Current Affairs 27 March 2020

We are here for you to provide the important Recent and Latest Current Affairs 27 March 2020, which have unique updates of Latest Current Affairs 2020 events from all newspapers such as The Hindu, The Economic Times, PIB, Times of India, PTI, Indian Express, Business Standard and all Government official websites.

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Top 15 Current Affairs of 27 March 2020

NATIONAL AFFAIRS

Cabinet approvals on March 25, 2020

On March 25, 2020, the Union Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved the following proposals:
-Cabinet approves extension of RoSCTL scheme for export of garments, made-ups from April 1, 2020

• The Cabinet has given its approval for the continuation of Rebate of State and Central Taxes and Levies (RoSCTL) from April 1, 2020 till the scheme is merged with newly approved Remission of Duties and Taxes on Exported Products (RoDTEP).

-Cabinet approves construction of Rs. 1285 crore Aligarh-Harduaganj flyover

• Cabinet has approved the construction of the 22 km long Aligarh-Harduaganj flyover to be developed by Ministry of Railways in a time span of five years (completed by 2024-25) and with an outlay of over 1285 crore.

-Cabinet continued recapitalization of Regional Rural Banks with CRAR of less than 9% till FY20-21; Rs 1,340 cr approved
-Cabinet increases subsidised foodgrains supply by 2Kg to 7Kg via ration shops during lockdown….Click here to Read More

Union Cabinet approves MoU between India & Germany: Railway sector

On March 25, 2020 the Union Cabinet headed by the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi approves Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed in February 2020 between Ministry of Railways with DB Engineering and Consulting GmbH of Germany for technological cooperation in railways.
Key Provisions of MoU
i.It will enable cooperation in freight operations (includes cross-border transport, automotive transport, logistics), passenger operations (includes high-speed cross-border traffic), infrastructure building & management (includes dedicated freight corridors, development of passenger stations).
ii.It will also help in the development of modern, competitive railway organisation (includes organization structures, railway reforms), information technology (IT) solutions for railway operations, marketing, sales, administrative purposes, predictive maintenance, private train operations & other areas agreed by 2 sides.
Background
To identify areas of cooperation( includes high-speed rail, develop world-class stations etc.,) the Ministry of railways have signed MoU, Memorandums of Cooperation (MoCs), Administrative Arrangements (AAs), Joint Declarations of Intent (JDIs) for technical cooperation in the rail sector with various foreign Governments & National Railways
What is GmbH?
It stands for “Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung,” which means “company with limited liability.” It is a suffix used after a private limited company’s name in Germany.
It is equal to Limited(Ltd) or Incorporated(Inc.) & is the common form of incorporation in Germany. GmbH should appoint the company’s 1st director & add a list of its shareholders before the company register for it’s registration.
About Germany:
Capital– Berlin
Currency– Euro

Indore becomes the 1st city in India to use drones to sanitize the city: COVID-19

On March 23, 2020, Indore (Madhya Pradesh), the cleanest city in India becomes the 1st city in India to use drones to sanitize the city against COVID-19 scare.
Key Points
i.Indore Municipal Corporation has hired 2 drones from a private company to sprinkle chemicals with sodium hypochlorite and bio-clean in crowded areas like vegetable markets, streets.
ii.The drones will depart with 16 litres of chemicals in each flight, spray chemicals in an area spanning 8-10 km  & return after 30 minutes.
iii.Special care is also being taken to ensure that the spray does not harm citizens.
About Madhya Pradesh
Capital– Bhopal
Chief minister– Shivraj Singh Chouhan

National Book Trust of MHRD Launches #StayHomeIndiaWithBooks

On March 25, 2020 the National Book Trust (NBT) of Human Resource Development HRD Ministry launches #StayHomeIndiaWithBooks initiative to encourage people to read books while at home.
Key Points
i.As part of this initiative, it provides select and best-selling titles for FREE Download of 100+ books, in PDF format, from the NBT’s website https://nbtindia.gov.in.
ii.The books are available in  Hindi, English, Asamiya, Bangla, Gujarati, Malayalam, Odia, Marathi, Kokborok, Mizo, Bodo, Nepali, Tamil, Punjabi, Telugu, Kannada, Urdu and Sanskrit.
iii.The PDFs are read-only, and no unauthorized or commercial use is permitted.

Maharashtra overtakes Tamil Nadu &Telangana in organ donation, transplants for 2019

For the year 2019, the state of Maharashtra has donated the highest number of organs which resulted beneficial for 449 patients. The state overtook Tamil Nadu and Telangana in the field of organ donation.Regional Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation-State Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation (ROTTO-SOTTO) along with four Zonal Transplant Coordination Centre (ZTCC)of Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur, and Aurangabad in Maharashtra were the top performers….Click here to Read More

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

25 worshippers killed by ISIS suicide bombers attacking Gurudwara in Kabul, Afghanistan

On March 25, 2020, 25 worshippers were killed and eight were injured during the attack by heavily armed four suicide bombers attack at Dharamshala, a Sikh worship place (Gurudwara) located in Kabul, Afghanistan. The responsibility of this deadliest attack on the minority Sikh community is taken by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) terrorist group by issuing a statement.

