Current Affairs Quiz - April, 2020

Notes:
Manila-based Asian Development Bank released its annual economic publication- Asian Development Outlook (ADO) 2020 recently. As per the report, India’s growth is to slow down to 4%, from the earlier estimate of 5% in the current fiscal year.
Weak global demand and the containment efforts of the government amid Covid-19 are cited as the reasons for the slash. The report also estimates the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) to grow at 6.2% in FY22 provided full economic activity resumes from the second quarter of FY21.

Notes:
The World Bank has granted $1 billion fund to India to strengthen its response in containing Covid-19. This is also the largest ever grant provided for India till date, from the World Bank.
The fund will cover all states and UTs and will be managed by the National Health Mission (NHM), National Center for Disease Control (NCDC) and Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). The fund will be used for procurement of testing kits, setting up of new isolation wards and purchase of personal protective equipment.

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 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:
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 National Maritime Day is celebrated on April 5, to commemorate the maiden voyage of the first wholly owned ship of Indians.
It was the first ship was owned by the Scindia Steam Navigation Company Ltd. On the same day in the year 1919, the ship travelled from Mumbai to the city of London, United Kingdom. This year is the 57th edition of the National Maritime Day. World Maritime Day is observed on the last week of September on Thursday annually.

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:
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:
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.