Current Affairs Quiz - October, 2020

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:
Google India has recently announced the launch of its nationwide campaign named ‘Make Small Strong’.
It aims to help support small businesses and enhance demand through customer support. It encourages people to buy locally and promote their favourite retailers by posting reviews. This new programme is based on feedback from Small and Medium Businesses.

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 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:
The fourth World Conference on Women was convened by the United Nations during in September 1995 in Beijing, China.
The 25th anniversary of the fourth World Conference on Women was recently organised. Union Women and Child Development Minister Smriti Irani participated in the conference. She highlighted about the initiatives undertaken in India including the National Nutrition Mission.

Notes:
The Centre immediately released nearly Rs 20000 crore among the states from the amount collected as compensation cess this year.
After the 42nd GST Council meet, the Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman also informed that the Centre will also disburse Rs 25000 crore towards Integrated GST for 2017-18 to the states which received less amount due to the anomalies.

Notes:
Global technology company IBM will set up an Artificial Intelligence Centre of Excellence with the Government e-Marketplace (GeM).
The CoE aims to bring in transparency, efficiency and cost saving in the public procurement process. The CEO of IBM announced this during his address at the RAISE 2020 AI summit. The company is working with the Karnataka state and NITI Aayog in precision agriculture solutions using AI.

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.

Notes:
The State Government of Gujarat has recently launched Digital Seva Setu Programme for the rural areas of the state.
Under this programme, the citizens will be provided access to various public welfare services at the Panchayat level. This Digital Seva Setu has been initiated under the Bharat Net Project that aims to connect the Village Panchayats through fibre network.

Notes:
The Chief Minister of Assam Sarbananda Sonowal launched the Kisan Rath Mobile App, to facilitate timely sale of agricultural products.
The app is designed and technically maintained by the National Informatics Centre (NIC) and aims to establish a robust buyer-seller network. The app will be released by the Assam Agribusiness and Rural Transformation Project (APART).