Current Affairs Quiz - March, 2020

Notes:
The Ministry of New & Renewable Energy has recently launched its new website to make information about new schemes and projects presented in a better manner to the stakeholders.
The newly launched website includes optimized user interface and facilitates better access from various devices including mobile phones. The website has additional portals such as ‘Akshay Urja Portal’ and ‘India Renewable Idea Exchange’ (IRIX).

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:
Microsoft Bing team has launched a web portal for tracking COVID-19 infections worldwide. The interactive website has been developed to provide up-to-date infection statistics for each country.
It also features an interactive map for number of cases for specific location and related articles from publishers. The portal hosts the data from reliable sources like the World Health Organization (WHO), the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC).

Notes:
E-commerce firm Flipkart recently partnered with Aegon Life Insurance, to sell wide-ranging insurance solutions.
It aims to provide solutions for customers who are looking for instant digital policies with a sum assured of up to Rs 10 lakh. This agreement is aimed at making life insurance available to customers in a convenient and transparent manner.

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 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) is conducting Open Market Operations (OMO) in the form of purchase of Rs 10,000 crore worth government securities.
This important step of the central bank has been announced at the backdrop of the increased risks of COVID-19 pandemic. The operation would increase the liquidity in the Indian economy and would help the financial market segments which are affected by the economic risks.

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:
The Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu K Palaniswami announced in the Assembly that 64,583 sanitary personnel employed by urban and rural civic bodies in the State shall be called ‘cleanliness workers’.
This announcement was made to honour their work in maintaining public health. The state government is already implementing several welfare measures for the workers including building residences, periodic health check-ups, employment camps and skill development for their children.

Notes:
The United Nations introduced Language Days in 2010, to celebrate multilingualism and cultural diversity of various languages.
The United Nations celebrates six Language Days each year, dedicated to the six official languages of the UN, namely Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish. Among them, the ‘French Language Day’ is celebrated on March 20, which marks the creation of the International Organization of La Francophonie (OIF).