Current Affairs (April 2020) Flashcards
RBI has announced the allocation of ____ as special refinance facilities to All India financial institutions (AIFIs) such as NABARD, SIDBI, NHB to enable them to meet sectoral credit needs.
Rs 50,000 crore
Out of total allocation of Rs 50,000 crore, ______ will receive the amount of Rs 25,000 crore
NABARD
All Members of Parliament (MPs), including Prime Minister and his Council of Ministers, would be taking a salary cut ____ due to the impact of the novel coronavirus.
30%
CEO of Twitter ____ pledged to donate ____ to charities working towards combatting the global COVID-19 pandemic in April 2020.
Jack Dorsey, $1 billion
Operation SHIELD launched in April 2020
S: Sealing of area H: Home quarantine I: Isolation of infected patients E: Essential services ensured L: Local sanitisation D: Door to door survey
- launched in Delhi
Lockdown in India was extended to ____ in April
3rd May, 2020
In the 2020 World Press Freedom Index, released by Writers without Borders, India was ranked _____.
142nd
- Norway topped
- Europe was the most favourable continent for media freedom, followed by America and Africa
In the World Economic Outlook report, IMF has reduced India’s GDP growth rate from 5.8% to _____ in the fiscal year 2020-21.
1.9%
In the World Economic Outlook report, IMF projected that the world economy will contract sharply by ____ in 2020, overshadowing the damages caused by the ______.
3%, 2008–09 financial crisis
Who is India’s Union Minister for Culture (I/C)
Prahlad Singh Patel
_____ is a part of the Vision 2024 of the Ministry of Culture, and raises awareness about the various intangible cultural heritage elements from different parts of India at national as well as international level.
National List of Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) of India
The Union Cabinet approved the amendment of the _____ Act to protect the healthcare service personnel & their property against the violence during epidemics.
Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897
- zero tolerance to any form of violence against healthcare service personnel as well as damage to property.
- Punishment of imprisonment for 3 months-5 years, & fine of Rs.50,000/- to Rs.2,00,000/-
New chief justice of Bombay High Court
Dipankar Datta
- replacing Bhushan Dharmadhikari
New chief justice of Meghalaya High Court
Biswanath Somadder
- replacing Mohammad Rafiq
New chief justice of Orissa High Court
Mohammad Rafiq
- replacing Sanju Panda
_____ released the Trends in World Military Expenditure, 2019 report.
Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI)
The total global military expenditure rose by ____ % from 2018
3.6
- top spenders: US, China, India, Russia, Saudi Arabia
- first time TWO Asian states have featured on top
India spent ____ on defence in 2019.
$71.1 billion
- 2.4% of GDP
India ranks ____ in Open Budget Index 2019
53rd
- released by International Budget Partnership
- New Zealand topped, followed by South Africa and Sweden
_____ launched “DigiGen”, a digital banking platform where customers can digitally open a savings account and fixed deposit instantly, any time, anywhere.
Jana Small Finance Bank
Appointments Committee of the Cabinet approved the extension of tenure of all members and the current part-time chairman of the Bank Board Bureau (BBB) by _____.
2 years
The licence of _____ was cancelled by the Reserve Bank of India in April 2020.
Mapusa Urban Co-operative Bank of Goa Ltd.
______ was the 1st life Insurance Company in India to announce additional benefits related to COVID-19 for Policyholders and Agents at no additional cost.
Tata AIA Life Insurance
Under the provisions of the Industrial Disputes Act, the Banking Industry was declared by the Government of India as ______ for a period of 6 months starting in April.
Public Utility Service
- the banking sector would not see any strikes by the employees or officers
______ became one of the first non-bank companies to receive approval to enter into co-branding arrangements for Prepaid Instruments.
Transcorp International Ltd
- received approval from RBI to issue co-branded prepaid cards
Government of Andhra Pradesh issued a “Letter of Award” (LoA) to _____ for the development of greenfield international airport at ____.
