March Current Affairs 2020 Weekly Test -1

Answer – 2) Savitribai Phule Pune University
Explanation:
Indian Air Force (IAF) and Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU) signed a MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) to establish a Chair of Excellence named “Marshal of the Air Force Arjan Singh Chair of Excellence” at Department of Defense & Strategic Studies at Pune, Maharashtra.

Answer – 5) Malaysia
Explanation:
The Muhyiddin bin Haji Muhammad Yassin (former deputy PM) took oath of office as Malaysia’s 8th Prime Minister(PM) at National Palace in Kuala Lumpur. He is from Malaysian United Indigenous Party, Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (PPBM). He succeeds 94-year-old Mahathir bin Mohamad, who abruptly resigned & was in office since the general elections 2018.

Answer – 4) Sarbananda Sonowal
Explanation:
Assam’s Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal was honoured with Swarajya Awards 2020 under the category, Dr. Syama Prasad Mukherjee Award for Politics at the 6th India Ideas Conclave at Tent City Narmada in Gujarat. The award is instituted by India Foundation & Indic Academy. He received the award for his work in integrating the nation, & to take Mukherjee’s vision & philosophy forward.
Winners List

Answer – 4) Rafael Nadal (Spain)
Explanation:
The 2020 Mexican Open (27^th edition) officially known as Abierto Mexicano Telcel (AMT) presentado por HSBC (Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation), a lawn tennis tournament was held at Acapulco, Mexico between 24 and 29 February 2020. It was played on Outdoor Hard Court Surface. Rafael Nadal wins the Mexican open tournament for the 3^rd time and it is his 85^th ATP title overall (Men’s singles category).

Answer – 4) Athletics Coach
Explanation:
Senior athletics coach & Dronacharya awardee Joginder Singh Saini, who trained some of India’s finest track and field stars, passed away at the age of 90, in Patiala, Punjab, due to age related problems. He served as the chief national athletics coach for many years from the year 1970 to 1990.

Answer – 2) March 1
Explanation:
Zero Discrimination is celebrated annually on March 1 to challenge the discrimination faced by women & girls, to raise awareness & mobilize action to promote equality & empowerment for women & girls. The theme for 2020 is “Zero Discrimination against Women & Girls”. The symbol for this day is Butterfly.

Answer – 3) Paytm
Explanation:
Indian digital payments platform Paytm’s subsidiary, Paytm Insurance Broking, has received the brokerage licence from the Insurance Regulatory and Authority of India (IRDAI).

Answer – 5) Cash
Explanation:
State Bank of India (SBI) has switched to “Cash Budget Based Assessment (CBBA)” from “Projected Balance Sheet (PBS)” method of Fund Based Working Capital (FBWC) limits for assessment of the working capital requirement for corporates or large advances. CBBA of limits has been initiated for assessment of the FBWC limits for units with total FBWC exposure of more than ₹50 crores from the banking system.

Answer –3) 5.1%
Explanation:
Global agency Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in its report titled “OECD Interim Economic Assessment Coronavirus: The world economy at risk” has trimmed India’s real GDP (Gross Domestic Product) growth forecast to 5.1% from the earlier projection of 6.2% for 2020 due to the impact of deadly coronavirus (COVID-19) on the domestic as well as the global economy. For 2021, India’s real GDP growth is projected at 5.6% from the earlier forcast of 6.4%. Fitch has lowered the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of India for the Fiscal Year 20 (FY20) from 5.1% to 4.9%.

Answer – 4) Pune
Explanation:
The Indian Science Congress association (ISCA) announced that Pune will host the annual session of 108th Indian Science Congress on January 3-7, 2021 at Symbiosis International University’s Lavale campus with the theme,” Science and Technology for Sustainable Development with Women Empowerment”.

Answer – 4) Ministry of Tourism
Explanation:
The Minister of State (MoS) for Tourism & Culture, Shri Prahlad Singh Patel has launched the multilingual version of ‘Incredible India’ website and mobile app in New Delhi with the aim to provide more information about India’s tourist destinations, attractions, experiences, and where the value lies. The website was earlier hosted only in English & Hindi and now it has been launched in 3 new languages i.e. Chinese, Arabic and Spanish.

Answer – 4) Ross Taylor
Explanation:
During the India tour of New Zealand (Between January – March 2020), Ross Taylor became the 1st New Zealand male cricketer to play 100 matches in all three formats of cricket.

