DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS: March 26, 2020

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Daily Current Affairs (March 26, 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

Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik launched “Mo Jeeban Programme”:

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik launched “Mo Jeeban (My Life) Programme” and urged people to take a pledge to stay indoors.
The objective of the programme is to keep everyone safe in the state due to the dangerous spread of the COVID- 19.

Odisha

Capital: Bhubaneswar
Chief Minister:Naveen Patnaik
Governor:Ganeshi Lal

Covid-19 treatment to be covered under Ayushman Bharat:

National Health Authority (NHA) has decided to cover Covid-19 treatment of the poorest of the poor in private hospitals under Ayushman Bharat- the central government’s health insurance scheme for the deprived, launched on September 2018.
NHA expects to cover cost under viral infection packages.

Goa partners with Innovaccer to launch first-ever self-assessment tool for Covid-19:

Goa became 1st Indian state to launch a digital self-assessment test tool called Test Yourself Goa for COVID-19 to help people to identify whether they are at risk of being infected by coronavirus without having to physically visit a healthcare facility.
The Goa government has partnered with Innovaccer for this.

Goa

Capital:Panaji
Chief Minister:Pramod Sawant
Governor:Satya Pal Malik

“Stay Home India with Books” initiative launched by GoI:

National Book Trust functioning under Ministry of Human Resources and Development launched Stay Home India with Books initiative.
Under the initiative more than 100 books can be downloaded from the NBT website

Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Ann Yojana launched to fight COVID-19:

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitaraman launched Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Ann Yojana. The scheme is an economic help package for people in the country to fight against COVID-19 and its effects.
Around 1.7 lakh crore has been allocated under the package.
The scheme is to offer free cylinders under the Pradhan Mantri Ujjawala Scheme. This will benefit around 8.3 crore Below Poverty Line Families.

Scientists of ARI, Pune develop biofortified, high protein wheat variety:

Scientists from Agharkar Research Institute (ARI) Pune, Maharashtra an autonomous institute under the Department of Science & Technology.
Government of India have developed a biofortified durum wheat variety MACS 4028, which shows high protein content.

NTPC’s installed capacity touches 58,816 MW:

NTPC has increased total installed capacity to 58,816 MW with the commissioning of 2nd unit of 660 MW at Khargone Super Thermal Power Project, Madhya Pradesh.
NTPC now has 55 power stations, including 24 coal-based & 7 combined cycle gas/liquid fuel.

Madhya Pradesh

Capital: Bhopal

Chief Minister: Shivraj Singh Chauhan

Governor: Lal Ji Tandon

Election Commission allows use of indelible ink stamp for home quarantine:

Election Commission has decided to allow usage of indelible ink on persons for stamping for home quarantine by health authorities in view of COVID-19.
Health Ministry may standardise the mark and the location on the body where the mark has to be applied.

Chief Election Commissioner of India- Sunil Arora.

First-of-its-kind form-based codes being developed by IRSDC:

Indian Railways focuses on world-class stations. The Indian Railway Stations Development Corporation Limited is developing a first-of-its-kind ‘Form Based Codes’ for the development of railway land with support from Shakti Sustainable Energy Foundation.

International News

Cabinet approves MoU between India and Germany in Railway sector:

The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi was apprised of a MoU signed between Ministry of Railways and DB Engineering & Consulting GMBH of Germany for technological cooperation in the Railway Sector.

G20 to hold emergency video summit to discuss coronavirus:

Saudi Arabian King Salman is to chair the G20 summit on Corona Virus through a video conference in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
The summit becomes significant as several international organizations are to participate in the summit. India is one of the member of G20.

Saudi Arabia

Capital- Riyadh
Currency- Riyal.
Prime Minister-Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud.

Banking and Finance

Jana SFB launches UPI QR-based loan installment payment facility:

Jana Small Finance Bank, along with the National Payment Corporation of India has launched a UPI QR-based loan installment payment facility to its existing 40 lakh plus customers & 5 crore microfinance agencies.
The move comes at a time when banks are advising their customers to operate maximum banking services from the safe confines of their home.
Payment mode is available for P2P & P2M payments.

