Current Affairs Quiz - October, 2020

Notes:
The Labour and Employment Ministry has recently revised the base year of the Consumer Price Index for Industrial Workers (CPI-IW) from 2001 to 2016.
This has been done to reflect the changing consumption pattern, to give more weightage to spending on health, education and other miscellaneous expenses, while reducing the weight of food and beverages. However, this will not affect the DA of government employees.

Notes:
The Union cabinet has recently approved the adoption of the Jammu and Kashmir Panchayat Raj Act.
After this approval, all the three tiers of grassroots-level democracy will be established in Jammu and Kashmir, for the first time since independence in Jammu and Kashmir, similar to other parts of the country. The process for local body elections will start in the Union territory.

Notes:
The Labour and Employment Secretary of India Apurva Chandra has been elected as the Chairperson of the Governing Body of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) for the period October 2020 – June 2021.
He is a 1988 batch of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) of Maharashtra Cadre. With this, India has assumed the leadership of ILO after a period of 35 years.

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:
Union Minister of State for Shipping Mansukh Mandaviya inaugurated the ‘Direct Port Entry (DPE) facility’ of V.O. Chidambaranar Port Trust, Tamil Nadu.
‘Direct Port Entry (DPE)’ will help in increasing Ease of Doing Business for the exporters. The facility is expected to lower tariff cost and improve the competitiveness of shipper in the international trade. This will also align it on the lines of ‘Maritime Vision 2030’ of Ministry of Shipping.

Notes:
According to the Action Plan for Vulture Conservation 2020-2025, 5 states namely Uttar Pradesh, Tripura, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu will get a vulture conservation and breeding centre each.
The plan has also suggested that new veterinary non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS) to be tested on vultures before their commercial release. The action plan was approved by the National Board for Wildlife (NBWL).

Notes:
Union Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank virtually inaugurated the DST-IIEST Solar PV Hub at IIEST, Shibpur.
Indian Institute of Engineering Science and Technology (IIEST) is an Institute of National Importance under Ministry of Education and is located in the state of Kolkata. The hub will have the world class research facilities.

Notes:
The NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) satellite is expected to be launched by 2022, as per the joint statement issued after the 2+2 strategic dialogue.
After the dialogue, India and the US have decided to share Space Situational Awareness Information. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) will collaborate in launching the satellite.

Notes:
Technology Major Microsoft recently announced that it has collaborated with the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC).
The partnership aims to provide digital skills to more than one lakh underserved women in India over the next 10 months. More than 70 hours of course content will be made available free of cost by the technology major.

Notes:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has inaugurated a seaplane service that connects Statue of Unity in Kevadia with Sabarmati Riverfront in Ahmedabad, Gujarat.
The sea plane service is being operated by Spice jet. Earlier, he inaugurated a cruise service near the Statue of Unity. The 40-minute cruise will cover a distance of six kilometres.