Current Affairs Quiz - May, 2020

Notes:
A team of Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) and Stanford alumni have developed a technology named “Airlens Minus Corona”. It has received certification from the National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL).
It is an ‘intelligent robot’ machine that can travel to hospitals and other crowded public places and disinfect surfaces with a water-based technology. Unlike the alcohol-based or UV-based method, the technology works on the basis of ‘Water Electro Activation’ technique. Charged or ionised water droplets will kill the virus by destroying its proteins.

Notes:
The Union Finance Minister announced the details of the Atma Nirbhar Bharat Yojana package launched by the Prime Minister.
One of the features was the global tenders being disallowed in government procurement up to Rs 200 crore. This would reduce unfair foreign competition for MSMEs and support the ‘Make in India’ initiative. She also announced Rs 3 lakh crore Emergency Working Capital Facility for Businesses, including MSMEs.

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 Chief Minister of Maharashtra Uddhav Thackeray and eight other candidates were recently declared to be elected unopposed to the State Legislative Council.
Uddhav Thackeray, who was sworn in as the Chief Minister on November 28 last year, required to become a member of either Houses of the state legislature before May 27, 2020. The eight other candidates also include Council Deputy Chairperson Dr Neelam Gorhe among others. They would be officially sworn-in after the official notification is released.

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:
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:
The Bahraich forest division of Uttar Pradesh released about forty gharials in the Ghaghara river, a major left bank tributary of the Ganges.
The scientific name of Gharials is Gavialis gangeticus and are commonly called as fish-eating crocodiles. The Turtle Survival Alliance (TSA) India supports the exercise of collecting the eggs, hatching at the Kukrail centre and releasing them in the river. Gharials are critically endangered in the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List of Species.

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:
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 Social-media giant Facebook has recently acquired the popular GIF-making and sharing website GIPHY. Facebook is also planning to integrate its GIF library Instagram, its photo-sharing app.
GIPHY, one of the most popular GIF-making and sharing sites on the internet, allows users to create, share and remix GIFs. Several platforms including Apple, Twitter, Pinterest and Reddit use Giphy’s API for providing GIFs.