Current Affairs Quiz - April, 2020

Notes:
Every year, March 30 is being celebrated as ‘Rajasthan Day’, to commemorate the day on which the state, which was earlier known as Rajputana came into existence.
The state of Rajasthan came into existence on March 30, 1949. Rajasthan is the largest state of India in terms of the area. It comprised of around 21 small and big princely states before Independence. Rajasthan was inaugurated as a unified state by the first Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru on April 18, 1948.

Notes:
Punjab National Bank has unveiled its new logo ahead of its merger with the United Bank of India and the Oriental Bank of Commerce.
The new logo bears the symbols of all the three public sector banks. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has issued a notification that the merger of ten banks into four will be carried out as scheduled, on April 1, 2020. After the amalgamation process, PNB will become the second largest lender in India after the State Bank of India.

Notes:
As per the recent notification of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the limit for investment of Foreign portfolio investors (FPI) in corporate bonds is hiked to 15% of outstanding stock for FY2020-21.
FPIs can invest Rs 3.17 lakh crore in Indian corporate bonds, at present. After this hike in limit, they can invest up to Rs 4.29 lakh crore of corporate bonds for the half year April to September 2020, and Rs 5.41 lakh crore for the half year October 2020 to March 2021. The revised limits for FPI investment in Central Government securities (G-secs) and State Development Loans (SDLs) will be notified separately.

Notes:
Under the Interest Subvention Scheme, a subvention of two per cent per annum is provided for short-term crop loan of up to Rs 3 lakh per farmer.
As per the recent notification from the Ministry of Agriculture, as the government has extended the subsidy to banks till May 31, the farmers will be given a subvention of 2 % for short term crop loans up to Rs. 3 lakhs. The farmers who repay the loans promptly will continue to get the loans at 4 per cent.

Notes:
Veteran comic actor of Japan, Ken Shimura who tested positive for COVID-19 has recently passed away at the age of 70.
He has been in the entertainment media field since 1970. He joined the Japanese rock band and comedy group called ‘The Drifters’. He became very popular in the country, when he appeared in the group’s comedy show “Hachijidayo Zeninshugo!” (It’s 8 o’clock, assemble everyone!)

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 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:
As per the new gazette notification under the J&K Civil Services (Decentralization and Recruitment) Act, a person who has resided in Jammu and Kashmir for at least 15 years will be eligible to be a domicile of the Union Territory.
The person who has studied for a period of seven years and appeared in class 10 or 12 examination in an educational institution based in the Union Territory will also be eligible to be a domicile.

Notes:
The United Nation’s COP 26 climate change summit was scheduled to be held in the city of Glasgow in Scotland in November 2020.
Amid the world-wide Coronavirus pandemic, the Climate change summit has been postponed to 2021. The British government announced that the exact date of the rescheduled conference will be decided later. This decision has been taken by the COP Bureau of the UNFCCC along with the UK and Italy.

Notes:
The Government of India placed curbs on exports of diagnostic kits (diagnostic or laboratory reagents on a backing, preparation diagnostic or laboratory reagents) with immediate effect.
As per the recent notification of the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), this step has been taken to discourage shipments amid the coronavirus outbreak. An exporter will have to get license from the DGFT for shipments, which were allowed without restrictions earlier.