Current Affairs Quiz - May, 2020

Notes:
Leading Public Sector Enterprises Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) and NTPC Ltd signed a Memorandum of understanding (MoU), to set up a joint venture company for the renewable energy business.
As per the MoU, NTPC and ONGC will explore and set up renewable power projects including offshore wind in India and in other countries. The enterprises will also roll-out their expertise in the fields of sustainability, storage, e-mobility and ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) compliant projects.

Notes:
The flagship initiative of the Minority Affairs Ministry, ‘Hunar Haat’ is expected to be launched once the nation-wide lockdown due to Covid-19 is lifted.
The initiative organises a skill fare and aims to generate employment for crafts-persons, will be launched in September with a theme of ‘Local to Global’. As per the Minority Affairs Ministry, more than five lakh Indian artisans, craftspeople, culinary experts were provided employment opportunities in the last five years by this fare.

Notes:
The Mizoram Cabinet has recently granted industry status to sports, amidst the gradual lifting of lock-down, following the sports policy in many countries.
This decision is expected to promote employment generation in the state. This was announced by the state’s Chief Minister Zoramthanga. The Sports and Youth Services department had advised the State government to grant the status. Mizoram has a good group of Football players who represent several important clubs.

Notes:
Former Supreme Court Judge and the International Judge at Singapore International Commercial Court Justice A K Sikri has recently e- inaugurated the Indian Dispute Resolution Centre (IDRC).
IDRC provides a paperless dispute resolution environment through certain software portals. Its arbitration panel has former judges of the Supreme Court, High Courts, district courts and senior advocates, former bureaucrats, chartered accountants among others. The IDRCs are located at strategically commercial places in the country and its head office is in New Delhi.

Notes:
India’s Covid-19 contact tracing app ‘Aarogya Setu’ was made an open source application by its think tank NITI Aayog.
After several privacy concerns were raised over the app, it has been open sourced so that researchers can identify any vulnerability in the app to make it more secure. National Informatics Centre (NIC), which had developed the app has announced a bug bounty programme to incentivise those who find flaws in the app.

Notes:
The Indian Olympic Association has constituted an 11-member committee led by Adille Sumariwala, the President of Athletics Federation of India.
The committee has been constituted to review and monitor annual grant and affiliation fee of its members for the 2020-2021 cycle, in coordination with the finance department. The committee is also required to send a report on all pending issues regarding previous year to IOA President.

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:
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:
Every year, May 28 has been celebrated as the World Menstrual Hygiene Day across the world. It is a global platform initiated by the German non-profit organisation WASH United.
This year, the theme of Menstrual Hygiene Day is ‘Periods in Pandemic’. Several government agencies, individuals, non-profits and media join hands to create awareness about the safe menstruation practices and hygiene management.

Notes:
India’s leading private air carrier SpiceJet announced that it has received formal approval from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to conduct drone trials. The dedicated cargo arm of SpiceJet, SpiceXpress was granted permission for conducting experimental Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) operations.
SpiceXpress is planning to use drones to deliver medical, essential supplies and e-commerce products to the remote places of the country.