Current Affairs Quiz - May, 2020

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:
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:
Social media and technology giant Facebook has recently launched CatchUp application, that lets the users make free phone calls.
The application developed by internal R&D group of Facebook -NPE Team, allows the users to make phone calls up to 8 people simultaneously. It uses the Facebook account in the phone to coordinate the service. It is launched at the United States as a pilot service and expected to be launched across the world soon.

Notes:
The Union Minister for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying Giriraj Singh addressed a conference on the “PMMSY – A scheme to bring about Blue Revolution through sustainable and responsible development of fisheries sector in India”.
The scheme was approved by the Union Cabinet on May 20. It aims to increase fish production to 220 lakh metric tons by 2024-25 from 137.58 lakh metric tons in 2018-19 at an average annual growth rate of 9%. There will be an estimated investment of Rs. 20,050 crores divided by the centre, states and beneficiaries.

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:
World’s leading toy brand the LEGO Group has recently collaborated with NITI Aayog and Save the Children, to support children impacted by Covid-19 in India.
Under the partnership, LEGO will promote ‘Learning Through Play’ and support home-based learning for children aged 3-8 years during the lock-down times. The initiative will improve access to quality pre-school education through the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) and pre-school centres.

Notes:
Multinational service network Deloitte recently conducted ‘Global State of the Consumer Tracker’ survey using an online panel, among the people across the world aged above 18.
As per the study, consumers in India are the most worried during these uncertain times and are placed at the top of the Global anxiety index with a score of 33. India was followed by Mexico and Spain. However, the anxiety score of India has gradually declined during the month of May.

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:
International Day of Action for Women’s Health is celebrated on May 28 every year by the Women’s Global Network for Reproductive Rights (WGNRR).
Several women’s health advocates and their communities have been leading the celebration of the day since 1987. During the International Women’s Health Meeting in Costa Rica, Latin American and Caribbean Women’s Health Network (LACWHN) proposed to celebrate May 28 as International Day of Action for Women’s Health.

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.