Current Affairs Quiz - May, 2020

Notes:
Veteran Indian scholar and historian Hari Shankar Vasudevan passed away recently after contracting Covid-19. He had tested positive for novel coronavirus on May 6.
Professor Hari Vasudevan was working as a UGC Emeritus Professor in the Department of History and China Centre of Calcutta University after his superannuation. He was an important personality in the field of Russian and Central Asian history. He also served as the Director of Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Institute of Asian Studies, institution under Ministry of Culture Govt of India.

Notes:
The Government of India has recently issued a set of guidelines to be followed for data processing of Aarogya Setu app users.
As per the new rules, the storage of data beyond 180 days is prohibited and users can seek deletion of their data from the government’s records within 30 days of request. The new norms allow collection of only demographic, contact, self-assessment and location data of infected persons and their contacts. Any violation of these directions may lead to penalties under the Disaster Management Act, 2005.

Notes:
Union Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) Ministry has launched CHAMPIONS portal www.champions.gov.in.
It is a control room-cum-management information system aimed at assisting Indian MSMEs and solving their grievances. The ‘CHAMPIONS’ stands for Creation and Harmonious Application of Modern Processes for Increasing the Output and National Strength. It uses advanced technology like AI, Machine Learning and integrated with the Centre’s CPGRAMS grievance portal.

Notes:
The Indian Council of Medical Research, ICMR and National Centre for Disease Control proposed to launch a population-based sero-survey at district level.
This operation is to be done in collaboration with key stakeholders and State Health Departments. It involves testing the blood serum predominantly. All population groups including outpatient attendees, pregnant women and health care workers will be tested.

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 World Economic Forum has recently released the global ‘Energy Transition Index’. The index ranks 115 economies on the current performance of their energy systems and their readiness for transition to secure and sustainable energy systems.
India has moved up two positions to rank 74th from previous year, and has improved on all key parameters. Sweden has topped the Energy Transition Index (ETI) for the third consecutive year. Switzerland and Finland were ranked in the next two positions.

Notes:
The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), a specialised agency of the United States has recently released a report titled ‘Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020 (FRA 2020)’. The report examines the status of 236 countries in the period 1990-2020.
The report highlighted that the forest area has declined all across the world in the past three decades. The rate of forest loss in 2015-2020 declined to an estimated 10 million hectares, down from 12 million hectares in 2010-2015. The report also revealed that the world lost 178 mha of forest since 1990, which is the size of Libya.

Notes:
The World Health Organisation recently released its flagship annual report ‘Global Nutrition Report’. The report highlighted that India and 87 other countries are likely to miss the global nutrition targets by 2025.
It also revealed that India has the highest rates of domestic inequalities in malnutrition. India would miss targets for all four nutritional indicators including stunting among under-5 children, anaemia among women of reproductive age, childhood overweight and exclusive breastfeeding. It also said that 37.9% of children under 5 years are stunted and 20.8% are wasted.

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:
Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) signed a USD 145 million agreement with the Government of India and West Bengal Government for a project.
The project aims to improve the irrigation services and flood management in the Damodar Valley Command Area in West Bengal. The total value of the project is over 413 million dollars and will benefit about 27 lakh farmers from five districts of the state.