Test: May 2020 Weekly Current Affair - 4 - UPSC MCQ

Andhra Pradesh (AP)’s Chief Minister (CM) Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy has launched Rs 1,110 crores ‘ReStart’ a new programme to support & boost the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) sector in the State.

The World Bank named former Bear Stearns executive Carmen Reinhart as its new Vice President (VP) and chief economist, tapping an expert on financial crises who also serves on the advisory board of the New York Federal Reserve. Reinhart’s appointment is effective on June 15, 2020.

Jayathma Wickramanayake of Sri Lanka, United Nations (UN) Secretary-General’s Envoy on Youth, has listed Khudol (gift), a crowdfunded initiative of Imphal (Manipur) based NGO Ya_All, among the top 10 global initiatives for an inclusive fight against the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Khudol aims to provide food, health and hygiene of the LGBTQI+ community, people living with HIV,children and adolescents.

Japanese tennis star Naomi Osaka, 22 years old, became the highest paid female athlete in the world, topping American great Serena Williams. Osaka has been ranked No.1 by the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA). The complete Forbes list, due to be released next week.

Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) formulated nine-member expert panel headed by New India Assurance (NIA) Chairman & Managing Director (CMD) Atul Sahai has recommended an increase in indemnity (protection against finances) being provided to the policyholders under Trade Credit Insurance (TCI) from existing 85% of the trade receivables from each buyer to 90%.

The centre has constituted a 11-member high-level committee to “simplify and expedite” the drug approval process in India. The committee chaired by Rajesh Bhushan, Officer on Special Duty, Ministry of Health was set up by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) on May 11 as a measure to reform the drug regulatory system in India.

Uttarakhand became the 1st state to release a report highlighting its conservation efforts to save over 1,100 rare plants from extinction. The project aims at Germplasm conservation so that species remain conserved with the forest department & also to promote conservation of plant species among the general public so as to end plant blindness. The report is one of the largest repositories of conserved plants & is carried out by the research wing of the state forest department.

Mizoram sports minister Robert Romawia Royte informed that the state cabinet has cleared the proposal of the Sports and Youth Service department to grant sports an industry status to boost the sports sector & generate employment among others. It becomes the 1st state to do so.

Madhya Pradesh (MP) Chief Minister (CM) Shivraj Singh Chouhan will inaugurate the ‘Everybody will get employment’ (Sabko Milega Rozgar) scheme through video conferencing. Under this scheme, Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005 (MNREGA) job cards will be distributed to the laborers.

Legendary hockey Player, three-time Olympic gold medalist and the best centre-forward, Balbir Singh Sr passed away at the age of 96 at the Fortis Hospital, Chandigarh where he was admitted due to multiple organ failure and remained in ventilator support from 8th May 2020. He is the 1st sportsperson to win Padma Shri award in 1957.

Indian Army officer and woman peacekeeper Suman Gawani who has served with the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) & Brazilian Naval Officer Commander Carla Monteiro de Castro Araujo have been selected for the prestigious United Nations Military Gender Advocate of the Year Award (2019). Suman Gawani becomes the 1st Indian peacekeeper to win the award. The award will be given during an online ceremony presided over by United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres on May 29, the International Day of UN Peacekeepers.

VAMS (Visitor Authentication & Management Systems) Global, a Mumbai based startup offering specialized solutions for Corporates & Commercial Buildings, has developed world’s 1st contactless Visitor Management Software called ‘VAMS SafeGuard’ that checks body temperature, scan faces with mask compliance & monitors social distancing on the premise.

Noted Classical musician Shyamala G. Bhave, who was well versed in both the Hindustani and Carnatic styles passed away at the age of 76 on May 23, 2020, in Bengaluru, Karnataka. She was born on March 14, 1941, in Bengaluru, Karnataka.

The Government of Tamil Nadu started the preliminary works on implementing the Solar Fence Farmland Protection Programme, under the Central Agriculture Improvement Scheme. This scheme is to protect agricultural lands of the districts which have the western ghats as their boundaries and are at risk of animal (Elephant) attacks.

The Karnataka State Mango Department and Marketing Corporation Ltd. (KSMD&MCL) and Flipkart signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to support the mango farmers in this mango season to sell their produce through the online platform of Flipkart.

Tsai Ing-wen (63), the current and first female President of Taiwan has been re-elected for a second four-year term of presidency. A representative of Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), she took the oath on May 20, 2020.

The principal bench of National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) has given its nod to sell 50% stake in Gujarat International Finance Tec-City Co Ltd (GIFTCL) held by crisis hit Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services (IL&FS) to the Gujarat state government.

The research team of Dr. Sushanta Kumar Panigrahi, Associate Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering at Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Madras, Professor Rajiv Mishra, University of North Texas and K. Cho, the United States(US) Army Research Laboratory has engineered a magnesium alloy to replace the steel and aluminium in the automobile industry to reduce the carbon footprint and increase fuel efficiency.

Harry Potter author JK Rowling released a new online Children’s book named ‘The Ickabog’ to entertain children during Coronavirus lockdown. The new story will be serialized with a couple of chapters released for free online and posted on “The Ickabog” website every weekday from May 26, 2020 to July 10, 2020 in instalments. This is the first book of author JK Rowling aimed at children since “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows”. Author also wrote books for adults — ‘The Casual Vacancy’ and ‘The Cuckoo’s Calling’ (under the pseudonym of Robert Galbraith).

Famous Urdu author, humorist and satirist Mujtaba Hussain passed away at the age of 84, after a prolonged illness in Hyderabad, Telangana. Hussain was often described as the Mark Twain of Urdu. He was born on July 15, 1936, in Hyderabad, Telangana. He was often described as the Mark Twain of Urdu.

Government has ceased the 7.75% Savings (Taxable) Bonds scheme commonly known as RBI (Reserve Bank of India) Bonds or GOI (Government of India) bonds for subscription due to the declining interest rates as RBI has lowered the short-term lending (repo) rate which is currently at 4%. It should be noted that these bonds offered a higher interest rate as compared to bank fixed deposits and other financial investment instruments offering equal degree of safety.

According to the report “Children in monetary poor households and COVID-19: Technical Note” released jointly by the UNICEF (United Nations Children’s Fund) & Save the Children, a United Kingdom (UK) based non-profit organization which works for child rights, the economic crisis caused by the coronavirus  (COVID-19) epidemic may increase the number of children living in poor households in low- and middle-income countries by 86 million (or an increase of 15%) to reach 672 million by the end of 2020.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Government of India signed a USD 177 million loan to upgrade 11 state highways & 2 major district roads with a combined length of 450 km, to 2-lane standard across seven districts of Maharashtra.

The Reserve Bank of India will raise Rs 80,000 crore by selling Cash Management Bills (CMBs) or shorter duration sovereign debt instruments as the government would be requiring money to meet immediate debt obligations amid coronavirus outbreak. Those securities will mature in the next 84 days on August 20, 2020.

The New Development Bank of the BRICS countries has designated Brazil’s Marcos Prado Troyjo as its President. He will succeed eminent Indian banker Kundapur Vaman Kamath who took over as the first president of the bank in 2015. The decision regarding appointment was taken during the special virtual meeting of the Board of Governors. The Board also appointed Anil Kishora of the State Bank of India (SBI), as the vice president of the NDB to assist the emerging economies in infrastructure development loans.