Current Affairs Quiz-September, 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 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 twin children of Mukesh Ambani – Isha and Akash Ambani have featured in the Fortune’s “40 Under 40” list of influential people around the globe.
The Ambani siblings are placed in the list for their contribution in turning around Reliance Industries’ consumer business. Akash Ambani joined the board of Reliance Industries Limited in 2014 and Isha Ambani joined the board a year later.

Notes:
“Wilmington” in the US state of North Carolina has been declared as the World War 2 Heritage City. It is first of such cities to be announced.
This announcement was made by the US President Donald Trump during a ceremony held to mark the 75th anniversary of the end of World War 2. During the WW2, North Carolina Shipbuilding Company situated in Wilmington built 243 ships in 5 years as a part of the USA’s emergency ship building programme.

Notes:
The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has recently announced that the release of prisoners on Parole and Furlough is not an absolute right.
It also said that these measures are to be undertaken on the basis of well-defined norms of eligibility. It also directed the states not to allow those involved in terrorism and other heinous crimes, to go out of jails under these provisions.

Notes:
The Government of Assam has re-launched an old scheme named “SVAYEM” which aims to provide self-employment to 2 lakh youth in the state. SVAYEM stands for Swami Vivekananda Assam Youth Empowerment.
The scheme would provide Rs.50,000 as seed capital to selected youth, to commence their business. The total outlay of the scheme is Rs.1000 crore.

Notes:
As per the recent statement from the India’s UN mission, India is to send two teams of specialists to support UN peacekeeping operations in South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
This move is aimed to meet the Covid-19 challenge in two countries. One team of 15 specialists will be sent to Goma in DRC and another team of 15 specialists will be sent to Juba in South Sudan. This will strengthen the hospital facilities managed by Indian peacekeepers and will help those two countries in fighting Covid-19.

Notes:
Researchers at Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR) have developed a theragnostic (diagnostic therapy) drug candidate for lung cancer.
JNCASR is an autonomous institute under the Department of Science & Technology (DST), Govt. of India. Lung cancer is one of the most common cause of cancer related death and is tough to detect at early stages thereby making it difficult to treat.

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:
Bangladesh has recently launched a nation-wide campaign named ‘Asol Chini’, to curb fake information on Social Media.
The ‘Asol Chini’ campaign, which means ‘real identification’, aims to create digital literacy to stop fake information and rumours. To implement this three-month long campaign, a digital platform Durbar21.org has been created.