VISION

 GS Score Mains 2020 Test 02 With Solution

1) International Day of Rural Women: 15 October

•The International Day of Rural Women is observed globally on 15 October each year. The day recognizes the crucial role of women and girls in ensuring the sustainability of rural households and communities, improving rural livelihoods and overall well-being. In India, the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare observes the day as the Rashtriya Mahila Kisan Diwas since 2016, to increase the active participation of women in agriculture.

•The theme for this International Day of Rural Women is “Building rural women’s resilience in the wake of COVID-19,” to create awareness of these women’s struggles, their needs, and their critical and key role in our society.

2) World Students’ Day: 15 October

•World Students’ Day is observed every year on 15 October to mark the birth anniversary of former President A. P. J. Abdul Kalam. This year marks the 89th birth anniversary of the former president and ‘Missile Man’ Dr APJ Abdul Kalam.

3) Odisha launches ‘Sujal’ Mission to provide tap water fit for drinking

•Chief Minister of Odisha, Naveen Patnaik has inaugurated “Sujal”, ‘Drink from Tap Mission’ scheme, to provide round the clock supply of quality tap drinking water in all urban areas of the state.

4) Russia approves 2nd coronavirus vaccine “EpiVacCorona”

•Russia has given regulatory approval to a second Covid-19 vaccine, named ‘EpiVacCorona’, after early-stage studies. The new coronavirus vaccine comes two months after a similar move for Russia’s first vaccine Sputnik V prompted widespread criticism from scientists both at home and abroad.

•Russia became the first country to give regulatory approval to a Covid-19 vaccine in August when Sputnik V was officially registered ahead of the large-scale clinical trial. Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that the country has registered the second Covid-19 vaccine.

5) “Bank of Ghana” wins Central bank of the year award 2020

•“Bank of Ghana” has won the Central bank of the year award 2020. Apart from this, Mark Carney (Governor of the Bank of England) has won the Governor of the year at the Central bank of the year award 2020. Central Banking Awards is held annually to recognize excellence in the central banking community. This was the 7th edition of the award and the ceremony was held virtually on.

6) HDFC Bank to launch ‘The HealthyLife Programme’ for its customers

•India’s leading private sector bank, HDFC Bank and Apollo Hospitals have collaborated to launch the “HealthyLife Programme”, a holistic healthcare solution. This programme will be launched for HDFC Bank customers, to make healthy living accessible and affordable while making the process convenient and easy for the customers.

GS Score Mains 2020 Test 01 With Solution

Vision IAS Mains 2020 Test 02 with Solution PDF

Vision IAS Mains 2020 Test 01 with Solution PDF

1) World Standards Day: 14 October

•World Standards Day or International Standards Day is observed globally on 14 October every year. The day aims to raise awareness about the importance of standardisation to the global economy among the consumers, regulators and industry.

•World Standards Day 2020 theme is “Protecting the planet with standards”.

•It is marked to celebrate the contributions of experts and scientists across the world in developing voluntary standards within standards development organisation such as the International Organisation for Standards (ISO), International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), International Telecommunication Union (ITU), Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), and Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF).

2) PM Modi releases autobiography of Balasaheb Vikhe Patil

•Prime Minister Narendra Modi has released the autobiography of former Union Minister Dr Balasaheb Vikhe Patil through video conferencing. The autobiography of Dr Patil has been titled ‘Deh Vechwa Karani,’ means ‘dedicating one’s life for a noble cause.’ Dr Patil served as Member of Lok Sabha for multiple terms. He died in 2016 at the age of 84.

•The prime minister also renamed the Pravara Rural Education Society to ‘Loknete Dr Balasaheb Vikhe Patil Pravara Rural Education Society.’ The society was established in Ahmednagar’s Loni district to provide a world-class education to rural masses and empower the girl child.

3) FATF keeps Pakistan on enhanced follow-up list

•Financial Action Task Force (FATF) Asia Pacific Group has kept Pakistan in its ‘Enhanced Follow Up’ list. The organisation had downgraded Pakistan status from “regular follow-up” to “enhanced follow up”. Enhanced follow up status means the country need to provide monthly reports of its compliance to the Financial Action Task Force.

•The Asia-pacific group of FATF submitted its report called “Follow up report on the “mutual evaluation of Pakistan”. In the report, it was highlighted that the progress of Pakistan to combat the Financing of terror system and anti-money laundering made by the Financial Action Task Force has remained unchanged in 2020 as compared to that of 2019. As per the report, Pakistan complied with only two of the 40 recommendations of the Financial Action Task Force.

4) Indian Army and Maha govt organised a anti-terror exercise “Suraksha Kavach”

•Indian Army and Maharashtra Police organised an anti-terror exercise “Suraksha Kavach” at Lullanagar, Pune, Maharashtra. The aim of the exercise was to harmonize the drills and procedures of both Army and Police for activating anti-terrorist Quick Reaction Teams (QRTs) to counter any terrorist actions in Pune. The exercise involved the participation of Quick Reaction Teams, Dog Squads and Bomb Disposal Teams of Army as well as Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) and Quick Reaction Team of Maharashtra Police.

•The exercise was carried out taking all safety norms of COVID-19 into consideration and strength of participating troops was scaled down accordingly. The exercise provided an opportunity for both Army and Police to cooperate, coordinate, coopt and streamline their drills and procedures. Overall, it was a great learning experience for both.

