WEEKLY GK CURRENT AFFAIRS 5TH – 11TH APRIL 2020
Continue with our Weekly Current affair series this time we come with
the current affair news summary from 5th April to 11th
April 2020. These current affairs news are very important from the point of Competitive examination.
So read the full article carefully. We mentioned the most important points
related to each current affair news which makes you understand the news
easily and to remember the important point easily related to that news. We will
share a weekly update with you related to the weekly news.
Those who have missed our previous weekly current affair news
article can check on our website through the following link: “ Weekly current affairs from 29th March to 4
April 2020” for full news.
1. ‘CARUNA’ TO FIGHT COVID-19: Associations representing
officers of Central Civil Services, including the IAS and 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).
2. UBERMEDIC TO PROVIDE SERVICES TO
HEALTHCARE WORKERS: 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. 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.
3. IAF TRANSPORTS 6.2 TONS MEDICINES TO
MALDIVES: Coronavirus
(COVID 19) is causing terrible havoc in the country and the world at this time.
So Indian Air Force (IAF) has launched „Operation Sanjeevani‟ and
air-lifted 6.2 tonnes of essential medical supplies to the Maldives via transport
aircraft C-130J as assistance in fight against the virus.
4. PIB SETS UP COVID-19 FACT CHECK UNIT: 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.
5. INDIA’S 1ST HOME SCREENING TEST KIT FOR
COVID-19: 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). 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.
6. LOW-COST PORTABLE VENTILATOR ‘PRANA-VAYU’:
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.
7. 2022 ASIAN GAMES MASCOT UNVEILED: The official mascots of
the 19th Asian Games, to be from 10 to 25 September 2022, were unveiled at
Hangzhou, China. The ceremony was conducted online due to the coronavirus
pandemic. 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”.
8. PMKSY
FOR FY 2019-20: The
state of Tamil Nadu has topped the all-India level for micro-irrigation (MI),
under Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY), with coverage of
2,06,853.25 ha for the year financial year 2019-20. The state is followed by
Karnataka and Gujarat. This programme promotes the“more crop per drop” concept
by focussing on water-saving technologies with an objective of “HarKhetkoPani”.
9. COVID-19 TREATMENT FREE FOR AB-PMJAY
BENEFICIARIES: National
Health Authority (NHA) announced that more than 50 crore eligible citizens
under the health insurance scheme of Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya
Yojana (AB-PMJAY) will avail free testing through private labs and treatment
for COVID-19 in empanelled hospitals to increase the supply of testing and
treatment facilities in the country.
10. IOB & HDFC BANK FOR PM CARES FUND
COLLECTION: After
SBI, now State-owned Indian Overseas Bank (IOB) and private lender Housing
Development Finance Corporation (HDFC) Bank have been nominated for the
collection of donations for Prime Minister‟s Citizen Assistance and
Relief in Emergency Situations Fund (PM-CARES Fund). The HDFC group has
contributed Rs.150 crores to the PM-CARES Fund.
11. LOW-COST VENTILATOR CALLED ‘JEEVAN LITE’:
Aerobiosys
Innovations Private Limited, a start-up incubated at The Center for Healthcare
Entrepreneurship (CfHE) in the Indian Institute of Technology-Hyderabad
(IIT-H)– Telangana, has designed a low cost portable emergency ventilator
called „Jeevan Lite‟. Also Indian Railways has developed a
low-cost ventilator „Jeevan‟ at its premier coach
production unit,Rail Coach Factory (RCF), Kapurthala in Punjab.
12. NASA’S ARTEMIS: NASA unveiled its plan to
setup „Artemis‟, the first human base camp on Moon‟s
South Pole by 2024 through a 13-page report titled “NASA‟s
Plan for Sustained Lunar Exploration and Development”. The report was submitted
to the National Space Council, an advisory group to United States (US)
President Donald Trump, presided over by Vice President Mike Pence.
