Current Affairs 01 April 2020

PM Narendra Modi formulated PM-CARES fund to fight coronavirus outbreak

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has created assistance and emergency situation relief fund namely Prime Minister's Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations Fund (PM-CARES) where people can contribute and help in the government's fight against coronavirus. This newly created public charitable trust has PM Narendra Modi as the chairman and defence minister (Rajnath Singh), home minister (Amit Shah) and the finance minister (Nirmala Sitharaman) as its members.

  • People can visit pmindia.gov.in to make contributions using credit and debit cards, UPI, net banking and RTGS or NEFT.
  • State Bank of India (SBI) is the banking partner of PM-CARES

Key Contributions towards PM-CARES
People from all spheres and occupations are making contributions. Here are the key ones:
-President Ram NathKovind donated a month's salary to the fund.
-Indian Railways is donating Rs 151 crore to help in combating the coronavirus threat.
-The Army, Navy and the Indian Air Force as well as employees of the Defence Ministry have decided to donate one day's salary totalling around Rs 500 crore.
-The Supreme Court staff will give up to three days' worth of salary to the PM CARES fund.
-Tata Sons and Tata Trusts have pledged to give Rs 1,500 crore. Adani Group owner Gautam Adani had also pledged to give Rs 100 crore towards the fund. Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar donated Rs 25 crore towards the fund, among others.

COVID-19: IIT Bombay develops two apps "Corontine" and "Safe" to track violations by those in quarantine

On March 29, 2020, As the Coronavirus (COVID- 19) crisis spreads, IIT (Indian Institute of Technology)-Bombay developed 2 mobile applications called "Corontine" and "Safe", that can track violations by people supposed to be in quarantine. The proposals of both apps have been sent to officials in the Ministry of Human Resource and Department, Niti Aayog, the Maharashtra government and the BMC (Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation). Key Points:
i.The app has been developed by Department of Computer Science and Engineering (CSE) Department students, teachers along with some professionals and an alumnus.
ii.About Corontine app: The app helps authorities by checking the suspected carriers are confined in their quarantine zones. It uses geo-fencing & automatically generates alerts [SMS (short message service),email (Electronic Mail), etc.] if suspected people move out of the quarantine zone.
iii.The app can be installed on the mobile phones of asymptomatic carriers (AC) by an authorised agency (AA).
It will send GPS (Global Positioning System) coordinates of the mobiles periodically to the server under the supervision of AA & automatically detect when the user moves a specified quarantine zone marked by geo-fence. iv.About Safe app: The quarantined individual will take a selfie, say for 4 times a day & the authorities check whether they are in the desired location. The violations can be checked on the authenticated user interface.
v.The safe app was used by several students of IIT-Bombay to mark their attendance in class or exams.
About IIT-Bombay:
Motto– Knowledge is the Supreme Goal.
Director– Subhasis Chaudhuri.

Centre approves medical insurance scheme for health workers dealing with COVID-19

On March 29, 2020 the centre has approved a Rs 50 lakh medical insurance scheme for healthcare workers who are dealing with coronavirus pandemic. The approval made is a part of measures under Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Package of Rs 1.7 lakhs announced by finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman. Under these conditions the centre approved the scheme;
i.It provides insurance cover for 90 days to around 22.12 lakh public healthcare providers, Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA) workers & community health workers who will have to be in direct contact with the affected patients & who may be at risk of being impacted & lose their lives.
ii.Due to the unprecedented situation, the insurance scheme will also cover private hospital staff, retirees, volunteers, contract workers, daily wagers and outsourced staff hired by the central, state governments and autonomous hospitals of Central, States, Union territories(UT), All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) & hospitals of Central Ministries and the cases reported will be subject to the numbers indicated by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

iii.The insurance offered under this plan will be higher than any other insurance coverage received by the beneficiary. The scheme will be funded by the National Disaster Response Fund(NDRF) budget which is operated by the ministry for this purpose. This comes at the backdrop of a 21-day lockdown in the entire country to deal with the spread of the coronavirus.
About of Ministry of Health and Family Welfare:
Union Minister
– Harsh Vardhan
Minister of State– Ashwini Kumar Choubey