GMR Airports Limited
Bhogapuram, Andhra Pradesh
TVS Motor Singapore Pte. Ltd has acquired the United Kingdom’s most iconic sporting motorcycle brand _____ in April 2020
Norton
- an all-cash transaction of £16 million.
_____ bought 9.99% stakes of Reliance Jio in April.
- bought for USD 5.7 billion
_____ would acquire a 29% additional stake in Max Life Insurance, increasing its stake in Max Life to 30%
Axis Bank
United States has announced ______ aid for India through the US Agency for International Development to help India in its fight against COVID- 19.
$2.9 million
Managing Director of International Monetary Fund, Kristalina Georgieva has named a group of prominent individuals to serve as her new External Advisory Group which includes former RBI governor, ______.
Raghuram Rajan
The ____ parliament passed the legislation to legalize the cannabis cultivation for medical and industrial purposes in April 2020.
Lebanese
Iran has successfully launched its first-ever military satellite named _____ into the orbit.
Noor
- launched by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps [IRGC]
______ designed ‘Portable Multi-feed Oxygen Manifold (MOM)’ to supply oxygen to multiple patients at a time.
Naval Dockyard, Visakhapatnam
_____ is the official COVID-19 tracking app that has been launched by the Government of India.
Aarogya Setu
Ministry of Tourism has launched a portal _____ to help foreign tourists who are stuck in various parts of the country.
‘Stranded in India’
______ approved $1 billion to the Indian government for a proposed India COVID-19 emergency response and health systems preparedness project.
World Bank
______ has developed a low-cost portable ventilator called ‘Prana-Vayu’ in association with ______.
IIT-Roorkee, AIIMS-Rishikesh
Ministry of Civil Aviation launched the initiative called _____ to help India fight against COVID-19.
Lifeline UDAN
- 132 cargo flights operated across the country to transport medical cargo including to remote and hilly areas
In April 2020, pharmacists aka Swasth ke Sipahi were delivering essential services and medicines at doorstep of patients and elderly under the ____ scheme.
PM Jan Aushadhi Kendra
Ministry of Human Resource Development designated ____ as the sole National Academic Depository.
DigiLocker
Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India (TRIFED) collaborated with _____ to develop a digital communication strategy for promoting a digital campaign for Self Help Groups.
UNICEF
AIIMS Rishikesh partnered with ____ to set up India’s 1st remote health monitoring system in the state of _____ to monitor COVID-19 patients.
BEL (Bharat Electronics Limited)
Uttarakhand
The _____ rolled out a ‘Lockdown Learners’ series in India under its flagship ‘Education for Justice’ initiative.
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crimes (UNODC)
Lucknow’s King George’s Medical University (KGMU) was the 1st government hospital in the country to successfully launch the _____ for COVID-19.
plasma therapy treatment
____ is celebrated every year on 1st April all over Odisha.
Utkal Divas (Odisha Day)
‘Modi Kitchen‘ was set up in _____ to serve 500 meals per day till 14th April 2020.
Kovai (Coimbatore), Tamil Nadu
Odisha government launched an online cultural competition ____ in collaboration with UNICEF to keep children engaged at home during the lockdown period.
Mo Prativa
_____ police developed the app ‘Rakhsa Sarv’, with the help of Noida-based startup _____, which enables them to track the quarantined people through Google Map.
Chhattisgarh
Mobcoder
The newly developed “COVIDCARE” app is an effort of the _____ government to combat COVID-19.
Arunachal Pradesh
_______ railway station became the 1st station of Indian Railways to install a “Walk Through Mass Sanitizing Tunnel”.
Ahmedabad railway station at Kalupur, Gujarat
_____ has became the 1st state to start “Pool Testing” of Covid-19 samples.
Uttar Pradesh
_____ became the first state to integrate allopathy and Ayurveda to boost the immunity of COVID-19 patients and those who have been quarantined.
