Current Affairs Quiz - March, 2020

Notes:
The Central Statistics Office (CSO) recently released the GDP growth data for the October-December quarter of 2019 (third quarter of FY20). It said the GDP growth was 4.7 per cent in the third quarter, which is a slight improvement over the previous quarter’s GDP- 4.5%.
As per the data, the projections for economic growth in FY20 has been retained at 5 per cent in the second advance estimates.

Notes:
The President of the central African country Cameroon for the last 37 years- Paul Biya recently won in the Presidential elections held in the country, by obtaining complete majority.
His party -Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement (RDPC) won 139 out of 167 declared seats. The Elections were cancelled in 13 other seats, in some regions and are to be held at a later date. He is the longest serving non-royal ruler of the world.

Notes:
Recently, the government has approved a six-month extension to the present Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), Ajay Tyagi.
The Chairman’s term was ending on February 29, which has now been extended to six months from the date or until further orders. Ajay Tyagi replaced the previous Chairman of the Markets Regulator- U K Sinha in 2017.

Notes:
The Indian Air Force and Savitribai Phule Pune University recently collaborated by signing a Memorandum of Understanding to set up a ‘Chair of Excellence’ at Department of Defence & Strategic Studies.
To commemorate the centenary birth year of the only five-star rank IAF officer Arjan Singh, the chair has been named as ‘Marshal of the Air Force Arjan Singh Chair of Excellence’. The Chair will facilitate IAF officers to pursue higher studies and Doctoral Research in the area of Defence & Strategic Studies and allied fields.

Notes:
The ‘Zero Discrimination Day’ is observed annually across the world on March 1, by UNAIDS. UNAIDS is the leading global forum which aims to end AIDS as a public health threat by 2030.
On this day, the UNAIDS is calling to end the discrimination against women and girls and for equal rights, opportunities and treatment. This year, the focus is on ‘Zero Discrimination against Women and Girls’.

Notes:
Veteran athletics coach and Dronacharya awardee Joginder Singh Saini recently passed away at the age of 90.
He had served as the Chief national athletics coach for several years between 1970 and 1990. He had also been the chief coach of the then Amateur Athletics Federation of India. Saini received the prestigious Dronacharya Award in 1997 for his contribution to Indian athletics.

Notes:
International agency OECD recently lowered India’s GDP growth forecast to 5.1 per cent from the earlier projection of 6.2 per cent for 2020-21. For the financial year ending March 2019, OECD has projected a growth rate of 4.9%.
The main reason for the cut in rates was the concerns about the impact of coronavirus on the domestic and the global economy. However, the economy of India is to improve to 5.6 per cent in the following year (2021-22).

Notes:
The Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu was recently seen in news as he claimed victory in the general elections held in the country. This edition of the election is the country’s third election in less than a year.
The main exit polls indicated that Mr Netanyahu is in a strong position to form the next government. Netanyahu belongs to right-wing Likud party of Israel. The previous elections held in April and September were inconclusive.

Notes:
The Chief Minister of Assam, Sarbananda Sonowal was presented the prestigious ‘Dr. Syama Prasad Mukherjee award 2020 for Politics’ during the 6th India Ideas Conclave in Gujarat.
The award was instituted by India Foundation and this year it was presented to Assam’s Chief Minister by Union External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Speaker of People’s Majlis of Maldives Mohamed Nasheed.

Notes:
Luxembourg, a small European country has abolished fares for public transport systems including trains, trams and buses.
All standard-class journeys on public transport in the country are now available for free of charge. This decision has been taken to tackle road congestion and pollution, and also to support low earners of the country. This will ensure a better quality of public mobility and a cleaner environment.