Government set up 11 different empowered groups: Lockdown

On March 30, 2020 the government has set up 11 different empowered groups under Disaster Management Act, 2005 to suggest measures to improve health, restore the economy, & ease the suffering of people after a 21-day lockdown which is imposed for the control of the COVID-19 outbreak.
Key Points
i.Each group consists of about 6 members including a senior representative from the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) and the Cabinet Secretariat to ensure seamless coordination ii.The groups are empowered to formulate plans and take all necessary steps for their time-bound implementation & the initiative is viewed as a pro-government action to tackle many of the challenges erupted by COVID-19.
iii.The following are the 11 different empowered groups & their heads ( 9 are headed by Secretary level officers, 1 by NITI Aayog member, and 1 by NITI Aayog CEO) Group on Medical Emergency & Management Plan- NITI Aayog member Dr V Paul. Group on Availability of Hospitals, Disease Surveillance and Testing and Critical Care Training- Environment Secretary, C K Mishra. Group on ensuring the availability of essential medical equipment, production Procurement, Import & Distribution- Pharmaceuticals Secretary, P D Vaghela. Group on augmenting Human Resources and Capacity Building- Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) Secretary, Arun Panda. Group on Facilitating Supply Chain & Logistics Management for availability of necessary items- Drinking Water Secretary, Parameswaran Iyer. Group on coordinating with the private sector- Chief Executive Officer(CEO) of NITI Aayog Amitabh Kant. Group on Economic and Welfare measures- Economic Affairs Secretary, Atanu Chakraborty. Group on Information, Communication and Public Awareness- Information & Broadcasting Secretary, Ravi Mittal. Group on Technology and Data Management- Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITY) Secretary, Ajay Sawhney. Group on Public Grievances- HRD Secretary, Amit Khare. Group on Strategic issues- Home Secretary, Ajay Kumar Bhalla. About Disaster Management Act, 2005:
It was established by Government of India on 23rd December, 2005 for efficient management of disasters and related or incidental matters which extends to the whole of India.National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) was formally constituted on September 27, 2006 as per the act.

EPF (Amendment) scheme, 2020 comes into force; withdrawal of non-refundable advance allowed

On March 28, 2020, the Employees Provident Fund (Amendment) scheme, 2020, has come into force by amending Employees' Provident Funds (EPF)Scheme 1952.A sub-para(3) under para 68L has been added in the EPF scheme, 1952. This amendment has been made by the Ministry of Labour and Employment.

  • This amendment allows the withdrawal of non-refundable advance by EPF members in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic in the country.
  • This non-refundable withdrawal should not exceed the basic wages and dearness allowance (DA) for three months or up to 75% of the amounts standing to the credit of their EPF account, whichever is less.

EPFO has directed its field officers for quick processing of applications received from EPF members as a relief measure for helping them to tackle COVID-19 outbreak. Amendment comes into force from March 28, 2020. Union Labour and Employment Minister – Santhosh Kumar Gangwar EPFO – HQ – New Delhi CEO or Central Provident Fund Commissioner (CPFC) -Sunil Barthwal

Dr. Harsh Vardhan launches National Teleconsultation Centre (CoNTeC)

Union Minister of Health & Family Welfare Dr. Harsh Vardhan has launched CoNTeC an acronym for COVID-19 National Teleconsultation Centre, a Telemedicine Hub in New Delhi to connect the Doctors across the country to AIIMS (All India Institute of Medical Sciences) in real time for treatment of the COVID-19 patients.

  • This Centre conceptualised by the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare has been implemented by the AIIMS, New Delhi with 24X7 facilities.
  • CoNTeC has been made operational at AIIMS with a single mobile number (+91 9115444155) that can be dialled from anywhere in the country/world by COVID-19 treating doctors.
  • Their queries will be answered by expert doctors from various clinical domains through 2 way audio-video and text communications.
  • The decision has been taken to make AIIMSas hub of activity for the district hospitals to connect with them for consultation, telemedicine, education, training, interaction and exchange of protocols between themselves.
  • The CoNTeC is also fully integrated with the National Medical College Network (NMCN) to conduct a full-fledged Video Conference (VC) between the 50 Medical Colleges connected through the NMCN with its National Resource Centre located at Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences (SGPGI), Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh.

It should be noted that the patient management advice offered will be standardized as per the national guidelines supplemented protocols developed by the team at AIIMS, nominated by the Director, AIIMS.

