Current Affairs Quiz - April, 2020

Notes:
According to the Digidhan Dashboard, launched by the Electronics and IT Ministry, the total transactions through the digital channels reached ₹4,116.74 crore in 2019-20, which is an increase by over 31 per cent from the last year.
As per the data, BHIM UPI has been the most popular means, with 30.19 per cent share in digital transactions amounting to ₹1,242.98 crore of payment. It was followed by prepaid instruments and debit cards in the second and third place.

Notes:
The Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) has launched revised version of Swachhata App to handle queries specific to COVID 19.
The Swachhata-MoHUA Application is a flagship grievance redressal tool of MoHUA, under the Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban). Now using this app, the COVID19-related complaints of the citizens will be redressed by the Urban Local bodies.

Notes:
An Interactive Voice Response System initiative called “Aarogya Setu IVRS” has been launched by the Centre in association with Tamil Nadu government and IIT Madras.
The service has been launched for people who do not use smart phones and to assist them in tackling Covid-19. It will be activated by a missed call and the location of the user is identified. Assistance on healthcare and guidance will be available through the voice service. This service will be launched in other states soon.

Notes:
E-commerce marketplace Flipkart has launched an exclusive insurance policy to cover COVID-19, in association with ICICI Lombard and Go Digit General Insurance. The two health insurance policies, which provide instant claim benefits, do not require any medical tests at the time of purchase.
The COVID-19 Protection Cover by ICICI Lombard provides ₹25,000 benefit, on positive diagnosis of COVID-19, at an annual premium of ₹159. The cover by Digit Insurance provides hospitalization cover up to a sum assured of ₹1 lakh with an annual premium of ₹511.

Notes:
Renowned folk and country singer of the United States, John Prine recently passed away at the age of 73, due to complications from Covid-19.
The singer was considered as one of the most influential and inspiring songwriters of his generation. The singer cum songwriter had very close association with his compatriots and singers Bob Dylan and Kris Kristofferson.

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:
The Boxing Federation of India has recently announced that it would host the Asian Boxing Championships for men and women in November-December this year.
Prior to this edition, India had last hosted the men’s Asian Boxing meet in 1980 and the women’s championships in 2003, before the event became a combined Championships for both gender in 2019. Last year, the Asian Boxing Championship 2019 was held in Huamark Indoor Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand.

Notes:
The Union Ministry of External Affairs has announced a training programme on COVID-19 for healthcare professionals of SAARC countries.
The Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) programme will conduct this training programme from April 17, 2020. The SAARC leaders had a virtual meeting on March 15, where an idea was proposed by India, to cumulate the efforts of all health professionals against the COVID-19.

Notes:
The state of Uttar Pradesh becomes the first to be approved by the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) to start the method of ‘Pool Testing’ the samples for Covid-19.
The pool testing method is aimed at speeding up the process of testing the samples. In this method, multiple swab samples are pooled together and tested. If the result of the particular pool comes negative, it is assured that all samples of the pool are negative. If the result is positive, all individual samples are tested again. This method was widely used in Germany.

Notes:
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has recently released the first stage of Long Range Forecast (LRF) for south-west monsoon season.
As per its forecast, the southwest monsoon from June to September over India may be normal across the country. It also forecasted that the intensity of monsoon rainfall would be between 96 and 104 per cent of the long period average (LPA) of the country, which is 880 mm during 1961-2010.