Current Affairs Quiz - March, 2020

Notes:
The US President Donald Trump recently announced that tech giant Google is engaged in the process of developing a website to help with coronavirus test.
He also revealed that more than 1700 engineers are working on the project to develop the website. It will determine whether a test is necessary and will also enable testing at a convenient location nearby. Donald Trump also declared national emergency in the wake of coronavirus outbreak.

Notes:
The Government has notified the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Rules, 2020 which enables implementation of recent amendments to the Act. Under the new rules, punishment for child abuse has been made more stringent.
The rules state that any person who has received any pornographic material involving a child or any information regarding such material being stored, distributed or is likely to be distributed in any manner shall report the contents to the Special Juvenile Police Unit (SJPU) or Police or the cybercrime portal.

Notes:
National Mission for Clean Ganga which functions under the Department of Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation-Ministry of Jal Shakti organised its flagship rafting and kayaking expedition programme called “Ganga Amantran Abhiyan”.
The exploratory open-water rafting programme was organised from Devprayag (Uttarakhand) to Gangasagar (West Bengal). The programme which concluded recently allowed people to connect with the river Ganga.

Notes:
Sadanand Fulzele, the founder secretary of the Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Smarak Samiti, recently passed away at the age of 91.
The federation looks after Deekshabhoomi in Nagpur, the site of Babasaheb Ambedkar’s conversion to Buddhism in 1956. Fulzele was a follower of Ambedkar’s ideologies and was instrumental in building the stupa at the place. Fulzele was also the Deputy Mayor of Nagpur when the leader converted along with over 6 lakh followers.

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:
Business application Khatabook entered into a strategic partnership with former Indian cricket team captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
M.S.Dhoni is set to invest in the firm and also serve as their brand ambassador. Khatabook is an application which helps MSMEs to streamline their business transactions online. The start-up firm has recently crossed 2 crore registered merchants on its app.

Notes:
The famous annual Chaitra Jatra festival is celebrated in the state of Odisha. The festival which was scheduled to be held on March 17 at the Tara Tarini hill shrine of the state was cancelled as a precautionary measure against COVID-19 outbreak.
According to the state officials, more than 1.5 lakh visitors usually arrive for the festival and some out of them reach the hill-top to offer prayers, as a part of the festival.

Notes:
Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh paid tribute to the late Goa Chief Minister and former Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar ahead of his death anniversary. He also launched a book titled ‘Invincible-A Tribute to Manohar Parrikar’.
Manohar Parrikar was the Chief Minister of Goa passed away due to an illness and he was succeeded by Pramod Sawant as the next Chief Minister. He served as the Defence Minister of India from 2014 to 2017.

Notes:
A bill that seeks to convert three existing regulatory bodies under the Civil Aviation Ministry into statutory bodies was passed by Lok Sabha. The Aircraft (Amendment) Bill, 2020 was passed by a voice vote and the bill seeks to amend Aircraft Act, 1934.
The regulatory institutions, which are mentioned in the bill are DGCA (Directorate General of Civil Aviation), BCAS (Bureau of Civil Aviation Security) and AAIB (Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau).

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.