DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS: March 22 & 23, 2020

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Daily Current Affairs (March 22 & 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.

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Important Days

World Water Day- March 22

• World Water Day observed on 22 March is about focusing attention on the importance of water. Water is our most precious resource-we must use more responsibly. First time World water day held on 22 March 1993.

• The theme “Water and Climate Change”.

March 23: World Meteorological Day

• World Meteorological Day is celebrated every year on 23 March to commemorate the entry into force in 1950 of the convention that created the World Meteorological Organization. 
• The day also highlights the contribution that National Meteorological and Hydrological Services make to the safety and well-being of society.
• The theme is “Climate and Water”.

World Down Syndrome Day – March 21

• World Down Syndrome Day (WDSD) has been observed based on March 21.
• The day aims to raise awareness and provide support to the patients suffering from Down syndrome, a congenital disorder caused by having an extra 21st chromosome.
• The theme “We Decide”.

International Nowruz Day celebrated globally on 21 March:

• International Nowruz Day is being observed to celebrate “Nowruz” which is an ancestral festivity and marks the first day of spring which is celebrated on the occasion of the astronomical vernal equinox that generally occurs on 21 March.

World Poetry Day celebrated globally on 21 March:

• World Poetry Day is being observed annually to support linguistic diversity through poetic expression and to offer endangered languages the opportunity to be heard within their communities. 
• UNESCO recognized 21st of March as World Poetry Day during its 30th session which was held in Paris in 1999.

National News

Yogi Adityanath announces relief measures for UP’s daily wage earners:

• Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath has announced sum of Rs 1,000 would be provided to each of the 20.37 lakh construction workers registered with the labour department to each of the 15 lakh self employed cart owners, small shop owners and rickshaw pullers.

Uttar Pradesh

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

Tamil Nadu launches Covid-19 health portal:

• National Health Mission Tamil Nadu has launched a web portal – http://stopcoronatn.in/ to provide updates on Covid-19 & has a link to global cases by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University, which monitors the Covid-19 cases.

Tamil Nadu

• Capital:Chennai
• Chief Minister:Edappadi K. Palaniswami
• Governor:Banwarilal Purohit

Cabinet approves scheme to make India electronic manufacturing hub:

• Cabinet approved 3 schemes to enable large scale electronics manufacturing & attract fresh investments worth at least ₹50,000 crore. in the sector. 
• Funds allocated are to be used over 5 years. Scheme has the potential of creating 8,00,00 direct & indirect jobs.
• Electronics & information technology minister- Ravi Shankar Prasad.

Rs 105366 Cr collected through GST in February

• Total of Rs 105366 Cr was collected through GST in the month of February 2020. This was stated by Union Minister of State for Finance, Anurag Thakur. 
• Government had detected frauds through fake invoices for the last 3 years which had amounted to 11,377 Cr.
• GST came into effect from 1 July 2017.

MyGov Corona Helpdesk launched on Whatsapp to provide COVID-19 information

• The government launched an official chatbot on popular instant messaging application WhatsApp. 
• The person in need is only required to save the number – 9013151515 in their contact list and send a message to the MyGov Corona Helpdesk.
• MyGov.in, launched on : 26 July 2014.

EMC 2.0 Scheme will help India become a mobile manufacturing hub:

• The union government has proposed a total outlay for the EMC 2.0 Scheme at 3,762.25 crore, which includes the financial assistance of 3,725 crore and administrative and management expense to the tune of 37.25 crores over a period of eight years. 
• The new Production-linked Incentive Scheme (PLI) would not only support the Government’s efforts to establish India an integral part of the Global Value Chain (GVC) in the mobile handset.

Cabinet approves relaunch of bulk drug park scheme:

• Cabinet approved the relaunch of a scheme to set up 3 bulk drug parks and 4 medical device parks for a total outlay of ₹3,400 crore over 5 years.
• Bulk drug and medical devices park schemes were first suggested in Feb. 2015 by a committee headed by V.M. Katoch.
• Union ministry of Chemicals: D.V. Sadananda Gowda.

International News

Afghanistan, Maldives pledged to contribute USD 1.2 million to SAARC Corona Emergency Fund

• Afghanistan and Maldives pledged to contribute USD 1.2 million to the SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) Corona Emergency Fund proposed by PM Modi. 
• Nepal and Bhutan also pledged nearly USD One million and USD 1,00,000 respectively to the SAARC Corona Emergency Fund.

World Bank, ADB give USD 588 million to Pakistan to fight coronavirus pandemic

• World Bank and Asian Develo­pment Bank have committed to providing USD 588 million to Pakistan for its emergency response .
• The World Bank would provide USD 238 million and the Asian Develo­pment Bank (ADB) USD 350 million to Pakistan in support for the COVID-19.

