Current Affairs 4 April 2020

We are here for you to provide the important Recent and Latest Current Affairs 4 April 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 4 April 2020

NATIONAL AFFAIRS

Agriculture Ministry launched 3 new features of e-NAM platform to prevent crowding in mandis

The Union Minister of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare, Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, Shri Narendra Singh Tomar has launched three new features of National Agriculture Market (e-NAM) Platform to enable farmers to sell their harvested produce directly from warehouse which will prevent crowding in mandis amid COVID-19 outbreak.
Newly launched software modules in e-NAM software are:

• Negotiable Warehouse Receipt (e-NWRs) module
• Farmer Producer Organisation (FPO) trading module
• Logistic Module….Click here to Read More

NCC volunteer cadets to fight COVID-19 under ‘Exercise NCC Yogdan’

On April 2, 2020 the National Cadet Corps (NCC) has offered its volunteer cadets to assist the civilian authorities to fight COVID-19 under ‘Exercise NCC Yogdan’.

•  It has issued guidelines for the temporary employment of its cadets to enhance the operations of various organizations involved in relief efforts & fighting the pandemic.

• The tasks for NCC cadets include- manning of helpline, call centres; distribution of relief materials, medicines, food, essential commodities; community assistance; data management and queue & traffic management.

Guidelines
i.The cadets must not be employed to handle law & order situations or for active military duties or at hot spots.
ii.Only the Senior Division volunteer cadets above 18 years will be employed in small cohesive groups of 8 to 20 under the supervision of Permanent Instructor Staff or/and an Associate NCC Officer.
iii.Before the cadets are sent to duty, ground conditions & stipulated requirements must be confirmed.
iv.For employment of volunteer cadets the State governments /district administration must send requisition through State NCC Directorates & the details will be coordinated at Directorate/Group Headquarters/Unit level with state government/local civil authority.
About NCC
It is operated under the Ministry of Defence & is the largest uniform youth organization in the country which involves various social service and community development activities. It contributes to the national cause during natural calamities like floods, cyclones, etc.,
Headquarters– New Delhi, India
Director General– Lieutenant general(Lt Gen) Rajeev Chopra

Coronavirus outbreak: Kerala based SCTIMST joins hands with Wipro 3D to make automated ventilators

On April 03, 2020, In view of increasing coronavirus (COVID-19) cases in India, Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology (SCTIMST), an institute of National Importance of the Department of Science and Technology (DST) based in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, has partnered with ‘Wipro 3D’ to build a portable and lightweight emergency ventilator system based on Artificial Manual Breathing Unit (AMBU) to assist the breathing of the critical patients who have no access to ICU (Intensive care unit)ventilators.
Key Points:
i.This ventilator system is essentially a hand held device also called as AMBU bag or bag-valve-mask (BVM) to provide positive pressure ventilation to a corona patients with breathing difficulties with a controlled rate of expiration, inspiratory to expiratory ratio, Tidal volume etc.
ii.In addition to this, a PEEP (Positive End Expiratory Pressure) valve has been equipped as an extra tool to control pressure on the lower airways at the end of the breathing cycle which prevents the alveoli from collapsing during expiration.
iii.However, a disadvantage of the normal AMBU bag is that it requires a bystander to operate it and hence is non-advisable for treating a Covid-19 patient.
About Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology (SCTIMST):
Director– Asha Kishore
About Wipro 3D:
Headquarters– Bengaluru, Karnataka

Dr Jitendra Singh released National Corona Survey conducted in 410 districts

On April 2, 2020, Dr Jitendra Singh, Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions released the COVID- 19 National Preparedness Survey 2020. The survey will serve as a benchmark for policymakers at National and State levels.
Objectives of the Survey: To develop a comparative analysis of COVID- 19 preparedness across States, to access enabling factors in making institutional/ logistics/ hospital preparedness etc., and also to identify the process-related deficiencies, in combating COVID-19 in all the districts of India.
Key Points:
i.The COVID-19 National Preparedness Survey 2020 was conducted in 410 Districts in the Country within 3 working days beginning on March 25, 2020.
ii.The reports of the survey are available at https://darpg.gov.in.
iii.The survey was conducted with responses from 410 civil servants who are providing field level leadership. District Collectors & IAS (Indian Administrative Service) officers of (2014- 2018) batches who have served as Assistant Secretaries in GOI (Government of India) participated in the survey.

