Current Affairs Quiz - May, 2020

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.

Notes:
As a part of the stimulus package, the Union Minister announced the auction of Coal Bed Methane (CBM) blocks from Coal India and auction of 50 coal blocks immediately for commercial mining.
Coal Bed Methane (CBM) is a form of natural gas extracted from coal beds. Recently, Coal India has appointed its exploration arm, Central Mine Planning and Design Institute (CMPDIL) as its principal implementing agency to auction CBM extraction rights for all new mines. The auction will be based on a revenue sharing basis.

Notes:
The Indian Railways has recently operationalised its first 12,000 hp electric locomotive, between Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Station to Shivpur in Uttar Pradesh.
It has been manufactured French rail transport firm Alstom, at the Madhepura Electric Locomotive Pvt. Ltd. (MELPL), in Bihar. MELPL is a joint venture between the French firm Alstom and the Indian Railways. With this, India became the sixth country in the world to produce indigenous high horsepower locomotive.

Notes:
Veteran in Indian Steel Industry, CEO of Arcelor Mittal Nippon Steel India, Dilip Oommen took over as the President of the Indian Steel Association (ISA).
Earlier, T V Narendran the Managing director of Tata Steel, resigned from the post of President of ISA. An extra-ordinary board meeting decided the unanimous appointment of Dilip Oommen as the President for the next two years.

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.

Notes:
Union Government has recently launched a scheme for complete solarization of Konark Sun Temple and Konark town in Odisha. It will be implemented by the Odisha Renewable Energy Development Agency. The project outlay of Rs. 25 crore will be provided by the Centre.
As per the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, the scheme aims to set up 10 Mega Watt grid connected solar project and solar applications like solar trees and solar drinking water kiosks, to implement the scheme.

Notes:
The Finance Ministry recently announced that those companies with a turnover of over ₹50 crore and involved in only B2B (business to business) transactions are exempted from the mandatory requirement of accepting payments only by electronic modes like RuPay cards, BHIM-UPI or UPI-QR.
Section 269SU was inserted in the Finance Act, 2019 to encourage digital transactions in the country, which mandated the businesses with sales/turn over above Rs 50 Crore to accept only e-payments. Since these e-payment has a maximum limit and the B2B businesses receive maximum payments through RTGS or NEFT, the exemption is cancelled.

Notes:
Leading Public Sector Enterprises Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) and NTPC Ltd signed a Memorandum of understanding (MoU), to set up a joint venture company for the renewable energy business.
As per the MoU, NTPC and ONGC will explore and set up renewable power projects including offshore wind in India and in other countries. The enterprises will also roll-out their expertise in the fields of sustainability, storage, e-mobility and ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) compliant projects.

Notes:
The United Nations celebrates the International Day for Biological Diversity annually on May 22, across the world, to highlight the importance of biodiversity issues.
This year the theme of the day is “Our solutions are in nature”. The theme covers 3 topics during the week, which includes 18 May to cover the importance of knowledge and science; 19-21 May to raise awareness of the importance of biodiversity; and May 22, the day of the observance, to issue a call to action.

Notes:
According to the Forbes magazine, Japanese tennis star Naomi Osaka has become the highest paid female athlete in the world.
The tennis star, who earned $37.4 million in the last 12 months from prize money and endorsements replaced American veteran sports star Serena Williams. Osaka also created an all-time earnings record by a female athlete in a single year. The record was previously held by another tennis legend Maria Sharapova.