13. IWF BANS THAILAND & MALAYSIA: The Independent Member
Federation Sanctions Panel (IMFSP) of the International Weightlifting
Federation (IWF) has banned Thailand and Malaysia from participating in
weightlifting events at the Tokyo Olympics due to multiple doping offences.
14. NATIONAL MARITIME DAY 2020: APRIL 5: World Maritime Day (WMD)
is observed on the last week of September on Thursday annually and this year
the day will be celebrated on September 24, 2020.
15. INTERNATIONAL DAY OF CONSCIENCE 2020:
APRIL 5: IDC)
is observed for the 1st time to recognize the need to establish stability,
well-being, peaceful and friendly relations on the basis of respect for human
rights.
16. CABINET APPROVED 30% SALARY CUT OF MPS: Union Cabinet headed by
Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi has approved an ordinance of 30% cut in the
salaries of all Members of Parliament (MPs) for FY 20-21 and a two-year
suspension (2020-21 and 2021-22) of the MP Local Area Development (MPLAD)
scheme so that the amount saved can go to the Consolidated Fund of India to
fight COVID-19. Through this suspension, Rs 10 crore from each MPLAD fund will
go to the Consolidated Fund of India. The amount saved from the scheme would be
Rs.7,900 crore.
17. NATIONAL
ACADEMIC DEPOSITORY (NAD): DigiLocker, an online document wallet has been designated
as the sole National Academic Depository (NAD) by the Ministry of Human
Resource and Development (MHRD) to enable educational institutions to store
digital copies of academic awards, mark sheets and certificates on the
cloud-based service. University Grants Commission (UGC) will implement NAD as a
permanent scheme within Digilocker.
18. USAID ANNOUNCES $2.9 MILLION AID TO
INDIA: The
US (United States) Government, through its aid agency USAID (United States
Agency for International Development), has announced a grant of USD (United
States Dollar) 2.9 million to India to fight against Coronavirus.
19. RBI RELAXED THE NORMS OF STATE/UT TO
AVAIL OVERDRAFT: RBI
has decided to increase the number of days that a State/UT can continue to overdraft
to 21 working days from the current stipulation of 14 working days as they are
facing cash flow mismatches due to coronavirus. In addition overdraft in a
quarter has also been increased to 50 working days from the current stipulation
of 36 working days.
20. ‘FORCE MAJEURE’ NOT APPLICABLE TO
COVID-19: In a
move to reassure COVID-19 health policy holders, the Life Insurance Council of
India has confirmed that the clause of „Force Majeure‟
will not apply in case of COVID-19 death claims and it is applicable for both
state-run and private life insurance players.
21. NEW CHAIRMAN OF NASSCOM: The National Association
of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM) appoints Infosys Chief Operating
Officer(COO) UB Pravin Rao as its chairman & chairman and senior managing
director of Accenture in India Rekha M Menon as its vice president for 2020-21.
22. WORLD HEALTH DAY 2020: APRIL 7: Theme of the year 2020:
Support nurses and midwives. The WHO designated 2020 as International Year of
Nurse and Midwife
23. DELHI CM ANNOUNCES 5T PLAN: Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal
announced a 5T plan which includes- Testing, Tracing, Treatment, Teamwork &
Tracking and monitoring to control the spread of COVID-19 in the state,
24. DGFT
LIFTED EXPORT RESTRICTION ON 24 PHARMA INGREDIENTS, MEDICINES: Directorate General of
Foreign Trade (DGFT) under Ministry of Commerce & Industry has removed
export restrictions on 24 pharma ingredients including 12 active pharmaceutical
ingredients (API) and 12 formulations by exercising the powers conferred by
Section 3 of the Foreign Trade (Development & Regulation) Act, 1992.
•
The APIs which got free from restrictions include vitamins B1, B6 and B12,
tinidazole, metronidazole, acyclovir, progesterone, chloramphenicol.
25. SMART CITIES TO PROVIDE ONLINE
CONSULTATION: Smart
cities are collaborating with certified doctors and health experts to provide
online medical consultation facilities to citizens. The city of Ahmedabad in
Gujarat has been ranked as the top Smart City in India for its execution of
smart projects in handling COVID-19 pandemic.
