Current Affairs Quiz - March, 2020

Notes:
After several passengers and crew members were diagnosed with the coronavirus infection, the Diamond Princess cruise ship has been quarantined in the Port of Yokohama, Japan.
Recently, a special Air India flight departed to Tokyo and brought back 119 Indian nationals (113 crew members and 6 passengers) who were on-board the Diamond Princess Cruise ship. It also evacuated 5 foreign nationals, who are all quarantined at the facility of Indian Army at Haryana.

Notes:
The National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM) recently collaborated with NITI Aayog’s Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) to launch an artificial intelligence (AI) based module for Indian school students.
The AI-Base Module is to be implemented in nearly 5,000 Atal Tinkering Labs (ATL) and is expected to reach as many as 2.5 million students. The module with activities and videos on AI concepts is to be introduced from 27 February.

Notes:
India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) has recently achieved the milestone of two crore customers. IPPB was launched by the Indian Prime Minister on September 1, 2018, with the main objective of financial inclusion.
In September 2019, the payments bank launched the Aadhaar-enabled payment system (AePS) services. And then, it has become the single largest platform in the country to provide interoperable banking services to the customers of any bank.

Notes:
Union Tribal Affairs Minister Arjun Munda recently launched the ‘1000 Springs Initiative’ at a programme in Bhubaneswar, Odisha.
The initiative aims at improving access to safe and adequate water for the tribal communities. It aims to generate livelihood opportunities for the tribal people and provisions for piped water supply for drinking, irrigation and sanitation initiatives. He also launched a Programme for Capacity Building of Scheduled Tribe Representatives in Local Self Governments.

Notes:
Delimitation literally means the process of fixing limits of territorial constituencies in a country with a legislative body.
The government recently cancelled its earlier notifications which postponed delimitation in Assam, Nagaland, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh due to security issues. The exercise to re-adjust the division of each state into territorial constituencies for the purpose of Lok Sabha and state assembly elections on the basis of 2001 census figures, is to be carried out in the four states.

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:
The inaugural edition of the Khelo India University Games concluded in Bhubaneswar, Odisha on March 1. The Panjab University was crowned as Champions with 17 Gold medals among a total of 46 medals.
The second position was bagged by the Savitribai Phule University, Pune with 37 overall medals. Punjabi University was placed in the third place. Famous athlete Dutee Chand set a new National University record in 100 m race and won the gold medal in both the 100m and the 200m races.

Notes:
Fitch Solutions recently lowered its forecast for India’s economic growth to 4.9 per cent in the current fiscal FY 20.
The main reason for the cut in rate was weak domestic demand and supply chain interruptions due to the coronavirus outbreak and a resulting dip in manufacturing. However, the GDP growth in in 2020-21 will recover to 5.4 per cent.

Notes:
The chairman of the LuLu Group, M A Yusuff Ali recently became the first Indian to receive Saudi Arabia’s premium residency. Abu Dhabi-based Indian retail business-person was also ranked the richest expatriate in the UAE by the Forbes magazine last year.
The permit also known as Saudi Green Card, grants expatriates the right to live, work and own business and property in the country without the requirement of a sponsor.