Current Affairs Quiz - October, 2020

Notes:
Chief of Army Staff General M M Naravane has commissioned the Anti-Submarine Warfare stealth corvette INS Kavaratti into the Indian Navy.
INS Kavaratti is the last of the four indigenously- built ASW stealth corvettes under Project 28. It has been designed by the Directorate of Naval Design, the in-house wing of Indian Navy. The ship has completed sea trials of all the systems fitted onboard.

Notes:
The Reserve Bank of India on Wednesday announced that banks can deploy money drawn from Rs 1 trillion on-tap targeted long-term repo operations (on-tap TLTRO) in six sectors.
The six sectors are agriculture, agri-infrastructure, secured retail, MSMEs, and drugs, pharmaceuticals and healthcare. The money availed has to be deployed in corporate bonds, commercial paper and non-convertible debentures issued by the entities in specific sectors.

Notes:
The government has amended existing norms in chartering of vessels and the first priority will be given to ships built and flagged in India as well as owned by Indians.
As per the Shipping Ministry, for any kind of charter of a vessel, the Right of First Refusal (RoFR) would be exerted to ‘Indian built, Indian flagged and Indian owned’ vessels as the first priority. This will provide additional market access and business support to ships built in India.

Notes:
Former Prime Minister of Lebanon Saad Hariri won a small majority of votes in parliament and has been named the next Prime Minister.
He has been tasked with forming his fourth government, just under a year after his resignation amid mass-protests. President Michel Aoun had consultations with various parliamentary associations before naming him as the Prime Minister.

Notes:
Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Ltd (ABFRL) has proposed to raise a sum of Rs.1,500 crore from Flipkart Group. This fund rising would be by means of preferential issue of shares.
The capital would be raised at Rs.205 per share. With this capital infusion Flipkart Group will own 7.8% equity stake in ABFRL.

Notes:
Vodafone Idea and Nasscom Foundation has launched an app named “My Ambar” (meaning my sky). It is an app-based solution for women safety in India. It has been developed under the ‘Connecting for Good program’.
The app aims to help women understand and raise their voice against violence. The app is available in English and Hindi. It is provided with easy access to key helpline numbers and service providers across the country.

Notes:
Sri Lankan parliament has recently passed the controversial 20th Amendment to its constitution. It was passed with two-thirds majority, after a two-day long debate.
The amendment provides for greater immunity for the Executive President and provides with immense powers to the President. Eight opposition MPs voted in favour of the legislation, which was opposed by their party and challenged in Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court.

Notes:
A price monitoring and resource unit (PMRU has been recently set up in Goa, under the aegis of the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA).
NPPA has already established PMRUs in 15 states/ UTs, under its Consumer Awareness, Publicity and Price Monitoring (CAPPM) scheme. As per the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers, the unit will function at the state level under the direct supervision of the state drug controller.

Notes:
A fast-moving cyclone named Molave has hit the southern provinces of the Philippines. It has resulted in heavy flood in rural villages of the country.
The typhoon was blowing towards the South China Sea with sustained winds of 125 kilometres per hour. Nearly 25,000 villagers were displaced from the villages taking shelters in schools and Government buildings.

Notes:
Bharti Airtel has launched a new homegrown cloud communications platform for businesses named Airtel IQ.
With this venture, Airtel has entered the USD 1 billion Indian market. The platform will eliminate multiple channels and allow communication on a unified platform. It has also joined hands with other platforms including Swiggy and Justdial.