Goa
Two hospitals in _____ employed ‘COBOT- Robotics’ Robots to serve food, medicine to COVID-19 patients without human intervention.
Jharkhand
Government of _____ launched Electronic format of comic textbooks for Class III, IV and V as steps and measures to make up the gaps for the academic situation.
Manipur
_____ Government joined hands with tech giant ____ to form geotag community kitchens in the state.
Uttar Pradesh, Google
Border Roads Organisation constructed 430 feet long bailey “Daporijo bridge” over the _____ River.
Subansiri
- in Arunachal Pradesh’s Upper Subansiri district
State government of Rajasthan has partnered with healthcare startup MedCords to launch _____ app to fight against COVID-19.
Aayu & Sehat Sathi
_____ became India’s 1st quarantine facility for animals with symptoms of coronavirus (COVID-19).
Jim Corbett National Park, Uttarakhand
- India’s oldest National Park
- The Park built isolation wards for animals.
The Government of Manipur commemorated “Khongjom Day” at Khongjom War Memorial Complex, Thoubal, Manipur. This day is observed to remember the people who valiantly fought in the _____ in 1891.
Anglo-Manipuri War
______ was the 1st state with a software based in-house facility of virtual courts.
Uttar Pradesh
All England Lawn Tennis Club cancels Wimbledon for the first time since _____ because of COVID
World War II
President of Brazil
Jair Bolsonaro
- also said “its not all its being made out to be” about COVID
British Prime Minister was infected with COVID on _____.
April 5th, 2020
- Boris Johnson
1st known case of human-to-cat transmission of COVID
Nadia, tiger at the Bronz Zoo
Cyclone _____ made landfall in Vanuatu, leaving thousands of houses destroyed and 2 dead
Harold
On Apr 8, _____ dropped out of the Democratic race for US president.
Bernie Sanders
WTO predicts a drop in global trade greater than the 2008 financial crisis, between _____ for 2020
13% and 32%
_____ became the 1st country in the southern hemisphere to report more than 1,000 deaths from COVID.
Brazil
- with 1,056 deaths and 19,638 cases
Trump froze funding to ______ for mistakes in handling the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic and for being “China-centric”.
World Health Organization
_____ was 1st country to hold a general election under Coronavirus COVID-19.
South Korea
- President Moon Jae-in’s won
WHO warned ______ could be next epicenter of the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic on April 17, 2020
Africa
‘Together At Home’ concert for COVID aid was curated by _____ and streamed worldwide on April 19, 2020
Lady Gaga
Three US states, ____ were the 1st to announce end to some coronavirus COVID-19 restrictions
Georgia, Tennessee and South Carolina
Price of US oil turns negative for the 1st time in history on _____.
20 April, 2020
- fell down to -$37.63 a barrel
South African president
Cyril Ramaphosa
Sudan banned _____ and makes it a criminal offense on 22 April.
Female genital mutation
US President Donald Trump suggested COVID might be treated by injecting _____ into a human body at a White House press briefing.
Disinfectant or UV lights
A mile-wide asteroid named _____ passed within 3.9 million miles of Earth on 29th April.
1998 OR2
Fire at an ______ warehouse, South Korea, kills 38
Icheon
______, American jazz musician and prominent teacher, dies of COVID-19 complications at 85
Ellis Marsalis
Former Prime Minister of Somalia (2007-09) _____, died from COVID-19 at 82
Nur Hassan Hussein
______, Italian shoe designer, died of COVID-19 complications at 84
Sergio Rossi
_____, English actress (Goldfinger, The Avengers), died at 94
Honor Blackman
_____, American actor, died at 81 from complications related to Parkinson’s disease
Tom Lester
_____, American actress from Desperate Housewives died at 83.
Shirley Knight
____, Indian Bollywood actor and director (Bobby, Do Dooni Chaar), dies at 67
Rishi Kapoor
- 30 April, 2020