DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS: April 19 & 20, 2020

Dear Bankersdaily Aspirants,

Daily Current Affairs (April 19 & 20, 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.

Also, Don’t forget to attend the Daily Current Affairs Quiz : April 19 & 20, 2020  now @ our Bankersdaily Tests.

Important Days

United Nations Chinese Language Day celebrates around 20 April:

• The UN observes the UN Chinese Language Day every year on or around April 20. The contribution of Chinese literature, poetry and language in world culture is highlighted on this day. Chinese was established as an official language of the UN in 1946.

World liver day – April 19:

• World liver day is observed on every 19 April, to spread awareness about liver related disease. The liver is the second largest and the most complex organ in the body, with the exception of the brain.

National News

Power Ministry floats draft Electricity Act Bill 2020:

• Ministry of Power issued a draft proposal for amendment of Electricity Act, 2003 in the form of the draft Electricity Act (Amendment) Bill, 2020 for comments from Stakeholders. National Renewable Energy Policy is proposed to provide for a policy document.

Union Minister Prahlad Singh Patel launches the National List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of India:

• Union Minister for Culture (I/C) Shri Prahlad Singh Patel launched the National List of Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) of India in New Delhi. List is an attempt to recognize the diversity of Indian culture embedded in its intangible heritage.
• 13 Intangible Cultural Heritage of the list have also been recognized by UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization).

UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization):

• Headquarters: Paris, France

• Head: Audrey Azoulay
• Founded: 16 November 1945

Indian Navy develops air evacuation pod for COVID-19 patients:

• Indian Navy’s Southern Command, Kochi has developed an air evacuation pod (AEP) to airlift COVID-19 infected patients safely from remote areas such as islands and ships in a fully sealed patient transfer capsule.

Government increases loss coverage for micro loan defaults under CGFMU scheme to 75% from 50% earlier:

• Finance ministry has increased coverage of a lender’s loss in case of loan default under the Credit Guarantee Fund for Micro Units scheme to 75% from 50% earlier. CGFMU covers micro loans up to Rs 10 lakh extended under the Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana.
• Credit Guarantee Fund for Micro Units scheme was announced in April 2016.

Uttar Pradesh-First State to Geo Tag Community Kitchens:

• Uttar Pradesh has become the first state in the country to geotag its 7,368 community kitchens and community shelters across 75 districts which produce 12 lakh food packets a day. The state government has also tied up with Google to Geo-map the locations.

Uttar Pradesh

• Capital:Lucknow
• Chief Minister:Yogi Adityanath
• Governor:Anandiben Patel

Rajasthan: First Indian to carry out Rapid Testing for Covid-19:

• Rajasthan has started rapid antibody tests, among the first states to do so, as the state capital Jaipur and Jodhpur have emerged as hotspots, reporting more than half the confirmed Covid-19 cases and accounting for 70% of deaths in the state.

Rajasthan

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

International News

Microsoft adds five new Indian languages to its Microsoft Translator service:

• Microsoft India announced that it will be adding five new Indian languages to its Microsoft Translator. The Microsoft translator now supports ten Indian languages with the addition of Gujarati, Marathi, Kannada, Malayalam and Punjabi.

• Translator service is part of Azure Cognitive Services API.

Eros International & Hollywood’s STX Entertainment to merge all share- 1st of its kind:

• In a first of its kind deal, Indian movie producer and distributor Eros International announced an all-share merger with Hollywood’s six-year-old, privately-held STX Entertainment to create an equally-held global entertainment company.
• Existing shareholders will hold about 42% of the merged entity.

Eros:

• Headquarters– Mumbai, Maharashtra

• Executive Chairman & CEO– Kishore Lulla.

44th session of World Heritage Committee 2020 of UNESCO in Fuzhou postponed:

• 44th session of the World Heritage Committee 2020 of UNESCO, scheduled from 29th of June to 9th of July, in Fuzhou of eastern China’s Fujian Province, has been postponed, which was made by the committee’s bureau members and consultations.

UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization):

• Headquarters: Paris, France

• Head: Audrey Azoulay
• Founded: 16 November 1945

TVS acquires Britain iconic sporting motorcycle brand Norton:

• TVS Company has acquired Britain’s iconic sporting motorcycle, Norton, in an all-cash deal for a consideration of GBP16 million by acquiring certain assets of Norton Motorcycles (U.K.) Limited through one of TVS Motor’s overseas subsidiaries.

TVS Motor Company Ltd:

• Headquarters– Chennai, Tamil Nadu

• Chairman & Managing Director– Venu Srinivasan

Norton Motorcycle (UK) Ltd:

• Headquarters– England, UK

Banking and Technology

Over Rs 36,659 Cr transferred by using DBT in bank accounts of 16.01 Cr beneficiaries during lockdown:

• More than Rs 36,659 Cr has been transferred by using Direct Benefit Transfer in the bank accounts of 16.01 crore beneficiaries during COVID 2019 lockdown. Total Direct Benefit Transfer amount disbursed has increased from 22% in 2018-19 to 45% in 2019-20.
• DBT eliminates leakage and improves efficiency.

Business sentiment worsened in Q4 FY20:

• NCAER’s Business Confidence Index- an indicator of business sentiments across Indian industry, stood at 77.3 in Q4 of 2019-20. This was the lowest level of BCI recorded since the 25th Round of the BES in 1998, coinciding with the Asian Financial Crisis.

NCAER:

• Establishment– 1956
• Headquarter– New Delhi

• President– Nandan M. Nilekani

Covid-19 impact: S&P slashes India growth forecast to 1.8% for FY21:

• Standard & Poor’s slashed FY21 growth estimate for India to 1.8% from 3.5% projected last month on concern that the covid-19 peak in India will come ‘somewhat later’ than most other countries. For the Asia-Pacific region, 2020 growth projection is 0.3%.

