DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS : May 2, 2020

Daily Current Affairs (May 2, 2020) like many other sections is inevitable and this also helps to score in the Banking awareness, Static GK and Financial Awareness sections. Remember, Banking Awareness and Static Awareness Questions are asked from the General Awareness section. This will also help you to ride your preparations for the forthcoming exams.

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National News

DST launches “YASH” with focus on COVID-19:

• National Council for Science & Technology Communication (NCSTC), Department of Science & Technology (DST) has launched a programme on health and risk communication “Year of Awareness on Science & Health (YASH)” with focus on COVID-19.

Manipur black rice, Gorakhpur terracotta bagged GI tag:

• Black rice of Manipur, also called the Chak-Hao, Gorakhpur Terracotta and Kadalai Mittai of Kovilpatti bagged Geographical Indication tag.
• Chak-Hao, a scented glutinous rice cultivated in Manipur over centuries, is characterised by its special aroma.
• Kovilpatti kadalai mittai is manufactured in Kovilpatti and adjacent towns and villages in Thoothukudi district, Tamil Nadu.

Manipur

• Capital:Imphal
• Chief Minister:N. Biren Singh
• Governor:Najma Heptulla

Tamil Nadu

• Capital:Chennai
• Chief Minister:Edappadi K. Palaniswami
• Governor:Banwarilal Purohit

Tripura govt to launch agri entrepreneur facilitation desk to boost economy:

• Tripura government has announced the launch of an agro-based entrepreneurship facilitation desk in a bid to boost primary sectors, such as agriculture, after nationwide lockdown restrictions.
• The state cabinet has approved the setting up of the desk, which will operate from the Directorate of Horticulture and Soil Conservation in the state capital, Agartala.

Tripura:

• Capital– Agartala.

• Chief minister – Biplab Kumar Deb

• Governor– Ramesh Bias.

Ministry of Coal launches Project Monitoring Unit for facilitating early operationalisation of coal mines:

• Minister of Coal Pralhad Joshi has launched a Project Monitoring Unit for facilitation of early operationalisation of coal mines allocated by the Government. This is an important step forward to promote Ease of Doing Business as it will support in obtaining timely approval to operationalise the mines.

National Board for Wildlife Permits Coal Mining in Dehing Patkai Elephant Reserve in Assam:

• National Board for Wildlife has recommended that part of 59 hectares reserve forest land that is a part of Dehing Patkai Elephant Reserve be used for opencast coal mining by North-Eastern Coal Field of Coal India Limited while the rest of the area may be considered for underground coal mining.

Assam

• Capital: Dispur
• Chief Minister: SarbanandaSonowal
• Governor: Jagdish Mukhi

Union minister Nitin Gadkari launches ‘MSME Bank of Ideas, Innovation and Research’ portal:

• Union Minister of Road transport & Highways & MSME, Shri Nitin Jairam Gadkari has launched ‘MSME Bank of Ideas, Innovation and Research’ portal (http://ideas.msme.gov.in/)  along with ‘Ayush Entrepreneurship Development Program’ through Video Conference.
• Through the portal, the registered users can upload their ideas and innovations regarding the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) sector within 5-6 Minutes to raise money (crowd funding) from venture capitalists.

CSIR-NCL innovates Digital IR Thermometer to help mitigate COVID-19:

• Digital IR thermometer is one of the important innovations recently announced by CSIR (Council of Scientific and Industrial Research) and National Chemical Laboratory in Pune. 
• The CSIR – NCLs Venture Centres incubate BMek headed by Prateek Kulkarni has developed this handheld digital IR thermometer.

Banking and Economy

RBI extends regulatory benefits under SLF-MF scheme to all banks: 

• RBI has initiated a special liquidity facility of Rs 50,000 crore for MFs. The bank claiming these extended regulatory benefits will not be required to avail back-to-back funding from the central bank under the SLF-MF scheme.
• The bank claiming these extended regulatory benefits will be required to submit a weekly statement containing consolidated information on entity-wise and instrument-wise loans and advances

Moody’s slashes India’s growth estimate to 0.2% for 2020 from 2.5%:

• Moody’s Investors Service slashed India growth forecast for calendar year 2020 to 0.2 per cent, from 2.5% projected in March. For 2021, the rating agency expects India’s growth to rebound to 6.2%. China is projected to grow 1% in 2020 and 7.1% in 2021.