5) World Economic Forum shifts annual meeting 2021 from Davos

•The World Economic Forum (WEF) will hold its Annual Meeting 2021 in Lucerne-Burgenstock, Switzerland, from May 18 to 21, as against the traditional venue of the ski resort town, Davos in January-end. The change in schedule and venue was necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

•The Annual Meeting 2021 in Lucerne-Burgenstock will be held around the theme of ‘The Great Reset’. The meeting will focus on the solutions required to address the world’s most pressing challenges.

6) IMF projects India’s GDP to contract 10.3% in 2020

•According to ‘World Economic Outlook’ report, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has projected the Indian economy to contract by 10.3 per cent in 2020-21, from its earlier prediction of 4.5 per cent due to rise in Covid cases.

•However, IMF estimates the GDP of India to grow at 8.8 per cent in 2021-22, as compared to 6 per cent predicted earlier, regaining the position of the fastest-growing emerging economy. On the other hand, the Fund expects the world economy to contract by 4.4 per cent in 2020. This projection was -5.2 per cent earlier.

7) RBI raises banks’ aggregate exposure limit for small businesses

•Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has raised the banks’ maximum aggregate retail exposure limit to entities with turnover up to Rs 50 crore to Rs 7.5 crore. Earlier this limit was Rs 5 crore. The decision has been taken to increase credit flow to small businesses. The risk weight of 75 per cent will apply to all fresh exposures and also to existing exposures where incremental exposure may be taken by the banks up to the revised limit of Rs 7.5 crore.

•RBI has also decided to extend the existing enhanced Held to Maturity (HTM) limit of 22 per cent for SLR securities acquired between September 1, 2020, and March 31, 2021, up to March 31, 2022. This means that Banks may continue to hold such excess SLR securities in HTM category up to March 31, 2022. The enhanced HTM limit would be restored to 19.5 per cent in a phased manner, beginning from the quarter ending June 30, 2022.

8) BharatPe launches 11 Cricket Stars as Brand Ambassadors

•BharatPe has announced the launch of its high impact TV campaign starring ‘Team BharatPe’ with 11 Cricket stars as brand ambassadors. The TVC series has been directed by ace Bollywood director, Puneet Malhotra, and communicates the message ‘Hum Hai Team BharatPe – Jo Desh Ke Har Dukandaar Ke Saath Hai Khade’.

•Team BharatPe includes Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, KL Rahul, Mohammed Shami, Ravindra Jadeja, Suresh Raina, Shreyas Iyer, Prithvi Shaw, Sanju Samson, Yuzvendra Chahal, and Shubhman Gill.

•The company is set to redefine the financial services landscape with its 4 TV advertisements designed to drive awareness around BharatPe’s range of financial products for small shop owners across India, including QR based payment acceptance, no collateral loans, card payment machine with 0% transaction fee, and the exciting loyalty program.

1) International Day for Disaster Reduction: 13 October

•The United Nations International Day for Disaster Reduction is observed globally on 13th October. The day is celebrated to promote a global culture of risk-awareness and disaster reduction and also celebrates how people and communities around the world are reducing their exposure to disasters and raising awareness about the importance of reining in the risks that they face.

2) PM Modi releases Rs 100 commemorative coin to honour Vijaya Raje Scindia

•Prime Minister Narendra Modi has released a commemorative coin of Rs 100 to mark the birth centenary of Rajmata Vijaya Raje Scindia, one of the founder member of the ruling BJP, through a virtual ceremony. The special coin has been minted by the Ministry of Finance. Vijaya Raje Scindia, who dedicated her life to poor people, is also popularly known as the Rajmata of Gwalior.

3) Kerala becomes 1st state to have completely digital, hi-tech classrooms

•Chief Minister, Pinarayi Vijayan has declared the state public education sector completely digital as Kerala has become the first state in the country to have high-tech classrooms in all its public schools.

•The high-tech classroom project was implemented by Kerala Infrastructure and Technology for Education (KITE) with financial assistance from Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB). MP and MLA funds, local self-government institutions fund were also utilised for setting up the classrooms.

4) Goa Govt ties up with India Post to get farmers enrolled in PM-KISAN scheme

•The Goa Government has tied up with India Post to get 11,000 farmers enrolled in the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Sanman Nidhi scheme. This is the first such exercise in India to enrol farmers in the PM Kisan Samman Nidhi scheme, whereby the postman will be utilised to benefit farmers.

•All 255 post offices in Goa and 300 staff are involved in this initiative. This PM Kisan Samman Nidhi scheme where the farmers directly received direct benefit transfer of Rs 2,000 in three instalments every year, is for the economically weaker farmers.

5) India Ranks 129 in CRI Index released by Oxfam

•India has been ranked 129 among 158 countries in the 2020 Commitment to Reducing Inequality (CRI) Index. The third edition of the index focuses on Fighting Inequality in the time of COVID-19. The 2020 CRI index has been topped by Norway. South Sudan is the lowest ranking country in the index at 158th position.

6) ADB approves 300 million US dollar loan for Rajasthan’s water supply

•India and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) has signed a 300 million US dollar loan to finance inclusive and sustainable water supply and sanitation infrastructure and services in 14 secondary towns of the state of Rajasthan. The project aims at providing better quality and more sustainable Water Supply and Sanitation (WSS) services in the project towns. it will improve quality of life in these towns, including for the poor and vulnerable after signing the loan agreement.

7) Prince William launches “Earthshot Prize” to boost climate innovation

•Britain’s Prince William and Naturalist David Attenborough have launched an “Earthshot Prize”, with an aim to encourage change and support to repair the planet. The Earth shot Prize aims to “incentivize change and help to repair our planet over the next 10 years,” and “turn pessimism into optimism” by rewarding innovative solutions to environmental problems.