Current Affairs Quiz - May, 2020

Notes:
The Union Environment Ministry recently announced that two female Amur Falcon Birds named Longleng and Chiulan, which were satellite-tagged, are providing information regarding the flying pattern of these birds.
The bird named “Longleng” was satellite-tagged at Nagaland in November, 2016 under the Environment Ministry funded project. After visiting Somalia, the bird has returned to India. Another bird named Chiulan was tagged last year and it has travelled to Somalia.

Notes:
The United States has placed 10 countries including India on the ‘Priority Watch List’ for lack of sufficient improvements to its intellectual property framework.
The US placed 10 countries, including India and China, and alleged that enforcement of the intellectual properties have weakened or remained inadequate in those countries. The US also highlighted that because of the weak IP enforcement, Americans find it difficult to have an equitable market access.

Notes:
The International Labour Organization has recently released a report titled ‘ILO Monitor third edition: COVID-19 and the world of work’.
In the report, it is said that almost 1.6 billion workers in the informal economy, which is about half of the global workforce, face an immediate danger of losing their livelihoods due to the continued lock-down imposed. Out of 3.3 billion workers, 2 billion have vulnerable jobs under informal economy.

Notes:
National Council for Science & Technology Communication (NCSTC) which functions under the Department of Science & Technology (DST) has launched a programme on health and risk communication named ‘Year of Awareness on Science & Health (YASH)’.
The programme aims at promoting response on health and inculcate scientific temper and health consciousness among the general public. The programme also plans to involve academic, research, media and voluntary organizations in developing solutions to equip the society to tackle the Covid-19 pandemic.

Notes:
The Centre has recently launched a ‘Project Monitoring Unit’ (PMU) to help obtain various clearances required from the Centre and state government authorities for operationalisation of coal mines, as announced by the Ministry of Coal.
This decision is expected to enable the allocatees of coal mines to obtain timely approvals for operationalising the mines, thereby promoting the ease of doing business in India. This is also expected to improve the production of coal in the country.

Notes:
The Ministry of Development of the North Eastern Region (DoNER) has recently directed the state government of Arunachal Pradesh to include the Chakma and Hajong communities in the COVID-19 relief programme.
After a Delhi-based rights group sent its complaint to the Prime Minister’s Office about the exclusion of the two communities from the relief programme and the shortage of food faced by them, the Ministry issued an order to the state. The people of the communities were settled in the state by 1960s after they were displaced by a violence in present Bangladesh region.

Notes:
Iran ranks first in the world, in terms of production of saffron and India is a close competitor. Kashmir saffron has received the Geographical Indication (GI) tag recently. It is cultivated and harvested in the Karewa (highlands) of Jammu and Kashmir.
The unique characteristics of Kashmir saffron are its longer and thicker stigmas, natural deep-red colour and high quantity of crocin, safranal and picrocrocin, among others. It is the only saffron variety in the world that is grown at an altitude of 1,600 m to 1,800 m above mean sea level.

Notes:
The United Nations along with its partner agencies has launched a USD 6.7 billion global appeal to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.
The UN also updated a global plan to fight the COVID-19 in fragile and more vulnerable countries. The plan includes nine more vulnerable countries including the Philippines, Togo and Zimbabwe, beyond the 54 countries covered in the original appeal-the COVID-19 Global Humanitarian Response Plan.

Notes:
On 8 and 9 May every year, the United Nations commemorates the millions who lost their lives during the Second World War. The World War-II led to the formation of the United Nations.
The commemoration to pay tribute to all victims is officially called the “Time of Remembrance and Reconciliation for Those Who Lost Their Lives during the Second World War”. It was created by a General Assembly resolution in 2004.

Notes:
Coir Board, a statutory body under the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises has recently signed an MoU with the Indian Institute of Technology-Madras, to establish a Centre of Excellence for Coir Applications.
As per the announcement of the MSME Ministry, Coir Board will provide a financial assistance of five crore rupees for two years for the establishment and running of the Centre of Excellence. The Centre will take up and develop the Research and Development work done in the coir sector.