Maharashtra Chief Secretary gets another 3-month extension: COVID-19

On March 28, 2020 The centre has accepted the request from Maharashtra government for a further 3-month extension to Ajoy Mehta as state Chief Secretary who will remain in the post till June 30 due to state health emergency (coronavirus).
Key Points:
i.He is a Indian Administrative Officer(IAS) of 1984 batch who was appointed as the state chief secretary & was to retire on September 30 2019. But considering the 2019 assembly polls, he was given an extension of 6 months, which was ending on March 31.
ii.The Senior IAS officer is the 1st bureaucrat in the state to get an extension beyond 6 months.
iii.Earlier, 2 former chief secretaries of the Jayant Kumar Banthia and Johny Joseph, were given 6 month extensions after their retirement.
About Maharashtra:
Chief Minister(CM)– Uddhav Thackeray
Governor– Bhagat Singh Koshyari

German Minister Thomas Schaefer passed away at 54

On March 30, 2020, Thomas Schaefer, Finance Minister of Hesse (Germany), 54 years old, has committed suicide apparently after becoming "deeply worried" over how to cope with the economic fallout from the Coronavirus. He was born on February 22, 1966, in Hemer, North Rhine- Westphalia, West Germany.

Key Points:
i.About Thomas Schaefer: Thomas served as Finance Minister of Hesse for 10 years (2010-20). He was a
lawyer & belonged to the CDU (Christian Democratic Union of Germany) party. He was the possible successor of
Volker Bouffier.
ii.Fact: Hesse is home to Germany's financial capital Frankfurt, where major lenders like Deutsche Bank and
Commerzbank have their headquarters. The European Central bank is also located in Frankfurt.

IMF declared recession in World due to COVID-19 impact

International Monetary Fund(IMF) Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva has declared a global recession driven by the COVID-19 pandemic that could be worse than the 2008-09 global financial crisis. But recovery is also projected in 2021, if the nations succeed in curbing the coronavirus as well as limiting the economic damage.This announcement regarding the recession has been made after a telephonic conference of IMF with finance officials from the 24 nations that make up the IMF's policy-setting panel-International Monetary and Financial Committee.

  • The estimated overall financial needs of emerging markets is 2.5 trillion dollars as 81 emergency financing requests, including 50 from lower-income countries, have been received by IMF.
  • Kyrgyzstan would receive the first IMF support package of $120.9 million to deal with adverse effects of the virus. Steps to be Taken by IMF to support nations: -IMF is ready to make $1 trillion of its lending resources available to countries being hit by the virus. -To meet the increased demand IMF would seek to double the emergency financing program and simplify the procedures for countries to obtain IMF support.

What is Recession?
The term recession is a macroeconomics term and refers to a period of decline in economic activity lasting more than a few months. It has an unfavourable impact on real GDP, real income, employment, industrial production, and wholesale-retail sales.

About IMF:
Establishment– 1945
Members– 189 including India
Headquarters– Washington, D.C., United States

ADB commits $ 100 million in Indian infrastructure sector through NIIF

On March 30, 2020, Asian Development Bank (ADB),a regional development bank will invest $100 million into the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) of India Fund of Funds (FoF). With this, the FoF has now received a total of  $700 million in commitments.
Key Points:
i.The investment comes at a time when India's economy is expected to suffer huge losses due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) epidemic.
ii.This will help in increasing the capital of domestic private equity funds in India. It will also contribute a great deal in providing long term growth financing for private sector companies, social infrastructure development and economic development.
iii.FoF of NIIF was created in 2018 with the aim to invest in a variety of sectors and strategies through third-party managed funds. Till now, it has secured commitments to 3 Funds totalling to over Rs.2,600 crore ($350 million).
About Asian Development Bank (ADB):
Headquarters
– Mandaluyong, Philippines
President– Masatsugu Asakawa
About National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF):
Headquarters
– Mumbai, Maharashtra
Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer– Sujoy Bose

SFBs can provide risk-free simple financial services without seeking RBI's nod

On March 28, 2020, Small Finance Banks (SFBs) have received permission from Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to carry out non risk sharing simple financial service activities that don not require any commitment of own fund,without seeking the latter's prior approval. This permit is applicable only to those SFBs who have completed three years of operations.

