Current Affairs Quiz - April, 2020

Notes:
One of the leading aid agencies in the world, USAID of the United States government, has announced a grant of USD 2.9 million to India to help it tackle the effect of coronavirus pandemic.
This assistance was announced by the US Ambassador to India Kenneth Juster. The aid agency will also support the World Health Organization (WHO) initiatives in India. The proposed funds will help the Indian Government of India in curbing the spread of COVID-19.

Notes:
The innovation cell of Ministry of HRD and AICTE have recently launched an online challenge for students called ‘SAMADHAN’, in collaboration with Forge and InnovatioCuris.
This challenge calls for students to search and develop quick solutions to the Coronavirus pandemic, that will assist the government agencies and health services. Under the programme, the students and teachers of the country will be motivated for conducting new experiments.

Notes:
The Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, Shivraj Singh Chouhan recently announced a Rs 50 lakh insurance cover for police personnel and other state government employees, who are engaged in the fight against coronavirus pandemic.
This scheme has been unveiled after 5 health workers and 7 police personnel tested positive for coronavirus in the state’s capital. The Chief Minister and the Governor of Madhya Pradesh announced that they will contribute 30 per cent of their salaries to relief funds.

Notes:
According to a recent report released by the government, India’s fiscal deficit stood at 5.07% of gross domestic product (GDP) in February. Industrial output, measured in terms of Index of Industrial Production (IIP), was also at 4.5% in February.
The Government has revised its fiscal deficit target of 3.8% of GDP for FY20, during the 2020 Union Budget presentation. With a 5.07% fiscal deficit, it is expected that the revised target for the year 2019-20 would be difficult to be achieved.

Notes:
The Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority of India (PFRDA) recently announced that the National Pension System (NPS) subscribers will be allowed partial withdrawal for covering expenses related to COVID-19 treatment.
It also announced that COVID-19 would be declared as a critical illness which is life threatening in nature. PFRDA also announced that there is no provision for partial withdrawal for Atal Pension Yojana (APY) customers at present. Both NPS and APY are managed and run by PFRDA.

Notes:
Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas and Steel, Dharmendra Pradhan represented India in the recently held G20 Extraordinary Energy Ministers’ virtual Meeting.
Saudi Arabia, which currently holds the Presidency of G20 nations, had called for the Energy Ministers’ meeting. It was chaired by Energy Minister of Saudi Arabia, Prince Abdulaziz. Heads of several international organizations including OPEC, IEA and IEF also attended the meeting. The meeting focused on measures to ensure stable energy markets.

Notes:
Every year April 10th is observed as World Homeopathy Day. The theme of this year’s World Homeopathy Day is selected as “Enhancing the scope of Homeopathy in Public Health”.
This day is celebrated to commemorate the birth anniversary of Dr. Samuel Hahnemann, the father of the Homeopathy system of medicines. Central Council for Research in Homoeopathy (CCRH), under the Ministry of AYUSH organized an international webinar on the occasion of World Homoeopathy Day.

Notes:
India’s leading Private sector lender Karnataka Bank announced that it has received approval from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for reappointment of Mahabaleshwara M S as its MD and CEO for next three years, with effect from April 15.
The Reserve Bank has also approved the reappointment of P Jayarama Bhat as Non-executive Chairman up to November 13, 2021.

Notes:
The Union Minister for Human Resource Development Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank has recently launched a web-portal YUKTI (Young India Combating COVID with Knowledge, Technology and Innovation).
The web portal comprises of a comprehensive dashboard, which will assist in monitoring and recording the initiatives of the HRD Ministry. The portal also has information about the COVID-19. It also consolidates the efforts of the research institutions related to COVID-19.

Notes:
As per a survey released by the National Council for Applied Economic Research (NCAER), incomes of about 85% of households in the National capital region (NCR) have been impacted by the Covid-19 outbreak and the resulting lockdown.
The survey also highlighted that casual labourers were excessively affected with the wages of nearly 75% of them were affected. For salaried class, the income was affected for about 46.7% of the employees.