Current Affairs Quiz - April, 2020

Notes:
The Information Technology Industry body NASSCOM announced that it has appointed Infosys Chief Operating Officer UB Pravin Rao as its chairman for the year 2020-21.
Pravin Rao is set to replace the incumbent Chairman WNS Global Services Group CEO Keshav Murugesh. The Chairman and Senior Managing Director of Accenture in India, Rekha M Menon has been named as the vice chairperson for 2020-21.

Notes:
The teams of Thailand and Malaysia have been banned from participating in weightlifting events at the Tokyo Olympics.
The sanctions panel of the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) has imposed disciplinary sanctions on the two countries regarding the same. The panel also suspended the Thai Amateur Weightlifting Association (TAWA) for three years and the Malaysian Weightlifting Federation (MWF) for a year.

Notes:
Chris Cassidy, an astronaut of NASA, along with two cosmonauts of Russia- Roscosmos, Anatoly Ivanishin and Ivan Vagner docked at the International Space Station.
The three-man crew docked successfully aboard the Soyuz MS-16 capsule, which was launched from the Russia’s space hub, Baikonur, in its neighbouring country Kazakhstan. The crew reached the ISS at 1413 GMT, over six hours after blasting off. The next crew to return to Earth from the ISS will fly to their home countries on April 17.

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:
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 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:
In the North-eastern state of Manipur, a new initiative titled ‘Food Bank’ has been introduced, to provide free food to the poor and needy, amidst the lockdown due to coronavirus pandemic.
The Imphal East District Administration has been implementing this initiative, which aims to provide free food and essential items which were donated by the general public, to the beneficiaries. Other items like hand sanitisers and face masks are also being distributed.