Current Affairs Quiz - October, 2020

Notes:
India’s largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki India has announced that it has shortlisted five start-ups, as part of its MAIL (Mobility & Automobile Innovation Lab) programme.
With these new companies, Maruti Suzuki is engaged with 14 start-ups under the MAIL programme in the last 18 months. The initiative aims to create innovative business solutions and promote innovation in automobile sector.

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:
NITI Aayog and the Embassy of the Netherlands, New Delhi recently signed a Statement of Intent (SoI) on ‘Decarbonization and Energy Transition Agenda’.
Under this partnership, NITI Aayog and the Dutch Embassy aim to create innovative technological solutions to accommodate cleaner energy. It also aims to lower the net carbon footprint, to promote bio-energy technologies among others.

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:
China is expected to send the world’s first mining robot into space by November 2020 through a private Beijing company, Origin Space.
The mining robot named as an ‘Asteroid mining robot’ will be a part of the preliminary assessment to identify and extract valuable resources. The spacecraft NEO-1 will be launched onboard a Chinese Long March rocket.

Notes:
As per a report titled “Annual Crime in India 2019” published by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), crime against Scheduled Castes (SCs) has increased over 7% and crimes against Scheduled Tribes (STs) has increased over 26% in 2019.
As per the report, Uttar Pradesh has recorded the highest number of crimes against SCs in 2019 followed by Rajasthan and Bihar.

Notes:
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) approved the appointment of Committee of Directors (CoD) to run Dhanlaxmi Bank.
RBI is said to have approved a three-member interim committee of directors, headed by G Subramonia Iyer, to run the bank. Earlier, the shareholders voted out the bank’s MD and CEO Sunil Gurbaxani.

Notes:
On Mahatma Gandhi’s 151st birth anniversary, the world’s highest architecture Burj Khalifa tower in Dubai, United Arab Emirates was illuminated with Mahatma Gandhi’s image along with his message.
His famous quote ‘Peace between countries must rest on the solid foundation of love between individuals’ was displayed on the iconic tower.

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:
Digital payments firm Paytm has recently launched a mini-app store, with an aim to support Indian developers.
This initiative is seen as a direct challenge to Google in the App store system. The payment app was earlier temporarily removed from Google’s Play Store for violating developer guidelines. Paytm provides listing and distribution of these mini-apps within its application.