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Top 20 Current Affairs of 17 April 2020
NATIONAL AFFAIRS
Narendra Singh Tomar chairs the National Conference on Kharif crops 2020 by video conference
On April 16, 2020 The Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, Narendra Singh Tomar chaired the National Conference on Kharif crops 2020 by video conference & stated that all states should aim to achieve the kharif target and also the doubling of farmers’ income should be taken up in mission mode.DAC (The Centre for Development of Advanced Computing ) & FW (Family Welfare) secretaries and ICAR (Indian Council of Agricultural Research ) and also officers from state governments participated.
- The main aim of the conference was to discuss various issues & to list the steps with the states on the preparedness for Kharif cultivation due to the lockdown situation….Click here to Read More
Nirmala Sitharaman attended virtual 2nd G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meet
On April 15, 2020, Union Minister for Finance & Corporate Affairs, Nirmala Sitharaman attended the virtual session of the 2nd G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors (FMCBG) meeting. The meet was conducted under the presidency of Saudi Arabia. Its objective was to discuss the global economic outlook amid COVID-19 pandemic crisis.
- During the meet she discussed the measures taken by Indian government in curbing the crisis created by COVID-19 which included a financial assistance of USD 3.9 billion provided to more than 320 million people, with a special focus on direct benefit transfer (DBT) to maintain social distancing.
G20 Action Plan:
During the 2nd Extraordinary Virtual G20 FMCBG Meeting held on March 31, 2020 G20 leaders mandated its members to G20 Action Plan in Response to COVID-19. After that action has been prepared to protect lives, safeguard people’s jobs and incomes, revive growth, and to provide help to countries needing assistance. This action plan is acting as a guide for individual and collective actions for the G20 members in responding to COVID-19 pandemic in short and medium term. GoI’s monetary policy measures are taken as Reserve Bank of India and other regulators have helped de-freeze the market and catalyze credit flows.
About G20 or Group of Twenty:
Members– Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Republic of Korea, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, United Kingdom (UK), United States (US), and European Union (EU). Spain is a permanent guest invitee to the G20 meetings.
Current Presidency– Saudi Arabia
2020 G20 Presidency theme– Realizing Opportunities of the 21st Century for All
Chairman– Saudi Arabian King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud (2020)
MS Sahoo Panel proposed National Institute of Valuers for institutional framework for valuers
The government-appointed 8 member committee of experts headed by IBBI (Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India) Chairperson M S Sahoo has submitted a report on “valuation professionals” and proposed an institutional framework for valuers by setting up National Institute of Valuers (NIV). In this regard the committee has submitted its report to the Government of India on March 31, 2020 along with Draft Valuers Bill, 2020, recommending to establish a National Institute of Valuers, which is now open for comments till May 14, 2020. It should be noted that a valuer is a professional who carries out inspections in order to help determine the current market value of property and/or land….Click here to Read More
Govt to set up “Suraksha Stores” and “Suraksha Circle” under PPP mode amid COVID-19 lockdown
In order to provide daily essentials to Indian citizens during the extended lockdown, the government will set up 20 lakh retail shops through public-private partnership (PPP) namely ‘Suraksha Stores’ across India in the next 45 days. In this regard, the neighbourhood Kirana (general) stores will be converted into sanitized retail outlets selling daily essentials while adhering to safety norms such as social distancing to control the spread of the novel coronavirus.
- More than 50 top private Fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) companies have been approached to implement this plan, which seeks to ensure that proper protocol is followed in the entire supply chain.
- The ‘Suraksha Store’ will not only be for groceries but it also provides consumer durables, apparel and salons.
Suraksha Circle:
Similarly, the Consumer Affairs Ministry is working on creating ‘Suraksha Circle’ where lead manufacturing plants will help their business partners and smaller factories to ensure a safe environment across the product supply chain. Each lead manufacturing plant is expected to adopt 10 SMEs (small and medium enterprises) and one village in order to achieve the target to bring 50,000 SMEs and 5,000 communities under Suraksha Circle.
An online training certification programme will be created for Suraksha Stores and Suraksha Circle to ensure awareness about COVID-19 protocols for the supply of essential commodities as per the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS).
BANKING & FINANCE
HDFC Bank launches Safety Grid campaign for social distancing
On April 16, 2020 The HDFC Bank (Housing Development Finance Corporation Bank) has launched Safety Grid campaign which was conceptualized by Leo Burnett India to help people maintain social distancing as prescribed by the World Health Organization (WHO) while waiting at shops during Lockdown.
