Current Affairs Quiz - October, 2020

Notes:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended a first virtual summit with his counterpart of Denmark, Mette Frederiksen.
As per the joint statement, the new ‘Green strategic partnership’ will be based on existing Joint Commission for Cooperation for cooperation in various fields including politics, energy, environment and education.

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:
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:
SBI Cards and American Express have entered into a strategic partnership. This partnership will allow SBI Card’s premium products – SBI Card ELITE and SBI Card PRIME to be available on American Express global network.
It would offer enhanced premium experience to the customers of SBI Cards like complimentary domestic lounge program, access to VIP upgrades and privileges at hotels, restaurants and retail outlets around the world.

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:
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:
India’s Sehgal Foundation has emerged as a co-runner up of the USA’s “Citizen Diplomacy Award”. The institution has been selected for its human rights and women empowerment work in rural India.
The Department of States – Bureau of Global Public Affairs of USA, launched the Citizen Diplomacy Award in 2017 to recognize significant contributions by citizens and organizations to deepen USA’s foreign policy around the world.

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:
A ‘High Level Monitoring Committee’ is proposed to be set up by India and Bangladesh to review projects implemented with Line of Credit (LoC) provided by India.
The decision was made at the 6th Joint Consultative Commission (JCC) meeting between the two countries held in a virtual mode. The High-Level Monitoring Committee would be headed by Secretary, Economic Relations Division of Bangladesh and High Commissioner of India in Bangladesh.

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.