DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS : April 23, 2020

Dear Bankersdaily Aspirants,

Daily Current Affairs (April 23, 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 23, 2020 now @ our Bankersdaily Tests.

Current Affairs Quiz – April 21 & 22, 2020

Important Days

World Book and Copyright Day: 23 April

World Book and Copyright Day celebrated on April 23 each year is a worldwide celebration of books & readers. From April 1st to 23rd, UNESCO shares quotes, poems and messages to symbolize the power of books and encourage reading as much as possible.

World Book Capital for 2020: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

International Girls in ICT day is observed on 23 April:

International Girls in information and communication technologies (ICT) Day is observed on the fourth Thursday of the month of April.
The day is observed on 23rd April in the year 2020. The day aims to encourage the girls to consider a future in the technology sector.

English Language Day is celebrated on 23 April:

English Language Day is celebrated on 23 April. The day aims to create awareness to people about the culture, history, and achievements associated with the language.
English Language Day: The origins of the English Language were found in medieval England. The name ‘English’ its name from the Angles.

National News

Uttarakhand government using ‘Sampark Didi’ app to impart virtual classes:

Uttarakhand state education department has started virtual lessons for students through a mobile application named ‘Sampark Didi’. Through the app, students can access animated lectures while they are confined to their homes during the pandemic.

Uttarakhand:

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

Governor- Baby Rani Maurya.

Himachal Pradesh starts to use eSanjeevaniOPD:

The Himachal Pradesh government has started to use “eSanjeevaniOPD” through which free online medical consultation & general health advice will be provided to the people at their residence.

It is a Stay Home OPD & is India’s flagship telemedicine technology developed & designed by Health Informatics Group at Centre for Development of Advanced Computing C-DAC centre in Mohali, Punjab.

Himachal Pradesh

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

Karnataka launched Apthamitra helpline and app to fight against coronavirus:

The Karnataka State government launched the “Apthamitra” helpline on 22 April. It was aimed to empower people in the state’s fight against coronavirus. It was launched by Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa.
Developed by: The system and website are owned by Health and Family Welfare Department and State Disaster Management Authority.
The system functions under the aegis of NASSCOM, Bengaluru. Also, the Digital Mobile app was developed by Infosys BPM.

Karnataka

Capital: Bengaluru
Chief Minister: B. S. Yeddyurappa
Governor: VajubhaiVala

Cabinet approves Rs. 15,000 Crore for ”India COVID-19 Emergency Response and Health System Preparedness Package”:

Union Cabinet has approved significant investments to the tune of Rs.15,000 crore for ‘India COVID-19 Emergency Response & Health System Preparedness Package’.
The funds sanctioned will be utilized in 3 Phases and for immediate COVID-19 Emergency Response

Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi.

BRO builds 484-meter permanent bridge connecting Kasowal enclave in Punjab with rest of the country:

Border Roads Organisation (BRO) has constructed and opened a new permanent bridge on the river Ravi connecting Kasowal enclave in Punjab to the rest of the country much ahead of its schedule.The bridge costed Rs 17.89 crore excluding the approaches.
484-meter bridge has been bulit under Project Chetak.

United Nations Office on Drugs and Crimes launches series under Education for Justice initiative:

United Nations Office of Drugs and Crimes launched online dialogues with students and educators on COVID-19.
The organization has launched “Lockdown Learners’ Series” under Education for Justice Initiative. The series aims to sensitize students on the issues such as misinformation, cybercrime, gender-based violence, corruption among others.

United Nations Office of Drugs and Crimes (UNODC):

Headquarters: Vienna, Austria.

Executive Director: Yury Fedotov.

International News

Facebook Invests $5.7 Billion in Indian Internet Giant Jio:

Facebook made its largest single investment by putting $5.7 billion into Jio Platforms of India. The investment, which requires approval from competition regulators, would give Facebook a 9.99 percent stake in Jio Platforms.
Jio Platforms is a subsidiary of Reliance Industries.

Banking and Technology

TCS to power Israel’s first fully digital bank:

TCS was selected by Israel’s Ministry of Finance to transform its banking sector by building a banking service bureau that would serve as a shared, plug-and-play, digital banking operations platform -powered by the TCS BaNCS Global Banking Platform.

