manufacturer Honda has announced to withdraw from Formula One (F1 racing) by the end of the 2021.
The decision has been announced by Honda, to achieve its goal of carbon neutrality and other environmental initiatives. Honda has been the engine supplier for the F1 teams Red Bull and Alpha Tauri.

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:
Technology Major Google has recently announced Google Workspace as the new name for its package of business tools.
The package including email and document editing was earlier known by the G Suite brand, which was introduced in 2016. Google has also launched some new features including integration of video chat with co-workers among others.

Notes:
Russia recently announced that it has successfully tested a new hypersonic anti-ship cruise missile named ‘Tsirkon’.
The Tsirkon missile was fired from the White Sea in the Russian Arctic and it successfully hit its target 450 kilometres away in the Barents Sea. The missile has also reached a speed of Mach 8 – eight times the speed of sound.

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:
China has formally joined the WHO-backed global Covid-19 vaccine initiative known as COVAX, after signing the agreement with Gavi, the international Vaccine Alliance.
As the United States and Russia stayed out of the initiative, as of October China is the biggest economy to join the WHO-backed global vaccine alliance. The initiative aims to distribute 2 billion doses of vaccines by the end of 2021.