26. SIDBI OFFERS EMERGENCY WORKING CAPITAL OF
UP TO RS 1 CRORE TO SMES: The Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI)
has announced that it will provide emergency working capital of up to Rs 1
crore to Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). SIDBI Assistance to Facilitate
Emergency response against coronavirus (SAFE) loan limit has been increased to
2 crores from Rs 50 lakhs.It is a financial assistance program launched by
SIDBI for MSMEs that engage in the manufacturing of products (hand sanitizers,
masks, gloves, head gear, bodysuits, shoe covers, ventilators, goggles, among
others) or offer services to combat the novel coronavirus.
27. MOBILE
DOCTOR BOOTH CALLED ‘CHARAK’: The West Central Railway‟s
Coach Rehabilitation Workshop (CRWS) in Madhya Pradesh‟s
(MP) Bhopal city,has created a mobile doctor booth called “CHARAK” to eliminate
the possibility of physical contact between the doctor and the coronavirus (COVID-19)
infected patient. Also Ministry of Health to divide health centers into 3
categories for corona patients
28. ‘BREAKTHECHAIN’
CAMPAIGN AGAINST CORONAVIRUS: Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL), a
British-Dutch manufacturing company based in Mumbai, Maharashtra, has joined
hands with the United Nations Children‟s Fund (UNICEF) for a
mass communication campaign titled „#BreakTheChain‟ or
#VirusKiKadiTodo‟ based on 3 themes – social distancing, hand
washing and generosity, to inform people about the Coronavirus (COVID-19)
epidemic and empower them to protect it.
29.
UNSC MET FOR 1ST TIME TO DISCUSS COVID-19: The United Nation Security Council (UNSC) met
for the first time through closed video-conference session with
Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to discuss the impact of COVID-19 on the
issues that fall under the UNSC‟s mandate.
30.
APPLE ACQUIRES DARK SKY WEATHER APP: Apple has acquired the Dark Sky, a weather
app, which forecasts hyper-local weather predictions and ability to minute by minute,
its iPhone Operating System (iOS) app which costs USD 3.99 will not be
modified, and the Android and Wear OS app can‟t be downloaded anymore.
31.
FIFA’S RANKING 2020: According
to the FIFA (Federation Internationale de Football Association)/Coca-Cola
World Ranking 2020, released on April 09, 2020, Indian football team retained
its 108th position with 1187 points. While Belgium ranked first and
world champion France is in 2nd place and Brazil is at 3rd spot.
32.
INDIAN-AMERICAN VETERAN JOURNALIST BRAHM KANCHIBOTLA PASSED AWAY AT 66: On April 6, 2020, The Indian-American
veteran journalist Brahm Kanchibotla passed away at 66 due to
coronavirus in a hospital on Long Island in New York, United States(US).
Key
Points:
i. In recent years, he has
been writing for two Indian-American publications, the Indian Panorama and the
South Asia Times.
ii. During his 28-year career
in the US, he worked for 11 years as a content editor for Merger Markets, a
financial publication, and also worked for News India-Times Weekly.
iii.
He
emigrated to the US in 1992 after having worked for several publications in
India.
33.
WORLD HOMEOPATHY DAY 2020: APRIL 10: This year the day marks the 265th birth
anniversary of the father of the Homeopathy systems of medicines Dr.
Christian Friedrich Samuel Hahnemann, a German physician, discovered the
way to heal through the use of homeopathy. The term „homeopathy‟
comes from the combination of the two Greek words, homeo- meaning similar &
pathos- meaning suffering or disease.
Theme
of the year 2020: “Enhancing
the scope of Homeopathy in Public Health”.
34.
RBI LAUNCHES TWITTER CAMPAIGN: RBI launched a Twitter campaign to adopt
digital modes of payment that are convenient and safe and reiterated the
multiple digital payment options such as NEFT, IMPS, UPI and BBPS that are
available 24*7.The face of the campaign is Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan.
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