Answer – 4) 1 Lakh
Explanation:
The Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions (MoPP&P) has issued a format for filing complaints of corruption against public servants with the Lokpal or anti-corruption ombudsman under Lokpal (Complaint) Rules, 2020. The Lokpal rules has been laid down under the Section 59 of the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act 2013. Any false and vexatious complaint is punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to one year and with fine which may extend to Rs 1 Lakh.

Answer – 4) Luxembourg
Explanation:
Luxembourg, the 7th smallest country in Europe, has become the 1st country in the world to make public transport free from February 29, 2020 inorder to reduce traffic pressure on the road.

Answer – 3) 1.46 Lakh crore
Explanation:
According to the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD), an Apex Development Financial Institution in India, it has granted Rs 1.46 lakh crore in the rural banking system during the current fiscal-FY (2019-20) with the aim to help them get their resources effectively for handling the credit needs of rural people, including farmers.

Answer – 5) 81
Explanation:
The Ministry of Finance has released figures related to various schemes having special provisions for empowerment of women. As per the data, more than 81% account holders under Stand Up India Scheme are women (As on 17 Feb 2020).

Answer – 4) Jadav Payeng
Explanation:
Jadav Payeng, an environmental activist of Assam also known as the “Forest man of India” named as 128th winner of Commonwealth Points of Light Award. He earned the name Forest man of India by spending 30 years of his life planting trees. He was honored by the Head of Common Wealth the Queen Elizabeth II for his exceptional volunteer service in environmental conservation.

Answer – 1) UberEats
Explanation:
According to the Uber ‘s recent regulatory filings, Zomato, an Indian restaurant aggregator and food delivery startup has acquired Uber’s food delivery business in India, Uber Eats for $206 million, where the investment was priced at $171 million, the balance $35 million was received as a reimbursement of goods and services tax (GST) receivable from Zomato.

Answer – 2) Shafali Verma
Explanation:
According to the International Cricket Council (ICC) T20I (Twenty-twenty International) rankings 2020 for Women players, the 16-year-old Indian opener Shafali Verma climbed 19 places to reach the top with 761 points. She replaced New Zealand’s Suzie Bates down a notch, who now have 750 points.
Here’s the list of top3 & Indian players in ICC T20 ranking 2020:

Answer – 4) Allahabad Bank
Explanation:
The Union Cabinet has approved the mega consolidation of following ten PSBs into four which would be effective from 1.4.2020.

The above amalgamation will be in addition to State Bank of India (SBI), Bank of Baroda (BoB), and Bank of India (BoI) comprises of 7 Big PSBs. There were 27 PSBs in 2017 and now there would be 12 (7 big PSB + 5 Small PSB). The five smaller PSBs are Central Bank of India (CBI), Indian Overseas Bank (IOB), UCO Bank, Bank of Maharashtra (BOM), and Punjab and Sind Bank.

Answer – 2) Uttarakhand
Explanation:
Chief Minister (CM) of Uttarakhand Trivendra Singh Rawat announced Gairsain (Chamoli District) as the summer capital of the state, on the 3rd day of the budget session held in Gairsain, Uttarakhand. The Dehradun will act as Winter Capital now.

Answer – 4) Blockchain
Explanation:
Supreme Court (SC) has lifted ban on trading in virtual currency, cryptocurrency and bitcoins by cancelling the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) 2018 circular that barred banks from serving companies dealing in cryptocurrency exchanges. The decision in this regard has been taken by the three-judge Bench headed by Justice Rohinton Fali Nariman. Cryptocurrency is used to move money between bank and a client which usually runs on a blockchain technology. Blockchain is a type of Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT).

Answer – 2) Limited Liability Partnership
Explanation:
The Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) has introduced a scheme namely “LLP Settlement Scheme, 2020” for limited liability partnership (LLPs) by allowing a one-time condonation of delay in filing statutorily required documents with the Registrar of Office (ROC). In simplified language, it means the scheme is providing a three-month window from 16th March, 2020 to 13th June, 2020 to LLPs for completing overdue or delayed filings of four forms which were due for filing till 31st October, 2019. Also, the additional fee on these forms is reduced to Rs. 10 from Rs. 100 per day of delay with upper cap of Rs. 5,000 per form.

Answer – 2) Gandhinagar, Gujarat
Explanation:
The Department of Pharmaceuticals, Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers (C&F), in association 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 from March 5-7, 2020. The was inaugurated by the Chemicals & Fertilizers Minister Sadananda Gowda MoS (C&F) & Mansukh Mandviya (C&F Minister).
Theme of the conference: “India Pharma: Meeting Challenges of Affordable and Quality Healthcare and India Medical Device: Promoting Affordable responsible and Quality Medical Device for Universal Health Care”.

