Current Affairs Quiz - April, 2020

Notes:
The National Health Authority (NHA) has signed an agreement with the ride-haling app Uber, for providing transport services to healthcare workers involved in treatment of covid-19 patients
Through its UberMedic service, the ride-hailing firm is to provide 150 cars free of cost to support medical facilities in certain cities. This initiative comes at the back-drop of the lock-down, where all forms of public and private transportation have been restricted. Hygiene measures such as roof-to-floor plastic sheeting enclosing the driver’s seat and disinfecting the car are ensured in every ride.

Notes:
As per the recent announcement of the Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan, more than 50 crore vulnerable citizens will be eligible for free COVID-19 testing and treatment under Ayushman Bharat- Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana- PMJAY.
The Minister also appealed to the private labs and hospitals to come forward and become a part of this initiative. Hospitals empanelled under the AB-PMJAY scheme can use their authorised testing facilities or tie up with an authorised testing facility to provide this service.

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 Cabinet has recently approved to suspend the MPLAD (Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme) Fund during 2020-21 & 2021-22, temporarily. Rs 7900 crores, the consolidated amount of MPLAD Funds for 2 years, will be moved to Consolidated Fund of India.
The cabinet also promulgated an ordinance to reduce the salaries, allowances and pensions of Members of Parliament by 30 per cent for one year. The President, Vice President, Governors of States have said to have voluntarily admitted for the reduction in pay.

Notes:
A Central government enterprise under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, HLL Lifecare Limited has developed a rapid antibody diagnostic kit for COVID-19.
The kit has been validated and approved by the NIV and the ICMR and will be marketed under the brand name of “MakeSure”. The result would be obtained from the patient sample in 15-20 minutes using the kit. About two lakh kits for supplying to various government units are to be manufactured within the next 10 days.

Notes:
As per the recent notification of WIPO, China topped the world in filing International Patents filed with WIPO, in 2019.
China has filed 58,990 applications in 2019 via WIPO’s Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) System thereby surpassing the United States, which topped every year since the PCT began operations in 1978. China also recorded growth in the international intellectual property (IP) services, treaty-adherence activity of WIPO.

Notes:
The Democratic party of the United States has selected former Vice President Joe Biden as the nominee for the American Presidential Election.
Earlier, US Senator Bernie Sanders announced that he is not participating in the upcoming elections, which are due in November. Hence Joe Biden became the official Democratic nominee for the election to take on the incumbent US President Donald Trump.

Notes:
Forbes released its 34th annual world’s billionaires list recently. As per the list, Amazon Founder and CEO Jeff Bezos has been named the world’s richest man with a net worth of $113 billion.
Jeff Bezos who tops the billionaires list for the third year, is followed by Bill Gates in the second spot at 98 billion. Chairman and CEO of LVMHF, Bernard Arnault has been placed in the third place. The total combined net worth of the billionaires of this year is 8 trillion.

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:
The Union government recently announced that it has removed customs duty and health cess on the import of medical equipment related to COVID-19 till September 30, 2020.
The exemption on customs duty and cess have been given to all related medical equipment including ventilators, surgical masks, PPE, and test kits. This step is expected to boost availability of the products in the country, as per the Department of Revenue. The exemptions will be applicable on inputs used to manufacture the equipment.