Current Affairs Quiz - May, 2020

Notes:
According to the recent data of the Reserve Bank of India, the country’s foreign exchange reserves increased by USD 1.73 billion to USD 487.04 billion in the week to May 15. The increase in reserves was due to a rise in foreign currency assets (FCA).
Also, the Special drawing rights (SDR) with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) increased by USD 2 million to USD 1.42 billion. SDRs are held by IMF member countries and they represent a claim to currency for which SDRs may be exchanged.

Notes:
Major private equity of the United States, KKR & Co. Inc. has recently acquired a 2.32 per cent stake in the digital unit of Reliance Industries, Jio platform for Rs 11,367 crore.
As per the announcement of the Reliance Industries, this is the fifth deal in the last four weeks for sale of minority stake in Jio platform. Earlier, it had raised Rs 67,194.75 crore from global technology investors including Facebook, Silver Lake Partners, Vista Equity Partners and General Atlantic.

Notes:
Samsung India has collaborated with social media major Facebook to train its offline retailers for adapting digital technologies and using platforms like Instagram and WhatsApp.
The two firms have already trained more than 800 offline retailers and more training sessions are going to be carried out in future. This will help the Samsung retail partners leverage technology and make them more accessible to their customers for inquiry about smartphones.

Notes:
Australian tennis legend Ashley Cooper, who won four Grand Slam singles titles in the 1950s, has recently passed away due to illness at the age of 83.
Ashley Cooper won the Australian Open, Wimbledon and U.S. Grand slam in the year 1958, and achieved the rare feat of winning three Grand Slam championships in a calendar year. He won all four of his Grand Slam crowns by beating his fellow countrymen in the final. He was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1991.

Notes:
Leading Indian multi-industry company ITC has recently announced that the company is set to make its biggest acquisition. It has entered into an agreement to acquire a 100 per cent stake in the spices manufacturing company Sunrise Foods.
The deal size is estimated to be about Rs 2,000 crore. Kolkata based Sunrise Foods made a turnover of around Rs 600 crore last year and it has an extensive market presence across east India.

Notes:
The Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh recently approved the proposal of the state forest department to declare ‘Lac farming’ as an agricultural activity. It is to be approved in the cabinet soon.
Lac is the sticky secretion of several species of lac insects. Thousands of lac insects colonise the branches of the host trees and secrete the Lac pigment. Chhattisgarh is one of the leading producers of lac in the country. This step will increase the productivity and credit availability of farmers cultivating lac.

Notes:
Recently, a new silver fish species has been discovered by the Head of the Zoology Department from a Kollam-based College, Kerala at Velankanni, Tamil Nadu.
The small freshwater fish belongs to the family Cyprinidae and it has been named as ‘Puntius sanctus’. His research was funded by the Department of Science and Technology. The new fish is deposited in Zoological Survey of India. It has also been registered with ZooBank of the International Commission of Zoological Nomenclature.

Notes:
National Payment Corporation of India (NPCI), that operates retail payments and settlement systems in India has recently launched an artificial intelligence (AI) based chatbot named ‘PAi’.
The virtual assistant has been launched with an aim to create awareness about its flagship products like FASTag, RuPay, UPI, AePS on a real time basis. Users can send queries about the products and they get verified automated responses. Global RuPay Cardholders can access the chatbot.

Notes:
About 40 million e-cigarette users from across the globe are set to celebrate the World Vape Day on May 30. It is celebrated to spread awareness on vaping and its effectiveness in harm reduction and helping smokers quit.
The representative body of e-cigarette users in India the Association of Vapers India (AVI). It joins hands with consumer advocacy organisations from 34 nations to spread awareness. Last year, the Central Government imposed a ban against vaping.

Notes:
The foundation stone for setting up a Missile Park ‘Agneeprastha’ was recently laid at INS Kalinga, Visakhapatnam by Commodore Rajesh Debnath, who heads INS Kalinga.
A 2-megawatt solar photovoltaic plant was also commissioned at INS Kalinga by the Vice Admiral of Eastern Naval Command. This is the largest plant in the Eastern Naval Command and has an estimated life of 25 years. This step is in line with the National Solar Mission proposed by the Union Government to achieve 100 GW of solar power by 2022.