Chairman of TATA Consultancy Services(TCS): Natarajan Chandrasekaran

SBI now holds 48.21% in Yes Bank; HDFC, ICICI Bank 7.97% each:

State Bank of India (SBI) now holds 48.21 percent stake in the private lender, followed by HDFC and ICICI Bank, which have 7.97 percent each, shows the latest shareholding pattern.
Axis Bank holds 4.78 % stake, followed by Kotak Mahindra Bank (3.61 %).
MD & CEO of YES Bank: Prashant Kumar.

Federal Bank approves 4% additional stake in life insurance JV from IDBI Bank:

Federal Bank is set to buy an additional 4% stake in IDBI Federal Life Insurance Co Ltd (IFLIC) from IDBI Bank, to price finalization & regulatory approvals. This will increase the total shareholding of IDBI in the life insurance joint venture to 30%.

Federal Bank:

CEO: Shyam Srinivasan;
Headquarters: Aluva, Kerala

Science and Technology

Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Institute becomes 1st in country to carry out plasma research in view of Covid-19:

Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel (SVP) Institute of Medical Science and Research (SVPIMSR) has signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) & becomes the 1st authorized study centre in the country to carry out study the plasma research under trial in view of COVID 19.

TDB approves funds for MYLAB for production of COVID-19 diagnostic kits:

MyLab Discovery Solutions, pune based firm selected for the Technology Development Board (TDB) funding to increase the production of PCR based molecular diagnostic kit for Covid-19 screening and testing which is already approved by the ICMR and CDSCO.

Indian herpetologists discover new viper species in Arunachal Pradesh:

Indian herpetologists have discovered a new species of viper family in Pakke Tiger Reserve in Arunachal Pradesh, and the green pit viper species was discovered by a team led by Zeeshan Mirza.
The viper called Trimeresurus Salazar. It has a unique orange to reddish stripe present on the head and body in males.

Appointments

Huawei India appoints David Li as new CEO:

Huawei Telecommunications India announced the appointment of David Li as Chief Executive Officer of its operations in the country. David Li succeeds Jay Chen, who moves on to take up a leadership role within Huawei Asia Pacific Region.
Founder and CEO of Shenzhen-based Huawei: Ren Zhengfei.

Indian shuttler PV Sindhu named ambassador for BWF’s ‘I am badminton’ campaign:

BWF names PV Sindhu as one of its ambassadors for the “i am badminton” awareness campaign to create awareness among the young and para-badminton players on the importance of anti-match manipulation and anti-doping and to encourage and provide training to improve their level of playing.

Badminton World Federation:

Headquarters– Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Founded– 5th July 1934
President– Poul-Erik Hoyer Larsen
Membership- 194 member associations

Justice Biswanath Somadder new chief justice of Meghalaya High Court:

The Supreme Court collegium, led by Chief Justice Sharad A Bobde, has recommended the name of Justice Somadder as the new chief justice of Meghalaya High Court.

Justice Mohammad Rafiq has been named as chief justice of Orissa High Court.

IMMA appoints Bajaj Auto Executive Director Rakesh Sharma as its President:

The International Motorcycle Manufacturers Association (IMMA) has recently announced the appointment of Rakesh Sharma, Executive Director, Bajaj Auto as its President.
Previously, Rakesh Sharma had been serving as Vice-President at IMMA when he was elected in May 2019.
The IMMA Spring Congress that was planned to be held from 20th to 24th April, 2020 in New Delhi was converted to a series of meetings by conference call and correspondence.

Kerala Blasters officially appoint Kibu Vicuna as head coach:

Indian Super League (ISL) side Kerala Blasters appointed Mohun Bagan’s I-League winning coach Kibu Vicuna as their head coach for the upcoming season.
Spain’s Vicuna oversaw Mohun Bagan win the title with four rounds to spare.
Mohun Bagan is set to be merged with ATK to enter the ISL from next season.

Awards and Recognitions

Adam Higginbotham’s Midnight in Chernobyl wins William E. Colby Award 2020:

Adam Higginbotham won the William E. Colby Award 2020 for his book “Midnight in Chernobyl: The Untold Story of the World’s Greatest Nuclear Disaster” & won USD 5,000 prize.
The award was established in 1999 by William E. Colby Military Writers’ Symposium at Norwich University in Vermont to recognize the 1st work of fiction or nonfiction.