Current Affairs Quiz - May, 2020

Notes:
International Organization for Migration (IOM) is an intergovernmental organization that provides services and advice regarding migration to governments and migrants. It is headquartered at Grand-Saconnex, Switzerland.
Recently, the Director-General of the UN migration agency Antonio Vitorino said in a notification that thousands of migrants have been stranded all over the world and they face an increased risk of COVID-19 infection. The agency also advised the governments to allow health care and screening available to all migrants.

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:
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:
A team of astronomers using the Chile-based La Silla Observatory of the European Southern Observatory (ESO) has recently discovered the nearest black hole from Earth.
This triple-structure black hole named as HR 6819, is located just 1000 light-years from Earth. Unlike the other black holes that have been detected till date, HR 6819 does not actively interfere with their surroundings. The team was able to distinguish its existence and measure its mass.

Notes:
The FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup was originally scheduled to be held in India from November 2-21 in 2020 and was subsequently postponed due to the pandemic.
Recently, FIFA announced that the World Cup tournament has been rescheduled to February 17-March 7, 2021. It was originally planned to be held across five host cities of India namely – Navi Mumbai, Guwahati, Ahmedabad, Kolkata and Bhubaneswar. The original eligibility criteria of the players will be followed.

Notes:
The Sports Authority of India (SAI) has formed a six-member committee to prepare a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for resuming the training of sportspersons across several disciplines, after the lock-down would be lifted.
The Secretary of Sports Authority of India (SAI) Rohit Bharadwaj will head the panel. It will also include preventive measures to be observed by all stakeholders, including trainees, coaches and staff. The recommendations will be sent to the Sports Ministry for approval.

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:
Ecowrap is the research report of India’s largest lender State Bank of India. Recently, SBI released its latest Ecowrap report.
It has revised the baseline fiscal deficit to 7.9 per cent of the revised GDP in FY21, which is more than double to its previous estimate. The report had earlier estimated the fiscal deficit as 3.5 % of GDP. The reason for the revision is due to the lower revenues and higher expenditure against the backdrop of Covid-19 pandemic.

Notes:
The state of Kerala has commenced training for primary schoolteachers via its KITE Victers channel. Minister of General Education and Chief of Disaster Risk Reduction of UN Environment Programme (UNEP) addressed the inaugural classes.
More than 81,000 primary and upper primary teachers are expected to participate in this training exercise. Prior to this, the teachers were given training to use online and virtual facilities. Under this program, classes on social consciousness and social science will be held. Besides the channel, the programmes will be available on their website and KITE VICTERS mobile app.

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.