Current Affairs Quiz - May, 2020

Notes:
Every year, May 25 has been observed as the World Thyroid Day since 2008, across the world. The European Thyroid Association and American Thyroid Association established World Thyroid Day to promote public awareness of thyroid disease.
Thyroid is the most common endocrine disorder and a rapidly growing problem across the world. Jal Shakti Ministry has said that water plays a crucial role in treating the symptoms of thyroid and helping in weight loss.

Notes:
The World Steel Association located also called as worldsteel, is a global trade body for iron and steel industry. It is headquartered at Brussels, Belgium.
As per the recent report of the association, the crude steel output of India declined over 65 per cent to 3.13 million tonnes (MT) during April. During the same month in 2019, the production was 9.02 MT of crude steel. The lockdown has affected the demand and supply of steel in India. As per the report, Global steel output has also declined 13 per cent.

Notes:
An Indian Army officer, Major Suman Gawani, has been selected for the prestigious United Nations Military Gender Advocate of the Year Award (2019). This is the first time in history, that an Indian is awarded the mentioned award, that was created in 2016.
The officer has served with the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS). She has been selected for her outstanding contribution towards peacekeeping efforts in the UNMISS. Indian major will receive the award during an online ceremony, along with Brazilian Naval Officer Commander Carla Monteiro de Castro Araujo.

Notes:
Union Minister for Road Transport & Highways Nitin Gadkari recently inaugurated the Chamba Tunnel in Uttarakhand through video conference. The tunnel will be operationalised this October.
The tunnel has been constructed by the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) under Chardham Pariyojana scheme of Uttarakhand. It is a 12,000-crore project, to facilitate connectivity to Gangotri, Kedarnath, Yamunotri and Badrinath. The 440-metre long tunnel has been created under Chamba town on Rishikesh-Dharasu road.

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:
Narmada Basin Projects Company Ltd. (NBPCL) is a wholly-owned company of Madhya Pradesh government. Central PSU under Ministry of Power, Power Finance Corporation (PFC) has recently partnered with NBPCL to fund projects worth ₹22,000 crore in Madhya Pradesh.
Hydroelectric projects and power components of 12 major multipurpose projects are to be set up by deploying the funds. Major multipurpose projects, which are to be financed include Basaniya Multipurpose Project, Chinki Boras Multipurpose Project Dudhi Project, among others.

Notes:
Former Deputy Economy Minister of Brazil, Marcos Prado Troyjo has been selected as the new President of the Shanghai-based New Development Bank’s (NDB).
He is to replace the veteran Indian banker KV Kamath as the President of the multilateral financial institution set up by the BRICS countries. Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman attended the special board of Governors of NDB meeting through video-conference. Another Indian Anil Kishora was selected as the Vice President of NDB during the conference.

Notes:
European Commission, the executive branch of the European Union has recently proposed a 750 billion-euro (USD 826 billion) COVID-19 recovery plan.
The European Commission is expected to borrow the funds from the market and then disburse two-thirds in grants and the remaining fund in loans. This plan will mostly cover to revamp the worst affected European Union nations including Italy and Spain.

Notes:
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has officially launched the instant Permanent Account Number (PAN) facility which uses Aadhaar number-based e-KYC.
This was announced during the 2020 budget along with an interchangeable Aadhar and PAN feature. The Income tax department launched the beta facility on their e-filing website in February 2020. As this a paperless and real-time facility, the turn-around time taken for allotting the PAN through this facility is only about 10 minutes.

Notes:
India’s leading Information Technology firm announced that top Capgemini executive Thierry Delaporte has been appointed as its new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Managing Director (MD).
He is to replace the present head of Wipro Abidali Neemuchwala. Prior to this assignment, Thierry Delaporte had been associated with Capgemini and held several roles including the Chief Operating Officer and a member of its Group Executive Board. This is the first non-Indian appointment of chief, made by Indian firms.