Current Affairs Quiz - October, 2020

Notes:
The Konso cultural landscape, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is located in a dry, hilly environment at the edge of the Rift Valley in southern Ethiopia. It has always been a relatively isolated area of the country, where life has remained largely unchanged for at least 400 years. The people live in closely-packed communities of wood-and-mud built, thatched dwellings from which they travel out to their fields of millet on a daily basis. The local chief’s hilltop ‘Palace’ comprises a collection of dome-shaped thatched rooms, with covered meeting and work areas, all surrounded by a heavy wooden ‘stockade’ with narrow gates. In nearby forest clearings, collections of anthropomorphic statues are maintained, one group of them kept under a pagoda-style shelter.

Notes:
India’s first multi-wavelength astronomical observatory named ‘Astrosat’ has recently completed five years of imaging objects in space.
The satellite was launched by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) in 2015. It has successfully carried out over 1000 observations of 800 unique celestial sources. A discovery of a galaxy located at a distance of about 10 billion light-years from Earth has been made using it.

Notes:
The first ever “International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste” is observed on 29th September 2020 by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations.
The day is observed with the message “Stop food loss and waste – for the people, for the planet”. The day aims to create awareness about food loss and calls for global action to maximize the use of food.

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:
The National Institute of Nutrition (NIN) under the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has revised the ideal weight for adult Indian men from 60 kg to 65 kg.
Similarly, the NIN has revised the ideal weight for adult Indian women from 50 kg to 55 kg. The definition of Indian adult also stands revised from 20-39 years to 19-39 years.

Notes:
Abu Dhabi-based sovereign wealth fund Mubadala Investment will invest Rs 6,247.5 crore to acquire a 1.4 per cent stake in Reliance Retail.
This is the fourth investor in Reliance Retail Ventures Ltd (RRVL) and the third such deal recently. Earlier, global private equity firm General Atlantic and Silver Lake bought 0.84 per cent stake and 2.13 per cent stake in the company respectively.

Notes:
The Union Defence Ministry has designated Alpha Design Technologies Limited (ADTL) to upgrade the soviet era Pechora surface to air systems.
As per the Rs.591 crore contract, the firm would be upgrading 16 such systems. Alpha Design Technologies Limited is a Bengaluru based company that is specialized in defence electronics, avionics and space satellite systems.

Notes:
The Data Governance Quality Index (DGQI) survey is conducted by the nation’s think tank NITI Aayog, by its Development Monitoring and Evaluation Office.
The survey aims to evaluate the performance of different Ministries /Departments in implementing Central Sector Schemes (CS) and Centrally Sponsored Schemes (CSS). Department of Fertilizers has been ranked 2nd among 65 departments under the Data Governance Quality Index survey.

Notes:
The Indian Navy along with Greater Vishakhapatnam Municipal Corporation had undertaken Aerial Seeding in Vishakhapatnam.
This initiative is aimed to increase green cover in and around Vishakhapatnam. Over 6.25 tonnes of seed balls were air dropped in five locations from the Naval helicopters.

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.