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Top 20 Current Affairs of 5 & 6 April 2020
NATIONAL AFFAIRS
Sanjay Dhotre launched “Hack the Crisis – India” online Hackathon to find working solutions to beat COVID-19
On April 3, 2020, a 48 hours online hackathon namely “Hack the Crisis – India” was launched by the Minister of State (MoS) Electronics & Information Technology, Communications and Human Resource Development Sanjay Dhotreto solve the problems arisen due to COVID-19 crisis. Its key focus is to develop Non-Medical Solutions to deal with the aftermath of Coronavirus (COVID-19).
- Organizers:” Hack A Cause – India”, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), MeitY Startup Hub (MSH), FICCI (Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry)Ladies Organisation(FLO), Pune APJ Abdul Kalam Centre, Science and Technology Park, Pune (Ministry of Science and Technology), Garage 48, Accelerate Estonia, Robotex International (India Initiative).
- Participants: Over 2000 teams and over 15000 participants.
Awards & Recognition:
–Rs 10 Lakhs grant support to each winner for developing physical products from working prototype
-3 winners pan India receive a prize of up to Rs 5 lakhs each to further develop their working prototype
- Winners of top 15 teams participate at Hack the Crisis – World Online Hackathon championship 9th to 12th April 2020.
Civil services associations form an initiative called ‘Caruna’ to fight COVID-19
On April 04, 2020, Associations representing officers of Central Civil Services, including the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) and the Indian Police Service (IPS), have created an initiative called ‘Caruna [Civil Services Associations Reach to Support in Natural Disasters]’ to assist and supplement the government’s efforts to battle against Corona Virus (COVID-19).
Key Points:
i.In addition to sharing required information with health ministry and myGovindia and the task forces set up by the central and state governments, the initiative will also help support initiatives of the government on a real time basis.
ii.Already, the Caruna platform has formed a 10-day action plan for operationalisation of support to centre & state governments and formed themes like ‘threads on slack’ as capacity building programme for healthcare workers & doing works including database collation of health equipment manufacturers, reducing migration-related problems, working on food security related issues with specific responsibilities.
Finance Ministry issues Rs 17, 287 crores to states to tackle COVID-19
On April 3, 2020, To deal with the coronavirus epidemic, the Finance Ministry has released Rs 17,287.08 crore to the states to consolidate their financial resources. Of this amount, Rs 11,092 crore has been given to the States for the State Disaster Response Mitigation Fund (SDRMF). At the same time, the remaining Rs 6,195.08 crore has been released to 14 states under the distribution of ‘Revenue Deficit Grants’ as per the recommendations of the 15th Finance Commission.
The Union Minister for Home Affairs, Shri Amit Shah has approved the release of Rs 11,092 crores to all States under the State Disaster Risk Management Fund (SDRMF) for 2020-21…..Click here to Read More
COVID-19: NHA partnered with Uber India to provide transport services to frontline healthcare workers
On April 4, 2020, National Health Authority (NHA) partnered with Uber India to provide 24/7 free UberMedic transport services to India’s frontline healthcare workers and hospitals engaged in the treatment of COVID-19 patients.
Key Points:
i.Initially, Uber will facilitate the provision of 150 cars free of cost to support medical facilities in Delhi, Noida, Ghaziabad, Kanpur, Lucknow, Prayagraj, Patna via UberMedic service.
ii.The new cars supplied to NHA will be equipped with roof-to-floor plastic sheeting enclosing the driver’s seat, thereby acting as a protective barrier between rider and driver.
iii.The drivers will be provided with Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) including hand sanitisers, gloves, disinfectant sprays and face masks and will also provide dedicated phone service to the riders who use this service.
iv.UberMedic car will be disinfected after every ride to ensure the safety and hygiene standards in line with Government guidelines.
About Uber Technologies:
Headquarters– San Francisco, US (United States).
CEO (Chief Executive Officer)– Dara Khosrowshahi.
IAF transports 6.2 tons of essential medicines to Maldives under ‘Operation Sanjeevani’
On April 2, 2020, Coronavirus (COVID 19) is causing terrible havoc in the country and the world at this time. In such a situation, India is coming forward to help less capable countries in fighting COVID 19. In this sequence, the Indian Air Force (IAF) has launched ‘Operation Sanjeevani’ and air-lifted 6.2 tonnes of essential medical supplies to Maldives via transport aircraft C-130J as assistance in the fight against the virus.
