Current Affairs Quiz - March, 2020

Notes:
India recently handed over 600 tonnes of rice and relief material to flood-hit Madagascar. Indian Naval Ship (INS) Shardul carried 600 tonnes of rice, as per directives of Indian Government.
In the month of January this year, the Indian Navy launched ‘Operation Vanilla’ in support of the national disaster in Madagascar, to provide humanitarian assistance and disaster through Indian Navy Ship Airavat.

Notes:
According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, the founder of e-commerce major Alibaba Group, Jack Ma gained the top position in Asia, replacing Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani.
Mukesh Ambani gave up $5.8 billion from his net worth due to the recent freefall in oil prices. The severe impact of the COVID-19 epidemic and the recent crash in the oil markets made him follow the Chinese billionaire Jack Ma. Ambani’s current net worth amounts to $41.8 billion whereas that of Jack Ma amounts to $44.5 billion.

Notes:
The Maharashtra government has approved the Khatua panel’s recommendation to slash the fare prices of auto-rickshaws by 15 per cent between 12 pm and 4 pm.
This discount in fare is called as implementation of “happy hour” for auto-rickshaws by the state government. However, this is not applicable to app-based taxis and local cabs. This will help the senior citizens of the state but the auto-rickshaw unions expressed their displeasure at the government’s step.

Notes:
Veteran Bengali actor Santu Mukhopadhyay recently passed away of cardiac arrest at Kolkata. He was known for his roles in Bengali films such as ‘Sansar Simante’ and ‘Bhalobasa Bhalobasa’.
The actor has performed in several memorable films and his acting career spanned a period of over four decades. He was born in 1951 in Kolkata and his debut movie was ‘Raja’ in the year 1975. The actor also featured in television serial shows and advertisements.

Notes:
As per the recent announcement from Minister for Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions Jitendra Singh, there shall be a common eligibility test (CET) from 2021 for applicants for jobs in railways, banks and lower levels of Central government jobs.
The Centre is to set up an autonomous National Recruitment Agency (NRA) to conduct this online test. The CET is expected to replace the first level tests conducted by the Staff Selection Commission (SSC), the Railway Recruitment Board (RRB) and the Institute of Banking Personnel Selection (IBPS).

Notes:
The city of Kishangarh in Ajmer district of Rajasthan is called the ‘Marble city of India’. Recently the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) today flagged off the first-ever thrice-weekly flight from Indore to Kishangarh, under the RCS-UDAN scheme.
Star Air has been awarded the Indore-Kishangarh route during the UDAN 3 bidding process. With this route, the Civil Aviation Ministry has operationalised 268 routes under the UDAN scheme.

Notes:
The Prime Minister of Russia recently announced that the country will create a $4 billion (300-billion rouble) anti-crisis fund with an aim of protecting its economy from the coronavirus attack.
He also announced that Russia may miss its growth targets this year and international markets have been crashed by the impact of the virus. Huge drop in the price of Russia’s main export, Oil has made its economy dip and made its currency rouble being pegged at four-year lows against the dollar. The country is set to unveil new support measures would include tax breaks for tourism companies and airlines.

Notes:
Veteran Bollywood actor and filmmaker Imtiaz Khan recently passed away in Mumbai at the age of 77. He was famous for acting in several movies including YaadonKiBaaraat, Dharmatma and Dayavan.
He is the husband of Krutika Desai, who is a popular film and television actress. He was also the brother of late actor Amjad Khan and son of the actor Jayant.

Notes:
The first Indian-origin Finance Minister of the United Kingdom Rishi Sunak unveiled a 330-Billion Pound Rescue Package, which aims to help the businesses of the country to survive the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
The £330 billion of loan guarantees will help them meet their day to day needs during the lock-down. He also extended a business rates holiday and cash grant to all businesses in the retail and hospitality sector for 12 months.

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.