• The attack comes after a day when the United States (US)declared USD 1 billion reductions in aid to the Afghanistan government due to the latter’s inadequate efforts towards a negotiation with the Taliban for maintaining peace.

Key Points:

• All four suicide bombers were killed after six hours of fighting.
• 80 people, including women and children, were rescued from the Gurudwara.
• In July 2018, ISIS terrorists bombed a gathering of Sikhs and Hindus in the eastern city of Jalalabad, killing 19 people and injuring 20.

Indian football captain Sunil Chhetri named in FIFA campaign against Coronavirus

On March 24, 2020 Indian Football Captain Sunil Chhetri was selected among 28 members for FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association) video campaign against Coronavirus.
FIFA and WHO (World Health Organization) have teamed up to combat the coronavirus by launching ‘Pass the message to kick out coronavirus’ (awareness campaign) led by world-renowned footballers.
Key Points:
i.About campaign: The ‘Pass the message to kick out Coronavirus’ campaign promotes 5 key steps such as hand washing, coughing etiquette, not touching your face, physical distance and staying home if feeling unwell and these steps protect the people’s health according to WHO guidance.
ii.The 28 players will be involved in the video campaign to be published in 13 languages, which includes some of the best-known players like Argentina Superstar Lionel Messi and World Cup Winners like Philip Lahm, Iker Casillas and Carles Puyol.
About FIFA:
Headquarters– Zurich, Switzerland.
President– Gianni Infantino.

BANKING & FINANCE

Indian Bank launched 5 special emergency loans for COVID 19-affected customers

On March 25, 2020 Indian Bank has launched five special emergency loans for large corporates, medium enterprises, MSMEs, salaried and pensioners as a support to its customers effecting through economic slump and lockdown because of COVID-19 pandemic. Earlier, State Bank of India (SBI), Union Bank of India (UBI), Bank of India (BOI) initiated schemes to provide liquidity relief to borrowers.
Following are the relief measures taken by bank in form of special emergency loans:

• IND- COVID Emergency Credit Line (IBCECL)
• IND- MSE COVID Emergency Loan (INDMSE-CEL)
• SHG-COVID – SAHAYA LOAN
• IND-COVID Emergency Salary Loan
• IND COVID- Emergency Pension Loan….Click here to Read More

APPOINTMENTS & RESIGNATIONS        

IRS officers KM Prasad and SK Gupta appointed CBDT board members

On March 25, 2020, The Appointment Committee of the Cabinet approved the appointment of two Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officers Krishan Mohan Prasad and Satish Kumar Gupta as members of the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT).
Key Points:
i.The interaction for 2 vacant CBDT board member posts was held on January 23, 2020 & finally these 2 officers were appointed as board members from 8 shortlisted candidates.
ii.About Krishan Mohan Prasad: He is a 1984 batch IRS officer, serves as the head of Faceless e-Assessment scheme as first Principal Chief Commissioner of Income-tax, National e-assessment centre in Delhi.
iii.About Satish Kumar Gupta: He is a 1984 batch IRS officer, serves as the Principal Chief Commissioner (PCCIT) of I-T (Income Tax) in Mumbai, Maharashtra & also served as Director-General of Investigation of Bhopal and Jaipur.
About CBDT
Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) is the apex policy-making body of the Direct Tax department. It functions under the Department of Revenue of the Ministry of Finance.
Chairperson– Pramod Chandra Mody. 

Walmart promotes Sameer Aggarwal as CEO of Best Price, Walmart India

On March 25, 2020 Walmart announced that it has promoted Sameer Aggarwal as Chief Executive Officer(CEO) of Best Price, Walmart India which is effective from April 1, 2020. He will succeed  Krish Iyer who is to retire on March 31, 2020, from 8 years of full-time management and will get into an advisory role.
Key Points
i.Sameer Aggarwal joined Walmart India in April 2018 as Executive Vice President & was promoted to Deputy CEO in January 2020.
ii.Walmart India owns & operates 28 modern wholesale stores under the brand name Best Price in 9 states across the country & also has 2 Fulfillment centres in India.
iii.Walmart India is a wholly-owned subsidiary of US-based retailer Walmart which came to India in 2007.