Key Points:
i.Medicines including influenza vaccines, anti-viral drugs such as Lopinavir arid Ritonavir & other useful items were purchased by the Maldives’ State Trading Organisation (STO) from 8 suppliers in India, but due to the 21-day lockdown imposed due to the COVID-19 epidemic, it could not be possible to take them to Maldives by any other means.
ii.India has already sent a 14-member Rapid Response Team of doctors and specialists to Maldives to set up a viral testing laboratory. In addition, 5.5 tons of essential medicines were presented as gifts to the Maldives by the Government of India (GoI).
About Indian Air Force (IAF):
Headquarters– New Delhi
Chief of the Air Staff (CAS)– Rakesh Kumar Singh Bhadauria
About Maldives:
Capital– Malé
Currency– Maldivian rufiyaa
President– Ibrahim Mohamed Solih
1st time Blue chip VC firms & startup CEOs to set up ‘Action Covid-19 Team’ Grants
On April 1, 2020 Founders of leading startups, independent advisors, investors, supporters & blue-chip venture capital firms jointly set up a Rs 100 crore ‘Action Covid-19 Team’ (ACT) Grants a first-of-its-kind initiative globally aims to seed over 50 initiatives to support companies who work on products & services to combat COVID-19 pandemic. Fund managers have committed Rs 1 crore to Rs 20 crore each, startup entrepreneurs have been asked to commit between Rs 5 lakh to Rs 1 crore each.
Key Points
i.The grant will also support efforts to provide COVID-19 testing, home-based disease management, mental health assistance and prevention, and procurement of safety and security equipment among others.
ii.The financial assistance for startups is in the form of subsidies ranging from Rs 25 lakhs to Rs 1 crore & so the investors will not take stock in the selected ventures.
iii.The entrepreneurs include Mukesh Bansal- founder of Curefit and Myntra, Abhiraj Bhal- co-founder of UrbanClap, Kunal Shah- founder of Cred and earlier FreeCharge; Freshworks’ Girish Mathrubootham, Rahul Garg- Moglix CEO and Jaydeep Barman- co-founder of Rebel Foods among others.
- Nachiket Mor, India head of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, is heading the leadership team for ACT Grants. Other senior office bearers include Prashanth Prakash, founding partner of Accel India; Mohit Bhatnagar, managing director of Sequoia Capital and Vani Kola, founder of Kalaari Capital. Accel Partners’ Shekhar Kirani and Matrix Partners’ Tarun Davda are part of ACT Grants’ prospecting team.
ECONOMY & BUSINESS
Fitch declined India growth forecast to 2% for FY21 from 5.1%
On April 3, 2020, Fitch Ratings has trimmed the Indian growth forecast for fiscal year (FY) 2020-2021 to 2% from 5.1% following the economic recession caused due to lockdown amid COVID-19 pandemic. This would be the slowest growth in India over the past 30 years.
- On the global front, Fitch has predicted a contraction of 1.9% in GDP (Gross Domestic Product) growth for FY 20-21.
Segments affected due to slowdown:
-The most affected segment by this slowdown is likely to be micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) and the services on account of reduced spendings by consumers.
-Also the non-bank financial institutions (NBFIs) or non-bank financial companies (NBFCs) will face liquidity issues due to limited cash buffers and borrower’s inability to repay their loans. Already fitch ratings have downgraded long-term issuer default ratings (IDRs) of three NBFCs viz. Shriram Transport Finance Company Limited (STFC), Muthoot Finance Limited (MFL) to BB from BB, and of India Infoline Finance Limited (IIFL) to B+ from BB+.All their ratings have been placed on rating watch negative (RWN).
AWARDS & RECOGNITIONS
Indian NGO ARMMAN among 4 winners to clinch Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship 2020
ARMMAN, an India-based non-profit organization (NPO), has been awarded the Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship 2020 in recognition of its exceptional work in the maternal and child health space in India, along with 4 other awardees. ARMMAN is the only organization from Asia and Africa, selected from 700 organizations.
Following table shows the Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship 2020 winners:….Click here to Read More
APPOINTMENTS & RESIGNATIONS
SEBI whole time member (WTM) Madhabi Puri Buch gets 6 month extension
On April 3, 2020, The Government has extended the appointment of Madhabi Puri Buch as a whole time member (WTM) of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) by a period of 6 months (till October 4, 2020).
