Current Affairs Quiz - April, 2020

Notes:
The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ), headquartered at Geneva, Switzerland recently directed the Government of India to carry out effective measures to ensure a minimum adequate standard of living to the migrant workers, who are largely affected by the Covid-19 lockdown.
India has imposed a nation-wide lockdown from March 25 to April 14 earlier and has been extended to May 3 to curb the spread of the coronavirus. The organisation also highlighted that due to the massive internal displacement 22 internal migrant workers and their family members have died.

Notes:
The mascot for the 4th Asian Paralympic Games named ‘Feifei’ has been recently released. The event has been scheduled to be held from October 2022 in Hangzhou, China.
As per the Asian Paralympic Committee President, the mascot’s design is inspired by the ‘Divine Bird’ motif described in the Liangzhu Culture. The first ‘fei’ means the birds flying, implying inclusiveness of human society and the second ‘fei’ represents the mental strength of the athletes.

Notes:
Veteran freedom fighter R V Bhuskute recently passed away at the age of 94 due to age related ailments. He had participated in the Quit India Movement and various other national events.
The veteran fighter has also written several books on land laws. He strived hard towards the release and rehabilitation of bonded labourers in tribal areas of his state, Maharashtra.

Notes:
The Delhi government has launched a new application called ‘Assess Koro Na’ and has directed its officials to use the new app to conduct door-to-door survey.
The survey is carried out in coronavirus containment zones, and with the real-time information collected through the app, the control centres can decide quickly if they require ambulances and medical equipment.

Notes:
India’s largest lender State Bank of India (SBI) has recently released the recent edition of its flagship economic research report ‘Ecowrap’.
As per the report, the GDP growth of India may dip to 1.1 per cent in the current financial year. The main reason for the slash in growth rate is the negative impact of the coronavirus outbreak on Indian economy. It also highlighted that the growth rate of 2019-20 is estimated at 4.1 per cent.

Notes:
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has recently announced that Asian region is expected to grow at 0 percent in 2020 due to COVID-19 pandemic.
The institution also remarked that this would be its worst growth performance in the past 60 years. This estimate has been released in the blog titled ‘COVID-19 Pandemic and the Asia-Pacific Region: Lowest Growth Since the 1960s’. IMF recently estimated India’s growth rate at 1.9% in the current financial year.

Notes:
The state of Uttar Pradesh has claimed to be the first in the country to geotag its community kitchens and community shelters across the state.
The state has geotagged its 7,368 community kitchens and community shelters, it has set up across 75 districts of the state. The establishments were created in partnership with the civil society and various non-governmental organisations. The state also partnered with Google, to integrate the locations in the Google Maps.

Notes:
The Parliament of Lebanon recently made the cannabis farming done for medicinal use, legal. This decision has been made to increase the export of the medicinal products made from the plant and thereby developing the agricultural sector.
This step is expected to increase the revenue of the Government, amidst the prevalent coronavirus pandemic, as the country’s economy is paralyzed with financial crisis. Earlier, about 25 tonnes of a particular drug made from cannabis were ceased, which were hidden for smuggling.

Notes:
A team of Indian herpetologists, who study about amphibians and reptiles, have recently discovered a new species of viper family.
The green pit viper, which was found at the Pakke Tiger Reserve in Arunachal Pradesh, has been named after Salazar Slytherin, a fictional character of the Harry Potter series, as Trimeresurus Salazar. The male viper has orange to reddish stripe on its head and body.

Notes:
The UN General Assembly resolution adopted a resolution, drafted by Mexico, on fair, transparent and equitable access to essential medical supplies and any future vaccines developed to fight COVID-19.
India along with another 174 countries co-sponsored the resolution, among the 193 members of the assembly. The resolution was titled ‘International cooperation to ensure global access to medicines, vaccines and medical equipment to face COVID-19’.