Current Affairs Quiz - March, 2020

Notes:
The state government of Uttarakhand issued orders to remove reservation in promotions for SC/ST employees.
In the month of February 2020, the Supreme Court stated that the government is not bound to make reservations and claiming reservation in promotions is not a fundamental right. Now Uttarakhand government has implemented government order which bans reservation in promotion and removed the restriction in promotions in all state government departments.

Notes:
The United Nations introduced Language Days in 2010, to celebrate multilingualism and cultural diversity of various languages.
The United Nations celebrates six Language Days each year, dedicated to the six official languages of the UN, namely Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish. Among them, the ‘French Language Day’ is celebrated on March 20, which marks the creation of the International Organization of La Francophonie (OIF).

Notes:
The Punjab government on Saturday granted permission to distilleries to manufacture and supply sanitisers in wake of the rise in coronavirus cases in the state.
Punjab Food and Drug administration Commissioner recently announced that the permission for a period of 10 days and has been granted purely on a temporary basis. The manufacturers shall supply the sanitisers to government institutions in the state of Punjab only.

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:
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:
Every year, the World Health Organisation commemorates World Tuberculosis (TB) Day on March 24, to raise awareness among the general public about the disease.
On the same day in 1882, Dr Robert Koch announced that he had discovered the bacterium that causes Tuberculosis. This year, the theme of the World TB Day is “It’s Time”, which highlights the importance of time and fast-tracking the response to save lives

Notes:
The Indian arm of then US-based retailer Walmart recently announced the appointment of Sameer Aggarwal as the Chief executive officer of its Best Price Modern Wholesale stores in India.
Sameer Aggarwal is promoted as CEO and will replace Krish Iyer, who is to retire from the top post. Krish Iyer will continue to serve as the advisor to Best Price, Walmart India. Sameer had joined Walmart as executive Vice president in 2018 and was made the Deputy CEO in January 2020.

Notes:
The Scientists from Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology (WIHG), Dehradun have recently found that glaciers in Sikkim are melting at a higher magnitude than other Himalayan regions. The Institute is an autonomous research institute for the study of Geology of the Himalayas, under the Department of Science and Technology.
The study, which has been published in Science of the Total Environment, revealed that glaciers in Sikkim have deglaciated at a higher magnitude from 1991 to 2015. They also revealed that small-sized glaciers in Sikkim are disappearing and larger glaciers are thinning due to climate change.

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:
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.