Current Affairs Quiz - April, 2020

Notes:
Every year, April 22 has been celebrated as the Earth Day. The United Nations designates the day as World Mother Earth Day.
This year, April 22 is the 50th anniversary of the World Earth Day. The theme of this year’s observance is ‘Climate Action’. It has been celebrated from the year 1970, when about 20 million Americans participated in a historic environmental protest. This year, several artists participate in the protest under the name #EarthDay2020Halt.

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 first International Day of Multilateralism and Diplomacy for Peace and was first observed on April 24, 2019.The International Day of Multilateralism and Diplomacy for Peace was established on 12 December, 2018 by the UN General Assembly.
All UN member states and organisations celebrate the day to create awareness about the advantages of multilateralism and diplomacy for peace by educational and awareness campaigns.

Notes:
The Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir has bagged three national awards for outstanding contribution by its Panchayati Raj Institutions in socio-economic development projects.
While Panchayat Jamola Lower has been awarded “Child-friendly Gram Panchayat Award 2020”, Panchayat Dhangri has been awarded “Nanaji Deshmukh Gaurav Gram Sabha Puraskar” for improving the socio-economic aspects of the panchayat. Panchayat Zaloora B has been selected as best performer in “Gram Panchayat Development Plans” awards.

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:
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 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 chemical exports of India increased by 7.43 per cent to 2.68 lakh crore rupees during April-January period of the last fiscal.
The chemical industry became the top exporting sector of the country for the first time. The export of chemicals in the said period constitutes 14.35 per cent of the total exports. This was announced by the Union Minister of Chemicals and Fertilizers.

Notes:
The CRISIL rating agency has recently released a report, which slashed the GDP forecast of India to nearly half from its previous estimate to 1.8 per cent for 2020-21.
The agency also estimated that the total losses to be faced by the country would be Rs 10 lakh crore or Rs 7,000 per person due to the impact of the lockdown imposed to curb the spread of Covid-19. The agency also asked the government to increase the stimulus response and support.

Notes:
‘World Day for Safety and Health at Work’ is being celebrated on 28 April, every year since 2003, across the world.
This year the theme/campaign on this special day is ‘Stop the pandemic: Safety and health at work can save lives’. The aim of celebration of this day is to highlight the prevention of accidents and diseases at work. 28 April is also the ‘International Commemoration Day for Dead and Injured Workers’.