Current Affairs Quiz - May, 2020

Notes:
Indian Technology major Infosys announced a strategic partnership with Switzerland -based software company Avaloq, to provide wealth management services through digital platforms.
Avaloq is a wealth management software and digital technology provider. As per the agreement, Infosys will be a strategic implementation partner for Avaloq’s wealth management suite of solutions. This partnership will focus on providing industry-based wealth management solutions to their clients.

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 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:
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 Hunger Day is an initiative by The Hunger Project, which is a New York based organisation committed to end hunger across the world, through programmes in various parts of the world.
It is celebrated on May 28 every year across the world. According to the United Nations’ recent data, the number of people suffering from hunger is rising continuously after 2015. The aim of World Hunger Day is to spread awareness about the impact of acute hunger and solutions to solve hunger and poverty.

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:
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 Minister for Finance & Corporate Affairs Nirmala Sitharaman chaired the 22nd Meeting of the Financial Stability and Development Council (FSDC) and reviewed the current global and domestic macro-economic situation and financial stability in the nation.
Union Finance Minister is the chairperson of FSDC, an autonomous regulatory body set up in the year 2010. Besides the ten members which includes the RBI Governor, Finance Secretary, Chief Economic Adviser, Chairpersons of SEBI, IRDAI, PFRDA, IBBI among others, the Finance Minister may invite any other required person.

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.