Current Affairs Quiz - March, 2020

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:
Veteran journalist Patil Puttappa who was fondly known as Papu, passed away recently at the age of 99. He was an ardent follower of Gandhian principles and a Khadi activist.
Patil Puttappa had also served as a former Rajya Sabha member. He remained as a strong representative of Kannada and had received several prestigious awards including the Karnataka Rajyotsava Award, T.S.R. Award, and “Nadoja’. He had recently been presented the ‘Basava Award’ by the Chief Minister of Karnataka.

Notes:
The United States has begun the first phase of clinical trial of a vaccine to protect against the coronavirus disease.
The initiative is supported by a global coalition founded by India and Norway. It is funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The first participant received the investigatory vaccine in the trial, which is to enrol 45 healthy adult volunteers for approximately six weeks.

Notes:
An awareness programme called ‘Poshan Pakhwara or Nutritional Fortnight’ is being held in the UT of Goa from March 8 to 22.
The programme is aimed at creating awareness about nutrition among the general public. Several activities are being organised with special focus on the health of women, children and people who are suffering from malnutrition. Guidance by nutrition experts and Paediatricians is also provided to the people.

Notes:
The President of Iraq Barham Salih has appointed Adnan al-Zurfi as the country’s new prime minister-designate.
This announcement has been provided amidst the months-long political crisis prevalent in Iraq. Within 30 days, Al-Zurfi has to form his cabinet which shall be put to a vote of confidence in Iraq’s Parliament. Al-Zurfi would replace caretaker Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi, who quit in December following widespread mass demonstrations against the government.

Notes:
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has extended the validity of authorization issued to IT service management company Vakrangee, to setup, own and operate the White Label ATMs (WLA) in India.
The validity of authorization has been extended till 31 March 2021. RBI has assigned a target of minimum 1,000 ATMS to be deployed by Vakrangee for three years starting from 2020, with the stipulated ratio in Metro & Urban, Semi-Urban and Rural regions.

Notes:
In order to curb the spread of misinformation and fake news on coronavirus and to reduce the panic among the citizens regarding the COVID-19, the Government of India has launched an official chatbot on the social media platform WhatsApp.
This Chatbot is named ‘MyGov Corona Helpdesk’ and is available to all WhatsApp users. Any user can save the number announced (9013151515) and start using the chatbot.

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:
On the World Water Day, which falls on March 22, the United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned that between 3.5 and 4.4 billion people in the world will live with limited access to water.
He also announced that out of the people with limited access, more than 1 billion of them would be in major cities. He revealed that the world’s water resources are under threat and 2.2 billion people and 4.2 billion people lack safe drinking water and sanitation facilities respectively.