Key Points
i.It has created physical makers on the ground using the outer grid of its logo at a distance of 1 meter from each outside the outlets like pharmacies, grocery stores, Automated teller machines (ATMs) among others.
ii.It has been implemented in Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Pune, Chandigarh and Bhubaneswar at 1,750 essential services stores & will be implemented at over 4,000 essential services stores across the 8 cities.
About HDFC:
Headquarters– Mumbai, Maharashtra
Chairman– Deepak S. Parekh
ECONOMY & BUSINESS
Exports declined by 34.57% in March & 4.78% in FY20; Q1 FY21 remain sluggish
In accordance with the figures released by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Indian exports of goods decreased by 34.57% to $21.41 billion due to COVID-19 spread which has interrupted the production and supply chains. With this, the overall export for FY 2019-20 declined by 4.78% to $314.31 billion. This is likely to be the steepest fall in monthly exports since 2008-09, when shipments dipped by 33.3% in March 2009.
- Effect on Imports: The COVID-19 not only affected exports but it impacted imports also as in March 2020 they were severely declined by 28.72% to $31.16 billion which resulted in overall FY 19-20 import decline by 9.12% to $467.19 billion. The downward revision in March was the steepest decline since November 2015, when imports declined by 30.26%….Click here to Read More
Asia to stall at 0% growth in 2020 for 1st time in 60 years: IMF
On April 16, 2020 International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) report titled ‘COVID-19 Pandemic and the Asia-Pacific Region: Lowest Growth Since the 1960s’ stated that Asia will stall at 0% growth in 2020 for the 1st time in 60 years which includes the Global Financial Crisis (4.7%) and the Asian Financial Crisis (1.3%).
- It also stated that the region will be “severe and unprecedented“ due to the impact of the pandemic & Asia is still doing better than other regions in terms of activity.
Key Points
i.The global economy is expected to shrink by 3%, which is the worst recession since the Great Depression & Asia’s key trading partners are expected to shrink sharply including the United States by 6 % and Europe by 6.6 %.
ii.It expects a 7.6% expansion in Asian economic growth in 2021 on the assumption that it contains a successful policy implementation with a highly uncertain outlook.
iii.Downward revision are considered ranging from 3.5% points in the case of Korea to over 9% points in the case of Australia, Thailand and New Zealand.
iv.IMF in its latest edition has placed India & China as the fastest-growing emerging economies of the world with a positive growth rate in 2020, where China’s economy is expected to grow by 1.2% in 2020, from 6.1% growth (2019) & is expected to rebound later in 2020, with growth expected to rise to 9.2% 2021.
APPOINTMENTS & RESIGNATIONS
IWF President Tamas Ajan resigns
On April 16, 2020, International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) President Tamas Ajan, 81 years old, resigned in the wake of allegations of corruption and doping violations. The IWF Executive Board accepted the resignation of the IWF president. Ursula Papandrea will be the acting president of IWF.
Key Points:
i.Tamas Ajan: He is from Hungary, had been at the IWF since 1976, serving 24 years as general secretary and 20 years as president.
ii.The IWF thanks Tamas Ajan for more than 4 decades of service to weightlifting and most notably for his work in recent years to ensure an anti-doping programme which meets the standards of the IOC (International Olympic Committee) and WADA (World Anti-Doping Agency).
iii.Papandrea, a former International lifter for the United States (US), is the first woman to lead IWF, which has existed under different names since 1920 and has only 2 presidents since 1972- Ajan and the Austrian Gottfried Schoedl.
About IWF:
Headquarters– Budapest, Hungary.
Ajay Mahajan appointed as MD and CEO of CARE Ratings
On April 15, 2020, Credit Analysis and Research Limited (CARE) Rating appointed Ajay Mahajan as Managing Director (MD) & Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the company for 5 years commencing from April 15, 2020. He is the successor of T.N. Kumar- Interim CEO of the company.
Key Points:
i.The Board of Directors of the credit rating agency made the appointment based on the recommendation of the Nomination and Remuneration Committee of the Board.
ii.T.N. Kumar would revert to his previous position of Chief Ratings Officer and would be overseeing the functions of rating operations.
iii.About Ajay Mahajan: Mahajan started his career with Bank of America in 1990 and went on to become MD & Country Head of Global Markets Group.
iv.He was also part of the management team at inception of Yes Bank in 2004, building UBS’ maiden branch in India in 2008 and then working in IDFC (Infrastructure Development Finance Company), which converted from an Infrastructure Financing NBFC (Non-Banking Financial Company) to a full service commercial bank.
