Current Affairs Quiz - March, 2020

Notes:
Former India hockey player Balbir Singh Kullar, who was a part of the Olympics bronze-winning team, recently passed away at the age of 77.
The Punjab-based player was a recipient of the prestigious Padma Shri and Arjuna award for his contribution towards Hockey. Balbir Singh was also part of the gold medal winning Indian team in 1966 Bangkok Asian Games.

Notes:
The historic ‘City Chowk’, which is the commercial hub located in old Jammu, has been renamed as ‘Bharat Mata Chowk’.
A resolution regarding the same was passed by the general house of the Jammu Municipal Corporation (JMC). The starting point of the circular road in the city was named as ‘Atal Chowk’ in the memory of former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

Notes:
The state government of Jharkhand recently presented its budget for the financial year 2020-21. IT announced a financial assistance of Rs 5000 to Rs 7000 per annum to unemployed graduate and post-graduate youth.
The state government also proposed to provide 100 units free electricity and to set up 100 mohalla clinics across the state. The Mukhyamantri Dal Bhat Yojna (MDBY) was revived to provide a meal at the price of Rs.5 to the poor people of the state.

Notes:
Scientists at the Australian National University announced that they are designing the country’s first satellite to predict the bushfire danger zones.
Australia has witnessed devastating bushfires across the country especially in South Wales. The proposed bushfires measure forest cover and moisture levels using infrared detectors. The resultant data would be used to determine where bushfires will probably start and where they would be difficult to control.

Notes:
The State government of Tamil Nadu launched the $410 million Tamil Nadu Health System Reform Programme (TNHSRP). The programme aims at upgrading the quality of healthcare and filling gaps in reproductive and child health services.
The total project cost of the TNHSRP programme is $410 million (₹2,857 crore), out of which ₹2,000 crore is to be funded by the World Bank and the remaining amount is to be provided by the State government.

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:
The state government of Kerala has issued an order to cap the retail price of bottled drinking water at Rs 13 per litre against the present price of Rs. 20 a litre.
The Price cut was achieved as the bottled water has been made an essential commodity. The civil supplies department issued the order and asked the manufacturers to follow the price limit and to print the new price in all bottles.

Notes:
The National Safety Day is observed on March 4 every year in India and the following week as National Safety Week. The National Safety campaign is organised by the National Safety Council to commemorate its foundation day.
This is the 49th year of the Safety Campaign observed in the country. The theme of this year’s campaign is: Enhance Safety & Health Performance by use of Advanced Technologies.

Notes:
Information Commissioner Bimal Julka has been recently appointed as the Chief Information Commissioner (CIC) of India.
President Ram Nath Kovind administered the oath of office to Bimal Julka as the CIC at the Rashtrapati Bhavan. The previous Chief Sudhir Bhargava retired on January 11 and since then the Chief Information Commission was functioning without head. It also has strength of six information commissioners against the sanctioned 11 personnel.

Notes:
The state of Kerala is set to launch a huge digital literacy campaign called ‘I am also digital’ which aims at making the benefits of the state reach the common citizens.
This campaign is initiated by the Kerala Literacy Mission and the Kerala State IT Mission under the Department of Information Technology. The drive would be mainly launched as a people-participatory model to educate the society about digital technology. The project will be pilot-launched in Thiruvananthapuram City Corporation.