Current Affairs Quiz - October, 2020

Notes:
Famous Actor Sonu Sood has been conferred with “SDG Special Humanitarian Action Award” by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
The award has been conferred upon him for his selfless assistance rendered to migrants, stranded students abroad and bring them back to India. He also opened his hotel in Mumbai for health care workers of nearby hospitals.

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:
India has committed to build a 100-bedded cancer hospital and a 22,000-seater cricket stadium in Hulhumale, Maldives.
According to the Indian Embassy in Maldives, this facility is provided under the USD 800 million Line of Credit (LoC) extended to the country, by the Export Import Bank of India (EXIM) Bank in March 2019.

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:
The Department of Economic Affairs of the Union Finance Ministry is responsible for preparing the Union Budget.
The Finance Ministry has commenced the exercise for Union Budget 2021-22 by issuing the traditional circular. The Budget is expected to be presented to Parliament on February 1, 2021. The discussions will start from October 16 and continue till the first week of November.

Notes:
Indian Army has signed a Rs.7,796 crore project with ITI Limited, a telecom & Defence equipment manufacturing PSU.
The project has been signed for Phase IV of Army Static Switched Communication Network (ASCON) project. The ASCON is a telecom network for secured communication across the country. The project also includes maintenance of the network for a period of 10 years by ITI Limited.

Notes:
The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has successfully tested a system of Supersonic missile-assisted release of torpedo called SMART.
The lightweight anti-submarine torpedo has been tested from the Wheeler Island in Odisha. This system is to be deployed for anti-submarine warfare operations far beyond the torpedo range. All the mission objectives were met during the test.

Notes:
Three scientists namely Roger Penrose of Britain, Reinhard Genzel and American Andrea Ghez of Germany have won this year’s Nobel Prize in Physics.
The award has been presented for their contribution in the field of Cosmology. As per the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, the Scientists advanced our understanding of black holes.

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 12th summit of the Brazil-Russia-India-China-South Africa (BRICS) countries is to be held virtually held on November 17 via video conference.
This is set to be the first virtual multilateral meeting to be joined by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping since the border standoff in Ladakh in May. The theme for the meeting will be “BRICS partnership for global stability, shared security and innovative growth”.