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:
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:
As per the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet, senior bureaucrat P D Vaghela has been named as the new Chairman of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).
P D Vaghela was a 1986- batch Gujarat cadre IAS officer replaces R S Sharma, who has held the post since 2015. Vaghela is to hold will serve as TRAI Chairman for three years or till he attains the age of 65.

Notes:
The (Indian Council of Medical Research) ICMR’s second sero-survey findings state that one in 15 individuals aged 10 years and above were estimated to be exposed to corona virus infection.
It shows that, there is a large section of population still susceptible to COVID-19. The report has also stated that containment and behavioural change among the people have effectively checked the potential spread of Covid 19.

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:
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 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 Union Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju has unveiled a new logo of Sports Authority of India (SAI).
The new logo signifies SAI’s journey of transformation from identifying grassroot level talent to creating sporting excellence in India. SAI was established in 1982 and has been an epicentre for sports in India.

Notes:
In order to commemorate the Birth Anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, “Shramdan” drive was organized by the Department of Justice, Government of India at New Delhi on 2nd October, 2020.
During the event, all the officers and staff members of Department of Justice participated in a cleanliness drive to clean the office premises.

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).