Current Affairs Quiz - March, 2020

Notes:
The Farmer Produce Organisations (FPO) Scheme was initiated by the Small Farmers’ Agri-Business Consortium under the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare. The FPOs help in grouping of small, marginal and landless farmers, and provide access to technology, quality seed, fertilizers and pesticides.
Recently, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched 10,000 Farmers Producer Organisations (FPOs) all over the country from Chitrakoot, Uttar Pradesh.

Notes:
Purvodaya is a scheme to develop the steel sector in eastern India by creating an integrated steel hub in the eastern region.
Recently Union Minister of Steel Dharmendra Pradhan attended the workshop on “Enabling Procedures for Increase of Steel Usage for the Growth of Economy” at Bhubaneswar in partnership with Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) Government of Japan. He announced that Japan is the Partner country to make Odisha an important centre of Purvodaya scheme.

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 Chief Executive Officer of the American motorcycle maker Harley-Davidson Inc, Matt Levatich recently stepped down from his post, as he could not arrest the chronic crash in the sales.
Levatich is to be replaced on an interim basis by Jochen Zeitz, who is a board member and known for reviving the Puma sneaker brand. Levatich joined Harley Davidson in 1994 and has been the CEO from 2015.

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.

Notes:
The 16-year-old Indian cricketer Shafali Verma was seen in news recently, as she was placed in the top spot in the ICC women’s T20 International rankings.
She achieved the feat following her outstanding performance (161 runs in four innings) at the ongoing World Cup. She has become only the second Indian batter after Mithali Raj to top the women’s T20 International rankings

Notes:
Former Indian spinner Sunil Joshi has been named Chairman of the National selection panel by the Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) of BCCI.
The Cricket Advisory Committee has shortlisted a five-member group including former Indian pacer Harvinder Singh, Venkatesh Prasad, Rajesh Chauhan and LS Siva Ramakrishnan. BCCI also announced that the CAC will review the panel’s performance after a year and make suitable recommendations.

Notes:
‘A New era for girls: Taking stock on 25 years of progress’ is a report recently unveiled by UNICEF, Plan International and United Nations Women.
The report reveals that though the rate of drop-outs for girls in schools has decreased from 20% to 13.5% from 2008 to 2018, a greater empowerment has not taken place. It also states that many girls still face an unequal violent environment and one in every 20 girls in the age group of 15-20 has experienced rape, both within and outside marriage.

Notes:
The Parliament of Ukraine recently approved Denys Shmygal as the new prime minister of the country. The previous Prime Minister Oleksiy Honcharuk who assumed charge in August 2019 resigned after he was caught criticising the President.
Shymygal, who was serving as the Deputy prime minister in charge of regional development earlier, is the nominee of the country’s President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Notes:
The Coordination Committee of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) has recently nominated Daren Tang from Singapore for the post of Director General.
The WIPO General Assembly will confirm the Coordination Committee’s nomination. Tang is currently serving as the Chief Executive of the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore. The current Director General Francis Gurry’s term ends this September.