DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS: APRIL 16, 2020

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Daily Current Affairs (April 16, 2020) like many other sections is inevitable and this also helps to score in the Banking awareness, Static GK and Financial Awareness sections. Remember, Banking Awareness and Static Awareness Questions are asked from the General Awareness section. This will also help you to ride your preparations for the forthcoming exams.

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National News

Rajasthan govt. launches ‘SMILE’ for e-learning at School:

• Rajasthan’s State Education Department launched ‘SMILE’ – ‘Social Media for Learning Engagement’. 
• It is a digital platform to provide online classes and courses through various platforms of Social Media.
• Rajasthan Education Minister: Govind Singh Dotasra.

Rajasthan

• Capital:Jaipur
• Chief Minister:Ashok Gehlot
• Governor:Kalraj Mishra

Jim Corbett is India’s first quarantine facility for animals

• India’s oldest Jim Corbett National Park in Uttarakhand has built isolation ward for animals. At least ten quarantine centres are being prepared within the premises to contain animals.
• National Tiger Conservation Authority-NTCA was launched in 2005.

Uttarakhand:

• Capital- Gairsain(summer capital), Dehradun (winter capital).
• Chief Minister:Trivendra Singh Rawat

• Governor- Baby Rani Maurya.

• National Parks- Corbett NP, Gangotri NP, Govind PashuVihar NP, Nanda Devi NP, Rajaji NP, Valley of Flowers NP.

External affairs ministry announced COVID-19 training program for healthcare professionals from SAARC countries

• Ministry of External Affairs has announced a training program on COVID-19 from April 17 for healthcare professionals from the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) countries. 
• It will be carried out by the Centre’s Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) programme.

Telangana CM recommended the implementation of “Helicopter Money”:

• While formulating strategies to curb the adverse impact of COVID-19, a term “helicopter money” landed on the internet surface. This term has been used by Telangana Chief Minister (CM) Kalvakuntla Chandrashekhar Rao during a video-conference with Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi.

Telangana

• Capital:Hyderabad
• Chief Minister:K. Chandrashekar Rao
• Governor:TamilisaiSoundararajan

• National Parks(NP):KasuBrahmananda Reddy NP, Mahaveer Harina NP, Mrugavani NP.

Vikram Solar bags 300 MW solar project in Rajasthan from NTPC:

• Green Energy provider, Vikram Solar bagged a 300 MW solar plant project for Rs 1,750 cr. From NTPC.
• The plant is to be spread across 1,500 acres in Rajasthan under the CPSU – II scheme. It is expected to be completed in 18 months.

• CEO of Vikram Solar: Saibaba Vutukuri.

• Headquarters: Kolkata.

West Bengal

• Capital:Kolkata
• Chief Minister:Mamata Banerjee
• Governor:Jagdeep Dhankhar

Andhra Pradesh CM Jagan Mohan Reddy launches ‘YSR Nirman’ online platform:

• Andhra Pradesh (AP) Chief Minister (CM) Jagan Mohan Reddy launches ‘YSR Nirman’ an online platform on April 6 to help various departments of the State to procure cement from suppliers for government works such as Polavaram irrigation project, housing and roads & also display availability of cement demand and supply on a real-time basis.

Andhra Pradesh

• Capital: Amaravati

• Chief Minister: Y. S. Jaganmohan Reddy

• Governor: Biswa Bhushan Harichandan

• Folk dances: Kuchipudi, Vilasini Natyam, Bhamakalpam, Veeranatyam.

• National Park: Sri Venkateswara National Park ,Rajiv Gandhi National Park, Papikonda National Park.

Maharashtra government launches ‘COVID-MADAT’ for tele-screening:

• Pune platform for COVID-19 Response (PPCR) with support of Maharashtra state Innovation Society launched ‘COVID-MADAT’, a telemedicine helpline to telescreen people. The caller is expected to answer some questions through an intelligent IVR Platform.
• Operated by ‘Telemeds Vs COVID-19’, a group of start-up founders.

Maharashtra

• Capital: Mumbai

• Chief Minister: Uddhav Thackeray

• Governor: Bhagat Singh Koshyari

Aarogya Setu app became the World’s fastest app to reach 50 million downloads:

• The Central Government’s mobile app “Aarogya Setu” has become the world’s fastest app to reach 50 million downloads in just 13 days. The information was passed by the NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant on 15 April. 
• The app was developed for tracking COVID-19 patients. The Aarogya Setu app alerts people if any known person or person in their vicinity has tested positive.

