Current Affairs Quiz - March, 2020

Notes:
A passenger ferry service called ‘Ropax’ was launched between Mumbai and Mandwa of Maharashtra by the Union Minister of State for Shipping Mansukh Mandaviya.
The vessel which can carry as many as 200 cars and 1,000 passengers was built in Greece. The Ropax jetty and terminal at Mandwa has been built by Maharashtra Maritime Board while the jetty facilities at Mumbai were set up by Mumbai Port Trust.

Notes:
In the recently concluded All England Open Badminton Championships, Denmark’s Viktor Axelsen won his first singles title. He defeated Taiwanese top seed Chou Tien-chen in straight sets in the summit clash. Last year, Axelsen was the runner-up in the tournament after losing to Kento Momota.
Taiwan’s Tai Tzu Ying is the women’s champion for the third time in four years, after defeating Chinese world number one Chen Yu Fei.

Notes:
After the state government of Haryana requested to rename its village in Kurukshetra district, the centre has given approval for renaming.
The decision has been taken by the Union Home Ministry after getting formal approval and a No objection certificate from a few central organisations including Ministry of Railways, Department of Posts and Survey of India.

Notes:
The former Chief Justice of India, Ranjan Gogoi has been nominated to Rajya Sabha by the President Ram Nath Kovind, as per the notification of the Union Home Ministry
The nomination is done to fill the vacancy arising due to retirement of one of the members. The maximum strength of Rajya Sabha is 250 members out of which 12 are nominated by the President of India. Gogoi was the 46th Chief Justice in India and was known for his several landmark judgments.

Notes:
The Indian Institute of Technology-Madras has recently launched a re-skilling programme for women called ‘Career Back 2 Women’.
The programme aims at offering 150 hours of training to re-skill women who have taken a break from their career. The certification course comprises of artificial intelligence, machine learning, cyber security data science and big data. This programme is done through the Institute’s Digital Skills Academy.

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:
The scientists at Himachal Pradesh based Council of Scientific & Industrial Research -Institute of Himalayan Bioresource Technology (CSIR-IHBT) have developed a chemical-free hand sanitiser in India.
Due to the increasing demand for sanitisers amid the corona virus scare, many companies manufacture fake products. Hence the Scientists have developed this product with the natural constituents and alcohol content as per the guidelines of the World Health Organisation (WHO). Another firm is to commercially produce this sanitiser as per a new agreement.

Notes:
In a ceremony at iconic Panathenaic stadium of Athens, Greece has handed over the Olympic flame to Tokyo 2020 organisers.
The ceremony did not include the planned cultural ceremonies from Greece or Japan, due to COVID-19 pandemic. The Governing Olympic body of Greece, Hellenic Olympic Committee’s President Spyros Capralos handed the torch over to the Tokyo Organising Committee. The Hellenic Olympic Committee organises the lighting ceremony of Olympic Torch and its relay in Greece.

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:
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.