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:
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:
Debut novelist Ruchika Tomar has been selected as the winner of the 2020 PEN/Hemingway Award for Debut Novel ‘A Prayer for Travelers’.
PEN America was founded in 1922, in New York City. The prize is backed by the Hemingway family and the Ernest Hemingway Foundation. The PEN/Hemingway Award includes a $25,000 prize, which is proposed to allow significant time and resources to pursue a subsequent work of fiction.

Notes:
The Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu recently announced the creation of a new district ‘Mayiladuthurai’, for administrative convenience, by bifurcating Nagapattinam district. This is the 38th district of the state.
Nagapattinam district is in the Cauvery delta region of Tamil Nadu. Last year, the government announced five new districts. Amid coronavirus pandemic, the Chief Minister announced Rs 1,000 cash assistance for ration card holders to compensate for livelihood loss.

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 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.

Notes:
International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade is observed on March 25 every year, across the world. The day honours those who suffered and died due to brutal slavery system. It also aims to raise awareness about the dangers of racism and prejudice.
The International Day of Solidarity with Detained and Missing Staff Members is also observed on March 25. It marks the anniversary of the abduction of a former journalist named Alec Collett, who worked for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).

Notes:
The Governor of the Reserve Bank of India recently made an announcement after the Monetary Policy committee (MPC) meeting, to tackle the crisis caused by Covid-19 pandemic.
RBI had advanced the MPC meeting due on March 31- April 3 to March 24-27. It has announced that the Cash Reserve Ratio has been decreased 100 bps to 3 per cent and the repo rate has been decreased to 4.4 per cent. Policy rate corridor has been widened from 50 to 65 bps. All commercial banks are permitted to allow a 3-month moratorium on repayment of term loan EMIs.

Notes:
National Book Trust of the Union Human Resource Development Ministry has launched a campaign called ‘StayHomeIndiaWithBooks’, to encourage people to stay home amid the Covid 19 pandemic.
As a part of this initiative, NBT is making its select and best-selling books available for free Download. More than 100 books are made available in PDF format and can be downloaded from the website of NBT.