Answer – 5) Naresh Chandra Saxena
Explanation:
The Union Ministry of Tribal Affairs (MoTA) has consituted a committee headed by Naresh Chandra Saxena, former member of the Planning Commission of India and of the National Advisory Council (NAC), to examine and recommend Community Forest Resources (CFR) Guidelines under the Forest Rights Act, 2006 (FRA).

Answer – 3) IIT Bombay
Explanation:
According to the Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Rankings 2020 by Subject, Indian Institute of Technology(IIT), Bombay and IIT Delhi have made it to the top 50 institutes in the world for the category of engineering and technology (E&T) and ranked 44th and 47th respectively with a score of 81.9 and 81.4.
Here’s the list of Top 3 & Indian institutes in top 100 in QS World University Ranking 2020 on Engineering & Technology category

Answer – 3) United Nations Organization (UNO)
Explanation:
Javier Perez de Cuellar (born in Lima, Peru) was the president of the UN Security Council from 1973 to 1974 and he served as UN fifth secretary general from 1981 to 1991. He was often described as a “pacifist by vocation and nature.”

Answer – 4) Maharashtra
Explanation:
The Maharashtra Government renamed Aurangabad Airport as Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj Airport. The decision was taken at a meeting of the state cabinet, chaired by Maharashtra Chief Minister (CM) Uddhav Bal Thackeray. Earlier, Mumbai airport has been named as Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Airport while Kolhapur airport was renamed as Chhatrapati Rajaram Maharaj.

Answer – 4) Madhya Pradesh
Explanation:
The Madhya Pradesh Government (Tourism Board) organizes a three-day festival “Namaste Orchha” From March 6 to March 8, 2020 in the ancient town of Orchha in Bundelkhand region, Madhya Pradesh. The aim of this festival is to promote tourism in the heritage city of Orchha, Madhya Pradesh.

Answer – 4) United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF)
Explanation:
Union Minister of for Jal Shakti, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat launched Phase II of Swachh Bharat Mission (Grameen) [SBM (G)] at a National Dissemination and Consultation workshop in New Delhi. During the workshop the he also released a study namely “Impact of the Swachh Bharat Mission (Grameen) on the convenience, safety and self-respect of women in rural India” by the UNICEF (United Nations Children’s Fund), and Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) on the impact of the SBM(G) on rural women.

Answer – 4) 77
Explanation:
In accordance with the report by MicroSave Consulting (MSC) titled “The real story of women’s financial inclusion in India”, the women’s ownership of bank accounts is increased from 43% in 2014 to 77% in 2017 under the flagship scheme Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY), however 42% accounts are still inactive. The gender gap in financial inclusion reduced by 14 percentage points in three years (2014-17).

Answer – 4) Section 45
Explanation:
In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (2) of section 45 of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 (10 of 1949), the Central Government, through the Ministry of Finance has imposed moratorium on Yes Bank Limited w.e.f. 6PM of March 5, 2020 till April 3, 2020. The decision has been taken on the recommendations of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) under sub-section (1) of section 45.

Answer – 3) 50,000
Explanation:
The RBI has restricted the withdrawal limit in Yes Bank during the period of moratorium to Rs 50,000 per account. If a depositor maintains more than one account, then also the total amount payable from all the accounts together should not exceed Rs 50,000. In case of unforeseen expenses like medical treatment, higher education, marriage or unavoidable expenses the sum should not exceed 5,00,000 or the actual balance lying to the credit of the account of such depositor.

Answer – 4) 8.50
Explanation:
EPFO (Employees Provident Fund Organisation) has declined interest rate on EPF deposits for 2019-20 to seven years’ low by 0.15% or 15 basis points fom 8.65% to 8.5%. This downward revision of interest rate was recommended by Finance Investment & Audit Committee (FIAC) with an interest rate of 8.45% but EPFO went for 8.5%.

Answer – 2) United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)
Explanation:
In accordance with the estimates prepared by Division on International Trade and Commodities, UNCTAD and published by United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) titled “Global trade impact of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Epidemic”, India is among the top 20 economies most affected by the slowdown of manufacturing in China due to Coronavirus (COVID-19) epidemic has a trade impact of $348 million dollars, which is disrupting world trade and could result in a 50-billion-dollar decrease in global exports.