Science and Technology

IIM-Kozhikode team develops one-stop COVID-19 platform for accessing emergency services:

• International team led by an IIM Kozhikode student has developed a one-stop COVID-19 platform for accessing emergency services from official government sources. The website – covidfyi.in – is a one-stop digital directory for all COVID-19 related services.
• The core team of 16 is led by IIM Kozhikode student Simran Soni.

Kerala

• Capital: Thiruvananthapuram

• Chief Minister: Pinarayi Vijayan

• Governor: Arif Mohammed Khan

DRDO innovates automatic sanitiser and ultraviolet devices to fight coronavirus:

• From an automatic mist-based sanitiser for use while entering offices to ultraviolet devices that can destroy the genetic material of COVID-19, the DRDO introduced these two new technologies that are aimed at preventing the spread of the coronavirus.
• CFEES developed the Sanitiser Dispensing Unit.

IIT-Mandi develops magnetic RAM to enable higher data storage, faster computation:

• Researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Mandi, Himachal Pradesh have developed a magnetic Random Access Memory (RAM) which is faster, more energy-efficient and capable of storing more information in a smaller volume than existing data storage technologies.
• The Spin-transfer torque (STT) based nano spintronic device is expected to put an end to computer data loss due to interruptions of power supply.

Himachal Pradesh

• Capital:Shimla
• Chief Minister:Jai Ram Thakur
• Governor:BandaruDattatreya

Gujarat’s GBRC: 2nd Indian institute to decode COVID-19 genome sequence:

• Researchers at the Gujarat Biotechnology Research Centre (GBRC) have succeeded in decoding the entire genome sequence of the novel coronavirus after the National Institute of Virology (NIV) in Pune and identified its three new mutations.

CSIR and NAL develop personal protective coverall suit for health workers:

• CSIR– National Aerospace Laboratories (CSIR-NAL) with MAF Clothing, Bengaluru developed the protective coverall suit. This suit can be used by doctors to protect from COVID 19. 
• It is a polypropylene spun laminated multi-layered non-woven fabric-based coverall suit. That suit can be used to ensure the safety of doctors, nurses, paramedical staff, and healthcare workers.

Central Drug Research Institute signs MoU to sequence virus strains:

• Central Drug Research Institute (CDRI), has inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with King George’s Medical University (KGMU) to sequence the virus strains obtained from COVID-19 patients in Uttar Pradesh.
• It will be under 1st vertical digital & molecular surveillance.

IIA researchers connect Li abundance in interstellar space to new Li-rich red giants:

• Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA) researchers have discovered hundreds of Lithium (Li)-rich giant stars. This discovery proves Li is being produced in the stars and accounts for its abundance in the interstellar medium.

Indian Institute of Astrophysics

• Headquarters: Bengaluru, Karnataka

Demo-2 mission: NASA to launch Astronauts to space first time in 11 years:

• NASA and SpaceX are targeting May 27 for the launch of Demo-2. Demo-2 will launch two NASA astronauts to the International Space Station for the first time since the end of the Space Shuttle program nearly a decade ago.
• This will be the 1st crewed launch for Elon Musk’s space company.

Indian Scientists Discover model to predict Ionospheric Electron Density:

• The Indian Institute of Geomagnetism researchers have developed a model that will predict electronic density of ionosphere. This is highly important for the communication and navigation on the earth.
• The researchers developed an Artificial Neural Networks based Global Ionospheric Model (ANNIM) to predict ionospheric electron density. The model was developed by using data collected for more than 20 years.

Obituary News

Legendary ‘Tom & Jerry’ and ‘Popeye’ animator Gene Deitch has died, aged 95:

• Oscar-winning illustrator and legendary Tom & Jerry director Gene Deitch has died aged 95. He went on to work with Rembrandt Films through the 1960s to produce a number of Popeye cartoons, as well as a dozen Tom and Jerry shorts for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

Chilean author Luis Sepúlveda dies of coronavirus in northern Spain at 70:

• The best selling Chilean writer and journalist Luis Sepúlveda Calfucura, 70 years, passed away at a hospital in Oviedo, northern Spain six weeks after testing positive for coronavirus. 

• He was born on 4th October 1949 in Ovalle, Limari Province, Chile.

Abba Kyari Chief of staff to Nigeria’s president Buhari Passes away:

• Abba Kyari, the trusted chief of staff to Nigeria’s president Muhammadu Buhari has passed away from complications related to Covid-19.
• Kyari had widely been seen as one of the three most powerful people in Africa’s largest economy.

Sports News

Magnus Carlsen Defeated by 16-year-old Alireza Firouzja in Banter Blitz Cup final:

• Magnus Carlsen’s was defeated 8.5-7.5 in the final of the $14,000 Banter Blitz Cup by the tactical skills of 16-year-old Alireza Firouzja.
• Iran-born Firouzja is the 2nd youngest player to reach the 2700 Federation Internationale des Echecs (FIDE) rating.

FIDE (Federation Internationale des Echecs):

• Headquarters- Lausanne, Switzerland.
• CEO: Geoffrey D. Borg

• President : Arkady Dvorkovich

Indian Premier League(IPL) 2020 Suspended Indefinitely

• BCCI has suspended the Indian Premier League 2020 indefinitely due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Earlier, the IPL 2020, was suspended until April 15 after the country went on a 21-day lockdown in a bid to limit the spread of the novel coronavirus outbreak.

BCCI:

• Headquarters: Mumbai
• President Sourav Ganguly
• Secretary- Jay Shah.

Daily Current Affairs Quiz – April 19 & 20, 2020

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