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:
The Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir recently approved the establishment of two Centres for Invention, Innovation, Incubation and Training (CIIIT) in the Union Territory.
This project will be a joint venture between Government of Jammu & Kashmir and Tata Technologies. This centre will provide skill training to students of Engineering Colleges, Polytechnic Colleges and it is and entrepreneurship training to industry professionals.

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:
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:
Veteran British actor Tim Brooke-Taylor recently passed away at the age of 79, after contracting coronavirus infection.
He was famous for his extra-ordinary performance through the ‘The Goodies’ trio, along with two other comedians Graeme Garden, and Bill Oddie. The actor was presented the OBE, an order of the British Empire award, which is the second highest ranking Order of the British Empire award.

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:
Atal Innovation Mission, NITI Aayog and National Informatics Centre (NIC) jointly launched a collaborative software system called ‘CollabCAD’.
The system provided a comprehensive engineering solution from two-dimensional drafting to three-dimensional product design. This software is aimed at enabling the students of Atal Tinkering Labs (ATLs) to create 3D designs, models and printing.

Notes:
Technological giant Google has recently launched a new feature under its flagship app Google Pay, called ‘Nearby Spot’.
This feature enables the users to locate the local stores that sells essential things and to check if they are open amidst the lock-down. The feature has been launched in Bengaluru on a pilot basis and will be extended to other cities of the country soon.

Notes:
The United States has recently notified about its approval to sell Harpoon air-launched anti-ship missiles and Mark 54 lightweight torpedoes to India, which are worth USD 155 million.
As India was recognised as the Major defence Partner of the US in 2016, it can buy advanced defence equipment from the US similar to its closest allies and partners. The missiles are estimated to cost $92 million and the torpedoes will cost $63 million.