Key Points:
i.She was appointed as a WTM of SEBI for a period of 3 years in April 2017 whereas all the appointed members and Chairman of SEBI were only men from the public sector, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) or the Indian Administrative Service (IAS).
ii.About Madhabi Puri Bach: She was not only the first woman to be appointed as a WTM of SEBI but also the first person from the private sector. In SEBI, she handles a range of departments from market and market intermediaries regulation to integrated surveillance and economic and policy analysis.
iii.Before joining SEBI, Madhabi Bach served as consultant to the New Development Bank in Shanghai and also headed the Singapore Office of the private equity firm, Greater Pacific Capital. She also served as MD (Managing Director) & CEO (Chief Executive Officer) of ICICI Securities Limited.
About SEBI:
Headquarters– Mumbai, Maharashtra.
Chairman– Ajay Tyagi.
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
Union HRD Minister launches MHRD AICTE COVID-19 for students
On April 3, 2020 Union Minister of Human Resource Development (HRD) Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ launched a unique MHRD All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) COVID-19 Student Helpline Portal to address the difficulties faced by students due to closure of colleges & hostels since March 25 because of the national lockdown.
Key Points:
i.The portal connects people who are willing to help those in need like, accommodations, food, tax classes, attendance, exams, scholarships, health, transportation, harassment etc.,
ii.It is developed by student interns Shivanshu and Akash of Graphic Era University in a day.
iii.The website was launched with a Uniform Resource Locator(URL) https://helpline.aicte-india.org in presence of Anil Sahasrabudhe- Chairman, AICTE, MP Poonia- Vice Chairman AICTE, Buddha Chandrashekhar- Chief Coordinating Officer, AICTE & other AICTE officers by video conferencing.
About AICTE:
It was set up in November 1945 as a national-level Apex Advisory Body to conduct a survey on the availability of technical education and to promote growth in the country in a coordinated and coordinated manner.
Headquarters– New Delhi, India
PIB sets up COVID-19 fact check unit, started daily bulletin
A COVID-19 Fact Check Unit (FCU) has been constituted in the Press Information Bureau (PIB) under the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting to prevent dissemination of fake facts and news related to the COVID-19 pandemic. The unit is headed by the PIB Director General (DG), Nitin Wakankar.
- The COVID-19 FCU is providing the official version of any news on Covid-19.
- It will receive messages by email at [email protected] and response will be sent in a defined time-frame.
PIB’s bulletin:
On the directions of the Supreme Court (SC) order, PIB has also started releasing a daily bulletin at 8 pm every day to provide information regarding the Centre’s decisions and developments on the deadly COVID-19. PIB’s bulletin will remain active through all media avenues, including social media and forums, to clear people’s doubts.
Already, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) has set up a technical group of professionals from AIIMS, to clarify the doubts of the general public on any technical aspect of COVID 19 to prevent circulation of fake facts.
Pune based company develops technology- “Scitech Airon negative ion generator”
On March 30, 2020 Jclean weather Technology private limited, company of Science & Technology (Scitech) Park, Pune has developed a technology- “Scitech Airon negative ion generator” to control viral, bacterial and fungal infections in closed environments can clean the air & disinfect areas caused by COVID-19 positive cases & suspects.
Key Points
i.It ensures the well-being of staff, doctors and nurses working around the clock in quarantine facilities by improving their disease resistance power and ability to fight viruses.
ii.It is developed under the National Initiative for Development and Harnessing Innovations Promoting and Accelerating Young and Aspiring technology entrepreneurs (NIDHI-PRAYAS) program initiated by the Department of Science and Technology (DST).
iii.DST has released Rs 1 crore to manufacture and scale up the product, of which 1000 are ready to be installed in various hospitals in Maharashtra soon.
iv.The SciTech Airon ionizer machine generates negatively charged ions at approx hundred million per 8 seconds (10 ions per sec). The effectiveness of the ion generator has been found in a variety of pathogens such as influenza virus, coxsackie virus, polio virus, human coronavirus, allergies, bacteria and fungi.
What is NIDHI?
NIDHI is an umbrella programme developed by the Innovation & Entrepreneurship division, Department of Science & Technology, Government of India to nurture start-ups through scouting, supporting and scaling of innovations. NIDHI-PRAYAS: Support from Idea to Prototype, is one among its 9 components.
Bione launches India’s 1st home screening test kit for COVID-19
On April 3, 2020 Bengaluru based startup Bione, a genetic and microbiome testing firm has launched India’s 1st home screening test kit for COVID-19 & is approved by Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).
