Current Affairs Quiz - May, 2020

Notes:
The United Nations along with its partner agencies has launched a USD 6.7 billion global appeal to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.
The UN also updated a global plan to fight the COVID-19 in fragile and more vulnerable countries. The plan includes nine more vulnerable countries including the Philippines, Togo and Zimbabwe, beyond the 54 countries covered in the original appeal-the COVID-19 Global Humanitarian Response Plan.

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:
World Health Organization (WHO) and the UN’s postal agency have released a commemorative postage stamp on the 40th anniversary of the eradication of smallpox.
The 33rd World Health Assembly issued its official declaration that the world has successfully eradicate small pox, in May 1980. The smallpox eradication campaign of WHO was launched in 1967, to fast-track the global effort in eradicating the disease. The stamp commemorates the roles of world leaders, organisations, rural doctors and community health workers.

Notes:
The Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar recently launched integration of 117 additional wholesale mandis with the electronic National Agriculture Market (eNAM) platform.
After the integration, the total number of online mandis became 962, across the country against the target of 1000 mandis before May 15. In the e-NAM platform, distant bidding facility for wholesale produce in APMC mandis without physical presence of buyer or trader and e-payment facility are provided.

Notes:
China recently won the inaugural $180,000 FIDE Chess.com Online Nations Cup, whereas India settled in the fifth place.
On the basis of highest points in the round-robin stage, China was declared the winner as it drew 2-2 against USA, which bagged the second position. China won 48,000, USA 36,000 and others received $24,000 each. Representing India, Humpy won Olga Girya and P. Harikrishna drew with Sergey Karjakin.

Notes:
Tennis star Sania Mirza became the first Indian to win the Fed Cup Heart Award for Asia/Oceania zone. The Fed Cup Heart Award winners were determined through online voting by fans, starting from May 1.
She has been nominated for her successful return post motherhood. She secured more than 10,000 votes out of the total 16,985 cast for the nominees of this year. The Fed Cup Heart Award is an International Tennis Federation (ITF) initiative that was established in 2009 to recognise the Fed Cup players for their distinction, courage and commitment.

Notes:
Betty Wright, the Grammy winner recently passed away in her hometown Miami, Florida, as per her family sources.
The singer’s real name was Bessie Regina Norris and she was born in 1953. She started her singing career in a musical group called the ‘Echoes of Joy’. The biggest hit of her career was the album named “Clean Up Woman”, which was released when she was eighteen. She won her first Grammy Award for her song, “Where is the Love?”, at the age of 23. She continued her song writing and music production for several years.

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.

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.