Current Affairs Quiz - May, 2020

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:
CSIR-IIIM (Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine), Jammu a premier institute under the Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR) has partnered with Reliance Industries Limited (RIL), to develop a new RT-LAMP based COVID-19 diagnostic kit.
The RT-LAMP (Reverse Transcriptase-Loop Mediated Isothermal Amplification) kit is a nucleic acid- based test conducted from nasal/throat swab sample from patients. It is a rapid, affordable and accurate test. The components are easily available and can be completely manufactured in India.

Notes:
The rating agency Fitch Ratings has made further slashed world GDP forecasts in its latest Global Economic Outlook (GEO).
The biggest estimate cut was for India, where the rating agency forecasts a contract of growth by 5%, which means -5% growth in 2020-21. Earlier, Fitch had estimated India’s growth to be 0.8% for FY21. The global GDP is also estimated to fall by 4.6% in 2020.

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:
Social Media Giant Twitter recently labelled tweets from the United States President Donald Trump as misleading, by linking the tweets with a fact checking page.
Under the tweets by the President, there was a message displayed by Twitter which read, “Get the facts about mail-in ballots”. Though Twitter clarified that the move was to provide context to the tweets, the President alleged that Twitter is interfering in the 2020 presidential election.

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:
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) recently signed a USD 177 million loan agreement with the Government of India to upgrade 450 kilometers (km) of state highways and major district roads in the state of Maharashtra.
The project is expected to improve road connectivity between rural areas and urban centres in the state and enable rural communities to access markets and employment opportunities. The project will also develop a road safety audit framework and strengthen road safety measures.

Notes:
The state government of Karnataka recently announced that it would launch a first-of-its kind project called “State Health Register”.
The aim of the project is to maintain the health database of all its citizens in the register. As per the state’s release, a survey of all 6.5 crore people in the state using ASHA team, Primary Health Centre, members from Revenue and Education Departments. It will be implemented in Chikkaballapur district on a pilot basis.

Notes:
Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal participated in the Digital Summit on Exports organized by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).
During his address through video- conferencing, the Minister said that he expects the decline in exports to narrow to 8-10 per cent in the month of June. In the month of April, 28 out of 30 major product groups have witnessed huge decline in exports up to 99 per cent.

Notes:
The International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers is celebrated on 29 May every year, to pay tribute to the contribution of the peacekeepers.
This year the theme of the International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers, 2020 is “Women in Peacekeeping: A Key to Peace”. This year also marks the 20th anniversary of the adoption of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security. UN honours more than 3,900 UN peacekeepers who have lost their lives during their service, since 1948.