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

UNGA adopts ‘Global solidarity to fight the COVID-19’ resolution

On April 3, 2020 the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) adopts a resolution– ‘Global solidarity to fight the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)’, co-sponsored by 188 nations including India.
Objective
To intensify international cooperation so as to mitigate & defeat the pandemic which includes exchange of information, scientific knowledge & best practices in accordance with the guidelines recommended by the World Health Organization(WHO).
Key Points
i.It is the 1st  document adopted by world organisation on the global pandemic
ii.It recognises the unprecedented effects of the pandemic which includes the severe disruption to societies & economies, to global travel and commerce, & the devastating impact on the livelihood of people.
iii.It also highlights the need for human rights and stressed that there is no room for discrimination, racism and xenophobia in response to the pandemic.
iv.The resolution is sponsored by Ghana, Indonesia, Liechtenstein, Norway, Singapore and Switzerland.
v.The resolution was adopted under a silence procedure as the General  Assembly is not holding meetings due to the pandemic.
About UNGA:
It is one of the 6 major elements of the United Nations(UN) to discuss and work together on international issues covered by the Charter of UN, such as development, peace and security, international law, etc. In total there are 193 member states.
Headquarters– NewYork, United States
President of the General Assembly– Tijjani Muhammad-Bande

BANKING & FINANCE

All standard health insurance policies to cover COVID-19 hospitalization treatment including “Arogya Sanjeevani”: IRDAI

The COVID-19 hospitalization cases are increasing which posing financial burden on patients or their families due to hospitalization expenses. As a financial relief measure to the COVID-19 positive cases, Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) has made the coverage of hospitalization treatment costs of COVID-19 mandatory under standard health insurance product “Arogya Sanjeevani”. Apart from this, Indemnity based health insurance products offered by all general and health insurance companies will also cover the costs of hospitalization treatment on account of covid-19….Click here to Read More

ECONOMY & BUSINESS

India’s economic growth decelerated to 4 pc in FY21 due to COVID-19 pandemic: ADO 2020

Asian Development Bank (ADB) in its Asian Development Outlook (ADO) 2020 has forecasted a slowdown in Indian economic growth to 4% for the financial year 2020-21 due to the current global health emergency raised by COVID-19. For FY 21-22 it has predicted Indian economic growth to 6.2%.

• On the region front, Asia and Pacific are expected to decline to 2.2% in FY 20-21 and then rebound to 6.2% in 2021.
• Also, the growth in South Asia will downgrade to 4.1% in FY 20-21 and then recover to 6% in FY 21-22.

About ADB:
Establishment– 1966
Headquarter– Philippines, Manila
President– MasatsuguAsakawa

    APPOINTMENTS & RESIGNATIONS       

Government extends tenure of NCLT acting President for another 3 months

On April 2, 2020 The government extended the tenure of National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) acting President Bethala Shanta Vijaya (B.S.V.) Prakash Kumar for another 3 months (with effect from 5th April, 2020) or till the joining of new President,  whichever is earlier.
i.Earlier he was appointed as the acting President for 3 months from January 5 after the retirement of NCLT president Justice Mahesh Mittal (M.M.) Kumar.
ii.He previously served as a Judicial Member of the NCLT’s Madras bench.
About NCLT
It was constituted by the central government on June 1, 2016 under section 408 of the Companies Act, 2013 to provide a formal resolution of the dispute, which relates to the company’s issues in India. There are 13 benches across the country.
Headquarters– New Delhi, India

