Current Affairs Quiz - May, 2020

Notes:
An Extraordinary Virtual G20 Digital Economy Ministers meeting was convened recently to discuss the challenges posed by the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Union Minister Communications and Electronics & IT Ravi Shankar Prasad represented India in the meeting. Digital Ministers of other G20 member also attended the virtual meeting. The G20 Digital Economy Task Force COVID-19 Ministerial Statement was released which ensured global digital measures to tackle the pandemic.

Notes:
Indian Navy has launched Operation named ‘Samudra Setu’, which means Sea Bridge in English, with an objective of repatriating Indian citizens who are stranded in other countries.
As a part of Phase-1 under the operation, Indian Naval Ships Jalashwa and Magar have departed to Malè in Maldives for evacuation of Indian citizens. The list of persons who are to be evacuated is prepared by the Indian Mission in Maldives. About a thousand nationals are to be transported back to India following social distancing norms.

Notes:
The Union Ministry of Civil Aviation along with Directorate General of Civil Aviation has launched a portal named GARUD (Government Authorisation for Relief Using Drones).
The portal has been launched with an aim of providing fast-track exemptions to government agencies for drone operations associated with Covid-19 response. However, the Ministry also warned about penal action and cancellation of exemption if the provisions are violated.

Notes:
Professor at the Electrical Engineering Department, IIT Bombay, Mr. Saurabh Lodha has received the Young Career Award in Nano Science and Technology for the year 2020 instituted by the Department of Science and Technology (DST).
He has been selected for the prestigious award for contributing in development of logic transistor technologies beyond the conventional silicon transistors and development of nano electronic devices based on two-dimensional ‘Van der Waals’ materials. His work has been presented at global device conferences and have been incorporated in semiconductor equipment for advanced transistor technologies.

Notes:
Mumbai based think tank, the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) has recently released its report on unemployment rates of the country in various parts.
As per the report, unemployment rate of India has risen to 27.11% for the week ended May 3, against 7% in the month of March. The monthly unemployment rate is 23.52% in April. It also highlighted that the unemployment rate was the highest in urban areas and the lowest in hilly areas.

Notes:
French cybersecurity researcher and ethical hacker Robert Baptiste who writes in the pseudonym Elliot Alderson on Twitter, warned about the security issues in the Aarogya Setu application. He also explained how the application could be manipulated to retrieve data of people infected in a given area.
As per the recent announcement of the Indian government, more than 90 million people have downloaded the application. However, the team of Aarogya Setu assured that no data or security breach has been identified.

Notes:
The government has recently raised its gross market borrowing target for the current financial year to Rs 12 lakh crore.
As per the latest budget estimate, the target was Rs 7.8 lakh crore for the current fiscal year. The increase in the target accounts for more than 50% increase from the estimate. The decision has been taken at the backdrop of the Covid-19 outbreak that has crippled the economy. Lower tax collections and the fiscal stimulus required are the reasons for the increased borrowing.

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The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) is the United Nations agency responsible for the promotion of sustainable and universally accessible tourism. Its headquarters is located at Madrid, Spain.

Notes:
Every year the International Nurses Day is celebrated on May 12. It is celebrated to mark the birth anniversary of Florence Nightingale. 2020 also marks the 200th birth anniversary of Florence Nightingale. World Health Organization (WHO) has declared 2020 as the ‘Year of the Nurse and the Midwife’.
This year, the theme of the International Nurses Day is “Nursing the World to Health”. As per the WHO, Nurses account for more than half of health workers and still 5.9 million more nurses are needed across the world.

Notes:
A team of Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) and Stanford alumni have developed a technology named “Airlens Minus Corona”. It has received certification from the National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL).
It is an ‘intelligent robot’ machine that can travel to hospitals and other crowded public places and disinfect surfaces with a water-based technology. Unlike the alcohol-based or UV-based method, the technology works on the basis of ‘Water Electro Activation’ technique. Charged or ionised water droplets will kill the virus by destroying its proteins.