About CARE Ratings:
Headquarters– Mumbai,Maharashtra
India’s Limited-overs vice-captain Rohit Sharma becomes brand ambassador for “CricKingdom”
On 16th April 2020, Limited-overs Vice-captain of Indian cricket team Rohit Sharma was named brand ambassador of “CricKingdom” a Dubai-based cricket coaching academy which provides a platform for online coaching after the global COVID-19 pandemic subsides.
Key Points:
i.Provides support on booking of coaches, ground/nets with the management of academies.
ii.They are trying to merge the modern scientific training methods with the time-tested theories of the legends in the game.
iii.Link for registration: crickingdom.com/registration
About CricKingdom:
World’s first online platform to connect cricket players, coaches, students, academies and facilities.
Co-founder/CEO– Chetan Suryawanshi
Co-founder/CTO– Sesha Sayana
Managing Director– Prashant Naik
Mentor– Dhawal Kulkarni
Vineet Arora appointed as MD & CEO of Paytm General Insurance
On April 15, 2020 Paytm, a major digital payment system and financial service platform, appoints Vineet Arora as the Managing Director (MD) & Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Paytm General Insurance Limited (Ltd).
Gist about Vineet Arora
- Earlier he served as the MD & CEO of Aegon Life Insurance Company and was part of the India Leadership team.
- Prior to this, he was senior general manager and head of Product, Distribution, Marketing and Wealth Management at ICICI Securities Ltd, where he developed a profitable distribution business across various delivery channels.
Some of the other contribution by Paytm
i.Paytm has also partnered with fast-food chain McDonald’s on April 3 to distribute burgers, chilli paneer pockets, and other food items to frontline workers who work to contain the spread of COVID-19 across India.
ii.It is a part of Paytm’s ‘India Fights Corona’ campaign to distribute hygiene products and masks to police officials, municipal workers, and healthcare professionals which is launched in association with Lifebuoy, the hygiene brand from Unilever and YouWeCan, a foundation established by Indian cricketer Yuvraj Singh on March 18.
About Paytm General Insurance Ltd:
Headquarters– New Delhi, India
About Paytm:
Headquarters– Noida, Uttar Pradesh
Founder & CEO– Vijay Shekhar Sharma
About Paytm Payments Bank:
Reg.office– New Delhi, India
MD & CEO– Satish Kumar Gupta.
ACQUISITIONS & MERGERS
ORIX acquires IL&FS’s 100% stake in IWPSL for Rs 6.05 cr
On April 16, 2020, ORIX Corporation, a Japanese diversified financial services group, has completed its acquisition of 100% stake held by cash-strapped Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services (IL&FS) in its wholly-owned subsidiary IL&FS Wind Power Services Ltd (IWPSL) for Rs 6.05 crore.
Key Points:
i.IWSPL, a fully owned subsidiary of IL&FS Energy Development Company Limited (IEDCL), is functioning on providing supervisory & management support services to 7 wind power generating special purpose vehicles (SPVs) (Lalpur Wind Energy Private, Etesian Urja, Khandke Wind Energy, Ratedi Wind Power, Wind Urja India, Tadas Wind Energy and Kaze Energy).
ii.IL&FS Group in October 2019 has got the green signal to sell its 51 % stake in seven of its wind energy projects to Orix.
iii.The sale was cleared by NCLT (National Company Law Tribunal) appointed Justice D K Jain, who oversaw the reconciliation process of the group companies.
About Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services (IL&FS):
Headquarters– Mumbai, Maharashtra
Chairman– Uday Kotak
About ORIX Corporation:
Headquarters– Tokyo, Japan
CEO– Makoto Inoue
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
India’s Aarogya Setu becomes world’s fastest app to reach 50 million downloads in 13 days
On April 15, 2020 The National Institution for Transforming India (NITI Aayog) Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Amitabh Kant stated that Centre’s mobile app, Aarogya Setu, which is developed for tracking COVID-19 patients, has become the world’s fastest app to reach 50 million (5 crore) downloads in just 13 days.
Key Points
i.The app is developed by the National Informatics Center (NIC) under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) in just 4 days, it supports 11 languages.
ii.Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) is working on testing and some of the other aspects, whereas Tech Mahindra and the Mahindra group is working with the committee on the next version of this application and developing next-generation technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI), machine learning, and data science.
iii.Tech Mahindra is also working on expanding the reach of Aarogya Setu on all types of phones, where the current version of the app is only suitable for use on smartphones.
About MeitY:
Union Minister– Ravi Shankar Prasad
State Minister– Sanjay Dhotre
Central Government unveils PUSA decontamination, sanitizing tunnel
On April 16, 2020, Minister of State (MoS) for Agriculture Kailash Choudhary inaugurated a “PUSA decontamination and sanitizing tunnel” in Delhi and was developed by the government research body ICAR-IARI (Indian Council of Agricultural Research).