ACQUISITIONS & MERGERS       

Trishikhar ventures acquisition of 18.95 % stake in Religare health insurance gets CCI nod

On April 3, 2020, Competition Commission of India (CCI), a non-departmental public body responsible for investigating mergers, has approved the acquisition of 18.951 % equity stake in Religare Health Insurance Company Limited (RHICL) by Trishikhar Ventures LLP under the green channel route.
Key Points:
i.The approval was done under the sub-section (2) of Section 6 of the Competition Act, 2002 (Act) read with regulation 5A of the Competition Commission of India, Regulations, 2011.
ii.The Competition Law Review Committee, chaired by Corporate Affairs Secretary Injeti Srinivas, has suggested green channel concept, which allows automatic approval for certain categories of merger and acquisitions & those combinations should be made from insolvency resolution process under the IBC (Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code),2016.
About Trishikhar Ventures LLP:
Headquarters– Mumbai, Maharashtra
It is a part of Kedaara Group, which invests in a variety of companies through acquisitions and corporate restructurings.
About Religare Health Insurance Company Limited:
Headquarters– New Delhi

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

IISc Bengaluru develops indigenous ventilator prototype: COVID-19 crisis

On April 1, 2020 scientists and students of the Bengaluru Indian Institute of Science (IISc) have developed a prototype of an indigenous ventilator under project Praana, to help patients with lung damage due to COVID-19 infection as a ventilator is a lifeline for the patients.
Key Points
i.Ventilators are developed to avoid a shortage of internationally imported components( pneumatic and electronic hardware, sensors & actuators) that will halt the mass production of ventilators in the country.
ii.The ventilator is designed using components readily available or made in India, in accordance with the guidelines issued by the UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency & can be used free of cost.
iii.The prototype contains mass flow sensors and controllers that accurately tell how much oxygen flows and how much the patient is breathing in a breath.
iv.Pneumatics is built around mass-produced water filtration hardware & the control system is built around an open source industrial controller.
v.Associate Professor Gaurab Banerjee has designed the ventilator with the team in Electrical Communication Engineering of the IISC.
Importance of Ventilators
If there is a worst case scenario, about 0.006% of the population will need critical care with access to ventilators. With a population of 125 crores, this may require ventilator access to 75,000 patients.
Director of IISc– Anurag Kumar

DRDO develops bio suit with seam sealing glue for personnel in front line combat COVID-19 safe

The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has developed a bio suit with self-sealing seam to keep the medical, paramedical and other personnel engaged in combating COVID-19, safe from the deadly virus.

• This Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) has been prepared with the help of textile, coating and nanotechnology.
• The suit already cleared the testing for protection against synthetic blood which has exceeded the criteria defined for body suits by Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW).
• It should be noted that M/s Kusumgarh Industries is producing the raw material, coating material for this bio suit while the complete suit is being manufactured with the help of another vendor.
• The current production capacity is 7,000 suits per day which will be increased to 15,000 suits per day.

Geo-fencing app to locate quarantine violators

The government has tested an application named, Geo-fencing app to trigger emails and SMS alerts to an authorised government agency, if a person has jumped quarantine or has escaped from isolation, based on the person’s mobile phone’s cell tower location.
Key Points
i.The Centre under the Indian Telegraph Act 1885, uses powers to “fetch information” from telecom companies every 15 minutes to track COVID-19 quarantine violators across the country & is accurate by up to 300 m….Click here to Read More

SPORTS

Asian Youth Games to be held in China from November 20 to 28, 2021

On April 1, 2020, The Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) announced the 3^rd edition of Asian Youth Games, which will be hosted in the coastal city of Shantou in Southern China from November 20 to 28, 2021.
Key Points:
i.OCA Director General Husain Al Musallam mentioned that the venue and dates of the programme were decided by OCA in coordination with the Shantou 3rd Asian Youth Games Organising Committee (SAYGOC).
ii.The 3^rd Edition of Asian Youth Games comprises of  18 sports: Athletics, Aquatics, Badminton, Basketball (3×3), Beach Volleyball, Dragon Boat Racing, Football, Gymnastics, Golf, Handball, Hip Hop dance, Rock Climbing, Rugby, Surfing, Table Tennis, Taekwondo, WindSurfing and Wushu.

