Current Affairs Quiz - May, 2020

Notes:
The new Prime Minister of Iraq, Mustafa al-Kadhimi assumed office after the country’s parliament approved a new government. The parliament also approved 15 ministers in a vote of confidence and seven ministries including Foreign affairs and Oil were left empty.
There has been political crisis for more than six months in the country. The two previous nominees for the role of prime minister, Mohammed Tawfiq Allawi and Adnan al-Zurfi failed to secure the required support from cabinet ministers.

Notes:
As a part of the humanitarian aid and disaster relief (HADR) outreach of the Indian Navy, the armed force has deployed five of its biggest amphibious warfare vessels on a mission to provide essential supplies to friendly Indian Ocean Region (IOR) countries.
Indian Naval Ship (INS) Kesari, INS Jalashwa, INS Magar, INS Airawat and INS Shardul are deployed in the operations. On their return journey some of them will bring back the stranded Indian nationals in those countries.

Notes:
The Sunderbans delta, which is spread over India and Bangladesh, is the only mangrove forest in the world inhabited by tigers.
According to the latest estimation conducted by the West Bengal Forest Department, the count of tigers has increased by 8 in 2019-20 to 96, from 88 in the previous year. The increase was significant as this is the biggest annual jump ever reported from the Sundarbans, which is a world heritage site and a Ramsar site.

Notes:
The Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Yogi Adityanath has recently launched the ‘Pravasi Rahat Mitra’ application, which aims at incoming aiding migrant citizens.
The application has been developed by the state revenue department in collaboration with United Nation Development Program. The application collects data of the migrant workers, which will be used in formulating programs for employment and livelihood of these citizens. The application will also monitor their health status.

Notes:
Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, CSIR through its flagship New Millennium Indian Technology Leadership Initiative (NMITLI) programme has approved a project towards development of human monoclonal antibodies (hmAbs).
The antibodies can neutralize the mutated virus SARS-CoV-2 and could be used for fighting future SARS-CoV infections. The team that is going to develop the therapeutic antibodies comprises of academic institutes and industries.

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.

Notes:
India launched an outreach initiative named ‘Mission Sagar’, to assist Island nations in the Indian Ocean in tackling the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Indian Naval Ship Kesari has departed for the five island nations: Maldives, Mauritius, Seychelles, Madagascar and Comoros, to deliver Food, Medicines including HCQ Tablets and Special Ayurvedic Medicines, related to Covid-19. A team of select medical personnel was also sent earlier to Maldives to help increase their preparedness.

Notes:
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:
May 11 is celebrated as National Technology Day in India every year, to mark the day on which India conducted its nuclear tests at Pokhran, Rajasthan in the year 1998.
India conducted its first nuclear test, codenamed “Smiling Buddha” in 1974. In 1998, under the code name Operation Shakti, the next nuclear mission was carried out. Dr APJ Abdul Kalam led the scientific team which carried out the nuclear weapon tests on May 11. At present, India is among eight countries in the world that own a nuclear weapons program.

Notes:
The national public health institute of the United States, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has committed $3.6 million to assist India’s response to the COVID19 pandemic.
This initial tranche of funding will help India to strengthen and support the efforts of India to increase laboratory capacity for SARS-COV-2 testing. The CDC India program will also provide technical assistance for India’s response for the ongoing crisis emergency.