Current Affairs Quiz-September, 2020

Notes:
Noor Inayat Khan, who worked as a spy for Britain during World War II, becomes the first Indian-origin woman to get a Memorial plaque in London.
The house in London, where Noor Inayat Khan once lived, got a distinct Blue plaque. She is a descendant of Tipu Sultan, and she was the first woman radio operator to be sent into occupied France under the code name ‘Madeleine’.

Notes:
The Union Ministry of Defence has recently set up a committee to review the Armed Forces Headquarters Civil Services (AFHQ CS) cadre.
Defence minister Rajnath Singh approved the proposal to set up the committee, that will be headed by Lt Gen Shekatkar (Retd). The other two members include R Chandrashekhar and AN Das. The committee would identify appointments in Service HQs and Inter-Service Organisations (ISO).

Notes:
The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has issued a direction to Banks stating to refund charges collected by them on electronic transactions made by customers after January 1.
The CBDT has directed the Banks not to charge any fee for any transaction carried out through electronic modes like RuPay, BHIM – UPI, QR Code etc. Such practice by Banks is a breach of section 10A of Payment and Settlement Systems (PSS) Act and section 269SU of the IT Act.

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:
The Government of India has blocked 118 Mobile Apps which are considered to be prejudicial to Sovereignty and Integrity of the nation and the Defence security of the country.
The move has been made by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology by using the powers vested under Section 69A of Information Technology (IT) Act. This includes apps like PUBG and Wechat.

Notes:
The United States Department of Defense released its 2020 annual report to the US Congress, on Chinese military power.
As per the DoD report, China has the largest navy in the world, with a battle force of around 350 ships and submarines including over 130 major surface combatants. Whereas, the U.S. Navy’s battle force is approximately 293 ships.

Notes:
The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) published a report titled ‘Enhancing Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs)’.
The report identifies 16 ways to address the issue of Food loss and waste. It also suggests that these aspects are to be added in National climate plans, so that the ‘Mitigation and adaptation contributions’ from food systems can be improved by 25 per cent.

Notes:
The state Government of Karnataka has approved a new Information Technology (IT) policy 2020-25.
The new policy is expected to help the state in retaining and leveraging its position in Information Technology segment. Through the policy, the state aims to achieve 1 trillion-dollar digital economy and create 6 million job opportunities.

Notes:
The UN Women released a report titled “From Insights to Action: Gender Equality in the wake of COVID-19”, along with UN Development Programme (UNDP).
The report highlighted that the COVID-19 pandemic will immensely affect women and push 47 million more women and girls into extreme poverty by the year 2021. It also warned that the gender poverty gap will worsen in South Asia and poverty in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa.

Notes:
A painting of V.S. Gaitonde has become the most expensive work of art by an Indian artist, as it has fetched Rs 32 Crore at an auction held at Mumbai auction house Pundole.
The untitled oil-on-canvas painting was created in the year 1974 and was bought by an unnamed international buyer. This sale breaks the record held by another art work of V.S. Gaitonde that fetched Rs 29.3 crore in the year 2015.