Current Affairs Quiz - October, 2020

Notes:
The President of United States of America Donald Trump has announced its plans to distribute 150 million “15 minute” rapid Covid-19 test kits in the coming weeks.
Out of these 50 million test kits would be used for most vulnerable communities of the country, like nursing homes, assisted living facilities etc.

Notes:
It is reported that fraudulent transactions amounting Rs 12,705 crore has taken place in Dewan Housing Finance Corporation Limited (DHFL) during FY17 to FY19. These frauds pertain to development of 2 Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) projects undertaken by DHFL.
This observation was made by “Grant Thornton”, a transaction investigating agency. The assistance of Grant Thornton was sought by the administrator of DHFL appointed under Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code.

Notes:
Union Minister of Tribal Affairs Arjun Munda is to launch India’s largest handicraft and organic products marketplace named ‘Tribes India E-Marketplace’
This marketplace will be launched on the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti. This initiative of TRIFED will showcase the produce and handicrafts of tribal enterprises from all parts of the country. The Minister will also launch Pakur Honey, gathered by Santhal Tribals from Pakur, Jharkhand.

Notes:
The Ambedkar Social Innovation and Incubation Mission (ASIIM) has been launched by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment under the Venture Capital Fund for SCs.
The mission has been launched with an aim to promote innovation and entrepreneurship among Scheduled Caste students studying in higher educational institutions.

Notes:
The Union Finance Ministry has permitted Uttar Pradesh to raise an additional Rs.4851 crore of debt which is linked to the reforms undertaken in Public Distribution System (PDS). The additional borrowing can be done by rolling out “One Nation One Ration Card” scheme in the state.
Andhra Pradesh has been permitted for additional borrowing of Rs.2,525 crore for which it will have to make reforms on Ease of Doing Business. In May, the centre increased the borrowing limits of states from 3% to 5% of GSDP. Out of the additional 2%, 0.25% is linked to reforms in PDS and 0.25% is linked to ease of doing business.

Notes:
Madhabi Puri Buch is the first woman Whole-time member (WTM) of Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI).
She is also the first from the private sector to be appointed a SEBI Board member. The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) has recently approved the extension of her appointment as WTM for one year beginning October 4, 2020.

Notes:
Indian Army has signed a Rs.7,796 crore project with ITI Limited, a telecom & Defence equipment manufacturing PSU.
The project has been signed for Phase IV of Army Static Switched Communication Network (ASCON) project. The ASCON is a telecom network for secured communication across the country. The project also includes maintenance of the network for a period of 10 years by ITI Limited.

Notes:
Ravi Santhanam, the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) of HDFC Bank has been recognized in the Forbes list of ‘The World’s Most Influential CMOs’.
He is the only CMO of an Indian company to be featured in the prestigious list and he was ranked at 39th place. The list includes marketing heads of Apple, BMW, Adobe, and Microsoft among others. He was behind the ‘HDFCBankSafetyGrid’ and ‘HumHaarNahiMaanenge’ campaigns.

Notes:
The Second QUAD Ministerial Meeting has been organized at Tokyo City, Japan. External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar represented India.
Foreign Affairs Ministers of the four QUAD member countries which include India, United States, Japan and Australia attended the meeting. They jointly acknowledged the importance of maintaining a free and inclusive Indo-Pacific region.

Notes:
The Kyrgyzstan Central Election Commission has declared the results of the Parliamentary elections as invalid.
There have been violent protests in the country demanding to cancel the election results and to conduct repeat vote. The protestors entered into the State Committee for National Security and freed the former leader of the country Almazbek Atambayev, who was kept in possession.