Key Points:
i.The sanitization protocol includes hand washing with foot operated soap and water dispenser and fogging in a sanitizing tunnel for 20 seconds.
ii.The tunnel uses QAC (Quaternary Ammonium Compounds) at a concentration of 0.045 per cent, which is recommended by the health department.
iii.ICAR Director General Trilochan Mohapatra and IARI (Indian Agricultural Research Institute) Director A K Singh were also present at the event.
About Ministry of Agriculture:
Headquarters– Krishi Bhavan, New Delhi.
Cabinet Minister– Narendra Singh Tomar.
‘Bat coronavirus’ in 2 Indian bat species: ICMR 
On April 15, 2020 The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) in a 1st of its study in collaboration with a team of scientists from the National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune, have found the presence of different kind of ‘Bat coronavirus’ (BtCoV) from 25 bats in 2 Indian bat species namely, Pteropus (Indian Flying Fox) and Rousettus (old world fruit bats).
- It also stated that the origin of the novel coronavirus has been traced in bats and pangolins, but there is no evidence that BtCoV can be transmitted to humans….Click here to Read More
Scientists observe biggest star explosion ever seen
On April 14, 2020, An international team of scientists led by the University of Birmingham in the UK (United Kingdom) and the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in the US (United States), have observed the biggest supernova (stellar explosion) named SN2016aps.
This supernova is 10 times more powerful than a normal supernova but is also about 500 times brighter than that.
Key Points:
i.The supernova was detected by the PanSTARRS (Panoramic Survey Telescope and Rapid Response System Survey) located at Haleakala Observatory, Hawaii, US, on 22 February 2016, in a galaxy 4.6 billion light-years from Earth. A light-year is the distance light travels in a year, 5.9 trillion miles (9.5 trillion km).
ii.Scientists have estimated the amount of energy in this supernova that would be equivalent to an explosion of 200 trillion gigatons of TNT (Trinitrotoluene).
iii.Researchers have interpreted this to mean that this supernova must have formed due to the joining of two stars like our Sun.
iv.The findings have been published in peer reviewed journal Nature Astronomy.
SPORTS
China releases 4th Asian Para Games 2022 mascot as ‘Fei Fei’ bird
On April 16, 2020, The organizing committee of Hangzhou Asian Games, has released ‘Fei Fei’ the bird as an official mascot for 4th Asian Para Games 2022, which is scheduled to be held in Hangzhou, China from 9 – 15 October 2022.
Key Points:
i.The design inspiration of “Feifei” comes from the motif of the ‘Divine Bird’ in the Liangzhu Culture and represent both Hangzhou city’s heritage and its innovation in technology.
ii.The first fei’ of the mascot represents the birds flying, implying inclusiveness, respect, and fraternity of human society, whereas the 2nd fei’ represents the mental tenacity of the athletes with disabilities pursuing dreams and reaching beyond themselves.
iii.The bird’s body features “i” (intelligence) on its crown, which is a symbol of intelligence and wisdom, and it also shows the characteristics of Hangzhou’s Internet city.It also has 45 dots circle on its chest which represents the joyful gathering of Asian Paralympic Committee’s (APC) members, while the Games logo is in the centre.
It flashes a blue light when exercising & happy.
About Asian Paralympic Committee:
Headquarters– Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE)
President– Majid Rashed
OBITUARY
Comedy Classic ‘Khubsoorat’ actor Ranjit Chowdhry passed away at 65 in the US
On 15th April 2020, Bollywood and Indian Theatre actor Ranjit Chowdhry passed away at 65 in the United States. He was born on 19th September 1955 in Mumbai. He was well known for his performance in classic comedies like Baton Baton Mein as Sabhi Perreira and Khubsoorat as Jagan Gupta.
About Ranjit Chowdhry:
i.His mother Pearl Padamsee, was a Jewish descent and a well known drama teacher and stage and film actress and his stepfather Alyque Padmsee, was a theatre actor, director and head of an advertising company in Mumbai
ii.He started his film career with “KhattaMeetha” as RussieMistry.
iii.He moved to the United States (US) in the 1980s and stared in the shows like ‘The Office’ and Prison Break.
iv.He was the writer and director of the film “Sam and me “ and he played the role of Nikhil ‘Shwartza’ Parikh.
v.His half-sister RaellPadamsee, announced that his funeral will be held on 16th April 2020 and a gathering to celebrate his life and work will be on 5th May.
