Current Affairs Quiz - May, 2020

Notes:
The Researchers at the National Institute of Biomedical Genomics in Kalyani, West Bengal have recently found that the novel coronavirus (O type) that originated from Wuhan, China has mutated into 10 different types.
Among the 10 mutations, one type named ‘A2a’ has nearly replaced all the others to become a dominant mutation across all geographical regions. This study is to be published in the Indian Journal of Medical Research, published by ICMR.

Notes:
Versatile Bollywood actor Irrfan Khan has recently passed away at a private hospital in Mumbai, at the age of 53.
Irrfan is considered as one of the finest actors in Hindi cinema. He won the National Award in 2013 for his outstanding performance in the sports drama ‘Paan Singh Tomar’. He was also awarded the prestigious Padma Shri award in 2011. He had also acted in famous Hollywood films like ‘Slumdog Millionaire’, ‘Jurassic World’, and ‘Life of Pi’.

Notes:
The United States has placed 10 countries including India on the ‘Priority Watch List’ for lack of sufficient improvements to its intellectual property framework.
The US placed 10 countries, including India and China, and alleged that enforcement of the intellectual properties have weakened or remained inadequate in those countries. The US also highlighted that because of the weak IP enforcement, Americans find it difficult to have an equitable market access.

Notes:
The monthly Index of Eight Core Industries (ICI) is a production volume index. ICI performance of production in selected eight core industries namely Coal, Crude Oil, Natural Gas, Refinery Products, Fertilizers, Steel, Cement and Electricity.
Recently, ICI was in news as during the April-March 2019-20 period, core industries recorded 0.6 percent growth, whereas it was 4.4 percent during the same period in 2018-19. Also, the output of eight core infrastructure industries contracted by 6.5 percent in March.

Notes:
Veteran Indian football player Chuni Goswami, who led the gold medal-winning Indian team in 1962 Asian Games, passed away in Kolkata.
Chuni Goswami was the most successful Indian football captain ever. He led the team to win the gold medal in 1962 Asian Games and the team that was the runner-up in 1964 Asian Cup. Chuni Goswami played 50 football games representing India and as many as 46 first-class games.

Notes:
International Astronomy Day is celebrated twice a year, during autumn and spring. The Astronomy Day 2020 is celebrated on May 2 and the next edition of this year on September 26, 2020.
The President of the Astronomical Association of Northern California had organised the celebration of first Astronomy Day in 1973. The objective of celebrating this day is to inculcate the awareness about the universe and the field of astronomy.

Notes:
The Union minister of Culture Prahlad Singh Patel released a centenary special edition e-book “Prof. B. B. Lal -India Rediscovered” on the birthday of B.B.Lal, as a tribute for his contribution in the field of archaeology.
Professor B.B Lal, born on May 2, 2961 in Uttar Pradesh, is a renowned archaeologist. On the occasion of his 100th birth year, the e-book has been released by the Ministry of culture in collaboration with Prof B B Lal Centenary Celebration Committee.

Notes:
The state government of Uttar Pradesh has recently launched a mobile application called ‘Ayush Kavach-Covid’, which has been developed the Ministry of AYUSH.
The application was launched with an aim of providing health remedies and measures to boost immunity in the process of fighting Covid-19. The app provides a lot of information authorised by the AYUSH Ministry about the medicinal properties of certain ingredients. It also enables the users to seek advice from experts in the AYUSH field.

Notes:
Pradhan Mantri Bharatiya Janaushadhi Kendras (PMBJK) which functions under the Union Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers have started accepting the orders for medicines on WhatsApp and e-mail. The prescriptions uploaded online are delivered at the doorsteps of the users.
Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana (PMBJP) was launched with an aim of providing quality generic medicines to the people at affordable rates. At present there are over 6300 PMBJKs operating in 726 districts across the country.

Notes:
Union Health Minister along with the Union AYUSH Minister launched the clinical research studies on Ayurveda interventions as an add-on to the standard care in tackling COVID 19. This will be a joint initiative of Ministry of AYUSH, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and the Ministry of Science & Technology through CSIR.
They also launched the Ayush Sanjivani application developed by the AYUSH Ministry, with an aim of generating data on acceptance and usage of AYUSH recommendations among the public and record their impact in prevention of COVID 19.