Current Affairs Quiz - October, 2020

Notes:
Human rights group Amnesty International has announced that it is halting all its ongoing campaign and research work in India.
The Group said that the Government has frozen the bank accounts for speaking out about rights violations. Amnesty had earlier highlighted rights violations that occurred in Jammu and Kashmir and riots in Delhi.

Notes:
Assam’s first and only woman Chief Minister Syeda Anwara Taimur has recently passed away in Australia, at 84 years.
She held various important positions including the Education Minister before becoming the Chief Minister from 1980 to 1981. She was also nominated for a Rajya Sabha term in 1988. She served as MLA for four times during his 4 decade-long political career.

Notes:
Mahatma Gandhi founded the organisation named ‘Harijan Sevak Sangh’ in 1932, to work for the upliftment of the Depressed class people.
The Sangh was established to fight untouchability in the country. While establishing the Sangh, Gandhi also started a new weekly paper named ‘the Harijan’. The Sangh is headquartered at New Delhi.

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:
“Operation My Saheli” has been launched by the South Eastern Railway, to boost the safety of women passengers during their entire train journey. The operation protects women from originating point to destination.
In a pilot mode, the operation has been introduced in 3 trains namely trains Howrah-Yeshvantpur Duronto Special, Howrah- Ahmedabad Special and Howrah-Mumbai special trains.

Notes:
India has successfully test fired its indigenously developed nuclear capable hypersonic missile ‘Shaurya’.
The surface-to-surface tactical missile, with a strike range of around 1,000 km, has been test fired from a test range in Odisha. ‘Shaurya’ is the land variant of India’s K-15 missile and is capable of carrying payloads of 200 kg to 1000 kg.

Notes:
India and South Africa has formally submitted a request to the World Trade Organization (WTO) and sought a waiver on agreements related to prevent Covid-19.
The countries claimed that there were many reports about Intellectual property rights (IPR) hindering timely provisioning of affordable medical products to COVID-19 patients. Many Developing countries face difficulties while using TRIPS Agreement.

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:
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has recently launched a mega campaign ‘Yudh Pradushan ke Virudh’.
Under this anti-air pollution campaign, separate detailed plans have been prepared for the 13 pollution hotspots identified in the city. It also aims to eliminate two major issues namely Stubble burning and Dust emissions.

Notes:
The Second QUAD Ministerial Meeting has been organized at Tokyo City, Japan. External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar represented India.
Foreign Affairs Ministers of the four QUAD member countries which include India, United States, Japan and Australia attended the meeting. They jointly acknowledged the importance of maintaining a free and inclusive Indo-Pacific region.