Current Affairs Quiz - May, 2020

Notes:
India’s first and only woman Paralympics silver medallist, Deepa Malik is set to take charge as the President of the Paralympic Committee of India.
She had earlier announced her retirement from active sports. She is the only woman para-athlete to have been given the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award. She is also a recipient of the Padma Shri and Arjuna Award. Deepa Malik won her silver medal at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Summer Paralympics in shot put. She has won 58 national and 23 international medals.

Notes:
The Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) is an autonomous organisation of Union Ministry of External Affairs. Its main objective is to build cultural relations with other countries.
Recently, ICCR released a song titled “United We Fight” featuring famous musicians like Usha Uthup and Joe Alvares, as a part of its efforts to instil hope among Indians in their fight against COvid-19. The song was written and composed by Joe Alvares and sung by several famous singers from across the country.

Notes:
The Index of Industrial Production (IIP) is an index published by the Central Statistical Organisation (CSO), MoSPI every month. It shows the growth rate of industry groups in the economy such as manufacturing and electricity.
Recently, the IIP of March recorded a sharp decline of 16.7 per cent to 120.1 in the month of March. The data also showed that the industrial growth during the fiscal year 2019-20 slipped 0.7 per cent, against the 3.8 per cent rise in 2018-19.

Notes:
The Sports Authority of India (SAI) has formed a six-member committee to prepare a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for resuming the training of sportspersons across several disciplines, after the lock-down would be lifted.
The Secretary of Sports Authority of India (SAI) Rohit Bharadwaj will head the panel. It will also include preventive measures to be observed by all stakeholders, including trainees, coaches and staff. The recommendations will be sent to the Sports Ministry for approval.

Notes:
Recently, Haryana submitted its action plan to the Department of Drinking Water & Sanitation and committed to provide tap water connection to all rural households by December, 2022 under the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM). Haryana plans to provide tap connections in 7 lakh households by 2020-21.
The UT of Jammu and Kashmir also has planned to provide tap water connection to all rural households by December, 2022 under JJM. The national target under the scheme is to reach all households by 2024-25.

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.

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:
The parliament of Israel recently sworn in its new government led by the Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Benny Gantz.
Israel was functioning without a stable government for over 500 days and held three inconclusive elections. The law-makers of the country have approved the coalition of Netanyahu-Gantz. Benny Gantz was a former rival of Netanyahu. This step is expected to end the longest political crisis in the country’s history.

Notes:
The super-cyclone that has recently developed in the Bay of Bengal named ‘Amphan’, is claimed to be only the second super-cyclone faced by India in several decades.
According to the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), as the cyclone developed into a severe cyclonic storm, massive evacuation of 1.1 million people, who are likely to be hit by the cyclone, would be carried out. Heavy rain and high-velocity winds are expected across coastal Odisha, West Bengal and Andaman & Nicobar Islands.

Notes:
High Commissioner of India to Bangladesh signed an addendum to the ‘Protocol on Inland Water Transit and Trade’ with the Shipping Ministry of Bangladesh, in Dhaka.
It was signed to operationalise five new ports of call and two more protocol routes to enhance trade and connectivity between the two countries. The number of Indo-Bangladesh Protocol (IBP) routes are also being increased from 8 to 10. Among the newly added ports of call, Dhulian, Maia, Kolaghat, Sonamura and Jogigopha are in India while Rajshahi, Sultanganj, Chilmari, Daudkandi and Bahadurabad are in Bangladesh.