Appointments

Google ropes in former Axis Bank CEO Shikha Sharma for its payments business:

• Google Pay, the digital payments arm of tech giant Google, has roped in former Axis Bank CEO Shikha Sharma as an advisor. Google offers UPI based payments in India in partnership with 4 major banks- HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank and State Bank of India.

Awards and Recognitions

Nikkei Asia Prize 2020 to IIT Madras prof for work on water filters:

• Prof. T. Pradeep of IIT Madras has been honoured with the Nikkei Asia Prizes (NAP) 2020 in the science and technology category. 
• NAP are awarded annually in three areas- Economic and Business Innovation, Science and Technology and Culture and Community.

Richard Hadlee Medal goes to Ross Taylor, Southee bags Test prize:

• New Zealand Batsman Ross Taylor was honoured with Sir Richard Hadlee Medal for the third time for excelling across formats. Tim Southee bagged the top Test prize. 
• Taylor went past Stephen Fleming’s tally to become the leading run-scorer for New Zealand in Tests.
• Kim Cotton was named the Umpire of the Year.

Sania Mirza becomes first Indian to be nominated for Fed Cup Heart award:

• Tennis star Sania Mirza became the first Indian to be nominated for the Fed Cup Heart Award. Sania is the nominee for the award from the Asia/Oceania Zone alongwith Indonesia’s Priska Madelyn Nugroho. The winner will be declared on May 11.
• The Fed Cup Heart Award was 1st presented at the Final in 2009.

International Tennis Fedration:

• President– David Haggerty
• COO– Kelly Fairweather
• Headquarters– London, United Kingdom

Marcus Wallenberg Prize 2020: ‘Nobel Prize of Forest Research’:

• Joseph J Landsberg, Richard H Waring & Nicholas C Coops share the 2020 MW Prize for a model to predict forest growth in a changing climate. Satellite imagery offers the possibility to scale up the model to show how environmental conditions affect the forests.

Indian-origin girl Vaneeza names NASA’s 1st Mars helicopter as ‘Ingenuity’:

• A 17-year old Indian-origin girl Vaneeza Rupani has named the 1st helicopter to be built for Mars as ‘Ingenuity’ after she submitted her essay in NASA’s (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) ‘Name the Rover’ competition.
• NASA’s mars rover ‘Perseverance’ & ‘Ingenuity’ are scheduled to launch in July 2020 and will land in February 2021 in the Jezero Crater of Mars.

Books and Authors

A new book “Shivaji in South Block: The Unwritten History of a Proud People”:

• A New book named “Shivaji in South Block: The Unwritten History of a Proud People” written by journalist Girish Kuber talks about Maharashtra’s evolution from the past to the modern times and its contribution to the tapestry of the country’s culture, politics, history and society.

Obituary News

Writer and columnist RV Smith, known for his books on Delhi, passed away at 81:

• Eminent author and columnist Ronald Vivian Smith passed away at the age of 81 in Delhi, due to age-related ailments. He was born in 1938 in Agra, Uttar Pradesh (UP). 

South African anti-apartheid activist Denis Goldberg passed away at 87:

• South-African anti-apartheid activist Denis Theodore Goldberg passed away at the age of 87 due to lung cancer and diabetes in Cape Town, South Africa. He was born on April 11, 1933, in Cape Town, South Africa (SA).

Sports News

India slips to 3rd Position in ICC test ranking; Australia tops:

• India has lost its top spot & has slipped to the 3rd position(114) for the first time since 2016 in the International Cricket Council (ICC) test rankings, Australia(116) topped the rank, followed by New Zealand(115).

ICC:

• Headquarters– Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE).
• CEO (Chief Executive Officer)– Manu Sawhney
• Chairman– Shashank Manohar.

Daily Current Affairs Quiz – May 2, 2020

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