Key Points
i.To take the test using the kit one has to clean the finger with an alcohol swab and use the lancet provided to finger-prick & the provided cartridge reads the results within 5-10 minutes.
ii.The prices of the kit ranges from Rs 2,000 to 3,000 & it will be delivered within 2-3 days of ordering.
iii.The easy-to-use kit will be deployed in the market after quality checks & approvals from the regulatory authority.
iv.Regardless of the results in the screening kit, the company advises people to undergo laboratory testing if someone shows signs of coronavirus.
v.Earlier the company had also developed a Microbiome test kit to check gut dysbiosis and also genetic tests to predict susceptibility to contagious diseases.
About ICMR:
Headquarters– New Delhi, India
Director General– Balram Bhargava
About Bione:
It is founded by a world-renowned genomicist, and the 1st person to bring Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) in India. It is 1st & only organisation to offer personalised Genetic and Microbiome testing services in India
Headquarters– Bengaluru, Karnataka
Coronavirus: IIT Roorkee in association with AIIMS-Rishikesh prepares low-cost portable ventilator ‘Prana-vayu’
On April 3, 2020, IIT (Indian Institute of Technology)- Roorkee, Uttarakhand in collaboration with AIIMS (All India Institute of Medical Science) Rishikesh, Uttarakhand, has developed a low-cost portable ventilator called ‘Prana-vayu’ costing just Rs.25,000.
The commercial product will be around 1.5 feet by 1.5 feet for better portability.
Key Points:
i.This closed loop ventilator equipped with state-of-the-art facilities & can prove useful in ensuring the safety of coronavirus (Covid-19) patients.
ii.The ventilator is based on the controlled operation of the prime mover to deliver the required amount of air to the patient. Its automatic process regulates the pressure and flow rate according to breathing and release. The ventilator also has an arrangement that can control the tidal volume and breath per minute.
iii.The ventilator is beneficial for patients of all ages, especially the elderly, with being useful in major obstructions of the respiratory tract.
iv.The research began at the Tinkering Laboratory in IIT-Roorkee by a team of IIT Roorkee consists of Prof. Akshay Dvivedi and Prof. Arup Kumar Das who received online support from Debendra Tripathi from AIIMS, Rishikesh.
SPORTS
2022 Asian Games mascot“smart triplets” unveiled at digital ceremony in Hangzhou, China
The official mascots of the 19th Asian Games, to be from 10 to 25 September 2022, were unveiled at a 20 minutes digital launch ceremony in Hangzhou, China. The ceremony was conducted online due to the coronavirus pandemic.It was unveiled by Olympic Council of Asia (OCA).
- There are three mascots namely Congcong, Lianlian and Chenchen, which represents the UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) World Heritage sites of Hangzhou in eastern China.
- These three mascots for the XIX Asiadare collectively known as the “smart triplets”.
Representations of Mascots:
Congcong– It represents the Archaeological Ruins of Liangzhu City. It takes yellow, the colour of earth and bumper harvest, as the main tone.
Lianlian– It represents the West Lake and green is its main tone as green stands for life and nature.
Chenchen– It represents the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal with blue color as the main tone as latter represents science and technology.
President– Sheikh Fahad Al-Sabah
Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) headquarters in Kuwait City.
About 2022 Asian Games:
It should be noted that these will be the third Asian Games to be hosted by China following Beijing 1990 and Guangzhou 2010.
Motto– Heart to Heart, @Future
Location– Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China
2021 World Games in Birmingham, Alabama postponed to 2022
On April 3, 2020, The International World Games organisers announced that 2021 World Games to be held in Birmingham, Alabama has been postponed to the year 2022 due to the conflict of rescheduled dates of the Tokyo Olympics. The rescheduled dates of World Games are from July 7 to 17, 2022.
Key Points:
i.The World Games which are held every 4 years & features 32 sports that are not part of the Olympic program were scheduled on July 15 to 25, 2021
ii.The international event was set to host 3,600 athletes from over 100 countries to take part in a variety of sports such as martial arts, bowling, squash, billiards & wheelchair rugby.
About IWGA (International World Games Association):
President– José Perurena López.
Chief Executive Officer (CEO)– Joachim Gossow.
Headquarter– Lausanne, Switzerland
OBITUARY
American singer & 3 time Grammy awardee Bill Withers passed away at 81
On April 3, 2020 American songwriter, soulful singer, guitarist & 3 time Grammy award winner Bill Withers passed at 81, due to heart complications in Los Angeles. He was born on July 4, 1938, in the coal-mining town of Slab Fork, West Virginia, United States.
