Test: March 2020 Weekly Current Affair - 2 - UPSC MCQ

Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana- National Urban Livelihoods Mission (DAY- NULM) functions under the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs(MoHUA) signed MoU (Memorandum of Understandings) with Amazon for electronic marketing (e-Marketing) of products made by Self Help Groups (SHGs) across the Country.

The Inter-Ministerial Approval Committee (IMAC) meeting which was held under the chairmanship of Union Food Processing Industries Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal, sanctioned 10 projects worth Rs 301.54 crore. The projects are sanctioned under the ‘Agro Processing Cluster Scheme’ of Pradhan Mantri Kisan Sampada Yojana (PMKSY) of the Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MoFPI) – Under this scheme IMAC approved 8 projects of Rs 230 Crore for 8 districts in TamilNadu.

In order to create interest in education for the under-privileged girls aged 12-16 years, by using football coaching as a medium, Tata AIA Life Insurance, a joint venture company formed by Tata Sons Ltd and AIA Group Ltd(AIA), has launched a ‘Bachhpan Ka Rakshakaran’ program in association with Mumbai based Non-profit ‘Oscar Foundation’.

Hyderabad Metro Rail Limited (HMRL) in partnership with Paytm has launched a QR-code-based metro ticketing system at Rasoolpura metro station Hyderabad.

India, according to Knight Frank’s ‘Wealth Report 2020’, ranks 12th and had 5,986 Ultra high net worth individuals in 2019, which is likely to reach 10,354 by 2024. United States ranked top with 240, 575 individuals. The number of billionaires in India, on the other hand, is likely to reach 113 by 2024, up from 104 in 2019. India had 5,986 UHNWIs (Ultra high-net-worth individuals – people who are having a net worth of at least $30 million(mn) and above) in 2019 and they expected to increase by 73% in the coming 5 years. This will almost double the current count to 10,354.

West Indies skipper Kieron Pollard has become the first player in the history of T20 (Twenty20) cricket to feature in 500 matches during the field against Sri Lanka for the first T20I in Pallekele, Srilanka.Dwayne Bravo is second in the list followed by Chris Gayle.

March 6 2020 “Chapchar Kut”, a biggest and oldest festival of Mizoram, is celebrated on March 6 2020. The pre-celebration started on 5th March 2020, with the mega event held at the Assam Rifles Ground at Aizawl.This festival is considered as the most popular spring festival celebrated on Mizoram.It is originated in- 1450-1700 A.D at Suaipui village.

The Ministry of Women and Child Development (MWCD) & the World Bank organized a discussion Programme on the topic “The Future of Work: Women in India’s Workforce” at New Delhi.

As per the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) report titled “A New Era for Girls: Taking stock on 25 years of progress” in collaboration with UN Women and Plan International, the global participation of female youth aged 15–24 years in the labour force has declined from 47% in 1995 to 33% in 2020.

Indian Coast Guard (ICG), an armed force that protects India’s maritime interests, has conducted a 2-day 9th edition of national level search and rescue exercise ‘SAREX-2020’ based on the theme ‘Harmonization of Maritime and Aeronautical Search and Rescue (HAMSAR)’ in the sea at Vasco, South Goa district from March 5-7,2020.

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik announced that Odisha is the 1st state to own a separate department for Self Help Groups named as” Department of Mission Shakti”. It is created for the development of women & is dedicated to all the women of Odisha.

A 104-year old woman Man Kaur will be presented will be awarded the ‘Nari Shakti Puraskar’ for her achievements in athletics on the occasion of International women’s day by President Ram Nath Kovind in New Delhi.
Awardees List

As per the paper “Rethinking Gender Representation across Value Chains” released during the 3^rd Gender Equality Summit 2020, If Women’s labour force is same as Men’s labour force then it can boost India’s GDP by 27%.

Wasim Jaffer (42) a former Indian opening batsman and a domestic cricket giant has announced his retirement from all forms of cricket. He hails from Mumbai, Maharashtra.

