Current Affairs Quiz - April, 2020

Notes:
The mascot for the 4th Asian Paralympic Games named ‘Feifei’ has been recently released. The event has been scheduled to be held from October 2022 in Hangzhou, China.
As per the Asian Paralympic Committee President, the mascot’s design is inspired by the ‘Divine Bird’ motif described in the Liangzhu Culture. The first ‘fei’ means the birds flying, implying inclusiveness of human society and the second ‘fei’ represents the mental strength of the athletes.

Notes:
Global ratings agency Standard & Poor’s (S&P) has recently released its forecast of the growth estimate of India for FY21 (2020-21).
As per the release, S&P has slashed the GDP growth estimate for India to 1.8% from its previous estimate of 3.5%. The agency also expressed its concern that the peak point of the Covid-19 outbreak has not yet reached and it is expected to occur a little later than many other countries.

Notes:
The Delhi government has launched a new application called ‘Assess Koro Na’ and has directed its officials to use the new app to conduct door-to-door survey.
The survey is carried out in coronavirus containment zones, and with the real-time information collected through the app, the control centres can decide quickly if they require ambulances and medical equipment.

Notes:
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration has recently announced that the two NASA astronauts will be sent to the space station on May 27,
The mission is set to be carried out aboard the Falcon 9 rocket of SpaceX, the US-based private space company owned by Elon Musk. After ending its 30-year space shuttle program in 2011, NASA has been relying on the Russian space agency Rocosmos for launching its astronauts to space station.

Notes:
The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) is an international organisation comprising of 57 member nations, with 53 Muslim-majority countries. The headquarters of OIC is located in the city of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
The organisation was recently in news, as it had recently urged India to take immediate steps to protect the rights of minority Muslim community in India, who are being stigmatized. It also asked the Indian government to intervene and prevent the incidents of hatred expressed towards Muslims.

Notes:
The Scientists at the Institute of Nano Science and Technology (INST), Mohali, an autonomous institute under the Department of Science and Technology, have recently discovered that fish gills can be used to develop efficient electro-catalyst used in building energy conversion devices.
The devices thus developed are claimed to be more affordable and environment friendly. It is also expected to work better than the commercial Platinum on carbon (Pt/C) catalyst. The study has been published in the American Chemical Society’s ‘Inorganic Chemistry’ journal.

Notes:
After the meeting of National Biofuel Coordination Committee (NBCC) under the chairmanship of Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, it has been decided to convert the surplus rice available with Food Corporation of India (FCI) into ethanol for manufacturing alcohol-based hand sanitisers.
It is also approved to use the ethanol for Ethanol Blended Petrol (EBP) programme, for blending with petrol. This approval has been made under the National Policy on Biofuels, 2018, which provides that the surplus food-grains can be converted to ethanol after approval of NBCC.

Notes:
The United Nations designated 21 April as World Creativity and Innovation Day, to raise awareness about the role of creativity and innovation in overall human development.
As per the Creative Economy report titled “Widening local development pathways”, jointly published by UNESCO, UNDP and UN Office for South-South Cooperation (UNOSSC), Creativity and innovation are the true wealth of nations in the 21st century.

Notes:
The Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare Dr Harsh Vardhan has recently launched the official interactive platform called ‘COVID INDIA SEVA’, in Twitter.
The platform has been launched with an aim of providing real time solutions to Covid-19 related queries. A team of trained experts will answer the queries of the public in real-time. Without revealing their personal details, all people can receive official information.

Notes:
The ‘Sujalam Sufalam Jal Sanchay Abhiyan’ was launched by the state government of Gujarat in 2018, with an aim to increase the water storage capacity.
Recently, the Chief Minister of Gujarat has approved to implement the third edition of the scheme, to deepen the water bodies of the state before monsoon. The works are to be carried out using community participation and MNREGA.