Current Affairs Quiz - May, 2020

Notes:
The state government of Odisha has decided to bring three ordinances for strengthening the agriculture economy of the state.
The decision has been taken in a review meeting on controlling Covid-19 and restarting economic activities, chaired by the Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. The state also announced that MGNREGA and Mission Shakti activities would be intensified. Odisha has started agricultural activities and sale of agricultural inputs.

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:
The video-conference of foreign ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) was recently held in the backdrop of the coronavirus pandemic. Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar represented India.
SCO has eight member states including namely India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, China, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. The SCO summit which was scheduled to be held in the month of July, 2020 at the Russian city St. Petersburg is expected to be held as per the schedule.

Notes:
The Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC), a statutory organization under the Ministry of MSME is the implementing agency of ‘Prime Minister Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP).
After the Prime Minister announced to support the local products, KVIC announced a set of guidelines to fast-track the implementation of projects under the flagship program PMEGP. The concerned agencies will have to scrutinize the applications and forward it to banks within 26 days. It was also instructed to bring down the time frame to 15 days.

Notes:
As per the recent report by the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE), nearly 6 Crore Indian workers in the age group of 20-39 lost their jobs in April. It revealed that 12 crore jobs had been lost because of the lockdown.
As per the report, more than 2.7 crore young people in the age group 20-29 lost their jobs last month. Also, more than 3.3 crore people in the age group 30-39 lost their jobs. 11% of the young workers in the age group of 20-24 years, who accounted for 8.5% of total employed people in the country in 2019-20, lost their jobs.

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:
A patent was filed by the Defence Ministry in association with the National Research Development Corporation (NRDC) for the low cost personal protective equipment (PPE) developed by the Indian Navy.
The Defence Ministry has successfully patented PPEs, which would fast-track mass production of PPEs. The equipment developed by the Navy is made of a special fabric which provides high quality and high breathability, unlike other PPEs available in the market. A pilot batch of PPEs has already been produced at Naval Dockyard in Mumbai.

Notes:
“GOAL (Going Online As Leaders)” programme is an initiative of the Union Ministry of Tribal Affairs (MoTA).
Union Minister for Tribal Affairs Arjun Munda launched the scheme was launched in partnership with Facebook. The programme aims to provide mentorship and training to tribal youth through digitally enabled programs. The scheme is expected to promote and empower 5,000 tribal youths in the current phase.

Notes:
The Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare recently released the 3rd Advance Estimates of production of major crops for 2019-20.
As per the estimates, the total food-grain production in the country is estimated at record 295.67 million tonnes in the 2019-20 crop year. This projected production is higher by 10.46 million tonnes from previous year. The total production of Rice and Wheat during 2019-20 is estimated at around 118 million tonnes and 107 million tonnes respectively.

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.