Current Affairs Quiz - March, 2020

Notes:
Phool Dei is the harvest festival celebrated in the state of Uttarakhand. The cultural festival is celebrated to mark the beginning of spring season.
It is usually celebrated in the month of Chaitra (March-April) in the Hindu calendar. The people of the state decorate their houses with flowers as a part of the celebration. Children shower flowers at the doorsteps of houses wishing prosperity.

Notes:
Kerala has launched an initiative to use robots for creating awareness on COVID-19 among the public. Two robots have been built by a start-up in Kerala called Asimov Robotics, under the Kerala Start-up Mission, an initiative by the state government to promote start-up firms.
One wears a mask and distributes hand sanitisers, napkins, and masks to people while the other robot responds to queries. They are deployed in Kochi on a pilot basis.

Notes:
The most populous state of the country, Uttar Pradesh is planning to provide cash transfers to daily-wage labourers to protect them from income loss in economic slowdown due to COVID-19.
The state has set up a panel to study the proposal for transferring cash directly to bank accounts of labourers. The report is expected to be submitted within three days. Several countries have already launched ‘stimulus package’ to protect their economy and working population.

Notes:
Centre for Media Studies (CMS) in partnership with World Health Organization (WHO) is implementing a media fellowship programme on road safety, called WHO Road Safety Media Fellowship.
Recently it was offered to 12 journalists based in Delhi and Karnataka from print, broadcast and online media of Hindi, English and Kannada languages. The fellowship is aimed at improving the capacities of journalists in coverage of news related to road safety.

Notes:
The Kerala state government announced a ₹20,000 crore economic package to deal with the coronavirus outbreak.
This package includes funds to clear dues which the government owes individuals and institutions, providing consumer loans, disbursing welfare pension of two months in advance and a health package. The Chief Minister also announced free ration for all of this month, where everyone in the state will be given free food grain up to 10kg through ration shops.

Notes:
Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) approved the procurement of 83 Tejas fighter aircrafts, which are manufactured by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL).
The Light Combat Aircraft Tejas is indigenously designed by Aircraft Development Agency (ADA) under the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). This order of 83 air-crafts is in addition to the previous order of 43 air-crafts approved earlier.

Notes:
Afghanistan recently pledged $1 million contribution to the SAARC Corona Emergency Fund, which was proposed by the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
India proposed an initial contribution of $10 million to tackle the outbreak of the deadly coronavirus. After the announcement, Nepal and Bhutan committed nearly $1 million and $100,000 respectively to the SAARC Corona Emergency Fund. Maldives pledged $ 0.2 million to the fund.

Notes:
The International Day of Happiness is celebrated on March 20 all over the world. The General Assembly of the United Nations proclaimed 20 March the International Day of Happiness in 2012.
The day is celebrated to highlight the relevance of happiness as universal goal in the lives of human beings and to reflect it in public policy objectives. The resolution to the United Nations was initiated by Bhutan, the country which adopted the goal of Gross National Happiness over Gross National Product.

Notes:
The State government of Himachal Pradesh recently launched two initiatives namely Police Station Visitor Survey System and e-Night Beat Checking System for Himachal police.
The Visitor survey system would be used for the surveillance of visitors visiting the Police Stations, Police Posts and all police units and will help in creating a database of visitors. The Night Beat Checking system for the Police Department would help the State Police to keep track of the suspected vehicles and criminals who move in the night.

Notes:
World Water Day is observed every year on March 22, across the world since the year 1993. The theme of the World Water Day this year is ‘Water and Climate Change’.
In 1992, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution by which 22 March of each year was declared World Water Day from 1993. The Day focuses on the importance of freshwater and creates awareness of the people who still live without access to safe water.