International News

GP Global acquires lubricants assets of Nigeria’s Grand Petroleum:

• GP Global, an energy-agriculture conglomerate has acquired Nigeria based Grand Petroleum assets to strengthen its presence in Nigeria. It includes a lubricant plant and a blending plant. GP Global plans to set up a new blending plant in India.
• GP Global is based on UAE.

GSK and Sanofi join forces to create vaccine

• Two of the world’s largest pharmaceutical giants GSK & Sanofi joined hands to create a vaccine for COVID-19. Even if it’s successful, it will not be ready until the second half of next year. Vaccines usually take a decade to be developed.
• GSK Headquarters: UK.
• Sanofi Headquarters: France.

Banking and Technology

BSNL in partnership with SBI launches Bharat InstaPay a UPI-based payment platform

• Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) in partnership with the State Bank of India (SBI) has launched a Unified Payments Interface (UPI) based payment platform, Bharat InstaPay to enable all types of channel partners of BSNL to digitize their payment transactions on a round the clock basis/ real- time basis.

BSNL:

• Headquarters– New Delhi, India
• Chairman & Managing Director– Pravin Kumar Purwar

SBI:

• Headquarters– Mumbai, Maharashtra

• Chairman– Rajnish Kumar

Science and Technology

Researchers at NIT-Karnataka develops cost-effective disinfectant chamber called ‘ZERO-COV’

• In view of increasing pandemic coronavirus (COVID-19) cases, a team of researchers from National Institute of Technology-Karnataka (NIT-K) at Surathkal.
• It has designed a disinfection chamber called ‘ZERO-COV’ to disinfect personal protective equipment (PPE) tools, surgical masks, vegetables, packaged food items, currency notes and other day-to-day items within 15 minutes.

National Institute of Technology-Karnataka:

• Motto– Work is worship
• Chairperson– Dr. K. Balaveera Reddy

Appointments

Care Ratings appoints Ajay Mahajan MD, Chief Executive:

• Ajay Mahajan who has been working in IDFC First Bank has been appointed as the MD, Chief Executive of Care ratings for a period of five years. He had also worked with Bank of America in which he was the country head.
• CARE Ratings Head Office: Mumbai.

Lakshmi Vilas Bank appoints Chief Risk Officer

• Lakshmi Vilas Bank appointed S Vaidyanathan as the Chief Risk Officer of the bank for a period of two years. He was the Assistant Vice President of the Risk Department.
• Lakshmi Vilas Bank HO: Chennai.

Andhra Bank, Syndicate Bank chiefs appointed as OSD in different banks:

• Andhra Bank MD J Packirisamy & Syndicate Bank CEO Mruthanjay Mahapatra was appointed as Officer on Special Duty (OSD) in the Union Bank of India & Canara Bank respectively. 
• Andhra Bank & Corporation Bank merged with Union Bank. Syndicate Bank merged with Canara Bank.

Canara Bank:

• Headquarters– Bengaluru, Karnataka.
• MD & CEO– Lingam Venkat Prabhakar.
• Tagline– Together We Can.

Union Bank of India:

• Headquarters– Mumbai.
• MD & CEO– G Rajkiran Rai.
• Tagline– Good People to Bank With.

Awards and Recognitions

International Prize for Arabic Fiction 2020: Abdelouahab Aissaoui of Algeria:

• The International Prize for Arabic Fiction (IPAF) has its 1st winner from Algeria for his Novel ‘The Spartan Court’. 
• IPAF is one of the most generous literary awards sponsored by Dept of Culture & Tourism (Abu Dhabi) & the Booker Prize Foundation.
• Aissaoui receives $50000 prize; English translation of his book.

Obituary News

Former Pakistani Cricketer Zafar Sarfaraz passes away at 50:

• Former Pakistani first-class cricketer Zafar Sarfaraz became the first professional player in the country to die after contracting COVID-19.
•  Sarfaraz was a middle-order batsman played 15 First-class games and retired in 1994.
• Pakistan President: Arif Alvi.

Willie Davis, Pro Football Hall of Famer, dies

• NFL Hall of Famer, Willie Davis, passed away. He was the first black captain for the Packers in 1965 and spent 10 years with the Wisconsin team. Davis never missed a single game of 138 with the packers.
• Davis was inducted in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1981.

Sports News

World’s most famous cycle race tour de France postponed:

• World-famous cycling race Tour de France has been postponed in the wake of the pandemic. The 3-week race was to set to start in June but has been postponed to August. 
• The last time the tour was not held was 1946, as the nation was emerging from WWII.

Daily Current Affairs Quiz – April 16, 2020

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