Current Affairs Quiz - May, 2020

Notes:
The National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) under the Ministry of Jal Shakti along with the National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA) organized an IDEAthon on ‘The future of River Management’.
The international webinar conducted with about 500 participants from different countries and international organizations, discussed about how the COVID-19 crisis can lead to the River Management strategies for the future.

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 Think tank of the country NITI Aayog in coloration with Mumbai-based Piramal Foundation has launched a campaign ‘Surakshit Dada-Dadi & Nana-Nani Abhiyan’.
The campaign focusses on ensuring well-being of senior citizens during the COVID-19 pandemic. This is expected to cover as many as 29 lakh senior citizens in 25 aspirational districts named by NITI Aayog. This project is currently piloted in seven states and will create awareness about the health and lifestyle of elder people.

Notes:
The European Union and its partners co-hosted the Coronavirus Global Response International Pledging Conference to raise funds to kick-start the global fight against Covid-19, especially to manufacture a vaccine.
The target set by the European Commission for the initial funding was €7.5 billion (8 billion USD). Several world leaders, individuals and organisations participated in the conference and pledged 8 billion USD together. Canada was the highest contributor with $850 million. U.S. did not attend the conference.

Notes:
The state government of Tamil Nadu has recently raised the retirement age of State Government employees to 59 from 58.
The Government order comes to force with immediate effect, as per the notification released. This order will also apply to all teachers in government and government-aided schools and colleges, and employees working in State public sector undertakings.

Notes:
Beijing headquartered Multilateral development bank, Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank recently approved a $500 million loan to support India’s Covid-19 operations. The loan is co-financed by the World Bank.
AIIB also highlighted that building a resilient health system to effectively treat COVID-19 patients and preventing its spread is the immediate priority. Last month the bank doubled its initial COVID-19 Crisis Recovery Facility to 10 billion from 5 billion.

Notes:
Amidst the Covid-19 outbreak, ICAR-Central Institute of Fisheries Technology (ICAR-CIFT), Kochi prepared advisories for the benefit of the fishing fraternity in 10 different regional languages. ICAR-Central Inland Fisheries Research Institute (ICAR-CIFRI), Barrackpore prepared advisories for the stakeholders involved in freshwater fishing.
The Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), Rome has recommended these advisories by including them as ‘Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries’ under the Asia-Regional initiatives.

Notes:
The first Nobel Peace Prize Henri Dunant of Switzerland for founding the International Red Cross Movement and initiating the Geneva Convention.
World Red Cross Day or World Red Cross and Red Crescent Day is celebrated on May 8 every year, which marks the birth anniversary of Henry Dunant. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) established by him, works for the welfare of the people across the world.

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 Index of Industrial Production (IIP) is an index published by the Central Statistical Organisation (CSO), MoSPI every month. It shows the growth rate of industry groups in the economy such as manufacturing and electricity.
Recently, the IIP of March recorded a sharp decline of 16.7 per cent to 120.1 in the month of March. The data also showed that the industrial growth during the fiscal year 2019-20 slipped 0.7 per cent, against the 3.8 per cent rise in 2018-19.