Current Affairs Quiz - April, 2020

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 Government of India has constituted an empowered Committee (Group 6) to coordinate with Private Sector, NGOs and International Organisations related to COVID-19.
The committee is chaired by the CEO of NITI Aayog, Amitabh Kant. It aims to address the issues with UN agencies, World Bank, ADB; Civil society organisations and Industry associations. Other members include Principal Scientific Advisor Dr Vijayaraghavan and members from CBIC, Ministries of Home Affairs and External Affairs.

Notes:
Kolkata Port Trust has recently declared force majeure at its Haldia Dock Complex from 06:00 Hrs on 22 March to 06:00 Hrs on 15 April 2020, thereby becoming the first state-owned major port trust to invoke the clause, at the backdrop of coronavirus outbreak.
The force majeure clause is invoked when the firms are not able to meet their contractual commitments for reasons beyond their control. During the nationwide lockdown, as the trade is grippled, several private ports and terminals operating in the country already invoked the clause.

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:
The Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) recently announced that it will provide emergency loans to small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) named ‘SIDBI Assistance to Facilitate Emergency’ -SAFE PLUS.
Working capital of up to Rs 1 Crore will be provided to small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) engaged in manufacturing of medical equipment and products related to Covid-19. The SAFE PLUS collateral-free loans will be disbursed within 48 hours at an interest rate of five per cent. The limit of the loans has been enhanced from 50 lakh rupees to two crore rupees.

Notes:
As per the announcement of the Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, the government will implement ‘Operation SHIELD’ at 21 locations which have been identified as containment zones in the UT.
‘Operation SHIELD’ is an acronym, which includes Sealing; Home Quarantine; Isolation and Tracing of people; Doorstep Delivery of Essential Items; Local Sanitisation And Disinfection and Door-To-Door Checking of people having symptoms of COVID-19.

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:
The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)-Ropar has developed a technology to sanitise groceries and currency notes from Covid-19. IIT-Ropar is located in the state of Punjab.
The team has developed a trunk-shaped device fitted with ultraviolet germicidal irradiation technology. The device has to be placed at doorsteps and all items brought from outside including grocery and currency notes have to be placed inside it. It takes 30 minutes to sanitise the items.

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:
The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) is a leading non-government and non-profit Industry association of India. It has recently released a report titled ‘Exit from The Lockdown- A CII Strategy’.
In the report, the association suggested that government should give adequate notice before announcing the end of restrictions. It also recommended a calibrated lifting of the lockdown. The association also expects the announcement of an economic package before the lifting of lockdown.