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:
The SAARC Disaster Management Centre has recently launched a website for information related to the COVID-19 pandemic in the region.
The website shows the number of coronavirus cases in the SAARC member states with live updates on the count of active cases. This initiative was earlier proposed by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during the recent video conference with the leaders SAARC member nations.

Notes:
The United Kingdom has been recently confirmed as the first co-chair of the Governing Council on the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI). The Governing Council is the highest policy-making body of the CDRI, which is led by India.
In September 2019, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced the global Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI), at the UN Climate Action Summit 2019 held in New York. It is a voluntary group which links governments, UN Agencies and other members in the field of climate change and disaster management.

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:
The national task force for COVID-19 constituted by Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) has recommended hydroxy-chloroquine as a preventive drug for high-risk cases, who are infected by coronavirus.
The medication should be given to the asymptomatic healthcare workers, who are under high risk by serving the infected patients. It is also recommended to asymptomatic household contacts of laboratory confirmed cases. The protocol recommended by the National Task Force is approved by the Drug Controller General of India (DGCI) for use in emergency situations.

Notes:
Invest India is India’s national Investment Promotion & Facilitation Agency, which comes under the Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
It was seen in news recently as Invest India has launched the ‘Invest India Business Immunity Platform’. This platform is hosted on the Invest India website and it provides real-time updates on the latest initiatives of the government of India to tackle Covid-19.

Notes:
Scientists at Agharkar Research Institute (ARI), Pune, which is an autonomous institute under the Department of Science & Technology, have developed a biofortified high-protein wheat variety MACS 4028.
The development of the crop was published in the Indian Journal of Genetics and Plant Breeding. It is a semi-dwarf variety which exhibits a higher yielding ability of 19.3 quintals per hectare. It is claimed to be resistant to several pests and diseases unlike the normal wheat varieties.

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 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:
The Government of India has launched a mobile application to track the risk of coronavirus infection called ‘Corona Kavach’.
The application is jointly developed by the Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology and the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. It uses the person’s location to assess if they are in the high risk geographical zone. It is now available in beta version in the Google Play Store.