Current Affairs Quiz - May, 2020

Notes:
Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPRD) was established under Ministry of Home Affairs in 1970, as a think-tank with the objective of modernization of police force.
Recently BPRD released a 40-page manual titled ‘Fake News and Disinformation: How to Spot and Investigate’ to help investigators and police officers to identify fake news aimed at spreading communal hatred among the people.

Notes:
The Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) recently announced a research collaboration with Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech International Ltd (BBIL) to develop a COVID-19 vaccine.
The virus stains that had been isolated at the National Institute of Virology, Pune (an ICMR institute), have been transferred to the Biotech firm. The ICMR and BBIL will seek approvals to speed-up vaccine development, subsequent animal studies and clinical evaluation of the indigenous vaccine.

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:
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.

Notes:
New Development Bank (NDB) was established by the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) countries in 2014. Its headquarters is Shangai and is headed by veteran Indian K V Kamath.
BRICS’ New Development Bank was seen in news recently, as it has provided $1 billion loan to India to fight COVID-19. The complete emergency funds have been disbursed by the development institution, to help India in containing the human and economic losses due to Covid-19.

Notes:
The Union Finance Minister announced the details of the Atma Nirbhar Bharat Yojana package launched by the Prime Minister.
One of the features was the global tenders being disallowed in government procurement up to Rs 200 crore. This would reduce unfair foreign competition for MSMEs and support the ‘Make in India’ initiative. She also announced Rs 3 lakh crore Emergency Working Capital Facility for Businesses, including MSMEs.

Notes:
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman recently proposed Rs 50,000 crore of liquidity by reducing the TDS and TCS rates for certain payments including interest, dividend, rent payments and other payments by non-individuals.
The rates of Tax Deduction at Source (TDS) for non-salaried payments made to residents and rates of Tax Collection at Source (TCS) for receipts will be reduced by 25 per cent of the existing rates. This reduction in rates will be effective from 14.05.2020 to 31.03.2021.

Notes:
Union Minister of Health & Family Welfare Dr Harsh Vardhan recently dedicated the first testing machine that has been procured by the Government called COBAS 6800. It has been installed in the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC). It is an institute under the Indian Directorate General of Health Services, Health Ministry.
COBAS 6800 is a fully automated, high end machine which performs real time PCR testing for COVID-19. It will also provide high-quality testing and can perform around 1200 samples in 24 hours. This is expected to increase the testing capacity in the country.

Notes:
As a part of the economic stimulus package, the Government has revised the definition of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs). The revised guidelines introduced a new criterion called ‘Annual turnover’.
For micro enterprises, the classification covers up to Rs 1 crore in investment and Rs 5 crore in turnover. Earlier, it was investment of 25 lakh in manufacturing and 10 lakh in services. 10 Crore investment and 50 Crore turnover is the criteria for Small enterprises and 20 Crore investment and 100 Crore turnover is the criteria for Medium enterprises.