Key Points
i.He is well known for these compilations- Lean on Me, Ain’t No Sunshine, Just the two of us (for which he received Grammy awards) & Lovely Day.
ii.He has produced 9 albums, his debut album is Just As I Am(1971) & the last album was Watching You Watching Me(1985).
iii.In 2006 he was awarded the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) Rhythm & Soul Heritage Award, in 2007- Inducted into West Virginia Music Hall of Fame & in 2015- Inducted into Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
iv.Before his music career he served in the Navy as an aircraft mechanic.
IMPORTANT DAYS
International Transgender Day of Visibility: March 31
The International Transgender Day of Visibility is observed every year on March 31 globally since 2009, to celebrate transgender people to raise awareness of discrimination faced by transgender people worldwide and their contributions to society. This year Transgender Day of Visibility (TDOV) has the theme and hashtag #MoreThanVisibility.
Key Points:
i.The day was founded by US (United States) based transgender activist Rachel Crandall of Michigan in 2009.
ii.The day has since been spearheaded by the US based youth advocacy organization Trans Student Educational Resources.
iii.The day was organized due to the lack of LGBT [lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender] recognition of Transgender people, citing the frustration that the only well-known transgender-centred day was the Transgender Day of Remembrance which mourned the murders of transgender people but did not acknowledge & celebrate living members of the transgender community.
International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action 2020: April 4
The International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action is observed every year on April 4 globally to create awareness on landmines, other threats and progress towards their eradication.
Key Points:
i.In 2005, the UN (United Nations) General Assembly declared April 4 as the International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action.
ii.About UNMAS: The United Nations Mine Action Service specializes in coordinating and implementing the activities to limit the threat posed by mines, explosives remnants of war and improvised explosive devices.
About UNMAS:
Headquarters– New York, US(United states).
Director– Agnès Marcaillou.
Army Medical Corps celebrates its 256th Raising Day: April 3, 2020
On April 3, 2020, The Army Medical Corps (AMC) celebrated its 256th Raising Day and the day was raised based on the Royal Medical Corps. The 256th Raising Day was held with the motto “Sarve Santu Niramaya”, meaning “ Let all humans be free from disease and disability”.
Key Points:
i.About AMC: The AMC has excellence centers across the country with state-of-the-art equipment providing quality patient care.
ii.It has excelled in all fields such as warzone, foreign missions, peacetime assignments or humanitarian assistance with aid to civil authorities in emergency situations.
iii.AMC has also actively involved and established screening, isolation and treatment facilities for Armed Forces personnel in the ongoing Coronavirus crisis.
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| Current Affairs Today (AffairsCloud Today) | |
| S.no | Current Affairs 5 & 6 April 2020 |
| 1 | Sanjay Dhotre launched “Hack the Crisis – India”online Hackathon to find working solutions to beat COVID-19 |
| 2 | Civil services associations form an initiative called ‘Caruna’ to fight COVID-19 |
| 3 | Home minister Amit shah approves Rs 11,092 crore for all states to deal with coronavirus |
| 4 | COVID-19: NHA partnered with Uber India to provide transport services to frontline healthcare workers |
| 5 | IAF transports 6.2 tons of essential medicines to Maldives under ‘Operation Sanjeevani’ |
| 6 | 1st time Blue chip VC firms & startup CEOs to set up ‘Action Covid-19 Team’ Grants |
| 7 | Fitch declined India growth forecast to 2% for FY21 from 5.1% |
| 8 | Indian NGO ARMMAN among 4 winners to clinch Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship 2020 |
| 9 | SEBI whole time member (WTM) Madhabi Puri Buch gets 6 month extension |
| 10 | Union HRD Minister launches MHRD AICTE COVID-19 for students |
| 11 | PIB sets up COVID-19 fact check unit, started daily bulletin |
| 12 | Pune based company develops technology- “Scitech Airon negative ion generator” |
| 13 | Bione launches India’s 1st home screening test kit for COVID-19 |
| 14 | Coronavirus: IIT Roorkee in association with AIIMS-Rishikesh prepares low-cost portable ventilator ‘Prana-vayu’ |
| 15 | 2022 Asian Games mascot“smart triplets” unveiled at digital ceremony in Hangzhou, China |
| 16 | 2021 World Games in Birmingham, Alabama postponed to 2022 |
| 17 | American singer & 3 time Grammy awardee Bill Withers passed away at 81 |
| 18 | International Transgender Day of Visibility: March 31 |
| 19 | International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action 2020: April 4 |
| 20 | Army Medical Corps celebrates its 256th Raising Day: April 3, 2020 |
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