OBITUARY

Emmy award-winning musician Adam Schlesinger passed away at 52

On April 2, 2020, Emmy award winner Adam Lyons Schlesinger, an American singer-songwriter, record producer and bassist passed away at the age of 52 due to Coronavirus in Poughkeepsie, New York, US (United States). He was born on October 31, 1967 in New York City, US. He was the co-founder of the 2000s pop-rock band “Foundations of Wayne” & known for co-writing the band’s 2003 hit “Stacy’s Mom”.
Key Points:
i.Awards: Schlesinger won 3 Emmy awards, two for original music and lyrics for the 2011 and 2012 Tony Awards and, another for original music and lyrics for “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend” in 2015. ”A Colbert Christmas”, co-written by Schlesinger & David Javerbaum, won him the 2009 Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album.
ii.Songs composed by Schlesinger: He worked as an executive music producer on the musical show at The CW “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend” & composed songs for “A Colbert Christmas: The Greatest Gift of All!”, “Too Late with Adam Carolla”, “The Howard Stern Radio Show” & “The Dana Carvey Show”. He also penned the iconic song “That Thing You Do” in 1996 of the film of the same name.
iii.Schlesinger also wrote songs for title sequences for Netflix, Warner Bros’, 20^th Century Fox and Universal. He is also the writer of the songs of popular Amazon series “The Marvelous Mrs Maisel”.

Prominent virologist Gita Ramjee passes away

On April 1, 2020, World-renowned virologist Gita Ramjee, 63, passed away in Johannesburg, South Africa, due to Coronavirus. She was the stellar vaccine scientist and an HIV (Human immunodeficiency virus) prevention research leader.
Key Points:
i.About Gita Ramjee: Gita was born on April 8, 1956, in Kampala, Uganda. She served as the Clinical Trials Unit Principal Investigator and Unit Director of the HIV Prevention Research Unit of the South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC) offices in Durban.
ii.Awards: In 2018, Ramjee was presented with the Outstanding Female Scientist Award in Lisbon by the European Development Clinical Trials Partnerships (EDCTP) for her lifetime contribution in finding new HIV prevention methods.

STATE NEWS

Odisha Govt in collaboration with UNICEF launches “Mo Prativa” programme to engage kids during lockdown

On April 2, 2020, In order to keep children engaged in some creative work during 21-days lockdown due to coronavirus (COVID-19), the Odisha state government in collaboration with UNICEF (United Nations Children’s Fund), has launched a creative skill competition programme called “Mo Prativa” (My talent).
Key Points:
i.Under this online programme children can participate in competitions such as drawings, paintings, posters, writing of slogans, short stories (within 500 words) and poetry. Children will have to upload their work and for this they will get a certificate every week.
ii.Children of 5 to 18 years will be able to participate in this competition, where they have to work under 2 themes – ‘Being at home during lockdown’ and ‘My responsibility as a young citizen during COVID-19’.
iii.Participants can send their entry in three different categories of 5-10 years, 11-15 years and 16-18 years & have to submit online between 10 am to 6 pm.
About Odisha:
Capital– Bhubaneswar
Chief Minister– Naveen Patnaik
Governor– Ganeshi Lal
About UNICEF (United Nations Children’s Fund):
Headquarters– New York, United States
Executive Director– Henrietta H. Fore

AC GAZE

World Bank approves $1 billion emergency funds for India: COVID-19

The World Bank has approved total aid of USD 1.9 billion for 25 countries to tackle COVID- 19 pandemic. The largest amount of assistance was USD 1 billion for India followed by USD 200 million for Pakistan, USD 129 million for Sri Lanka, USD 100 million for Afghanistan and USD 83 million for Ethiopia.

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