Current Affairs Quiz - April, 2020

Notes:
The official mascots of the 2022 Asian Games were released at a digital launch ceremony in China recently.
Congcong, Lianlian and Chenchen are named as the mascots of the 19th Asian Games, which is scheduled to be held at Hangzhou, China. Three robots nicknamed as ‘Smart Triplets’, representing the mascots were unveiled, to highlight the expertise of the city.

Notes:
The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has notified three incentive schemes to boost electronics manufacturing namely Production Linked Incentive Scheme (PLI), Electronics Manufacturing Clusters 2.0 (EMC 2.0), Scheme for Promotion of Manufacturing of Electronics Components and Semiconductors (SPECS).
The schemes which were cleared by the Cabinet last month, include incentives worth more than Rs 48,000 crore. PLI is the largest scheme with an outlay of Rs 40,000 crore which will give incentives of 4-6% on incremental sales on mobile phones and specified electronic components.

Notes:
The South-Central Railway has recently started deploying ‘Doodh Duronto Special’ to ensure uninterrupted transport and supply of essential commodities during the lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Though passenger train services have been suspended till April 14, 2020, these trains are being operated. Recently, the train has been dispatched from Renigunta to Delhi with 6 milk tankers and two parcel vans with mangoes and musk-melons. The special train is being run with an average speed of 110 km per hour.

Notes:
The United Nations General Assembly has unanimously adopted a resolution on COVID-19 recently, which was titled ‘Global solidarity to fight the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)’.
The resolution was co-sponsored by 188 member nations including India. The 193-member United Nations assembly has called for intensified international cooperation to fight the pandemic. This resolution, which was made under silent procedure, is the first such document on the global pandemic adopted by the UN.

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:
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:
Larsen & Toubro (L&T) has bagged the large order of the Indian Army to set up a unified network management system.
The communication business of L&T Construction has secured the order to manage and operate the armed forces network. The project is to be set up under the Network for Spectrum (NFS). The project is to be implemented in 18 months followed by three years of warranty and seven years of Annual Maintenance Contract (AMC).

Notes:
The innovation cell of Ministry of HRD and AICTE have recently launched an online challenge for students called ‘SAMADHAN’, in collaboration with Forge and InnovatioCuris.
This challenge calls for students to search and develop quick solutions to the Coronavirus pandemic, that will assist the government agencies and health services. Under the programme, the students and teachers of the country will be motivated for conducting new experiments.

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:
Facebook-owned Instant messaging platform WhatsApp recently announced that it has limited the sharing of frequently forwarded messages to only one chat at a time.
This step has been taken to curb spreading of misinformation and fake news amid the coronavirus pandemic. WhatsApp also launched the WHO Coronavirus Health Alert service for people across the world and MyGov Corona Helpdesk in India in partnership with the Indian government.