Current Affairs Quiz - May, 2020

Notes:
The Union Minister announced ₹90,000 crore one-time liquidity injection for fund-starved DISCOMs. This will be used to pay the central public sector power generation companies, transmission companies, independent power producers and renewable energy generators.
PSUs Power Finance Corporation (PFC) and Rural Electrification Corporation (REC) will infuse the liquidity by raising an amount of about ₹90,000 crore from the market against the receivables of DISCOMs. The state governments are expected to provide a guarantee for the fund.

Notes:
Uttarakhand government has recently launched a portal named ‘HOPE’ – Helping Out People Everywhere, to assist the workers of the state to find suitable employment.
The portal has started to collect data on the youngsters of the state and migrant workers returned from other states. The workers can upload their skill-sets on the website and based on that, they will be able to find suitable jobs at home-state. The data collected will be used for implementing the Mukhyamantri Swarojgar Yojana, implemented by the state earlier.

Notes:
Veteran educationist and litterateur Anisuzzaman, who was also the national Professor of Bangladesh, passed away recently at the age of 83.
He was born in Kolkata and later moved to Bangladesh shortly after the partition of India. He had contributed significantly for the Bangla literature. He also played a crucial role in all democratic movements including the Language Movement of 1952 to Liberation War in 1972 etc. He was awarded Padma Bhushan by India in 2014.

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.

Notes:
The World Trade Organisation (WTO) recently announced that its Director-General of Roberto Azevedo will step down on August 31, 2020 on personal grounds. This is a year before the end of his second term as he has completed 7 years as the WTO chief.
The Geneva-based World Trade Organisation (WTO) was founded in the year 1995 and India is one of the founder members of this body. The main objective of WTO is to frame rules for global exports and imports and regulate international trade by reducing barriers.

Notes:
Every year, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) celebrates the International Day of Light (IDL) on 16 May, to raise awareness on the role of light-based technologies.
The day marks the anniversary of the first successful operation of the laser in 1960 by physicist and engineer, Theodore Maiman. The UN observed International Year of Light and Light-based Technologies in 2015. After the success, it was proposed to celebrate a specific day and the first IDL was held on May 16, 2018.

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:
The President of Afghanistan Ashraf Ghani and his political rival Abdullah Abdullah have recently signed a power-sharing agreement.
This political step has been finalised two months after both the leaders declared themselves the winner of the presidential election held last September. As per the spokesperson, the political deal seeks Ghani to remain the Afghan President and Abdullah to lead the country’s National Reconciliation High Council.

Notes:
Every year, May 18 is celebrated to acknowledge and thank the medical community and scientists who have been working to find a safe AIDS vaccine. It also creates awareness about urgent need for a vaccine, safe practices, discouraging sharing of needles and early testing of people at risk.
AIDS (Acquired Immuno Deficiency Syndrome) is one of the most serious health conditions of the globe, which has affected nearly 2.1 million people in India. The disease is caused by the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), which affects the T lymphocytes in the body.