Current Affairs Quiz - March, 2020

Notes:
The Fifteenth Finance Commission is to set up a panel soon, which will examine the fiscal and debt situation of the Centre and states.
This panel is to be headed by the Chairman of the 15th Finance Commission N.K.Singh. It will present a road map on the lines of the erstwhile Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management panel, which was also headed by N.K.Singh. The panel may include or receive suggestions from former RBI Governor Urjit Patel, former chief economic advisor Arvind Subramanian among others.

Notes:
The World Happiness Report is published by the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Solutions Network. This year, the report has ranked Finland as the happiest country for the third time in a row.
People in 156 countries were asked to evaluate their own levels of happiness while measures like GDP, social support, personal freedom and levels of corruption were also considered to arrive at a score. This year, the rankings are based on data collected in 2017-2019. India is ranked 144 in the list of 156 countries.

Notes:
The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology is to organise the first Global AI Summit in India (RAISE 2020).
This was in news recently, as the AI summit was postponed to October 5-6, 2020 due to the rising number of cases of Covid-19. It was initially scheduled to be held in the month of April. The summit is to be attended by academics, AI start-ups and big tech firms.

Notes:
The United Nations General Assembly declared 21 March as the International Day of Forests in 2012. United Nations Forum on Forests and the Food and Agriculture Organization are the main organisers of the Forest Day.
The Day is celebrated to raise awareness about the importance of all types of forests. The theme for each International Day of Forests is selected by the Collaborative Partnership on Forests. The theme for 2020 is Forests and Biodiversity.

Notes:
As per the Lok Sabha’s Rules of Procedure, A Finance Bill is a bill introduced every year to give effect to the financial proposals of the Government for the following financial year. It also includes a bill to give effect to supplementary financial proposals for any period. Recently the Lok Sabha has passed the Finance Bill by voice vote without discussion.
An important type of Finance Bill is called Money Bill, which is defined by the Article 110 of Indian constitution. They are certified by the speaker.

Notes:
India’s largest lender State Bank of India has recently unveiled an emergency credit line to meet liquidity mismatch for its borrowers, amid the coronavirus pandemic scare.
The additional liquidity facility called Covid-19 Emergency Credit Line (CECL) will provide credit up to 200 crore rupees. This loan facility will be available till June 30 where the loan will be offered at an interest rate of 7.25 per cent with a 12-month tenure.

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 government recently approved to continue the scheme for Rebate of State and Central Taxes and Levies (RoSCTL) on export of garments beyond March 31.
It is to be continued till it is merged with the Remission of Duties and Taxes on Exported Products scheme (RoDTEP), which was introduced in last September. By continuing RoSCTL scheme, all taxes and levies in the textile sector which are not rebated under other mechanisms will be rebated.

Notes:
The Union Finance Minister has recently announced a relief package for the poor and vulnerable people amid the 21-day lockdown of the country announced by the Prime Minister.
Among the relief measures, women self-help groups (SHGs) will be provided collateral-free loans up to Rs 20 lakh from Rs 10 lakh earlier, under the Deen Dayal National Livelihood Mission. This step is expected to impact 7 crore members through 63 lakh SHGs.