Current Affairs Quiz - April, 2020

Notes:
According to a recent report form International Labour Organisation (ILO) titled ‘ILO Monitor 2nd edition: COVID-19 and the world of work’, about 400 million workers of India will fall into poverty.
India has nearly 90 per cent of its people working in informal economy. It also revealed that the lockdown measures in India have impacted these workers significantly. The measures are at the high end of University of Oxford’s COVID-19 Government Response Stringency Index.

Notes:
Representatives of SAARC had a discussion on the impact of Covid-19 situation on intra-regional trade through video-conferencing.
The senior trade officials of all SAARC countries except Pakistan, also discussed the impact of travel restrictions. This is the follow-up of the first virtual meeting held on March 15. The eight member countries of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) are Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

Notes:
The Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India (TRIFED) has partnered with UNICEF to promote a digital campaign on Social Distancing, for Self Help Groups (SHGs).
UNICEF is to provide the necessary support for circulating Digital Multimedia content, Webinars and Social Media campaigns on social distancing, home quarantine, etc. This initiative will reach more than 18,000 participants and will ensure tribal gatherers carry on their work safely.

Notes:
The Chief of International Monetary Fund Kristalina Georgieva has recently named former Governor of the Reserve Bank of India Raghuram Rajan and 11 other experts in her external advisory group.
The group is expected to provide perspectives on policy issues and responses to the challenges faced by the world due to the coronavirus pandemic. The group has 12 eminent individuals who have expertise in policy-making, global market and private sector. Raghuram Rajan is currently serving as a professor at the University of Chicago.

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:
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:
Google has recently announced that it has launched a Braille keyboard named ‘TalkBack’, for assisting the visually challenged users.
This new type of keyboard is integrated directly into its Android operating system and the visually challenged users can use the keyboard easily without having to install any extra hardware. The keyboard uses a six-key layout, wherein each key represents one among the six Braille dots.

Notes:
A subsidiary of GMR Infrastructure Ltd, GMR Airports Limited has received the Letter of Award for the development and operation of a greenfield international airport at Bhogapuram.
Bhogapuram is located in the state of Andhra Pradesh. The airport is to be constructed about 45 kilometres from the proposed executive capital of the state, Vishakhapatnam. The project is to design, construct, operate and maintain the international airport for 40 years. GMR Airports had previously developed Delhi and Hyderabad international airports.

Notes:
For the first time in the year 2020, April 14 has been celebrated as World Chagas Day by the World Health Organisation.
In May 2019, the decision-making body of the World Health Organisation, the World Health Assembly announced that April 14 would be observed as World Chagas Day, to create awareness about the infectious disease, caused by parasites. On the same day in 1909, the first patient of this disease was diagnosed.

Notes:
The Union Ministry of Tourism has launched a webinar series named ‘DekhoApnaDesh’. The webinar will have information about the important destinations of the country.
The webinar series was aimed at highlighting the history and diverse culture of various Indian destinations. Several features like monuments, cuisine, art, dance forms and festivals are being focussed. The first webinar in the series was about the city of Delhi and was titled ‘City of Cities – Delhi’s Personal Diary’.