Current Affairs Quiz - October, 2020

Notes:
The issue price of the 7th series of sovereign gold bond (SGB) scheme has been fixed at Rs,5051 per gram.
The SGB will be available for subscription from Oct12 to Oct 16, 2020. These Gold bonds are issued by the Reserve Bank of India on behalf of the Government of India.

Notes:
India and Mexico attended the fifth meeting of the India-Mexico Bilateral High-Level Group on Trade, Investment and Cooperation (BHLG).
The meeting was held in virtual mode and two MoUs were signed between Electronics & Computer Software Export Promotion Council (ESC) of India and FICCI with their respective counterparts.

Notes:
Mount Kilimanjaro is a dormant volcano located in Tanzania. It is also the tallest mountain of Africa and the highest single free-standing mountain in the world.
Recently, over 500 volunteers have been trying to put out a fire on the Mount Kilimanjaro. Thought the fire spread could be controlled, the area known as ‘Kifunika Hill’ was still burning, as per the news. The fire is said to have consumed 28 square kilometers of vegetation.

Notes:
Every year, the International Day of Rural Women is observed by the United Nations on 15th October. The first such day was observed in 2008 after the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution in this regard in 2007.
The day recognises the crucial role played by rural women in enhancing agricultural and rural development, improving food security and eradicating rural poverty.

Notes:
Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare Dr Harsh Vardhan launched the second phase of “Thalassemia Bal Sewa Yojna” for the underprivileged Thalassemic patients.
This scheme is a part of the Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation (HSCT) program which is funded by Coal India’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). It was launched in the year 2017 that aims to provide a one-time cure opportunity for Thalassaemia and Sickle Cell Disease.

Notes:
A webinar between India and Kazakhstan was held recently on the theme – “Make In India For The World, India – Kazakhstan Defence Cooperation: Webinar and Expo”.
The webinar was organized by Department of Defence Production, Ministry of Defence through FICCI. This is a part of the webinar series organized by the Ministry with friendly nations with the aim to boost defence exports.

Notes:
The United Nations arms embargo (ban) on Iran which stopped the country from purchasing foreign weapons like tanks and fighter jets expired.
Despite objections from the United States, the arms ban has expired. The United Nations had earlier banned Iran from buying major foreign weapon systems in 2010 amid tensions over its nuclear program. An earlier ban also targeted Iranian arms exports.

Notes:
India has announced that Australia would participate in the upcoming Malabar Naval Exercise this year, in addition to USA and Japan.
The exercise is expected to take place next month in the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea. The Malabar exercise started in 1992 between Navies of India and USA in the Indian Ocean. Japan became a member from 2015.

Notes:
Larsen & Toubro (L&T) has bagged the order for construction of the largest segment of Mumbai Ahmedabad high speed rail project. The project involves construction of high speed bullet train infrastructure of 237.1 km.
L&T had made a bid for Rs.24,985 crore, which emerged as the lowest price compared to other two bidders namely Tata Projects and Afcons Infrastructure Ltd.

Notes:
Singapore is to become the world’s first country to use facial verification in its national identification database.
Under the scheme, millions of people will be able to access government agencies and other services with a quick face scan. However, privacy advocates are apprehensive about the security and privacy threats.