Current Affairs Quiz - October, 2020

Notes:
India has recently donated 1.8 million N95 masks to Philadelphia, the largest city in the US state of Pennsylvania, to help tackle COVID-19.
This move is seen as an example of strong -US partnership in the health sector. The city Mayor had earlier requested India for the supply of masks to be used by frontline workers. It is also the sixth-most populous city in the United States.

Notes:
The Reserve Bank has decided to move to the Next Generation Treasury Application (NGTA) for managing the country’s foreign exchange and gold reserves.
NGTA is a web-based application, which would provide flexibility to introduce new products and securities. It can also support multi-currency transactions, settlements and various transactions in asset classes like Fixed Income, Forex, Money Market and Gold.

Notes:
British Racing driver Lewis Hamilton equalled the all-time record for career Formula 1 victories by winning the Eifel Grand Prix.
Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes recorded the 91st victory of his career and he equalled the record of Michael Schumacher. Max Verstappen finished second and Daniel Ricciardo finished third.

Notes:
Kerala has recently become the first state in the country to have high-tech classrooms in all its public schools.
Chief Minister of Kerala Pinarayi Vijayan has declared that the state public education sector has become completely digital. He also said that over 5 lakh students joined in Government schools during the last five years.

Notes:
The Finance Minister has recently announced a one-time interest-free festival advance of Rs 10000, to all its officers and employees.
The festival advance was discontinued from the 6th Pay Commission for central government employees. But this one-time measure is announced to spur demand in the economy. The advance will be given as a pre-paid Rupay card, which can be spent by March 31, 2021. Cash voucher replacing leave travel concession (LTC) fare was also announced.

Notes:
According to the PRAAPTI portal, the total dues owed by distribution firms to power producers stood at Rs.1.33 lakh crore in August 2020. It has registered a year on year increase of 37% from Rs.96,963 crore in August 2019.
PRAAPTI (Payment Ratification And Analysis in Power procurement for bringing Transparency in Invoicing of generators) is a portal launched in May 2018 by the Ministry of Power, in order to bring transparency in power purchase between power generator and distributor.

Notes:
The Union Cabinet headed by Prime Minister of India has approved a special package of Rs.520 crore to Union Territory of JK and Ladakh. The package is approved for a period of years till FY 2023-24.
The package would ensure funding of Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana – National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM) in the UTs of Jammu and Kashmir & Ladakh on a demand-driven basis, without linking fund allocation with poverty ratio.

Notes:
Union Minister Nitin Gadkari has recently flagged off a special `Kisan Rail’ carrying 205 tonnes of oranges, from Nagpur to Delhi.
As per the recent notification from the Central Railway, the special Kisan train will have 12 VPU Rakes and will halt in the `orange belt’ of Katol, Narkhed, Pandhurna, Betul and Itarsi. A new website has also been launched for rake booking.

Notes:
The Government of Uttar Pradesh has launched a campaign named “Hath dhona – Roke corona” on the occasion of Global Handwashing Day.
The Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Yogi Adityanath stressed that good habits of personal hygiene like hand washing can help to combat Covid19 and enable people lead a healthy life.

Notes:
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has recently inaugurated operations of the first phase of the International Institute of Advanced Virology.
It has been located at the Life Science Park at Thonakkal in Thiruvananthapuram. Renowned virologist, Dr Akhil Banerjee was appointed as the Head of the research Institute, which is currently under the Department of Science and Technology.