Current Affairs Quiz - May, 2020

Notes:
Veteran Indian economist Abhas Jha has been appointed by the World Bank as its Practice Manager for Climate Change and Disaster Risk Management for South Asia.
The appointment has been made at a crucial time when the Amphan cyclone has hit West Bengal, Orissa in India and Bangladesh. Abhas Jha will lead and encourage the Disaster Risk Management and Climate Change team of the South Asia region (SAR). The team will deliver recovery solutions to the affected countries.

Notes:
The state government of Odisha has recently promulgated an ordinance allowing investors and farmers to enter into agreement for contract farming.
As per the state government, the aim of the ordinance was to facilitate farmers and sponsors to develop an efficient contract farming system, which is mutually beneficial to them. It was also clarified that no title, rights, ownership or possession of land or any other property would be transferred.

Notes:
HIL (India), a Public Sector Undertaking under Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers is to fast track the production and supply of pesticides for farming community.
HIL has signed an agreement with Ministry of Agriculture and Famers Welfare for the supply of Malathion Technical to Rajasthan and Gujarat for Locust Control Programme. It is an insecticide used in agriculture and public health pest control programs. HIL had manufactured and supplied nearly 67 MT of Malathion Technical till last week.

Notes:
The historic first manned space flight of SpaceX for NASA is scheduled to take off for the International Space Station on May 27.
The mission is called Demo-2 and it will launch the two NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley into orbit. The Crew Dragon spacecraft of SpaceX onboard a Falcon 9 rocket is used in this historic launch. Since 2011, NASA has sent all its astronauts through Russia’s Soyuz capsule.

Notes:
Ola Electric, the subsidiary of the India ridesharing platform Ola, has recently acquired Netherlands-based OEM (Original Equipment manufacturer) Etergo BV.
By this acquisition, Ola Electric is set to enter the premium electric two-wheeler market, both domestic and global. Ola Electric is to use the design and engineering capabilities of Etergo to build its smart electric two-wheeler and launch in India in the year 2021.

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:
Rajya Sabha MP and former Union Minister of State for Finance Veerendra Kumar recently passed away at the age of 83.
He was the Managing Director of the Kerala-based Mathrubhumi group of publications. He had also served as the Union Minister of State for Labour. The politician was a prolific writer and a recipient of the Sahitya Akademi award and the Kerala Sahitya Academy award. He had been a member of the Rajya Sabha since April 2016.

Notes:
Manushi Chillar, who won the title of Miss World in 2017 has joined hands with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) to spread awareness about menstrual hygiene.
Manushi runs an initiative on menstrual hygiene named Project Shakti. With this partnership, she will promote the efforts to educate girls about menstrual hygiene and to construct sanitation facilities. On May 28, World Menstrual Hygiene Day, she participated in UNICEF global initiative called the Red Dot Challenge.

Notes:
The United States has recently joined the G7 Artificial Intelligence group, an international panel for setting ethical guidelines for usage of artificial intelligence.
As per the announcement from the White House, this move was to counter China in threatening civil liberties using technologies. The heads of France and Canada proposed this global group to guide the adoption of AI, which was rejected by the US President Donald Trump. Now US is the last nation to join the Global Partnership on AI.

Notes:
Ministry of Tribal Affairs has announced Inclusion of 23 additional Minor Forest Produce (MFP) items in the Minimum Support Price List.
Under the “Mechanism for Marketing of Minor Forest Produce through Minimum Support price and development of Value Chain of MFP” scheme of 2011, the forest dwellers are safeguarded by a minimum price. This is implemented by the TRIFED organisation. This inclusion has increased the coverage from 50 to 73 items in the list.