Current Affairs Quiz - March, 2020

Notes:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently laid foundation stone for the Bundelkhand Expressway at Chitrakoot, Uttar Pradesh.
This proposed expressway is expected to connect the backward region to the national capital region and it will also support the Bundelakhnd Defence industrial corridor. Last year, the State Cabinet of Uttar Pradesh had approved the Bundelkhand Expressway project which would cost around Rs 10,000 crore.

Notes:
Indian Railways recently launched its first ‘Restaurant on Wheels’ at Asansol Railway station, located in the state of West Bengal.
The restaurant, which is to serve both the passengers and general public, is developed by refurbishing two over aged MEMU coaches. This addition in infrastructure is expected to generate non-fare revenue earnings of approximately Rs 50 lakhs in the next five years.

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:
Pusa Krishi Vigyan Mela-2020 is being organised in New Delhi by ICAR-IARI (Indian Council of Agricultural Research-Indian Agricultural Research Institute) from March 1 to 3. The event is being conducted at the ICAR-IARI Mela Grounds, New Delhi.
Bharat Bhushan, a 42-year-old farmer from Jammu and Kashmir’s Doda district, has been selected for the ‘Innovative Farmer Award’ by the Indian Agricultural Research Institute. Innovative farmers are felicitated during the event.

Notes:
Veteran Konkani writer and dramatist Richard John Pais recently passed away at the age of 51. He has written several short stories, satirical writings and poems in Konkani language.
Pais was presented the T M A Pai award for his literary work ‘Fathor’. Many of his plays have been presented in Konkani theatres. He had also served as the editorial head of a news portal called Daijiworld.

Notes:
Tech Giant Facebook has recently launched its first grand advertising campaign ‘More Together’ in India. India is the biggest market with the largest user base and it is also the first country in the Asia Pacific region, in which the campaign is being launched.
The aim of the campaign is to reveal the potential of the users about how they can perform more things together by using their contacts on the platform. The series of campaigns will be tele-casted in eight languages over the next few weeks.

Notes:
The United Nations recently released $15 million from its Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) to fund global efforts to tackle COVID-19 (coronavirus).
The World Health Organization (WHO) recently upgraded the global risk of the coronavirus outbreak to “very high”, which is the highest level of risk assessment. Recently the death toll touched 3000 and the cases of infections multiplied to several thousands.

Notes:
‘World Hearing Day’ is observed on 3 March each year, to raise awareness on how to prevent deafness and hearing loss.
Every year, World Health Organisation decides the theme and develops advocacy materials such as posters and presentations. ‘WHO’ organizes an annual World Hearing Day seminar at its headquarters in Geneva. The theme of this year’s day is ‘Don’t let hearing loss limit you’.

Notes:
The ‘Mo Sarkar’ programme was launched by Odisha’s Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on October 2, 2019, to provide dignified service to citizens coming to government offices.
The scheme was recently in news as five more departments of the Odisha government was brought under the ‘Mo Sarkar’ programme. With this, a total of 22 departments of the state government have come under the ambit of the scheme.

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.