Current Affairs Quiz - April, 2020

Notes:
As per the announcement of the Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, the government will implement ‘Operation SHIELD’ at 21 locations which have been identified as containment zones in the UT.
‘Operation SHIELD’ is an acronym, which includes Sealing; Home Quarantine; Isolation and Tracing of people; Doorstep Delivery of Essential Items; Local Sanitisation And Disinfection and Door-To-Door Checking of people having symptoms of COVID-19.

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 Union Minister of Human Resource Development Ramesh Pokhriyal has launched a ‘Bharat Padhe Online’ campaign for crowd sourcing of ideas to improve online education ecosystem of India.
This week-long campaign invites all the people in the country to share suggestions and solutions about overcoming constraints of online education. The ideas can be shared directly with HRD Ministry through their mail address or their twitter account.

Notes:
Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has given approval to plasma therapy for COVID-19 treatment to Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology (SCTIMST).
It is an Institution of National Importance under the Department of Science and Technology, located in Thiruvananthapuram, the capital of the state of Kerala. The treatment called ‘convalescent-plasma therapy’ transfers the antibody from a recovered patient to a sick person, increasing his/her immune power. The Scientists have also discovered Chitra Disinfection Gateway and Chitra UV Based Facemask Disposal Bin.

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:
The former Chairman and Managing Director of National Housing Bank, RV Verma has been appointed as Non-Executive Chairman of AU Small Finance Bank for a period of one year. He has been an independent director of the SFB from 2018.
The AU Small Finance Bank is headquartered at Jaipur, Rajasthan. RBI has also approved the re-appointment of Sanjay Agarwal as Managing Director & CEO of the Small Finance Bank.

Notes:
India is the largest producer and exporter of Hydroxychloroquine with nearly 70 per cent of annual global production.
As per the recent announcement from the Department of Pharmaceuticals, our country has enough stock and manufacturing capacity of the formulation to cater both the domestic requirement and export commitments. Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) had recommended hydroxychloroquine to be used as a preventive medication for persons in the high-risk group.

Notes:
The World Bank has released its bi-annual flagship report titled ‘South Asia Economic Focus’ recently. In the report, it estimates a sharp economic crash in eight countries of the South Asian region.
The report has also estimated India to grow at 1.5%-2.8% this fiscal year, which will be the worst economic phase since the liberalisation policies implemented in 1991. It also forecasted that all countries would see a decline in GDP in the worst-case scenario.

Notes:
Technology giants Apple and Google recently announced a joint initiative to develop a technology solution for Contact Tracing activity, which will help the governments and health agencies to curb the spread of coronavirus.
The system which will use the Bluetooth technology, will identify people who are in contact with an infected person and provide alert message to the user. The companies also clarified that the system will be developed without compromising the privacy of the user.

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.