Current Affairs Quiz - May, 2020

Notes:
India’s leading private sector lender Axis Bank recently announced that it would acquire an additional 29 per cent stake in Max Life Insurance, its joint venture with Max Financial Services (MFS).
This acquisition will raise the total stake of Axis bank to 30 per cent. The remaining 70% will be held by Max Financial Services. Prior to this agreement, about 25.5 per cent in the Max Life Insurance was owned by Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance.

Notes:
For the year 2020, Russia is the Chair of the BRICS bloc, which has 5 members namely Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.
Recently, Russia chaired the BRICS Foreign Ministers meeting on coronavirus, conducted through video conferencing. Union External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar also participated in the virtual meeting. The representatives discussed on the significance of joint vaccine production and strategic partnerships within the BRICS.

Notes:
The Researchers at the National Institute of Biomedical Genomics in Kalyani, West Bengal have recently found that the novel coronavirus (O type) that originated from Wuhan, China has mutated into 10 different types.
Among the 10 mutations, one type named ‘A2a’ has nearly replaced all the others to become a dominant mutation across all geographical regions. This study is to be published in the Indian Journal of Medical Research, published by ICMR.

Notes:
The Bombay Reorganization Act, which came into effect on May 1, 1960, divided the then Bombay province into two separate states namely Maharashtra and Gujarat, on the basis of language.
People who were speaking Marathi and Konkani became a part of Maharashtra while those speaking Gujarati and Kutchi became a part of Gujarat. Hence May 1 is celebrated as the statehood day of Maharashtra and Gujarat every year.

Notes:
The Union Minister for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, Ram Vilas Paswan recently announced that five more states viz. Bihar, UP, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Daman and Diu have been integrated with the ‘One nation, One ration card’ scheme. Under the scheme, eligible cardholders can avail food grains from any fair-price shop under NFSA.
On January 1, 2020, there were 12 states on the integrated Public Distribution system. With the addition of 5 new states, the total count of states integrated in the scheme becomes 17, as of May 2020.

Notes:
‘World Tuna Day’ is observed on May 3, 2020 across the world. Tune belongs to the species of fish, which is rich in Omega-3. As the fish contains high nutritional values including minerals, proteins and vitamin B12, it is threatened by an overwhelming demand.
In December 2016, the United Nations General Assembly voted to officially observe the World Tuna Day on May 3, 2020. This supports the efforts towards attaining SDG 14, to conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources from the SDG.

Notes:
The Think tank of the country NITI Aayog in coloration with Mumbai-based Piramal Foundation has launched a campaign ‘Surakshit Dada-Dadi & Nana-Nani Abhiyan’.
The campaign focusses on ensuring well-being of senior citizens during the COVID-19 pandemic. This is expected to cover as many as 29 lakh senior citizens in 25 aspirational districts named by NITI Aayog. This project is currently piloted in seven states and will create awareness about the health and lifestyle of elder people.

Notes:
‘Internet Saathi’ is an initiative of the Technology giant Google in India, along with the Tata Trusts, launched with an objective to improve digital literacy among rural women of the country.
Recently, Google announced in a statement that the company is assisting the female Internet trainers or Saathis to share official health advice in their villages. Moreover, Google has also enabled the local governments to share the location of food centres, shelters and test centres in Google Maps.

Notes:
Union Health Minister along with the Union AYUSH Minister launched the clinical research studies on Ayurveda interventions as an add-on to the standard care in tackling COVID 19. This will be a joint initiative of Ministry of AYUSH, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and the Ministry of Science & Technology through CSIR.
They also launched the Ayush Sanjivani application developed by the AYUSH Ministry, with an aim of generating data on acceptance and usage of AYUSH recommendations among the public and record their impact in prevention of COVID 19.

Notes:
United States Special envoy and Special Representative for Afghanistan reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad recently visited India as a part of his three-nation tour including Qatar and Pakistan.
This is the first high-level foreign dignitary to travel to New Delhi since Covid-19-related travel restrictions came into effect. He met with External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and National Security Adviser Ajit Doval. While providing details of peace & reconciliation efforts of the U.S. in Afghanistan, he also said that US recognises India’s contribution to Afghanistan.