Current Affairs Quiz - April, 2020

Notes:
China-based global technology company Huawei has recently named David Li as the Chief Executive Officer of its India operations.
David Li is set to replace the previous CEO Jay Chen, who will now look after the Asia Pacific Region operations. David Li had joined Huawei in 2002 and has served in various designations in India including Vice President (Sales). He was last serving as the CEO of Cambodia region.

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:
A seven-member team of researchers from New Delhi-based IGIB (Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology), of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), have developed a low-cost diagnosis method for detecting coronavirus.
Feluda is an acronym for Fncas9 Editor Linked Uniform Detection Assay, which is the scientific name of the test. It is also the name of a Bengali fictional character created by Satyajit Ray. The test is set to receive approval shortly and it claims to give results in less than 1.5 hours.

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:
International Delegate’s Day has been celebrated on April 25 for the first time in the year 2020. It marks the seventy-fifth anniversary of the San Francisco Conference, a historic event which laid the foundations of the United Nations. It is also known as the United Nations Conference on International Organization.
The day is observed to raise awareness of the role of the representatives and delegates of the United Nations’ Member States.

Notes:
The Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh has launched a new scheme called ‘Jeevan Shakti Yojana’, which aims to encourage urban women to make masks and provide them a financial assistance to sustain their livelihood.
The urban women of the state who are interested in joining this scheme will have to register themselves through the Call centres. Then, as per the orders they receive they can start making cotton masks and submit to nodal officers. A payment of Rs.11 per mask will be credited to their bank account.

Notes:
Saudi Arabia has abolished flogging, which means beating with whips, as a punishment, as per the order of the Supreme Court. Hereafter, the judges will pronounce fines, jail sentences or community services as punishments.
Several Human rights activists have been condemning the Court-ordered floggings in Saudi Arabia, which sometimes extend to hundreds of lashes. Recently, a blogger named Raif Badawi was sentenced to 7 years in prison and 600 lashes and then resentenced to 10 years and 1,000 lashes. He later won the European Parliament’s Sakharov human rights prize.

Notes:
Union Health Secretary Preeti Sudan was seen in news recently because she has been given a three-month extension after the Central Government made a major top-level bureaucratic reshuffle.
Ms.Preeti Sudan who is at present the Secretary, Department of Health and Family Welfare, was due to superannuate on April 30. The reshuffling has been done amidst the coronavirus pandemic. About 23 senior IAS officers have been appointed as secretaries in different central government departments.

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:
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.