Current Affairs Quiz - April, 2020

Notes:
The Union Human Resource Development Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank launched VidyaDaan 2.0 program virtually in New Delhi.
The scheme is aimed at inviting people and organisations to contribute resources for e-learning, for both school and higher education. During the prevailing Covid-19 crisis, there is a need to integrate the content of e-learning with schools. The content will be used on the DIKSHA learning application of the HRD Ministry.

Notes:
A five-judge Constitution bench of the Supreme Court, headed by Justice Arun Mishra quashed the earlier order of which state, which provided 100 per cent reservation to ST teachers in schools in the scheduled areas.
The bench noted that the January 2000 order was arbitrary and not permissible under the constitution. The judges quoted the 1992 Indra Sawhney judgement and the 50 per cent quota associated with the case, while delivering this judgement.

Notes:
The UN General Assembly resolution adopted a resolution, drafted by Mexico, on fair, transparent and equitable access to essential medical supplies and any future vaccines developed to fight COVID-19.
India along with another 174 countries co-sponsored the resolution, among the 193 members of the assembly. The resolution was titled ‘International cooperation to ensure global access to medicines, vaccines and medical equipment to face COVID-19’.

Notes:
English Language Day at the United Nations is celebrated annually on 23 April, the birthday and date of death of William Shakespeare. English is one of the two working languages of the UN, while UN has six official languages.
Along with English language day, Spanish Language Day is also celebrated, to raise awareness about the history, culture and use of Spanish. April 23 is also the death anniversary of the Spanish legend Miguel de Cervantes.

Notes:
The UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) recently released a report, which says that the repayments of developing countries on their public external debt in 2020 and 2021 will amount to 2.6 trillion and 3.4 trillion respectively due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
It also highlighted that this debt burden will create an additional stress for the developing countries, along with the rising health and economic needs during the pandemic. Earlier, UNCTAD announced a $2.5 trillion coronavirus package for developing countries.

Notes:
The state of Odisha has launched a portal for registration of migrant workers to contain the spread of Covid-19 pandemic, as over five lakh migrant workers are expected to return to the state after lifting the lock-down.
Forms are available in the portal covid19.odisha.gov.in and in every gram panchayat for registration of names and address of the workers who want to return to Odisha.

Notes:
According to the report titled “World Leaders on Facebook” released by global communications agency BCW (Burson Cohn & Wolfe), US President Donald Trump topped the rankings for the most interactions in his Facebook page over the past 12 months, with 309 million comments, likes and shares on his Facebook page.
Brazil’s president Jair Bolsonaro with 205 million interactions, followed Trump. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the most popular world leader on Facebook with 44.7 million likes on his page. 721 Facebook pages of the international heads were analysed using the CrowdTangle tool of Facebook.

Notes:
Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) is an intergovernmental economic organisation which aims to stimulate economic progress and world trade. It is headquartered at Paris, France and has 36 member countries.
Recently, the President of the United States has nominated veteran Indian-American diplomat Manisha Singh as America’s next envoy to OECD. The diplomat had previously served in several significant positions which includes her present role as the Assistant Secretary of State for Economic and Business Affairs.

Notes:
The Ministry of Shipping in its recent statement has announced a compensation of Rs 50 lakh for people employed with major ports in the country.
Under the plan, direct employees as well as contractual labourers are covered. In case they lose their lives to Covid-19, the government will pay an ex-gratia compensation to the dependent members or legal heirs of the port employees. India has 12 major ports situated along the eastern and western coasts.

Notes:
The Union Ministry of Finance has established the International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA), which will be headquartered in Gandhinagar in Gujarat.
This body will regulate all financial products and financial services in International Financial Services Centres (IFSCs) in the country against multiple regulators including RBI, SEBI, IRDA and PFRDA. The IFSCA will have a chairperson and one member each nominated by the regulators. It will also include two members from the central government and full-time or part-time members.