Current Affairs Quiz - May, 2020

Notes:
The Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest (SARFAESI) Act, 2002, allow banks and financial institutions to auction properties, when borrowers fail to repay their loans.
Recently as per the judgement of the Supreme Court, the cooperative banks that are involved in the banking activities are considered as a ‘banking company’. Hence the SARFAESI act may be modified to include the procedure of loan recovery by cooperative banks.

Notes:
‘Long March 5B’ is the flagship launch vehicle of China and it is a variant of the standard Long March 5 rocket, which had its inaugural flight in 2016.
It was seen in news recently, as the rocket launched a prototype crewed spacecraft from the Hainan island. This new-generation spacecraft entered its predetermined orbit 488 seconds after the launch. This success is expected to let China proceed with a mission to send an orbiter and rover to Mars.

Notes:
The state government of Jharkhand has recently banned manufacture, sale and storage of 11 brands of pan masala for a year.
This step has been taken to curb the harmful chemical Magnesium carbonate, present in pan masala. The chemical is carcinogenic and harmful to the heart and banned for usage, as per the Food Safety Act, 2006 regulations. Earlier, Maharashtra and Bihar also had imposed a ban on pan masala.

Notes:
India International Exchange Limited (India INX) is India’s first international stock exchange located in Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT) city and is a subsidiary of Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).
Recently the Union Finance Minister launched INR-USD futures and options contracts on the two international exchanges — BSE’s India INX and NSE’s NSE-IFSC, at GIFT city, Gandhinagar. This decision of allowing rupee derivatives will bring the rupee trading to our country, which are presently dominated by exchanges in Dubai and Singapore.

Notes:
The Union Defence Ministry has signed a contract with Mumbai based power company Tata Power for infrastructure modernisation of 37 airfields.
The airfields of the Indian Air Force, Coast Guard and the Navy are to be modernised at a cost of around Rs 1,200 crore. This is the second phase of the Modernisation of Airfield Infrastructure (MAFI) programme while during the first phase the airfields of the Indian Air Force were upgraded. This project would facilitate the operations of aircrafts in poor weather conditions.

Notes:
Recently, about 2 Crore Olive Ridley turtle hatchlings walked into the sea from Odisha’s coast. The turtles settle at the Gahirmatha and Rushikulya rookery in the state and lay eggs every year.
Several lakhs of turtles lay eggs on the coast, in a phenomenon called Arribada. These hatchlings will grow up and said to return to the same place for laying their eggs. The turtles get their name from the colour of its olive-green shell. As per the World Wildlife Fund, they are the most abundant of all sea turtles but they are vulnerable because they nest in only a few places.

Notes:
The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) laboratory based at Hyderabad, Research Centre Imarat (RCI), has developed an automated sanitisation cabinet, called Defence Research Ultraviolet Sanitiser (DRUVS).
The sanitiser uses the UV-C type of light to sanitise currency notes, electronic gadgets and paper. The significant feature of the sanitiser is its contactless operation, which will help in containing the spread of infection.

Notes:
Due to the outbreak of African swine fever (AFS), more than 13,000 pigs have died in the last few days in nine districts of Assam. The officials have dug a two km long canal inside Agoratoli range to prevent wild boars from going to nearby villages and domestic pigs from entering.
According to a 2019 census, the pig population in the state was 21 lakhs which has become 30 lakhs now. This outbreak has affected the livelihood of hundreds of people involved in the animal husbandry.

Notes:
India’s first and only woman Paralympics silver medallist, Deepa Malik is set to take charge as the President of the Paralympic Committee of India.
She had earlier announced her retirement from active sports. She is the only woman para-athlete to have been given the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award. She is also a recipient of the Padma Shri and Arjuna Award. Deepa Malik won her silver medal at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Summer Paralympics in shot put. She has won 58 national and 23 international medals.

Notes:
The Indian Council of Medical Research, ICMR and National Centre for Disease Control proposed to launch a population-based sero-survey at district level.
This operation is to be done in collaboration with key stakeholders and State Health Departments. It involves testing the blood serum predominantly. All population groups including outpatient attendees, pregnant women and health care workers will be tested.