Current Affairs Quiz - March, 2020

Notes:
Veteran journalist in Gujarati-language and pioneer of the Asian media in the United Kingdom, Ramniklal Solanki recently passed away.
He served as the London correspondent of the Mumbai-based Janmabhoomi Group of newspapers. He was also the founder-editor of the Garavi Gujarat newsweekly and the Asian Media Group. He was awarded the royal honours of the United Kingdom, the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1997 and the highest honour- CBE in 2007.

Notes:
The ‘Mo Sarkar’ programme was launched by Odisha’s Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on October 2, 2019, to provide dignified service to citizens coming to government offices.
The scheme was recently in news as five more departments of the Odisha government was brought under the ‘Mo Sarkar’ programme. With this, a total of 22 departments of the state government have come under the ambit of the scheme.

Notes:
Scientists at the Australian National University announced that they are designing the country’s first satellite to predict the bushfire danger zones.
Australia has witnessed devastating bushfires across the country especially in South Wales. The proposed bushfires measure forest cover and moisture levels using infrared detectors. The resultant data would be used to determine where bushfires will probably start and where they would be difficult to control.

Notes:
The Supreme Court of India recently ruled the restriction on cryptocurrency trade in India. The recent order also lifted the ban on trading in virtual currency, cryptocurrency and bitcoins.
The Reserve Bank of India had banned crypto-currency trading in India through its circular issued on April 6, 2018. The central bank directed that all regulated entities shall not deal in virtual currencies or provide services to deal with the virtual currencies.

Notes:
The government has formed a committee under the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare to work out the operational modalities of ‘Kisan Rail’.
In the recent budget, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman proposed to set up a ‘Kisan Rail’ through the public-private-partnership (PPP) mode to transport perishable goods. The proposed committee also includes representatives of the Indian Railways and some representatives from Ministry of Railways also.

Notes:
The Chief Minister of Haryana recently announced during the budge session that the state government is to provide credit guarantee of loans for higher education, so that the students can avail loans without the collateral guarantee required by the banks.
The state has also created a separate Foreign Cooperation Department for the welfare of non-resident Indians and employment.

Notes:
The Department of Pharmaceuticals (Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers) in collaboration with Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) is organising ‘India Pharma 2020’ & ‘India Medical Device 2020 Conference & Exhibition’ at Gandhi Nagar, Gujarat.
The theme of the event, which is to be held from March 5th to 7th is: “India Pharma: Meeting Challenges of Affordable and Quality Healthcare and India Medical Device: Promoting Affordable responsible and Quality Medical Device for Universal Health Care”.

Notes:
The Women Entrepreneurship Platform of NITI Aayog is set to organise the Fourth Edition of the Women Transforming India Awards (WTI) on International Women’s Day (March 8).
The Women Transforming India Awards was instituted four years ago by NITI Aayog and are presented on the theme of ‘Women and Entrepreneurship’. Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will be the Chief Guest this year and will present the Women Transforming India Awards 2019.

Notes:
According to the latest report titled ‘Freedom in the World 2020’ published by US-based NGO Freedom House, India has secured 83rd rank in the list of free democracies.
India has become one of the world’s least free democracies with its score falling by four points to 71 and it is near the most bottom ranks. The report warned that the Indian government’s present activities could remove the difference in democracy between India and China.

Notes:
The Director-General of Supply and Transport Corps of the Indian Army recently unveiled the renovated Animal Memorial at Bengaluru.
The memorial indicates the contributions and service of mules and horses of the Indian Army, especially during the war in the Himalayas. This animal transport memorial has been extended by two walls, which highlight the role played by the animals in the Indian Army. It was also announced that 26 September each year has been nominated as the Animal Transport (AT) Remembrance Day.