Current Affairs Quiz - March, 2020

Notes:
Six languages in India namely Tamil, Telugu, Sanskrit, Kannada, Malayalam and Odia have been given the status of classical language.
Recently, both houses of the Maharashtra legislature unanimously passed resolutions, requesting the Centre to provide ‘Classical language’ status to Marathi. Languages declared as classical have benefits like setting up centres for their study and provide international awards for their scholars.

Notes:
The National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) released NCAER Land Records and Services Index (N-LRSI 2020) recently.
As per the index, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, and Tamil Nadu are the five best-performing states. The index assesses the digitisation of land records and their quality in 33 states and Union Territories (UTs).

Notes:
NTPC Limited recently announced that it has signed an agreement with Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) to provide financial support to install Air Quality Monitoring Stations.
NTPC will provide financial support of Rs 80 crore for installing and commissioning of 25 Continuous Ambient Air Quality Monitoring Stations (CAAQMS), across six states and three Union Territories. The data from these monitoring stations will be used as inputs for Air Quality Index.

Notes:
Rare Disease Day is observed across the world on the last day of February each year. This year it is observed on February 29, 2020.
The main objective of Rare Disease Day is to raise awareness among the general public and decision-makers about rare diseases and their impact on the lives of patients. It is estimated that more than 300 million people are living with rare diseases.

Notes:
Former Indian Prime Minister Morarji Desai, who was also the Finance Minister of India, has presented 10 Union budgets, which is the highest as of 2020. P Chidambaram and Pranab Mukherjee have presented 9 and 8 budgets respectively.
Recently, the 124th birth anniversary of Morarji Desai was observed on February 29, 2020. Several national leaders paid tribute to the former Prime Minister.

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:
Heather Watson of the United Kingdom won the singles title of the Mexican Open tournament thereby winning her first WTA title in three years.
World No. 2 Rafael Nadal bagged his 85th ATP Tour title and first title of 2020 by defeating Taylor Fritz in straight sets in the final of the ATP Mexico Open. This is his third Mexico Open title after 2005 and 2013.

Notes:
The Bureau of Energy Efficiency has formulated the Star Labelling Programme under the Energy Conservation Act, 2001. Recently, on its 19th foundation day, BEE expanded its coverage to 2 more appliances: Deep Freezers and Light Commercial Air Conditioners. The total appliances covered under the programme are 26 now.
A database on energy e¬fficiency called ‘Urja Dakshata Information Tool (UDIT)’ was launched by BEE along with World Resources Institute (WRI).

Notes:
The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the appointment of the current Revenue Secretary Ajay Bhushan Pandey as the new Finance Secretary of India.
Ajay Bhushan Pandey replaces current Finance Secretary Rajiv Kumar, who got superannuated last month. The senior-most bureaucrat among all secretaries in the Finance Ministry is usually designated as the finance secretary. Debasish Panda was recently appointed as the Secretary, Department of financial services.

Notes:
Janaushadhi Week is being celebrated across the country from March 1 to March 7 2020 and Jan Aushadi Diwas on March 7. During this week, several activities like health check-up Camp, free doctor consultation, free medicine distribution were organised at various Janaushadhi Kendras.
Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana is an initiative by Department of Pharmaceuticals, under the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers. The scheme aims to provide quality medicines at an affordable price to all people.