Answer – 2) Prashant Kumar
Explanation:
In exercise of the powers conferred under 36ACA of the Banking Regulation Act 1949, RBI has also superseded (replaced) the board of YES bank with immediate effect by appointing ex- Deputy Managing Director (DMD) & Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of SBI Prashant Kumar as its administrator for a period of 30 days citing serious deterioration in the financial position of the Bank. His appointment has been made under Section 36ACA (2) of the Act.

Answer – 3) Indira Gandhi
Explanation:
TIME Magazine created 100 New Covers for the Project ‘100 women of the year’ to recognize selected women or groups to represent each year from 1920 to 2019. India’s Freedom Fighter Amrit Kaur will be honored as ‘Women of the Year’ for 1947 & Former prime minister Indira Gandhi for 1976.

Answer – 4) Balbir Singh
Explanation:
In Times of India sports award 2019 (TOISA 2019) a special award – Icon of the Century was given to 3-time Olympic gold medalist and hockey legend Balbir Singh.

Answer – 5) 83
Explanation:
According to the ‘Freedom in the World 2020” report, which analyzes ​​democratic values ​​and people’s freedom in 195 countries & 15 territories and ranks them category-wise, released by the Freedom House, a U.S (United States) -based watchdog that conducts research and advocacy on democracy, India has ranked 83rd in the report along with Timor-Leste and Senegal in ‘Free’ category. While, Finland topped the list as the free democratic country.
Here’s the list of Top 3& Bottom 3 nation in free category of the report:

Answer – 5) Ajay Bhushan Pandey
Explanation:
Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) headed by Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi has approved the appointment of Ajay Bhushan Pandey as the new Finance Secretary in Ministry of Finance. He will succeed current Rajiv Kumar, who has retired in February 2020.

Answer – 2) Ljubljana & Euro
Explanation:
Recently Slovenia’s lawmakers have approved the Leader of Slovenian Democratic Party (SDS), Janez Jansa as Slovenia’s new Prime Minister. He will replace center-left Prime Minister Marjan Sarec, who resigned from his post in January 2020.
Slovenia’s – Capital – Ljubljana & Currency – Euro.

Answer – 5) Kuala Lumpur & Ringgit
Explanation:
Malaysia’s Capital – Kuala Lumpur & Currency – Ringgit

Answer – 3) Boxing
Explanation:
Indian boxer Sumit Sangwan, who was to serve a one-year ban for consuming a prohibited substance, has been cleared by National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) after the athlete proved he took the medicine unintentionally.

Answer – 1) Assam
Explanation:
Manas National Park, a UNESCO Natural World Heritage Site located in Assam’s Baksa district, welcomed two female rhinos from Kaziranga National Park on 2^nd March 2020 as part of a translocation programme by Assam forest department.

Answer – Companies Act, 1956
Explanation:
A Non-Banking Financial Company (NBFC) is a company registered under the Companies Act, 1956 and to perform Banking operations it should be registered in RBI under Section 45-IA of the RBI Act, 1934 (It should have a minimum net owned fund of Rs. 200 lakh).

Answer – 4) Chhattisgarh

Answer – 5) Assam
Explanation:
Majuli is the world’s largest river Island.

Answer – 2) Assam
Explanation:
The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) has notified that under the Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA), a financial assistance of Rs 1.51 crore has been sanctioned to Kaziranga National Park in Kanchanjuri, Assam during the financial years 2018-19 and 2019-2020.For the financial years 2018-19 Rs 94,46,585 was sanctioned while Rs 51,24,670 was allocated for 2019-2020. Also under the Project Tiger scheme, Rs 33 crore was sanctioned to Kaziranga Tiger Reserve, which includes Kaziranga National Park.

Answer – 2) Madhya Pradesh
Explanation:
Centre notified 870 sq km around the National Chambal Sanctuary in Madhya Pradesh(MP) as eco-sensitive zone (ESZ) to prohibit polluting activities like industries, major hydroelectric project, mining, stone quarrying & big construction within the ‘no-go area’ for the purpose of conservation of water bodies, unique geographical features(ravines), flora & fauna. It is the first and only tri-state riverine protected area in India for the breeding population of Gharial. It is also called as the National Chambal Gharial Wildlife Sanctuary.

Answer – 2) Kota, Rajasthan
Explanation:
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla has launched ‘Suposhit Maa Abhiyan’ in his constituency Kota, Rajasthan, to provide nutritional support to pregnant women and adolescent girls. Smriti Irani, Ministry of Women & Child Development & Ministry of Textiles, also presided over the function.
About Suposhit Maa Abhiyan: In the first phase of the campaign, 1,000 kits of 17 kg balanced diet each was provided to 1,000 pregnant women.