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:
As per the Lancet report titled ‘India State-Level Disease Burden Initiative’, 68% of the under-five deaths in India are caused due to child and maternal malnutrition.
The report has the first comprehensive estimates of district-level trends of child mortality in India since 2000. It also highlighted that 83% of the neonatal deaths were due to low birth weight and short gestation. Though the child mortality has improved across the country from 2000 to 2017, inequalities among the districts have also raised.

Notes:
New Development Bank (NDB) was established by the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) countries in 2014. Its headquarters is Shangai and is headed by veteran Indian K V Kamath.
BRICS’ New Development Bank was seen in news recently, as it has provided $1 billion loan to India to fight COVID-19. The complete emergency funds have been disbursed by the development institution, to help India in containing the human and economic losses due to Covid-19.

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:
In the second tranche of the economic stimulus package, the Finance Minister proposed that the Government will launch a scheme under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-PMAY.
The scheme aims at providing ease of living at affordable rent for migrant labour/urban poor. It proposes to convert government funded housing in the cities into Affordable Rental Housing Complexes (ARHC) under PPP mode. The scheme will also incentivize industries and State Government Agencies and Central Government Organizations to develop ARHCs and operate them.

Notes:
Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal participated in the G-20 Virtual Trade and Investment Ministers Meeting through Video-conferencing.
The Minister also said in the meeting that India has provided medical supplies to over 120 countries to fight the coronavirus pandemic, out of which 43 countries received them as a grant. He also highlighted that India has been sharing the medical and public health capacity with them via digital technologies.

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:
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:
Veteran Bengali author Debesh Roy passed away recently at the age of 84, after he suffered from a massive cardiac arrest.
The author was actively writing articles in several Bengali dailies and had participated in protests against the attack on liberals. He had won several awards during his five-decade long writing career. He was conferred the Sahitya Akademi award for his novel ‘Teesta Parer Brittanto’. His other famous works are ‘Borisaler Jogen Mondal’, ‘Manush Khun Kore Keno’ and ‘Samay Asamayer Brittanto’.

Notes:
Operation Greens was introduced in 2018, under the Ministry of Food Processing Industries, with a main aim to enhance value realisation of TOP (Tomatoes, Onion and Potatoes) farmers by strengthening production clusters and FPOs and to connect them with market.
In the recent stimulus package, it was announced that Operation Greens will be extended from Tomatoes, Onion and Potatoes (TOP) to ALL fruits and vegetables (TOTAL), as a pilot project for 6 months. 50% subsidy on transportation from surplus to deficient markets and 50% subsidy on storage, including cold storages will be provided.