Current Affairs Quiz - March, 2020

Notes:
On 23 March 1931, young Indian freedom fighters Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru were hanged to death at Lahore in today’s Pakistan. This day is observed as Shaheedi Diwas (Martyr’s Day) throughout the nation.
The state government of Punjab has been commemorating the Martyrs Day, which falls on March 23, as the ‘Youth Empowerment Day’. January 30, the death anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi is also observed as Martyr’s day in India.

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 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:
One of India’s leading private sector banks, IndusInd Bank has appointed Sumant Kathpalia as the Managing Director and CEO for a period of three years.
As the previous MD & CEO of the bank Romesh Sobti retired, after holding the top position for 12 years, this appointment has been approved. Sumant Kathpalia has more than three decades of experience in multi-national banks such as Citibank and Bank of America. He had previously served as the Head of Consumer Banking in the same bank.

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 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:
The Union Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation implements the Members of Parliament Local Area Development (MPLAD) Scheme.
As per the ministry’s latest notification, the Members of Parliament can use the funds allotted to them under the MPLAD scheme to buy testing kits and other medical equipment needed to fight coronavirus pandemic. ₹5 crore is given to every member of the Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha, per year under the MPLAD scheme to use for developing the community.

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:
Ratings Agency Moody’s Investors Service has slashed India’s 2020 growth forecast to 2.5% within three weeks of its previous downgrade to 5.3%.
According to the Global Macro Outlook 2020-21 recently released by Moody’s, the 21-day lockdown announced by the Indian Prime Minister will result in a sharp loss in incomes. Domestic demand and the pace of recovery are also expected to slow down. Earlier it had reduced the growth rate to 5.3% from 5.4%.