Current Affairs Quiz - April, 2020

Notes:
The United Nations specialised agency with a mandate to protect the refugees, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is headquartered at Geneva, Switzerland.
It was seen in news recently, as the UNHCR has recently announced that protection of refugees and displaced women should be the first priority of the world, as they are facing a huge risk of gender-based violence, during the lock-down. UNHCR is providing emergency cash to survivors and women who are the risk of violence.

Notes:
West Texas Intermediate (WTI), which is a particular grade of crude oil, is the underlying commodity of oil futures contract of the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX).
Brent Crude, Dubai Crude and WTI Crude are the three major benchmarks in the pricing of oils in the global market. It was recently seen in news, as for the first time in history, the price of the May futures contract of WTI crude fell to a negative price of -$37.63 per barrel. This was due to the low demand of oil amid the Covid-19 crisis.

Notes:
The Reserve Bank of India recently directed all banks to extend the benefit of interest subvention and prompt repayment incentive to short term crop loans, to the accounts which have become due or will become due between March and May 2020.
The government offers an interest subvention of two percent per annum to banks and an additional 3 per cent interest subvention to farmers who pay their loans promptly. Hence the effective rate of interest is 4 per cent.

Notes:
The Border Roads Organisation (BRO) has planned and constructed a Class-70 all-weather permanent bridge on the river Ravi.
The bridge is 484-meter long and was built by the 49 Border Roads Task Force (BRTF) of Project Chetak. The project of the Kasowal bridge entails a cost of Rs.17.89 crore. It connects the Kasowal enclave of Punjab with the rest of the places of the country.

Notes:
International Girls in ICT Day is the flagship initiative of the Geneva-based International Telecommunication Union, ITU.
This year, the International Girls in ICT Day is celebrated on 23 April. The day is celebrated to sensitise people and empower girls to take up their career in Information and Communication Technologies. ITU hosted an online dialogue on “Girls in ICT: Inspiring the Next Generation”.

Notes:
eCommerce leader Amazon India has launched a program called “Local Shops on Amazon” program. The program aims at encouraging local retailers to establish their digital presence by partnering with the e-Commerce giant.
The local shops and retailers can use their delivery mechanisms and the new ‘Amazon Delivery App’ to deliver products and delivery updates to customers. Earlier, Amazon had piloted this project with over 5,000 local shops and retailers of the country.

Notes:
The World Malaria Day is observed on April 25 every year by the World Health Organisation (WHO), across the world. This year WHO has partnered with the global platform RBM Partnership to promote “Zero malaria starts with me” campaign.
The campaign aims to sensitise malaria politically, mobilize additional resources and encourage people to fast-track malaria prevention and care.

Notes:
Retired IAS officer and the secretary to the President since 2017 has been appointed as the Central Vigilance Commissioner of India.
The post of the chief of the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) has remained vacant since June 2019 after the tenure of K V Chowdary was over. The name of Kothari was recommended by a high-level selection panel headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The process was claimed as unconstitutional by opposition parties as Sanjay Kothari was not an applicant not been shortlisted.

Notes:
The Department of Medical and Health of Andhra Pradesh has recently launched a mobile application called ‘Covid Pharma’.
The application aims at tracking the people who purchase medicines over the counter (OTC) for symptoms like cough, cold and fever from medical stores across the state. This database would help the state in tracing the people who may contract coronavirus.

Notes:
International Labour Organisation (ILO) has recently released a report titled ‘In the face of a pandemic: Ensuring Safety and Health at Work’. The report has been released on the occasion of World Day for Safety and Health at Work on April 28.
The report highlights the occupational safety and health (OSH) risks which are arising due to the spread of COVID-19. It also asked the governments to prevent the spread of Covid-19 in the work-places across the world.