Banking and Finance

Fitch Ratings cuts India’s FY21 growth forecast to 5.1%

• Fitch Ratings cut India’s growth forecast to 5.1% for FY 2020-21, saying the coronavirus outbreak is likely to hit business investment and exports. 
• Fitch in December 2019 projected India’s growth at 5.6% for 2020-21 and 6.5 percent in the following year.
• For 2021-22, Fitch projected India’s growth to be 6.4%.

India’s forex reserves plunge the most in 8 years as RBI defends the rupee:

• India’s foreign-exchange reserves plunged the most in about eight years as the central bank stepped in to defend the rupee.The reserves fell by $5.35 billion to $481.9 billion in the week.

CRISIL lowers FY21 growth to 5.2% from 5.7%

• CRISIL downgraded India’s Gross Domestic Forecast (GDP) for fiscal 2021 to 5.2% from 5.7% due to the coronavirus pandemic.
• Also, it is spreading rapidly in India causing adverse effects on domestic consumption, investment, and production and slowing the financial markets.

CRISIL:

• Headquarters– Mumbai, Maharashtra
• Chairman– John Berisford

SEBI takes measures to check short selling, curb volatility:

• SEBI lowered the limit of positions that can be taken in the futures & options market, increased margin requirements and capped derivatives exposure. 
• SEBI’s measures are largely to curb extreme volatility in individual stocks and index derivatives segment.

Securities and Exchange Board of India(SEBI):

• Chairman:  Ajay Tyagi

• Headquarters: Mumbai

RBI opens ₹60,000-crore emergency credit line for Yes Bank:

• Reserve Bank has opened an emergency line of credit of around ₹60,000 crore to Yes Bank to meet any liquidity crisis in paying back its depositors.
• The move comes after 16 years when a similar credit line was opened for Global Trust Bank in 2004.
• Additional liquidity, under Section 17 (4) of the RBI Act.

RBI extends restrictions on PMC Bank for three more months:

• Reserve bank of India extended the regulatory restrictions on Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative Bank (PMC) Bank by another three months.
• The validity of directive dated 23 September, 2019, stands modified from 23 March, 2020 to 22 June, 2020.
• J B Bhoria, administrator.of PMC Bank.

IRDAI sets up 16-member panel on governance at insurers headed by Pravin Kutumbe:

• Insurance Regulation and Development Authority (IRDAI) instituted a 16-member committee headed by Pravin Kutumbe to further strengthen its guidelines on corporate governance. 
• The committee consists of a head, six members from the insurance regulator besides members from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) along with other industry participants. 

IRDAI:

• Chairman– Subhash C. Khuntia

• Headquarters- Hyderabad, Telangana

Science and Technology

SpaceX plans first manned flight to space station in May:

• SpaceX will launch a Falcon 9 rocket to transport NASA astronauts Bob Behnken & Doug Hurley in a 1st for the space agency as it looks to cut costs.
• Since the last US space shuttle mission in 2011 only the Russians have been going back & forth to ISS.

Appointments

Romesh Sobti to have advisory role at IndusInd Bank:

• IndusInd Bank CEO Romesh Sobti will move into a full-time advisory role at the bank after his retirement on March 24. Sobti took over as IndusInd Bank CEO at the end of 2007 after serving as the head of ABN Amro in India.
• Sumant Kathpalia newly appointed CEO of IndusInd Bank.

Vasant Rao appointed MD for IDC India and South Asia:

• International Data Corporation (IDC) announced the appointment of Vasant Rao as MD for IDC India and South Asia, effective March 18, 2020. 
• He will be based out of IDC’s Bengaluru office and will be reporting to Eva Au-Managing Director, IDC Asia/Pacific.

GoAir appoints Sanjiv Kapoor as Advisor:

• GoAir has appointed Sanjiv Kapoor as Advisor. He was at Vistara as its Chief Strategy & Commercial Officer. 
• His career spanned for over 2 decades with airlines in Asia, Europe, and the US as investment advisor, portfolio manager & management consultant.
• Chief Executive Officer of GoAir-  Vinay Dube.

Obituary News

Legendary country music singer Kenny Rogers dies at 81:

• Legendary country music singer Kenny Rogers, best known for global hits such as “Lucille”, “Lady”, “The Gambler” and “Islands in the Stream”, passed away. He had his 1st gold single with a song called “That Crazy Feeling” under the name Kenneth Rogers.

Daily Current Affairs Quiz – March 22 & 23, 2020

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