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 Border Roads Organisation opened a 360 feet long suspension bridge over the Teesta river near Chungthang town in North Sikkim.
Under Project Swastik the project of construction of the bridge commenced in October 2019 and completed it in January 2020. The bridge is expected to promote tourism in the state. It also enables the movement of logistics for the Armed Forces easier.

Notes:
On the World Water Day, which falls on March 22, the United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned that between 3.5 and 4.4 billion people in the world will live with limited access to water.
He also announced that out of the people with limited access, more than 1 billion of them would be in major cities. He revealed that the world’s water resources are under threat and 2.2 billion people and 4.2 billion people lack safe drinking water and sanitation facilities respectively.

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:
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:
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:
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 has proposed two schemes including ₹148 crore project of Electric vehicle park and ₹500 crore project of Data centre park. The projects are aimed at attracting new investments into Tamil Nadu.
As per his announcement in the Assembly, the electric vehicle park will be set up at Manalur SIPCOT Industrial Estate near Chennai and the data centre park over a 150-acre site near Sriperumbudur. He also announced that a start-up and innovation city with all infrastructure facilities will be established near Chennai, at a cost of ₹350 crore to attract innovative and knowledge-based firms.

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 G-20’s first ever virtual summit, chaired by Saudi Arabia, was recently held through video conferencing. Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi also attended the virtual meeting.
Leaders of the G20 major economies pledged to restore global growth and infuse over $5 trillion into the global economy. The countries also vowed to take necessary steps to minimize the economic and social impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.