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

Pune based ARI scientists develop biofortified high-protein wheat variety ‘MACS 4028’

On March 25, 2020, A team of Scientists from Agharkar Research Institute (ARI) in Pune, Maharashtra, have developed ‘MACS 4028’, a biofortified wheat variety, which shows high-protein content of around 14.7% good nutritional quality having zinc 40.3 ppm, and iron content of 40.3ppm and 46.1ppm (parts per million) respectively.
Key Points:
i.The development done by the scientist has been published in the Indian Journal of Genetics and Plant Breeding.
ii.MACS 4028, a semi-dwarf variety, matures in a period of 102 days and has a very good yielding ability of 19.3 quintals per hectare. This variety also shows a better resistance to crop disease like stem rust, leaf rust and common pests of dryland wheat including foliar aphids, root aphids, brown wheat mite.
iii.It has been included under the Biofortified category by Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) during the year 2019.
iv.The MACS 4028 variety is also included by the Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK) programme for United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) to alleviate malnutrition in a sustainable way and can boost the Vision 2022 “Kuposhan Mukt Bharat”, the National Nutrition Strategy.
What is the biofortified variety?
Fortified varieties are developed to provide the crop with the right amount of essential nutrients.
The quantities of iron, Zinc, Vitamin A &D in these varieties are increased through changes in genes.

ARCI, Hyderabad develops ‘ultrafast laser surface texturing technology’ to improve the fuel efficiency of IC engines

On  March 25, 2020, International Advanced Centre for Powder Metallurgy & New Materials (ARCI), Hyderabad (Telangana), which functions as a grants-in-aid institution of the Government of India’s Department of Science & Technology (DST), has developed ‘ultrafast laser surface texturing technology’, which can enhance the efficiency of fuel in internal combustion (IC) engines by reducing friction.
Key Points:
i.By using this technology, the friction of the engines has been reduced by controlling the size, density and shape of the micro-surface texture features, which are created by using a pulsating laser beam.
ii.On the surface of the materials, the pulsating beam creates micro-dimples of 10-20 μm diameter with about 5-10 μm deep, grooves and cross-hatches which in turn trap wear debris that usually increases friction.It has been done under dry sliding conditions to provide better oil supply (lubricant reservoir) which can lower friction coefficients and reduce the wear rate.
iii.The textures were developed on components of automotive internal combustion engine such as piston rings and cylinder liners using 100 fs pulse duration laser & the trail run has been undertaken at the ARCI lab under different speeds and also at different temperatures of lubrication oil and coolant.

OBITUARY

Former Indian Footballer Abdul Latif passed away at 73

On March 23, 2020, Abdul Latif, former India football player and 1970 Asian games bronze medallist passed away at the age of 73 in Guwahati, Assam. He also represented India in Asia Cup Qualifier in 1968 in Myanmar and Merdeka Cup in 1969 in Kuala Lumpur.
Key Points:
i.About Latif: He was born on June 20 of 1947 in Mysore, Karnataka.He played as a midfielder and also played for the two famous Kolkata clubs Mohammedan Sporting Club and Mohun Bagan.
ii.He was the coach of the Assam team which won the junior & sub-junior national titles under his guidance.

Famous Bollywood actress Nimmi passed away at 87

On March 26, 2020, Nawab Banoo, famous Bollywood actress passed away at the age of 87 in Mumbai, Maharashtra. She was also known as Nimmi, who was popular in the early 1950s & 1960s of Hindi films. She was born on February 18, 1933 in Agra, Uttar Pradesh (UP).
Key Points:
i.About Nimmi: She made her debut with legendary actor- director, Raj Kapoor’s “Barsaat” in 1949, who had given her the screen name of Nimmi and her last screen appearance was in Love and God (1986).
ii.Popular films: Some of the memorable movies of Nimmi includes Mehboob Khan’s Aan (1952), Daag (1952), Amar (1954), Uran Khatola (1955), Basant Bahar (1956) & Mere Mehboob (1963).
iii.She featured in a range of genres, from romance to social dramas & fantasy. In most of the movies she appeared as “second female lead” and also acted with the stars such as Dilip Kumar, Dev Anand.

Veteran photographer & Padma Shri awardee Nemai Ghosh passed away at 86

On March 25, 2020 Veteran photographer & Padma Shri(2010) awardee, Nemai Ghosh passed away at 86 due to his age-related ailments at his birthplace Kolkata.
Key Points
i.He is known for working with director Satyajit Ray as a still photographer who captured the director, framing actors over 2 decades.
ii.He debuted with “Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne” (1969) and was with Satyajit Ray till his last film “Agantuk” (1991).
iii.He also wrote books like, “Dramatic Moments: Photographs and Memories of Calcutta Theatre from the Sixties to the Nineties” & “Manik Da: Memoirs of Satyajit Ray” among others.

AC GAZE

Pakistan: 750 km range cruise missile Babur II crashes

Pakistan’s efforts have suffered a set-back of launching 750 km range ground cruise missile Babur II with the delivery platform crashing to the ground after two minutes or 14 kilometres(km) in flight from the launch point at Sonmiani test range in Balochistan. The capital and currency of Pakistan are Islamabad and Pakistani rupee respectively.

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