Current Affairs Quiz-September, 2020

Notes:
The Indian-origin politician of Singapore has created history by taking charge as the first Leader of the Opposition in Singapore.
Though there have been de-facto leaders of the Opposition in the past, this is the first time the position is being officially recognised. Pritam belongs to the Workers’ Party that had won 10 parliamentary seats out of the 93 seats.

Notes:
Qatar has announced major changes in its labour laws and policies. The country has announced to raise the minimum wage by 25 % to 1,000 riyals per month.
The country has also scrapped the requirement for workers to get permission from their employers to change jobs. As Qatar is the host of FIFA world cup 2022, it has been under the spotlight.

Notes:
The CSIR’s Central Mechanical Engineering Research Institute (CMERI) has developed the world’s largest ‘solar tree’, It is installed at the CSIR residential complex, Durgapur in West Bengal.
The solar tree is ergonomically designed to ensure maximum solar exposure of each solar photovoltaic panel. The tree has an annual capacity to generate 12,000-14,000 units of Power. There is a total of 35 Solar photovoltaic panels in each tree.

Notes:
According to a survey by World Health Organization (WHO), countries have witnessed disruptions in at least half of the 25 kinds of health services, due to Covid-19 pandemic.
Immunisation services were the most affected while diagnosis and treatment of non-communicable diseases (NCD) was the second-most impacted. The report states that 94% of the countries in survey concentrated their efforts only on tackling Covid-19.

Notes:
The Union Cabinet has recently approved the new comprehensive Civil Services reforms programme named “Mission Karmayogi”.
The programme aims to create a ‘citizen centric civil service’, which focusses on behavioural change. It will be delivered by setting up an Integrated Government Online Training- iGOT Karmayogi Platform. A Public Human Resources Council under the Prime Minister, will monitor the programme.

Notes:
According to an annual report released by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), around 1.39 lakh people died by suicide and 4.21 lakh people were killed in accidents in India last year.
The report also noted that traffic accidents were the single biggest contributor to accidental deaths which amounted to 43% of all fatalities.

Notes:
The recently released ranking of global solar companies by Mercom Capital, India’s leading business conglomerate Adani Group has been named as the top global solar power generation company in terms of operating solar projects.
As per the ranking report, Adani is roughly 70 % larger than the next largest global solar power generation company.

Notes:
The lawmakers of Tunisia have approved Hichem Mechichi as the country’s new Prime Minister. Mechichi and his proposed government won a confidence vote, after a long debate.
Earlier, the 46-year-old former Minister explained how his government would bring the country out of the economic and social crisis. This is the third Government of Tunisia since October and the ninth since the revolution held in 2011.

Notes:
The Union Cabinet, headed by the Prime Minister has approved a bill which gives official language status to Kashmiri, Dogri and Hindi in the UT of Jammu and Kashmir.
These languages are apart from the existing official languages Urdu and English. Jammu and Kashmir Official Languages Bill, 2020 would be introduced in the Monsoon session of the Parliament to legislate this bill.

Notes:
The Bangladeshi vessel named “MV Premier” made a trial run from Daudkandi in Bangladesh to Sonamura in Tripura, through the river Gumti.
The vessel was loaded with 50 metric tonne of cement and covered a distance of 93 kilometers through the river. This trial run would enhance connectivity between Bangladesh and the North Eastern states of India boosting bilateral trade with Bangladesh.