Current Affairs Quiz-September, 2020

Notes:
The first commercial direct flight between Israel and the UAE was recently operated. It took off from Israel and landed in Abu Dhabi. Saudi Arabia granted permission for using its air space.
On August 13, Israel and the UAE announced to establish full diplomatic relations after the United States initiated. UAE is only the third Arab country to establish diplomatic ties with Israel. The flight carried a top-level Israeli delegation and a US delegation.

Notes:
Former Finance Secretary, Rajiv Kumar has taken charge as the new Election Commissioner (EC) of India.
Rajiv Kumar is a 1984 batch Indian Administrative Service Officer and has served in various capacities at Ministries in the Centre and his state cadre of Bihar/Jharkhand. He retired as Finance Secretary, in February 2020, after which he was appointed as the Chairman Public Enterprises Selection Board.

Notes:
The European Investment Bank (EIB) announced that it is to invest 650 million Euros in the construction of Kanpur’s first metro service.
The agreement regarding the investment has been recently signed. This is the second metro rail project supported by the EIB in the state of Uttar Pradesh. It had earlier financed the Lucknow Metro rail system.

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:
Insurance Regulatory Development Authority of India (IRDAI) has constituted a 6-member panel to examine feasibility of permitting life insurance companies to offer index linked insurance products.
The panel would be headed by the appointed actuary of LIC, Dinesh Pant. Presently Life Insurance companies are offering two types of products namely Unit linked insurance plans and traditional plans.

Notes:
Union Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MoFPI) implements Pradhan Mantri Kisan SAMPADA Yojana (Scheme for Agro-Marine Processing and Development of Agro-Processing Clusters).
Recently, the Union Government has approved the implementation of 27 projects under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Sampada Yojana scheme. The projects aim to develop integrated cold chains and value addition infrastructure.

Notes:
The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved for signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between India and Japan for cooperation in the field of quality textiles.
Under the MoU, Nissenken Quality Evaluation Centre, Japan would assign Textile Committee as their cooperative Testing and Inspection service provider in India for apparels. Improving quality and testing of Indian textile products for Japanese market is also to be focussed.

Notes:
The Union Government has capped export incentives under Merchandise Export from India Scheme (MEIS), at Rs.2 crore per exporter.
This incentive cap is applicable for exporters who have made outbound from September 1 to December 31, 2020. This has been announced by Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) though its notification. The DGFT also stated that MEIS scheme would be withdrawn from 1st January 2020.

Notes:
The current President of the European Union, Germany has launched its Indo-Pacific strategy with India.
The strategy launched by the Germany’s Foreign Ministry suggested dialogue with institutions such as Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC), and Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA), in the fields of maritime safety and disaster risk management.

Notes:
The Indian Institute of Public Administration is a Research and training organization under the Union Ministry of Personnel. Vice President Venkaiah Naidu is the ex-officio President of IIPA.
The Ministry of Tribal Affairs (MoTA) and Indian Institute of Public Administration (IIPA) has recently organized a two-day ‘National Tribal Research Conclave’ through virtual platform chaired by the Union Minister of Tribal Affairs Shri Arjun Munda.