Current Affairs Quiz - October, 2020

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:
Taiwan-Asia Exchange Foundation (TAEF) is a leading think tank from Taiwan and the organizer of the Yushan Forum.
The think tank was seen in the news recently, as it has signed a memorandum with India’s National Maritime Foundation (NMF), to promote cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region. The agreement also aims to conduct joint research.

Notes:
The founders of stock brokerage company ‘Zerodha’, Nithin Kamath and Nikhil Kamath topped the IIFL Wealth Hurun India 40 & under Self-Made Rich List 2020.
They also manage the asset management company (AMC) True Beacon. The total net worth of the young businessmen stands at Rs 24,000 crores. The list ranks the self-made entrepreneurs with a wealth of INR 1,000 crore, aged below forty years and under from India.

Notes:
Recently, Yes Bank has classified Cox & Kings group as wilful defaulters. Also, the Bank has classified Cox & Kings Financial Services, and a related entity named Ezeego One Travel and Tours as wilful defaulters.
Yes Bank has an outstanding exposure of Rs.519.44 crore to Cox & Kings, Rs.944.24 crore to Ezeego One Travel and Rs.398.37 crore to Cox & Kings Financial Services.

Notes:
During the third assembly of International Solar Alliance, India and France were re-elected as the President and Co-President of ISA for a term of two years.
The representatives of Fiji and Nauru for Asia-Pacific, Mauritius and Niger for Africa, the UK and the Netherlands for Europe and others, Cuba and Guyana for Latin America and the Caribbean are elected as Vice-Presidents.

Notes:
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has released a report titled ‘The Global Tuberculosis Report, 2020’ recently.
As per the report, India recorded a decline in the notification of tuberculosis (TB) cases by about 85 per cent in April 2020, after the imposition of Covid-19 induced lockdown. However, India has the highest TB burden across the globe at 26 per cent.

Notes:
The production of food grains in India during the 2020-21 kharif season has been estimated at 144.52 million tonnes.
This record high estimate is made despite COVID 19 crisis prevailing in the country. As per official release, the production of food grains during the 2019-20 kharif season stood at 143.38 million tonnes.

Notes:
The rocket named New Shepard has been test launched recently by Blue Origin. It was an unscrewed test. The New Shepard launch vehicle consists of a reusable rocket and space capsule.
During the test, both the capsule and the rocket boosters were brought down to earth successfully. Blue Origin is a private spaceflight company founded in 2000 by Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos.

Notes:
The Philippines announced that it will resume oil and gas exploration in the South China Sea, by ending a six-year moratorium on resource exploration.
Former President Benigno Aquino III suspended exploration in the disputed sea in 2014 amid tensions with China. The United States had also supported Philippines against the move of China.

Notes:
As per the Sydney-based Lowy Institute’s Asia Power Index for 2020, India is at the fourth place in the list.
According to the study, the US remains the most powerful country influencing the Asia-Pacific. China is at the second spot while Japan is at the third place. The report also revealed that the US is losing influence in the Asia Pacific region.