Current Affairs Quiz-September, 2020

Notes:
The Railway Ministry has proposed to amend Sec 144 of Railways Act 1989. As per the present provision in the act, begging in Railway property is an offence and makes it liable for imprisonment or a fine of Rs.2000/-.
The section is proposed to be changed by stating that begging will not be allowed in properties of Railways including Trains and Railway premises.

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 news from the Prime Minister’s Office, the first-ever cannabis medicine project will be set up at Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine (IIIM) in Jammu.
This project will be the first major foreign investment in Jammu and Kashmir after it became a Union Territory (UT). It will be established in collaboration with Canada. The medicine prepared from Cannabis are used to produce pain-relief medicine.

Notes:
The Vodafone Idea Limited has revealed its new integrated brand identity “VI” (read as ‘We’), using just the initials of both Vodafone and Idea.
The new brand name has been launched after 2 years since the merger of Vodafone and Idea took place. The company has also revealed a reward programme named ‘Happy Surprises’. The Supreme Court has given telecom companies 10 years to pay adjusted gross revenue dues (AGR) dues.

Notes:
Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi is set to hold a programme named ‘SVanidhi Samvaad’ with street vendors from Madhya Pradesh.
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan will also participate in the program through video conferencing. Prime Minister is to interact with three beneficiaries from the state through virtual mode. 4.5 lakh street vendors of Madhya Pradesh registered in the PM SVANidhi scheme.

Notes:
UNICEF is leading in efforts to procure and supply COVID-19 vaccines. This could be the world’s largest and fastest ever procurement and supply of vaccines.
In collaboration with Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), UNICEF is set in its efforts to procure and supply doses of COVID-19 vaccines for 92 low and lower middle-income countries.

Notes:
The Government of Andhra Pradesh has launched a scheme named YSR Sampoorna Poshana.
The scheme will be implemented in Anganwadi centres to provide supplementary nutrition to newborn babies, including pregnant women suffering from anaemia. Under the scheme, hot milk, rice, pulses, vegetables, and eggs would be distributed to pregnant and postpartum women for 25 days a month.

Notes:
The Pune based SII -Serum Institute of India has paused the clinical trial of COVID vaccine candidate. The vaccine is being developed by Oxford University’s Jenner Institute and Astra Zeneca.
Serum Institute has stopped the trial after a notice from the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI). The trials of COVID vaccine were stopped globally after one of the recipients in U.K. showed adverse symptoms.

Notes:
As per the credit rating agency CRISIL, Indian economy will contract by 9 per cent in 2020-21 on account of COVID 19 pandemic.
The agency has stated that the infection is yet to peak and the financial assistance provided by the Government is not sufficient. Earlier in May 2020, Crisil had estimated the economy to contract by 5 per cent

Notes:
Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) has become the first Indian company to surpass USD 200 billion in market capitalisation. The RIL had market capitalisation of Rs.15.3 trillion (USD 208 billion).
RIL is followed by Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) with market capitalization of Rs 8.75 trillion (USD 119 billion). RIL is the 40th most valuable firm globally.