Current Affairs Quiz - April, 2020

Notes:
Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan recently announced that Saudi Arabia has assured India of uninterrupted supply of Liquified Petroleum Gas (LPG).
The Minister announced this after his discussions with Saudi Minister of Energy, Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman. As the cooking gas demand surged due to the nation-wide lockdown, Saudi Arabia has assured of LPG supplies to support the domestic requirement in the upcoming days.

Notes:
The 2nd Extraordinary G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors (FMCBG) meeting was recently organised via tele-conferencing under the Presidency of Saudi Arabia.
Union Minister for Finance & Corporate Affairs, Nirmala Sitharaman participated in the virtual meeting. The impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the global economy and markets was discussed and coordinate efforts in response to this global challenge. Finance Minister asked for reviewing and enhancing the IMF toolkit.

Notes:
The Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry recently announced changes in the Foreign Trade Policy (FTP) of the Indian Government.
The present policy had been valid for 5 years up to March 31, 2020 while it came into force on 1st April, 2015. At the backdrop of the coronavirus pandemic, the Government has decided to extend the policy by one more year, up to 31 March, 2021.

Notes:
The state government of Andhra Pradesh has recently issued modified guidelines in the Navaratnalu – Pedalandariki Illu (houses for all the poor) scheme, under which 25 lakh house sites are to be distributed at concessional rates to the poor.
As per the recent order, the house sites will be allotted at a concessional rate of ₹1 for the beneficiaries with white ration cards. A sum of only ₹ 20 will be collected from them towards cost of stamp paper and lamination charges. The distribution is also postponed to April 14, from March 25.

Notes:
On April 1, the 70th anniversary of the establishment of Diplomatic relations between India and China was celebrated on April 1.
As per the release of the Union External Affairs Ministry, the Presidents, Prime Ministers and External Affairs Ministers of India and China exchanged messages of felicitation to mark the 70th anniversary. India was the first non-Communist country in Asia to establish diplomatic relations with the People’s Republic of China (PRC), on April 1, 1950.

Notes:
The Nobel Prize-winning physicist, Philip Anderson recently passed away in the United States at the age of 96.
The physicist was known for making the science community understand about magnetism and superconductivity and for starting solid state physics as a field. He had been the inspiration for other Nobel-prize winning physicists including Brian Josephson (1973) and F. Duncan Haldane (2016).

Notes:
The World Bank has granted $1 billion fund to India to strengthen its response in containing Covid-19. This is also the largest ever grant provided for India till date, from the World Bank.
The fund will cover all states and UTs and will be managed by the National Health Mission (NHM), National Center for Disease Control (NCDC) and Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). The fund will be used for procurement of testing kits, setting up of new isolation wards and purchase of personal protective equipment.

Notes:
The official mascots of the 2022 Asian Games were released at a digital launch ceremony in China recently.
Congcong, Lianlian and Chenchen are named as the mascots of the 19th Asian Games, which is scheduled to be held at Hangzhou, China. Three robots nicknamed as ‘Smart Triplets’, representing the mascots were unveiled, to highlight the expertise of the city.

Notes:
A four-year-old female tiger named Nadia from the Bronx Zoo in New York City, has been tested positive for the coronavirus.
This is claimed to be the first known case where transmission of the coronavirus from human to an animal has been confirmed. The tiger is believed to have been infected by an asymptomatic zoo-keeper. Later, six other animals, including lions and tigers, have also been showing symptoms.

Notes:
Kolkata Port Trust has recently declared force majeure at its Haldia Dock Complex from 06:00 Hrs on 22 March to 06:00 Hrs on 15 April 2020, thereby becoming the first state-owned major port trust to invoke the clause, at the backdrop of coronavirus outbreak.
The force majeure clause is invoked when the firms are not able to meet their contractual commitments for reasons beyond their control. During the nationwide lockdown, as the trade is grippled, several private ports and terminals operating in the country already invoked the clause.