Current Affairs Quiz - March, 2020

Notes:
Gurgaon-based India’s air carrier SpiceJet recently announced its partnership with GMR Hyderabad Aviation SEZ Limited (GHASL) for setting up a warehousing, distribution and trading facility. GAHSL is a fully-owned subsidiary of GMR Hyderabad International Airport Ltd (GHIAL).
The facility is to be set up in the airport operator’s aerospace and industrial park. This pact is expected to improve the operations of cargo industry in the country.

Notes:
The Assam government is set to construct as many as 33 stadiums in the state under ‘Uttaran’ scheme. Rs.300 Crore is to be spent for the project of building the stadiums across the state.
Moreover, the state is to provide a financial assistance of 50 thousand rupees to one thousand players and a grant of Rs. 75000 to 2500 clubs. The state also announced that 500 playgrounds are being developed at the rural areas of the state to encourage talented youth to take part in sports.

Notes:
All the states and union territories of India are advised by the government to invoke the provisions of Section 2 of the Epidemic Disease Act 1897. This Section empowers state governments/UTs to take special measures and formulate regulations to control any outbreak.
The 123-year old act also includes the detention of people or any vessel that come from international shores and are probable to spread the epidemic in the country. According to reports, the Act was invoked in 2018 to contain the spread of cholera in a village in Gujarat.

Notes:
Renowned poet and Malayalam scholar Puthussery Ramachandran recently passed away at the age of 91. He played an instrumental role in making Malayalam getting recognised as a classical language by the union government in 2013.
Ramachandran has won several prestigious awards, including the Sahitya Akademi award, the Ezhuthachchan Puraskaaram in 2015, Kerala Sahitya Akademi award among others. He was also associated with the Communist movement of Kerala.

Notes:
A meeting of the heads of countries of the SAARC alliance was held via video conferencing recently. Last time the leaders had a meeting together in November 2014.
During the meeting, the Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi proposed a “Covid-19 emergency fund” to which India would provide $10 million as an initial contribution. He offered the services of a rapid response team of doctors armed with testing kits. The Prime Minister also offered online training for health workers in SAARC countries for upgrading skills to tackle Covid-19.

Notes:
The 37-year-old Indian paddler Achanta Sharath Kamal recently won the ITTF Challenger plus Oman Open held in Muscat. Sharath Kamal beat top-seeded Portugal’s Marcos Freitas in the final.
This was his international title after 2010 when Sharath had bagged at Egypt Open. Sharath is the only Indian paddler to become Senior National Champion for nine times. He was presented with the prestigious ‘Padma Shri’ award in 2019.

Notes:
The Union Labour Minister Santosh Kumar Gangwar recently informed that the number of job seekers in the country marginally declined between 2015 and 2017 from 4.35 crore in 2015 to 4.24 crore in 2017.
This is the count of job seekers who registered on live register of employment exchanges. The minister also added that all of them may not necessarily be unemployed. The Labour bureau has revamped quarterly employment survey (QES) with the objective to measure relative change in employment situation.

Notes:
E-commerce firm Flipkart recently partnered with Aegon Life Insurance, to sell wide-ranging insurance solutions.
It aims to provide solutions for customers who are looking for instant digital policies with a sum assured of up to Rs 10 lakh. This agreement is aimed at making life insurance available to customers in a convenient and transparent manner.

Notes:
‘World Cities Summit’ is a global biennial conference hosted by Singapore. This year, World Cities Summit (WCS) 2020 is scheduled to be held from July 5 to 9.
The theme of this year’s summit as announced by the Singapore government is ‘Liveable and Sustainable Cities: Adapting to a Disrupted World’. Leaders from several governments and industry experts discuss on challenges in climate change, social shifts and technological disruptions.

Notes:
Spanish football coach Francisco Garcia has recently passed away after contracting coronavirus, at the age of 21. He is also the youngest victim of the illness in the region.
Garcia was serving as the manager of Atletico Portada Alta’s youth team and he was tested positive for COVID-19 last week. During his treatment, it was found out that he was also suffering from leukaemia. All major football competitions like have been suspended due to coronavirus outbreak.