Current Affairs Quiz - May, 2020

Notes:
According to the recent data released by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and its partners, seven million unintended pregnancies would occur in the coming months, as nearly 47 million women in low-income countries who would be unable to use modern contraceptives.
It also warned the number of women facing gender-based violence and other harmful practices would increase by several times. UNFPA is a UN organisation headquartered at New York, United States.

Notes:
World Dance day has been celebrated every year on April 29, to commemorate the birth anniversary of the creator of modern ballet type of dance, Jean-Georges Noverre.
The day was created by the Dance Committee of the International Theatre Institute (ITI), which is the main partner for the performing arts of UNESCO. Every year, ITI selects an outstanding dance personality to write a message for the day. This year the Message author is Gregory Vuyani MAQOMA, a dancer from South Africa.

Notes:
Bombay High court recently quashed a clause in the University Grants Commission (UGC) regulations, 2010, which converted permanent posts to term posts of five years. Hereafter, the Principals can serve beyond 5 years and continue to hold their posts till retirement.
Recently, the UGC also released guidelines for examinations and academic calendar for universities, as the regular sessions may be affected amidst the Covid-19 outbreak. As per the guidelines, the academic session for freshers may begin in September and session for enrolled students in August.

Notes:
Veteran Freedom fighter and follower of Gandhian principles Hema Bharali, recently passed away at the age of 101.
The freedom fighter strived hard to uplift the condition of women and empower the marginalised sections of society. She was the recipient of several prestigious awards including the Padma Shri in 2005, National Communal Harmony Award by the Ministry of Home Affairs in 2006 and the Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed Memorial Award for National Integration from the Assam government.

Notes:
The International Labour Organization has recently released a report titled ‘ILO Monitor third edition: COVID-19 and the world of work’.
In the report, it is said that almost 1.6 billion workers in the informal economy, which is about half of the global workforce, face an immediate danger of losing their livelihoods due to the continued lock-down imposed. Out of 3.3 billion workers, 2 billion have vulnerable jobs under informal economy.

Notes:
Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy has launched ‘Jagananna Vidya Deevena’ scheme, which provides fee reimbursement to as many as 14 lakh college students in the State.
The reimbursement amount would be credited directly into the accounts of the mothers of the students in four instalments, from this academic year. The state has released about ₹4,000 crore for the scheme and ₹1,880 crore towards the pending dues. Parents are asked to claim refunds if they had paid fees for 2019-20.

Notes:
Partnerships for Affordable Healthcare Access and Longevity (PAHAL) is a collaborative project between the aid agency of US, USAID and New Delhi based company IPE Global.
US announced that it will provide an assistance of $3 million to India, in addition to the earlier assistance of $5.9 million, for tackling the spread of Covid-19. Through the PAHAL project, USAID will support the National Health Authority to assist health facilities enrolled under PMJAY by mobilising resources.

Notes:
As per the recent survey conducted by the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE), the unemployment rate of India increased 14.8 percentage points, to 23.5% in Apr 2020.
Tamil Nadu recorded the highest unemployment rate in April 2020, among large states at 49.8%, up from 6.3% in March 2020. Jharkhand and Bihar follow Tamil Nadu in higher unemployment rate while the lowest rate was found in Punjab, Chhattisgarh, and Telangana.

Notes:
The Central Road Research Institute (CRRI), a New Delhi-based laboratory of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) has recently launched a mobile application named ‘Kisan Sabha’ to connect farmers to supply chain, amidst the nation-wide lockdown.
The application aims to provide logistics support to the farmers so that they can directly connect with the institutional buyers. This linkage with the freight transportation Management System would minimize middlemen and increase the profit of farmers

Notes:
Apex Traders body, Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) has recently announced that it would launch a national e-commerce marketplace ‘bharatmarket’.
The platform aims to connect all retail traders to the market, in collaboration with technology partners, who will provide services in logistics and supply chains from manufacturers to end consumers.