Current Affairs Quiz - March, 2020

Notes:
American actor-singer Kenny Rogers recently passed away at the age of 81. He was a three-time Grammy-winning singer.
The singer was famous for various genres of his music albums including jazz, folk, country and pop. Some of his popular musical works includes ‘Lucille,’ ‘Lady’ and ‘Islands in the Stream’. He was celebrated as a Superstar by his fans during 1970’s and 80’s.

Notes:
Afghanistan recently pledged $1 million contribution to the SAARC Corona Emergency Fund, which was proposed by the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
India proposed an initial contribution of $10 million to tackle the outbreak of the deadly coronavirus. After the announcement, Nepal and Bhutan committed nearly $1 million and $100,000 respectively to the SAARC Corona Emergency Fund. Maldives pledged $ 0.2 million to the fund.

Notes:
The birth anniversary of Dr Ram Manohar Lohia, was recently observed on March 23. The Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid tributes to the leader.
Ram Manohar Lohia was born on 23 March 1910 and was one of the founders of the Congress Socialist Party. He was also the editor of the Congress Socialist journal. He had also as the secretary of the Foreign Department of the All India Congress Committee (A.I.C.C)

Notes:
The city of Indore of Madhya Pradesh has become the first city in the country to deploy drones to sanitize city areas against the coronavirus outbreak by sprinkling chemicals.
The Municipal Corporation of Indore has hired two drones for sprinkling sanitising chemicals. Public places like vegetables markets and streets of the city are being disinfected by spraying. The chemicals are selected such that they are not harmful to the people.

Notes:
The Delhi Government has recently presented its budget in the Assembly. The Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi Manish Sisodia presented the first budget of the AAP government’s second term.
The government of Delhi announced the ‘Mukhya Mantri Health Card’ scheme for the people of Delhi. Under this scheme, health ID cards will be prepared and distributed to all the residents of Delhi. It will be linked to the hospital information management system across all the health centres of the government.

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:
Sir HN Reliance Foundation Hospital along with the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), has set up a dedicated COVID-19 centre at Seven Hills Hospital, Mumbai.
The 100 bedded hospital will serve patients, who are checked positive for COVID-19. It is fully funded by Reliance Foundation and has been set up in 2 weeks. It also includes a negative pressure room which prevents cross-contamination and controls infection.

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 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:
Under the Drugs & Cosmetics Rules, those drugs classified under Schedule H1 should not be sold over the counter. The schedule was introduced in the year 2013.
Earlier, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) recommended the drug for front line medical workers and high risk-people who were in contact with the coronavirus infected patient. As common people rushed to buy this medicine in large numbers, there were reports of hoarding and shortage of this medicine.