Current Affairs Quiz - March, 2020

Notes:
The United States announced that it has successfully tested a hypersonic missile on March 20, 2020. This is a follow-up exercise of the first joint US Army and Navy flight experiment conducted in 2017.
The hypersonic missile can travel faster than the current nuclear-capable ballistic and cruise missiles. They travel at low altitudes and switch direction in flight and as they do not follow a predictable arc like traditional missiles, it is harder to track and intercept them.

Notes:
Veteran Kollywood Director cum Actor M.R. Viswanathan, who was popularly known as Visu, passed away at the age of 75.
Besides being a stage artist, he had also worked as a screen writer for several famous Tamil films. He was famous for his witty and funny one-liners. He acted in more than 60 films and directed nearly 25 films, most of which were celebrated by people then.

Notes:
Amid the coronavirus pandemic scare, the Government of India recently allowed states and Union Territories to lift food-grains for three months in advance from Food Corporation of India (FCI) for distribution through ration shops.
There are about 75 crore beneficiaries under the Public Distribution System (PDS) in India. According to a recent government data, our country has surplus food-grains of 435 lakh tonnes, with 272.19 lakh tonnes of rice and 162.79 lakh tonnes of wheat

Notes:
America-based Heritage Foundation released its Index of Economic Freedom last week. Singapore emerged as the top nation in the index and overtook Hong Kong as the world’s most independent and free economy.
Singapore achieved this feat for the first time since 1995, the report was first published. Hong Kong has ever been placed at the top since then. India is ranked in 120th position in the report and It improved its score by 1.3 points from 2019 to score 56.5 in 2020

Notes:
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has introduced an Artificial Intelligence (AI) bot, called ‘Clara’ to assist people in finding the potential symptoms of COVID-19.
The CDC has collaborated with CDC Foundation and Healthcare Bot service of Microsoft Azure to develop the self-checking bot Clara. It is currently available only in the United States on the CDC website. It provides information about the disease, suggests the course of action and helps to handle the illness at home.

Notes:
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman recently announced various relief measures amid lock-down of the country due to coronavirus scare.
As per the measures, the deadline for filing belated income tax return (ITR) for the financial year 2018-19 and for filing goods and services tax (GST) returns for March, April and May has been extended to June 30, 2020. She also announced waiver of minimum balance maintenance charge and ATM withdrawal charge for next 3 months. Vivad Se Vishwas Scheme has been extended from April 1 to June 30.

Notes:
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved a Rs 1,340-crore recapitalisation plan for the weak regional rural banks (RRBs).
This recapitalisation will help them to improve their capital to risk weighted assets ratio (CRAR) during the financial year 2020-21, as they are stipulated to maintain a minimum CRAR of 9 per cent. The Centre and the respective sponsor banks provide the funds in the ratio 50:50, as they fund Rs. 670 Cr each.

Notes:
The United Nations has recently launched a USD 2 billion global humanitarian response plan to fund the poorest countries and help them fight against the coronavirus pandemic.
This global response plan is to be coordinated by the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. The plan will also integrate the existing appeals from the World Health Organisation and other UN partners. This fund is expected to provide laboratory supplies for testing to NGOs and medical equipment to protect health care workers.

Notes:
The Central Board of Direct Taxes is a statutory authority which frames policy for the tax department. It is headed by a Chairperson and composed of six other members.
Recently, Indian Revenue Service officers Satish Kumar Gupta and Krishan Mohan Prasad have been appointed new members in the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT). At present, apart from the Chairman P C Mody, there are three other serving members. After this appointment, there will be one more vacancy in the organisation.

Notes:
The Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced the Government’s ₹1.7 lakh crore economic package for the poor to fight the coronavirus pandemic and lockdown named ‘Prime Minister Gareeb Kalyan Scheme’.
Under the scheme, ex-gratia of ₹1,000 will be given to poor senior citizens, poor widows and poor disabled and ₹500 per month for 3 months to women Jan Dhan account holders; Ujjwala beneficiaries will get free cooking gas (LPG) cylinders for next three months; An installment of ₹2000 will be transferred to farmers. Under Prime Minister Garib Ann Yojna, additional 5 kg rice or wheat per month is given in addition to the existing scheme.