IMPORTANT DAYS
World Voice Day 2020: April 16
World Voice Day (WVD) is a worldwide annual event that takes place on April 16 devoted to the celebration of the phenomenon of voice. The day is celebrated to increase the public awareness of the importance of voice and alertness to voice problems. Voice is an important aspect of healthy and effective communication.
Theme for the year 2020: FOCUS ON YOUR VOICE.
The theme was chosen by the Voice Committee of the American Academy of Otolaryngology- Head and Neck Surgery.
Key Points:
i.History of the World Voice Day: The celebration of this day started in Brazil in 1999 as the Brazilian National Voice Day and the day was a mixed initiative of physicians, speech-language pathologists and singing teachers that belonged to the former association ‘Sociedade Brasileira de Laringologia e Voz – SBLV’ (Brazilian Society of Laryngology and Voice), under the presidency of Dr. Nedio Steffen.
ii.The celebration spread furthermore and in 2002, the American Academy of Otolaryngology– Head and Neck Surgery officially recognized it as World Voice Day (WVD).
1st International Mathematics Day 2020: March 14
The International Day of Mathematics (IDM) was celebrated for the first time on March 14, 2020 globally. On this day all countries will be invited to participate through activities for both students and the general public in schools, museums, libraries and other spaces. The day was proclaimed by UNESCO (The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) on the 40th session of the General Conference, November 26, 2019.
Theme for the year 2020: Mathematics is Everywhere.
Key Points:
i.March 14 was chosen as the date for the IDM because it was already celebrated in many countries, as Pi Day, based on the fact that some countries write as 3/14 and the mathematical constant Pi is approximately 3.14.
ii.The International Day of Mathematics Project is led by the International Mathematics Union (IMU) with the support of numerous international and regional organizations from all over the world.
iii.The IDM is administered by the IDM Governing Board (IDMGB).The IDM is communicated and supported by the IDM website, which is hosted by IMAGINARY. Andreas Matt from IMAGINARY is in attendance at IDMGB. Gunter Ziegler is the EC liaison person on the IDMGB.
iv.IMAGINARY is a non-profit organization for open and interactive mathematics. IMAGINARY was initiated at the Mathematisches Forschungsinstitut Oberwolfach, which is a shareholder of IMAGINARY.
AC GAZE
First-ever online training of coaches during COVID-19 lockdown: Sports Ministry
As a part of sports Ministry’s first ever online initiative by Sports Authority of India (SAI) and National Sports Federations (NSFs) to upgrade knowledge of coaches, Archery Association of India (AAI) has started first-ever online training of its coaches by experts. The Arjuna and Dronacharya awardee Sanjeeva Singh will conduct mental toughness training for coaches.
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| Current Affairs Today (AffairsCloud Today) | |
| S.no | Current Affairs 17 April 2020 |
| 1 | Narendra Singh Tomar chairs the National Conference on Kharif crops 2020 by video conference |
| 2 | Nirmala Sitharaman attended virtual 2nd G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meet |
| 3 | MS Sahoo Panel proposed National Institute of Valuers for institutional framework for valuers |
| 4 | Govt to set up “Suraksha Stores” and “Suraksha Circle” under PPP mode amid COVID-19 lockdown |
| 5 | HDFC Bank launches Safety Grid campaign for social distancing |
| 6 | Exports declined by 34.57% in March & 4.78% in FY20; Q1 FY21 remain sluggish |
| 7 | Asia to stall at 0% growth in 2020 for 1st time in 60 years: IMF |
| 8 | IWF President Tamas Ajan resigns |
| 9 | Ajay Mahajan appointed as MD and CEO of Care Ratings |
| 10 | India’s Limited-overs vice-captain Rohit Sharma becomes brand ambassador for “CricKingdom” |
| 11 | Vineet Arora appointed as MD & CEO of Paytm General Insurance |
| 12 | ORIX acquires IL&FS’s 100% stake in IWPSL for Rs 6.05 cr |
| 13 | India’s Aarogya Setu becomes world’s fastest app to reach 50 million downloads in 13 days |
| 14 | Central Government unveils PUSA decontamination, sanitizing tunnel |
| 15 | ‘Bat coronavirus’ in 2 Indian bat species: ICMR |
| 16 | Scientists observes biggest star explosion ever seen |
| 17 | China releases 4th Asian Para Games 2022 mascot as ‘Fei Fei’ bird |
| 18 | Comedy Classic ‘Khubsoorat’ actor Ranjit Chowdhry passed away at 65 in the US |
| 19 | World Voice Day 2020: April 16 |
| 20 | International Mathematics Day 2020: March 14 |
| 21 | First-ever online training of coaches during COVID-19 lockdown: Sports Ministry |
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