Indian Cricketer Shafali Verma (16-year-old) on March 8, 2020 has become the Youngest ever cricketer to play any ICC world cup finals. She thus broke the record previously held by West Indies’ Shaquana Quintyne, who was 17 years and 45 days old when she took the field for the West Indies in the 2013 women’s World Cup final. Pakistan’s Mohammad Amir is third on the list as he was 17 years and 69 days old when he played in the 2009 men’s World T20 final.

The United Nations (UN) Women is organizing International Women’s Day (IWD) all over the world on March 8 to recognize women for their efforts in changing the individual lives as well as of nations. The 2020 theme for IWD was “I am Generation Equality: Realizing Women’s Rights”.

Moody’s Investors Service, a rating agency again lowered India’s growth projection to 5.3% for 2020 as a result of Coronavirus (COVID-19), previously on February 17, 2020 it had reduced India’s growth projection from 6.6% to 5.4% for 2020.

In exercise of the powers conferred by section 3 of the Delimitation Act, 2002, the Central government has set up a Delimitation Commission, headed by former Supreme Court judge Ranjana Prakash Desai (for 1 year), for the delimitation of Assembly and Parliamentary constituencies of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) and the northeastern states of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh(AP), Manipur and Nagaland. The Commission will also comprise of members, viz an Election Commissioner (presently Mr. Sushil Chandra) and the State Election Commissioners of the respective States and UT, who will be made ex-officio members of the commission.

Gujarat ranks first in the list for domestic solar rooftop installations, throughout the country with 64 percent of domestic solar installations, followed by Maharashtra (2nd).  Nearly 50,915 domestic solar rooftops have been fixed in the state of Gujarat with a capacity of 177.67 MW on 2nd March 2020.

Andhra Pradesh (AP) ranked 1st in the country for overall implementation of POSHAN (Prime Minister’s Overarching Scheme for Holistic Nourishment) Abhiyaan as per September 2019 progress report of NITI Aayog, “Transforming Nutrition in India: POSHAN Abhiyaan”. The 2nd anniversary of POSHAN Abhiyaan is recognized by celebrating Poshan Pakhwada from 8th-22nd March 2020.
Top Position

According to the 1st edition of ‘Gender Social Norms Index (GSNI) 2020’, released by the UNDP (United Nations Development Programme), about 90 % or 9 in 10 of the world’s population has some bias against women.

Andhra Pradesh (AP) Chief Minister (CM) Yeduguri Sandinti Jaganmohan Reddy launched the NIGHA application at Vijayawada, AP. The app is aimed at curbing the use of money and alcohol in the upcoming local body elections & launched in addition to the measures taken by State Election Commission & Police department in order to control the electoral malpractices. The app was developed by Department of Panchayat Raj.

Pusarla Venkata Sindhu has won the inaugural BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) Indian Sportswoman of the year award 2019 in the BBC award ceremony held in New Delhi. In 2019, Sindhu became the first Indian to win badminton World Championship gold in Basel, Switzerland and she also has 5 world championship medals. Also PT Usha was awarded with Lifetime Achievement award for her contribution to Indian sports in the event.

Dr Jaimanti Bakshi, Professor & Unit Head II, Department of Otolaryngology and Head Neck surgery at PGIMER (Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education & Research), Chandigarh was awarded with “Best Citizens of India”. The award was given by “GEPRA” (Global Economic Progress and Research Association) during the National Unity conference held in Chennai, Tamil Nadu (TN).

Apurva Purohit the President of the Jagran Group, one of India’s largest multi-media conglomerates launched her 2nd book- ‘Lady, You’re the Boss!’, which was published by Westland Publications (an Amazon company). Her 1st book was, ‘Lady, You’re Not a Man! The Adventures Of A Woman At Work’. Apurva is named as one of the Most Powerful Women in Business as per Fortune India in 2018 & 2019 & India Today Group 2016, 2018 & 2019, & also featured in Fortune India’s Most Powerful Women in Business list 2018 & 2019.