Current Affairs Quiz - May, 2020

Notes:
Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh digitally commissioned a ship and two interceptor boats of the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) in Goa.
Indigenously built Indian Coast Guard Ship ‘Sachet’ is the first in the series of five offshore patrol vessels, that has been designed and built by Goa Shipyard Ltd (GSL). The interceptor boats C-450 and C- 451 are indigenously designed and built by L&T Shipyard, Hazira (Gujarat). The Indian Coast Guard has reached a landmark of 150 ships and boats and 62 aircraft.

Notes:
International Day of Families celebrated by the United Nations on May 15, every year across the world. This year, it is celebrated with a theme of ‘Families in Development: Copenhagen & Beijing + 25’.
This year marks the 25th anniversary of Copenhagen Declaration and Beijing Platform for Action. The day was proclaimed by the UN General Assembly in the year 1993, to highlight the importance attached with families by the international community.

Notes:
The nation-wide electronic agriculture trading portal, e-NAM has recently reached milestone of 1000 mandis (markets) across 18 states and three union territories.
e-NAM was launched in 2016, with the objective of connecting the existing mandis on a common online market platform for agricultural produce in the country. With the recent addition of 38 mandis, it has reached the milestone of 1000 mandis, for which May 15 was fixed as the deadline. Amid the lock-down, trade through e-NAM reduces human intervention in the process.

Notes:
In its effort to boost the economy and provide work to migrants returning from other states to home villages, the Central government allocated an additional Rs 40,000 crore to the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) for 2020-21.
In the Union Budget 2020-21, the total allocation made for MGNREGS was Rs 61500 Crore. Hence with this additional fund, the total allocation of this scheme for the present year becomes Rs 1.015 trillion. Out of the total fund, Rs 11,500 crore has to be spent on clearing pending dues from the previous year.

Notes:
The World Telecommunication and Information Society Day has been celebrated on May 17, every year across the world. This year the theme is “Connect 2030: ICTs for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)”
The objective of World Telecommunication and Information Society Day (WTISD) is to raise awareness of the usage of Internet and other information and communication technologies (ICT) in bridging the digital divide. May 17 also marks the anniversary of the signing of the first International Telegraph Convention and the creation of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).

Notes:
International Museum Day is celebrated every year across the world on May 18, for the last 40 years. This year the theme of the International Museum Day is ‘Museums for Equality: Diversity and Inclusion’.
The objective of celebration of this day is to raise awareness about the importance of Museums in cultural exchange and mutual cooperation and peace among people. Development of Museums and Cultural Spaces of the Culture Ministry hosted a webinar on ‘Revitalising Museums and Cultural Spaces’ on the International Museum Day.

Notes:
As a part of the stimulus package, the Union Minister announced the auction of Coal Bed Methane (CBM) blocks from Coal India and auction of 50 coal blocks immediately for commercial mining.
Coal Bed Methane (CBM) is a form of natural gas extracted from coal beds. Recently, Coal India has appointed its exploration arm, Central Mine Planning and Design Institute (CMPDIL) as its principal implementing agency to auction CBM extraction rights for all new mines. The auction will be based on a revenue sharing basis.

Notes:
The Jammu & Kashmir government notified Jammu and Kashmir Grant of Domicile Certificate (Procedure) Rules, 2020. There shall be a timeline of 15 days for issuance of the certificate after which the applicant can approach an Appellate Authority.
According to that, all people who have resided in the UT for 15 years, or have studied for 7 years and appeared in class 10th or 12th examination there and their children, Children of Government officials who have served in the UT for 10 years are eligible. Now, West Pakistan Refugees (WPRs), sanitation workers and children of women married outside Jammu and Kashmir shall also be eligible for Domicile Certificate.

Notes:
The Indian Railways has recently operationalised its first 12,000 hp electric locomotive, between Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Station to Shivpur in Uttar Pradesh.
It has been manufactured French rail transport firm Alstom, at the Madhepura Electric Locomotive Pvt. Ltd. (MELPL), in Bihar. MELPL is a joint venture between the French firm Alstom and the Indian Railways. With this, India became the sixth country in the world to produce indigenous high horsepower locomotive.

Notes:
The Director-General of World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has recently announced that WHO will initiate an independent review on its handling of the coronavirus pandemic.
The WHO Chief while speaking at the World Health Assembly, announced about the facilitation of the independent review at the earliest. More than 120 countries including India supported the resolution drafted by the European Union calling for a review.