Current Affairs Quiz - March, 2020

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:
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 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:
Former Chairman and Managing Director of Air India Ashwani Lohani has been recently appointed as the Chairman of Andhra Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation (APTDC).
This was announced in the order released by the Chief Secretary of the state and the appointment has been made for one year. He had earlier served in several similar positions including the Chairman of the Railway Board and CMD of the India Tourism Development Corporation.

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:
Technological Major Google introduced a unique feed named ‘Discover’ which provides curated articles to Google Pixel and Google app users based on their interests.
In its latest update to the app, this new feature has been introduced which enables the users to report misleading articles on the ‘Discover’ feed. Users can now report misleading content as various categories which includes violent, misleading, abusive and others.

Notes:
Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) approved the procurement of 83 Tejas fighter aircrafts, which are manufactured by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL).
The Light Combat Aircraft Tejas is indigenously designed by Aircraft Development Agency (ADA) under the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). This order of 83 air-crafts is in addition to the previous order of 43 air-crafts approved earlier.

Notes:
The Fifteenth Finance Commission is to set up a panel soon, which will examine the fiscal and debt situation of the Centre and states.
This panel is to be headed by the Chairman of the 15th Finance Commission N.K.Singh. It will present a road map on the lines of the erstwhile Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management panel, which was also headed by N.K.Singh. The panel may include or receive suggestions from former RBI Governor Urjit Patel, former chief economic advisor Arvind Subramanian among others.