Current Affairs Quiz - April, 2020

Notes:
NASA has recently selected a new space capsule from Elon Musk-owned SpaceX to ferry cargo and supplies to be used in its proposed lunar space station.
The Lunar space station aims to build a permanent post on the moon and mount future missions to Mars. SpaceX will get a portion of a $7 billion NASA contract to send ‘Dragon-XL’ spacecraft by using its Falcon Heavy rocket.

Notes:
The Government of India lowered the interest rates on various small savings schemes for the first quarter of 2020-21.
As per the revision, the interest rate for the flagship Sukanya Samriddhi Account scheme has been reduced to 7.6% against 8.4% earlier. Investments in PPF will earn 7.1% against 7.9%; the five-year National Savings Certificate will earn 6.8% against 7.9% earlier; KVP will earn 6.9% against 7.6% earlier and five-year Senior Citizens Savings Scheme will return 7.6% against 8.6% earlier.

Notes:
According to the April 2020 update of the World Bank, titled ‘East Asia and Pacific in the Time of Covid-19’, it has estimated that nearly 11 million people would be affected by poverty in East Asia and the Pacific as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
The World Bank has earlier estimated that about 35 million people would escape poverty in East Asia and the Pacific in 2020.

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 National Investigation Agency (NIA) has registered its first overseas case and has started investigation into the terrorist attack on a gurdwara at Kabul, Afghanistan.
On March 25, 2020, some gunmen entered a gurdwara in Kabul and fired, which killed 27 devotees and injured several others. The recent amendments in NIA Act have permitted NIA to investigate cases against the Indian citizens or affecting the interest of India, which are committed at places outside India.

Notes:
Larsen & Toubro (L&T) has bagged the large order of the Indian Army to set up a unified network management system.
The communication business of L&T Construction has secured the order to manage and operate the armed forces network. The project is to be set up under the Network for Spectrum (NFS). The project is to be implemented in 18 months followed by three years of warranty and seven years of Annual Maintenance Contract (AMC).

Notes:
The World Health Organisation has recently released a report titled ‘State of the World’s Nursing 2020’, on the occasion of the World Health Day on 7th April 2020.
It states that Nursing is the largest occupational group in the health sector, which accounts for about 59% of the health professions. The report highlights that Investment in nurses will contribute not only to health-related SDG targets, but also to education (SDG 4), gender (SDG 5), decent work and economic growth (SDG 8).

Notes:
The International Day of Reflection on the 1994 Genocide is observed on April 7, to commemorate the genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda.
The day was established by the United Nations General Assembly in 2003. April 7 marks the beginning of the genocide done by the Hutu extremist-led government against the more than a million Tutsi minorities. Rwanda observes nation-wide mourning on April 7 and the mourning period ends on the Liberation Day- July 4.

Notes:
Union Ministry of Human Resource Development has launched an online portal named ‘Integrated Government Online Training Portal’ for frontline workers fighting coronavirus outbreak.
This training module has been launched in the DIKSHA platform of the HRD Ministry for capacity building of frontline workers including doctors, nurses, hygiene workers, State Government officers, police organisations and other volunteers to efficiently handle the COVID-19 pandemic.

Notes:
The Indian government has extended term of board members of the Banks Board Bureau (BBB), for a period of two years beyond April 11 or until further orders whichever is earlier.
The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has also approved to extend the term of existing part-time chairman B P Sharma. Bank Boards Bureau was constituted in 2016 to recommend appointment of whole-time directors and non-executive chairpersons of public sector banks (PSBs) and financial institutions owned by the government.