Current Affairs Quiz - May, 2020

Notes:
The Commander-in-Chief A&N Command recently commissioned INLCU L57 into the Indian Navy at Port Blair. INLCU L57 is the seventh Landing Craft Utility (LCU) MK-IV class to be inducted into the Indian Navy.
The ship has been indigenously designed and built by Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE), Kolkata. The amphibious vessels are based at the Andaman and Nicobar Command and is to be deployed for transporting and deploying tanks and equipment, search and rescue, disaster relief operations.

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.

Notes:
The Prime Minister of Sikkim appealed to the Indian Parliament for making Sikkim a state of India, in the year 1975. A referendum was held in Sikkim and 97.5 per cent of the people voted to abolish the monarchy. Sikkim became the 22nd state of the Indian Union, on 16 May 1975.
The 36th amendment of the Indian constitution made Sikkim as a full state of India and added its name in the to the First Schedule of the Constitution. Every year, the state celebrates May 16 as Sikkim statehood day.

Notes:
In the recent economic stimulus package, the Finance Minister announced that the government is taking steps to make India a global Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) hub of aircraft.
As the aircraft component repairs and airframe maintenance is set to increase from Rs 800 crore to Rs 2,000 crore in three years, India can make use of the opportunity. Major engine manufacturers in the world are expected to set up engine repair facilities in India in future. The Minister also announced auctioning of six more airports on public-private partnership (PPP) basis.

Notes:
In its effort to boost the economy and provide work to migrants returning from other states to home villages, the Central government allocated an additional Rs 40,000 crore to the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) for 2020-21.
In the Union Budget 2020-21, the total allocation made for MGNREGS was Rs 61500 Crore. Hence with this additional fund, the total allocation of this scheme for the present year becomes Rs 1.015 trillion. Out of the total fund, Rs 11,500 crore has to be spent on clearing pending dues from the previous year.

Notes:
As a part of the economic stimulus package, the Union Finance Minister launched an initiative called ‘Manodarpan’, which aims to provide psychosocial support to students, teachers and families, at the backdrop of the global pandemic, the time when students, teachers and their families need support for their mental well-being.
The initiative is proposed to be launched through a website, a toll-free helpline through a national directory of counsellors. In another step, top 100 universities are allowed to start online courses and online component in conventional Universities and programmes will also be raised from present 20% to 40%.

Notes:
Bundesliga, the professional football league in Germany is the first tournament to resume after the Covid-19 pandemic.
The German Football Association (DFL) has planned to complete the season by June 30. The German government approved the league to conduct the matches. On March 13, the Bundesliga was suspended owing to the pandemic. Now, all games will be held behind closed doors as there is a ban in Germany for mass gatherings. Bundesliga is known for the world’s highest average audience in the stadium.

Notes:
The Government has recently accepted and implemented three important recommendations of Committee of Experts (CoE) under the Chairmanship of Lt General D B Shekatkar (Retd).
The three recommendations are related to border Infrastructure, which focusses on speeding up road construction. Another recommendation was to outsource the road construction projects that were beyond the optimal capacity of BRO. Engineering Procurement Contract (EPC) mode is to be adopted for execution of works costing above Rs 100 crore.

Notes:
India recently observed the 46th anniversary of its first nuclear test in Rajasthan’s Pokhran, conducted on May 18.
The peaceful first nuclear was codenamed the ‘Smiling Buddha’, which proclaimed India as a nuclear power. As the test was conducted on the Buddha Poornima of that year, the event was codenamed after Buddha. Indira Gandhi was the Prime of Minister of India during the tests and it was the first confirmed nuclear test by a country that was not a permanent member of the UNSC.

Notes:
National Commodity & Derivatives Exchange Limited (NCDEX) is an online multi-commodity exchange, headquartered at Mumbai, India.
NCDEX was recently in news as the exchange announced that it will launch the country’s first agri-futures index, NCDEX AGRIDEX. The exchange said it has already begun the mock trading in agri-index futures contracts. AGRIDEX represents a basket of ten liquid agricultural commodities on the NCDEX and will serve as a benchmark for India’s strong agricultural sector.