Current Affairs Quiz - May, 2020

Notes:
The United Nations recently released the World Economic Situation and Prospects report. As per the report, the global gross domestic product (GDP) is estimated to shrink by 3.2 per cent in 2020.
The report also estimated that India would grow by 1.2 per cent by 2020 due to the effect of the national lock-down. UN had already projected a lower growth rate of 4.1 per cent for the year 2019. The organisation also projected that India would slowly regain its growth rate and reach 5.5 per cent in the year 2021.

Notes:
Veteran Bengali author Debesh Roy passed away recently at the age of 84, after he suffered from a massive cardiac arrest.
The author was actively writing articles in several Bengali dailies and had participated in protests against the attack on liberals. He had won several awards during his five-decade long writing career. He was conferred the Sahitya Akademi award for his novel ‘Teesta Parer Brittanto’. His other famous works are ‘Borisaler Jogen Mondal’, ‘Manush Khun Kore Keno’ and ‘Samay Asamayer Brittanto’.

Notes:
In the economic stimulus package announced, the Finance Minister said that the Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana will be launched for development of marine and inland fisheries.
The scheme was originally proposed during the Union Budget 2020. But the guidelines were announced during the stimulus package. The total outlay of the PMMSY will be Rs. 20000 Crore, out of which Rs 11,000 Cr will be earmarked for activities in Marine, Inland fisheries and Aquaculture and Rs. 9000 Cr for Infrastructure of Fishing Harbours, Cold chain, Markets etc.

Notes:
The National Real Estate Development Council was established in 1998 under the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs. It is a major association of real estate developers.
Recently, National Real Estate Development Council (NAREDCO) has appointed Rajesh Goel as Director General (DG) of the association. Prior to this appointment, Rajesh Goel superannuated as the CMD of Hindustan Prefab Ltd.

Notes:
The parliament of Israel recently sworn in its new government led by the Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Benny Gantz.
Israel was functioning without a stable government for over 500 days and held three inconclusive elections. The law-makers of the country have approved the coalition of Netanyahu-Gantz. Benny Gantz was a former rival of Netanyahu. This step is expected to end the longest political crisis in the country’s history.

Notes:
Union Human Resource Development Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank launched a new mobile application named the ‘National Test Abhyas’.
The application enables the students to take up high-quality mock tests for the upcoming exams that come under the National Testing Agency’s purview including JEE Main and NEET. It has been developed by the National Testing Agency-NTA. The tests can be downloaded without any fee.

Notes:
As per the recent announcement by the National Health Authority (NHA), the number of people who have benefitted under the Ayushman Bharat Scheme has crossed the one crore-mark.
The flagship health insurance programme named Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojna (AB-PMJAY) was launched on September 23, 2018 in Ranchi. The scheme which is implemented by NHA, aims to provide Rs 5 lakh secondary and tertiary care hospitalisation cover to up to 10 Crore poor and vulnerable families.

Notes:
The Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Yogi Adityanath recently launched “Uttar Pradesh Start-up Fund” by partnering with the Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI).
The state had earlier signed a MoU with SIDBI to speed-up the formation of start-ups in the state. He also handed over the first instalment of Rs 15 crore to SIDBI. The migrant workers will be provided jobs based on their skills and youths of the states will be encouraged to form start-ups.

Notes:
As per the recent announcement from the Union Aviation Ministry, the domestic airfares of India will be fixed by the Ministry for three months, when domestic flights resume after lock-down.
The government will cap minimum and maximum ticket fares based on route and will ensure that ticket prices are affordable for passengers as well as financially viable for airlines. The Ministry has divided the routes into seven bands based on duration of flights. 40 per cent of the seats in any flight will have to be sold at the mid-point of the lower and upper air fare limits prescribed.

Notes:
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) adopted the ‘Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity’ in 2001 and in December 2002, the UN General Assembly declared May 21 to be the World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development.
The UNESCO is working to promote access to culture, as a part of its #ShareOurHeritage campaign. It has also launched an interactive online exhibition featuring World Heritage properties from across the globe, with the support of Google Arts & Culture.