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:
United Kingdom has named the Former Australian prime minister Tony Abbott as a trade adviser. He headed Australia from 2013 to 2015.
Along with the 62-year old former Prime Minister, Former member of the European Parliament, is to become Adviser to Britain’s Board of Trade. However, there were allegations that Tony Abbott was not suitable for the job due to his conservative social views.

Notes:
Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO) has successfully tested Hypersonic Technology Demonstration Vehicle from Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Launch Complex at Wheeler Island, off the Odisha coast.
The hypersonic cruise vehicle was launched using solid rocket motor, which took it to an altitude of 30 kilometers from where cruise vehicle separated and moved on the desired flight path at a velocity of 6 times the speed of sound i.e., nearly 2 km/second for more than 20 seconds.

Notes:
Around two crore people in Delhi are to collaborate to participate in the ’10 Hafte 10 Baje 10 Minute’ Anti-Dengue campaign.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal launched the 10-week campaign that aims to create awareness on vector-borne diseases. It urges the people to inspect their houses for any signs of stagnant clean water and to drain it. Last year, Delhi launched a similar campaign.

Notes:
The Government of Tamil Nadu has announced a new electronics & hardware manufacturing policy.
The policy aims to increase the State’s electronics industry output to $100 billion by 2025. The policy undertakes to impart skill training for more than 1,00,000 people by 2024, to meet the state’s human resource demand in electronics sector.

Notes:
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Government of India has recently signed a USD 500 million loan, to build the Delhi-Meerut Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS) corridor.
This is the first tranche of a total USD 1 billion facility extended to construct the modern, high-speed 82-kilometer RRTS corridor in India’s national capital region (NCR). A total of three priority rail corridors planned under the NCR Regional Plan 2021, to connect Delhi to other cities.

Notes:
The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) and the Uttar Pradesh State Rural Livelihood Mission (SRLM) are to collaborate in establishing over 200 supplementary nutrition production units.
This is to be undertaken under the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) scheme. This partnership aims to reach nearly 33 lakh beneficiaries in 18 districts, by 2023.

Notes:
India’s External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar is representing India at the Foreign ministers Meet of the SCO (Shanghai Cooperation Organisation) to be held at Moscow.
The meeting is hosted by Russian Foreign Minister. The foreign ministers of Russia, India and China (RIC) would hold a luncheon meeting on the side-lines of the SCO. India has been the fulltime member of SCO since 2017.

Notes:
Union Minster of Petroleum has stated that Five state run oil and natural gas PSUs will become corporate partners of the International Solar Alliance (ISA).
These PSUs would make financials contribution to ISA’s corpus fund. This announcement was made during the 1st World Solar Technology Summit organized by ISA. ONGC, IOCL, BPCL, HPCL and GAIL are the 5 PSUs.

Notes:
The Department of Post has launched a new scheme called Five Star Villages, to expand Universal coverage of Postal schemes in rural areas of the country.
The scheme aims to create public awareness on Postal Products and services across all interior villages. The products covered include Sukanya Samridhi Accounts, PPF Accounts, PM Suraksha Bima Yojana Account, PM Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana Account and other SB and RD accounts being offered.