Current Affairs Quiz - April, 2020

Notes:
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by Prime Minister has recently approved the fixation of Nutrient Based Subsidy (NBS) rates for Phosphatic and Potassic (P&K) Fertilizers for the year 2020-21.
Inclusion of the new complex fertilizer, Ammonium Phosphate has also been approved by the CCEA. Rs. 22,186.55 crore would be spent for releasing subsidy on P&K Fertilizers during 2020-21. Through the Nutrient based Subsidy scheme, Government provides subsidy to the fertiliser company, enabling them to sell to farmers at subsidised rate.

Notes:
The President of India Ramnath Kovind approved the promulgation of the ordinance which seeks to make the violent acts against healthcare personnel fighting COVID-19 pandemic as cognizable and non-bailable offence.
The ordinance amends the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897 and provides for compensation for injury or for causing damage or loss to property. The acts of violence are punishable with imprisonment for a term of three months to seven years and with a fine of Rs. 50000 to 5,00,000, depending on the act.

Notes:
The state government of Karnataka has recently launched a helpline in the name of “Apthamitra”, which aims at providing medical advice and guidance for the needy people.
The helpline comprises of both a toll-free number and a mobile application and was launched by the Chief Minister of the state. The helpline could be contacted, if anyone has symptoms of coronavirus. An expert medical team would provide medical advice to the user, based on their symptoms.

Notes:
Kolkata-based veteran theatre personality and Sangeet Natak Akademi awardee, Usha Ganguly recently passed away in Kolkata, at the age of 75.
Usha Ganguly was the founder of the unique theatre group named ‘Rangakarmee’ in 1976. She was famous for introducing an alternative Hindi theatre form in West Bengal, where people were only acquainted to Bengali theatre and English theatre.

Notes:
The Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh YS Jagan Mohan Reddy recently launched a scheme in Amaravati, which seeks to provide loans to the women Self Help Groups (SHGs) of the state, at zero percent interest.
The Chief Minister released about ₹1,400 crore for the scheme, which is expected to benefit nearly 8.78 lakh SHGs. The interest component of ₹20,000 to ₹40,000 will be borne by the state government. At present, the SHGs borrow from banks at interest rate of 7 to 13 per cent.

Notes:
The World Immunization Week 2020 is being celebrated from April 24 to 30, this year by the World Health Organisation.
The day is celebrated with an aim to promote the use of vaccines for protecting people across the world from diseases. The theme of this year’s week is Vaccines Work for All. The theme highlights the importance of vaccines and the persons developing them. WHO also announced that about 20 million children in the world today remain unvaccinated.

Notes:
The World Health Organisation has announced an initiative called ‘Access to Covid Tools’ (ACT) Accelerator, which will be a collaborative step towards developing a vaccine and managing the pandemic.
Several heads of states and political leaders committed themselves to join this initiative and ensure the availability of vaccine and other drugs associated with Covid-19, to all countries of the world. The European Union will start the funding campaign from May along with European countries and Middle East countries.

Notes:
The state of Tamil Nadu promulgated an ordinance which made blocking the dignified burial or cremation of victims of notified disease, a criminal offence.
As per the official release, the people involving in such acts will face a minimum jail term of one year to a maximum three-year imprisonment, under section 74 of ‘The Tamil Nadu Public Health Act, 1939’. This decision has been taken at the backdrop of agitations against the burial of two doctors who died of Covid-19.

Notes:
United Kingdom recently launched a new scheme called ‘Bounce Back Loan Scheme’, to assist the small businesses of the country to tackle the impact of Covid-19 pandemic.
The Finance Minister of UK launched this state-backed fast-track finance scheme in the House of Commons. Under the new scheme, small businesses can borrow between 2,000 pounds and 50,000 pounds as interest-free loans. The support schemes released in the last few weeks had provided about 15 billion pounds for business revamping.

Notes:
Global Telecom giant Nokia has recently partnered with the leading telecom services company Bharti Airtel in India, to enhance network capacity.
As per the multi-year agreement claimed to be worth about $1 billion, the Single Radio Access Network (SRAN) solution of Nokia is to be deployed across nine circles in India. This partnership would help Airtel in enhancing its 4G network capacity and introduction of 5G connectivity in the future.