Current Affairs Quiz - April, 2020

Notes:
As per a survey released by the National Council for Applied Economic Research (NCAER), incomes of about 85% of households in the National capital region (NCR) have been impacted by the Covid-19 outbreak and the resulting lockdown.
The survey also highlighted that casual labourers were excessively affected with the wages of nearly 75% of them were affected. For salaried class, the income was affected for about 46.7% of the employees.

Notes:
In the North-eastern state of Manipur, a new initiative titled ‘Food Bank’ has been introduced, to provide free food to the poor and needy, amidst the lockdown due to coronavirus pandemic.
The Imphal East District Administration has been implementing this initiative, which aims to provide free food and essential items which were donated by the general public, to the beneficiaries. Other items like hand sanitisers and face masks are also being distributed.

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:
The Chief information commissioner of India, Bimal Julka and all 6 information commissioners have decided to take 30-per cent cut in their basic salary for a year starting April 2020, to contribute to government’s move in fighting COVID-19.
In March 2020, President of India Ram Nath Kovind administered the oath of office to Bimal Julka as the CIC of India. At present, four positions of information commissioners are remaining vacant. The Chief Election commissioner and Election commissioners will also undergo a 30% pay cut.

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.

Notes:
The Union Ministry of Tourism has launched a webinar series named ‘DekhoApnaDesh’. The webinar will have information about the important destinations of the country.
The webinar series was aimed at highlighting the history and diverse culture of various Indian destinations. Several features like monuments, cuisine, art, dance forms and festivals are being focussed. The first webinar in the series was about the city of Delhi and was titled ‘City of Cities – Delhi’s Personal Diary’.

Notes:
The World Health Organization (WHO) has recently launched an interactive service on Facebook Messenger to provide accurate information about the coronavirus outbreak to the general public.
More than 1.3 billion monthly active users can resolve their queries on Covid-19 from the “Health Alert” interactive service, launched by the WHO. The global health agency had already launched an alert service on WhatsApp.

Notes:
South Korea recently held the parliamentary elections of the country, amid the Covid-19 pandemic, becoming one of the first countries to hold election, after the pandemic began.
On the day of election, the total number of positive cases in South Korea was 10,564, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The self-quarantined citizens were allowed to vote after the other voters left. All voters are made to maintain safety measures while waiting to vote.

Notes:
The province of Himachal Pradesh was organised on 15 April 1948, after its 28 princely states, which were called as the Simla Hills States and four Punjab southern hill states, were integrated. To commemorate the foundation of the state, April 15 is being celebrated every year as ‘Himachal Day’.
Himachal Pradesh was originally classified as a Union territory in 1956. It was created as the 18th state of India in 1971. The first Chief Minister of the state was Dr. Yashwant Singh Parmar.

Notes:
The Indian Government has planned to set up a chain of retail shops across India called ‘Suraksha Stores’. The stores provide essential goods and services to people by following stricter safety and sanitation measures.
Recently, the top 12 packaged consumer goods manufacturers of the country have partnered with the government in operating the Suraksha Stores. The firms will educate the retail stores to become certified sanitised retail outlets. The stores will also be compliant to the Aarogya Setu application.