Current Affairs Quiz - April, 2020

Notes:
The Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act was making news recently, as the Supreme Court of India held that the quantity of the banned drug mixture will determine the punishment than its purity. Under the current provisions, higher punishment is awarded for possessing commercial quantity of the banned drugs than smaller quantity. The Act comes under the Finance Ministry.
A three-judge bench of Justices said that the 2008 verdict was not a good legislation which held that the actual weight of the banned substances to determine whether it is a small or commercial quantity under the NDPS act.

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 73rd Constitutional Amendment Act passed by the Parliament in April 24 1992 provided constitutional status to the Panchayati Raj Institutions of the country.
The status was given through inserting Article 243 to Part IX of the Indian Constitution. To commemorate the occasion, 24 April is celebrated as the Panchayati Raj Day, across the country. The act added certain provisions in constitution including forming Gram Sabha in a village or group of villages; constitution of Panchayats at village levels and direct elections to all seats in Panchayats.

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:
One of the largest Asset Management companies in India, the Franklin Templeton Mutual Fund has recently announced to have shut down six of its funds owing to market disruptions amid Covid-19.
The Association of National Exchange Members of India (ANMI) sought the intervention of the SEBI and Finance Ministry to protect investor capital in six mutual fund schemes. These funds collectively managed a corpus of over ₹25,000 crore.

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:
In its latest circular, the labour and employment ministry has notified that the banking industry is classified as a public utility service for six months with effect from April 21. The Department of Financial services also notified about the classification of the labour ministry.
This declaration has been made under the provisions of the Industrial Disputes Act. After being placed under this act, the people working in banking sector would not be able to participate in any strike during the said period.

Notes:
Veteran Congress leader and former Governor of Bihar and Tripura, Devanand Konwar passed away recently at the age of 86. He served as the governor of Bihar from 2009 to 2013 and the Governor of Tripura from 2013 to 2014.
He had also served as governor (additional charge) of West Bengal from 2009 to 2010. He was the Cabinet Minister in the state of Assam. Prior to that, he was an advocate in the Supreme Court of India and a Government Advocate for many North-Eastern states in the Guwahati High Court.

Notes:
Domestic Credit rating agency India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) has further decreased the GDP growth rate of India to 1.9% for the current fiscal. It had previously estimated the growth rate for this fiscal to be 3.6%. The estimate was significant as this would be the lowest GDP growth in the last 29 years.
The report also highlighted that in the absence of any stimulus measures from the government, the fiscal deficit would touch 4.4% of GDP in this fiscal 2020-21, the official target being 3.5%.

Notes:
Basava Jayanthi, the birth anniversary of the 12th century poet, philosopher and social reformer, Lord Basaveshwara, is prominently celebrated in the state of Karnataka.
Also called as Basavanna, he was the founding saint of the Lingayat sect. He was also known for establishing a spiritual democracy called ‘Anubhava Mantapa’ in the 12th century. The era starting from his birth-year is also called as the Basava era in the state.