Rating Agency Moody’s downgrades Indiabulls Housing Finance with negative outlook:

International rating agency Moody’s downgraded Indiabulls Housing Finance with a negative outlook, citing challenges in raising funds.
It downgraded the Corporate Family Rating (CFR) and foreign-currency senior secured rating of the company to B3 from B2.

Cabinet approves recapitalization of RRBs to improve their Capital to Risk Weighted Assets Ratio:

Union Cabinet approved continuation of the process of recapitalization of RRBs by providing minimum regulatory capital up to 2020-21 for those RRBs which are unable to maintain minimum CRAR of 9%, as per the regulatory norms prescribed by the Reserve Bank.
Rs.670 Cr will be used for the RRBs Recapitalization scheme.

Coronavirus to shave off ₹40k Cr every day from Indian economy: CARE Ratings:

If the 21-day long national lockdown leads to 80% production loss, the economy will take a hit of ₹35,000-40,000 Cr daily, shaving off ₹6.3-7.2 lakh Cr cumulatively, says CARE Ratings.
The assessment is based on the FY20 real GDP of ₹140-150 lakh Cr.
The daily output comes to ₹45-50,000 crore normally.

Science and Technology

Microsoft, US CDC tie-up to create ‘Clara’, a COVID-19 self-screening bot:

US (United States) Center of Disease Control partnered with Microsoft’s Azure healthcare bot service has introduced an AI (Artificial Intelligence) based bot named “Clara” [the coronavirus self-checker].
The bot is currently available in the US on the CDS website.

ARCI develop technology to improve fuel efficiency of internal combustion engines:

International Advanced Centre for Powder Metallurgy & New Materials, a R&D Centre of Department of Science & Technology, has developed ultrafast laser surface texturing technology, which can improve the fuel efficiency of internal combustion engines.

Appointments

Iqbal Singh Bains appointed as Madhya Pradesh Chief Secretary:

Iqbal Singh Bains was appointed as Madhya Pradesh Chief Secretary by the newly-sworn Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan of the state. He was the successor of M Gopal Reddy.
Iqbal Singh, a 1985 batch IAS (Indian Administrative Service) officer, served as the President of Revenue Board, Gwalior, MP.

Walmart appoints Sameer Aggarwal as CEO for India

Walmart India has elevated Sameer Aggarwal to the position of Chief Executive Officer, Best Price Stores.
He will report directly to Dirk Van den Berghe, EVP and Regional CEO of Asia and Global Sourcing at Walmart. Sameer Aggarwal will succeed Krish Iyer.

Books and Authors

Chander Suta Dogra launched a book- “Missing in Action: The Prisoners Who Never Came Back”:

Senior Journalist Chander Suta Dogra launched her 2nd book- “Missing in Action: The Prisoners Who Never Came Back” relies on de-classified records of the Ministry of External Affairs & other sources.
It is published by Harpercollins.

Obituary News

Former footballer Abdul Latif passed away at the age of 73:

Former India midfielder Abdul Latif, who was also a key member of bronze medal winning team at the 1970 Bangkok Asian Games died in Guwahati.
Latif represented Mohammedan Sporting from 1963-1967.

Asterix and Obelix co-creator Albert Uderzo dies aged 92:

Albert Uderzo, co-creator and illustrator of the ‘Asterix’ comic book series, has died at the age of 92. The hugely popular comic follows the adventures of Gaulish warriors.
Cartoons have been translated into more than 100 languages.

Sports News

Sunil Chhetri, Indian Football team Captain named for FIFA’s COVID-19 Campaign:

World Governing body FIFA (Federation Internationale de Football Association or International Federation of Association Football) has selected Indian Football Captain Sunil Chhetri among 28 other stars for its campaign.
The campaign is called “Pass the message to kick out Corona Virus”. The campaign is to spread five key steps that are in line with WHO guidance.