  • The Central Bank has also allowed for general permission to all existing SFBs to open banking outlets subject to adherence to Unbanked Rural Centre norms.
  • SFBs: 1949 and primarily governed by Banking Regulation Act,1949 and RBI Act,1934. They provide basic banking service of acceptance of deposits and lending to demographic sections that are not being served by other banks. SFBs were recommended by the NachiketMor committee on financial inclusion.

PNB releases new logo ahead of merger with UBI & OBC on April 1, 2020

On March 30, 2020, The Punjab National Bank (PNB) has launched a new logo before the mega merger of the bank with the United Bank of India (UBI) and the Oriental Bank of Commerce (OBC) comes into force from 1 April, 2020. The new logo will have signages of all the 3 banks.
i.With the merger, PNB will be the 2nd largest bank in the country with a total business and size of Rs 17.94 lakh crore. Currently, State Bank of India (SBI) is the largest bank in the country, whose total business is about 52 lakh crore rupees.
About Punjab National Bank (PNB):
Headquarters
– New Delhi
MD & CEO– S. S. Mallikarjuna Rao
Tagline– The name you can bank upon.

Merger of 10 state-run banks into 4 to come into force from April 1: RBI

The mega bank consolidation plan is all set to come into force from April 1, 2020.  The branches of merging banks will operate as of the banks in which these have been amalgamated. Also, the customers of merging banks will be treated as customers of the banks in which these banks have been merged with effect from April 1, 2020.

  • The government on March 4 had notified the amalgamation schemes for 10 state-owned banks into four as part of its consolidation plan to create bigger size stronger banks in the public sector.
  • As per the scheme, Oriental Bank of Commerce and United Bank of India will be merged into Punjab National Bank; Syndicate Bank into Canara Bank; Allahabad Bank into Indian Bank; and Andhra Bank and Corporation Bank into Union Bank of India.

Ind-Ra trims India's GDP forecast to 3.6% from 5.5% for FY21

On March 30, 2020, India Ratings & Research (Ind-Ra), the Indian subsidiary of Fitch group, has lowered India's gross domestic product (GDP) growth estimates for the financial year 2020-21 (FY21) to 3.6 % from 5.5% due to concerns over the coronavirus (COVID- 19).
Key Points:
i.
The rating agency believes that a full or partial lockdown will go away in late April 14, 2020 and economic activity will only slowly derail after May.
ii.The agency estimates the growth rate to be 2.3 % in the June quarter, which is lower than the agency's 4.7 % GDP estimate for the current fiscal FY-20.
iii.The growth rate in the first half of the FY-21 is expected to be 2.8 %, which is much lower than the 5.3 % growth in the year-ago period. The growth rate may improve to 4.3 % in the second quarter of the next financial year, which is higher than the 4.2 % estimate for the second half of FY 2020.
About India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra):
Headquarters
– Mumbai, Maharashtra.
It is a 100% owned subsidiary of the Fitch Group.
MD & CEO– Rohit karan Sawhney

Mirza Waheed and Santanu Das win The Hindu Prize 2019

The Hindu prize (annual) 2019 is awarded to Mirza Waheed's Tell Her Everything (Fiction)-2019 and Santanu Das's India, Empire, and First World War Culture: Writings, Images and Songs (Non-Fiction)-2018.
Key Points
i.Mirza Waheed's novel talks about human ethics, noble love & the corrosive nature of companionship & is published by Westland Publications Limited (Context).
ii.He also has written 2 other novels namely: The Collaborator(2012), The Book of Gold Leaves(2014) & also is a journalist.
iii.Santanu Das' book retrieves the intellectual worlds of militants, non-combatants and civilians from India, who were not divided in World War I, is published by Cambridge University Press.
iv.He also has written Touch and Intimacy in First World War Literature(2006).
v.Prize was founded in 2010 to honor writers who have spent the rest of their lives mining the human spirit with their words & ideas.

Rajasthan police launched a mobile app named "RajCop citizens app"

Rajasthan police launched a mobile app called "RajCop citizens app" to enable individuals and company employees in the state take permission for venturing out in necessary conditions which was developed by Data Ingenious GLobal Limited.

Saudi Arabia assures uninterrupted LPG supply to India

Minister of Petroleum & Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan has announced that Saudi Arabia assured India to get uninterrupted Liquefied petroleum gas(LPG) supply during the discussion on global oil market developments with Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman and Aramco's Chief Executive Amin
Nasser via video conference.

The post Current Affairs 01 April 2020 appeared first on Xiaomist.

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