Current Affairs Quiz-September, 2020

Notes:
An important meeting of the BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation) was held virtually under the chairmanship of Sri Lanka.
During the meeting discussions were focussed on ways to expand cooperation among its member nations to deal with various challenges Covid-19. BIMSTEC is a multinational grouping of India, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Bhutan and Nepal.

Notes:
The Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) has elected Kenichi Ayukawa as its new President.
He has been the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Maruti Suzuki India since 2013. He earlier served as the Vice President of SIAM and is succeeding Rajan Wadhera. Vipin Sondhi of Ashok Leyland is elected as the Vice President.

Notes:
As per the Japan Meteorological Agency, the typhoon Haishen hit Japan and released fierce winds and rains.
Haishen means Sea God in Chinese and the typhoon unleashed winds of speed over 180 kilometers per hour and damaged some parts of Okinawa, Kyushu island. The typhoon is estimated to approach some regions of South Korea.

Notes:
The Vice President has recently suggested to include Milk as a part of the Mid-day Meal scheme, in break fast or meal, to improve the nutritional levels of children.
The Vice President earlier discussed this proposal with the Union Minister for Women and Child Development in this regard. He also said that the Central Government would recommend to all states to include Milk.

Notes:
The Central Institute of Petrochemicals Engineering and Technology (CIPET) is to establish two new Centres for skilling and technical support at Bhagalpur and Varanasi.
CIPET is an autonomous research and training institution under the Chemicals and Fertilisers Ministry. Around 1,000 youths will be trained in each centre every year through Diploma and Skill development programmes for employment in petrochemicals and allied industries.

Notes:
The Chief Minister of Kerala Pinarayi Vijayan inaugurated the Kochi Metro’s final stretch of the Phase-I covering Thykoodam to Petta which is 3 km long.
The inauguration was made virtually. With this, the phase-1 of Kochi Metro is complete at a cost of Rs.6218 crore. The inaugural function was presided by Hardeep Singh Puri, Union Minister of Housing & Urban Affairs.

Notes:
A loan agreement for $82 million has been signed between the Government of India, the Government of Himachal Pradesh and the World Bank (International Bank for Reconstruction and Development).
The loan would be used for implementation of Himachal Pradesh State Roads Transformation Project. The world bank loan is given for a term of 15 years including a grace period of 5 years.

Notes:
India, Israel and the United States of America have begun collaboration in developmental areas.
These include development of a transparent, open, reliable and secure 5G communication network. This collaboration among the three countries is a result of people-to-people collaboration, particularly by Indian Diaspora in the US and Israel.

Notes:
As per the recent media reports, the ruling party of Sri Lanka, the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) has approved a proposal to ban cow slaughter.
In the country, about 99% people are meat-eaters. Whereas, the majority Hindus and Buddhists do not eat beef. Mahinda Rajapaksa-led SLPP party won a two-thirds majority in the parliamentary elections last month.

Notes:
The Union Minister of Social Justice & Empowerment, Thaawarchand Gehlot has recently released a book containing 33 Action Plans 2020-21 of all the schemes of the Department of Social Justice & Empowerment.
This is the first time that the Department has released comprehensive Annual Action Plan 2020-21. The aim is to provide specific targets for the Ministry, State Governments and NGOs.