Daily GK Updates - 22nd March, 2020

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Govt Forms high level committee of medical experts for prevention & control of COVID-19: The Government of India has constituted a high level technical committee of Public Health Experts to provide guidance about the prevention and control activities for COVID-19 in the country. The 21 member committee will be headed by NITI Aayog member Dr V K Paul. Union Health Secretary Preeti Sudan and Director General Indian Council of Medical Research are the Co-Chair.

2. J&K Government to start doorstep ration distribution: Due to the rising cases of COVID-19 pandemic, Government of J&K is considering to start doorstep ration distribution and other essential commodities to the consumers. This is in order to swipe away large gatherings at ration depots. Number of quarantine rooms with requisite facilities with the availability of doctors, nurses and paramedical staff must be enhanced in addition.

3. Uttarakhand abolishes quota in promotion for govt employees: Uttarakhand government abolished reservation in promotion in the state government jobs. The state government also issued orders regarding Departmental Promotion Committee (DPC). The move came after over 1.5 lakh General/OBC employees went on an indefinite strike from March 2 demanding the removal of quotas.

Note: Uttarakhand Chief Minister: Trivendra Singh Rawat; Governor of Uttarakhand: Baby Rani Maurya.

4. Tamil Nadu’s sanitary workers to be called ‘cleanliness workers’: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Palaniswami announced in the Assembly that 64,583 sanitary personnel employed by urban and rural civic bodies in the State will from now on be called ”cleanliness workers” to honour their work. As many as 64,583 sanitary workers are employed with 15 corporations, 121 municipalities, 528 town panchayats and 12,525 village panchayats.

5. A book entitled ‘Messiah Modi: A Great tale of expectations’ released: A book entitled ‘Messiah Modi: A Great Tale of Expectations’ penned by senior journalist & author Tavleen Singh has been released. The book has been published by HarperCollins India. The book talks about helpless dissatisfaction with Narendra Modi the Prime Minister (PM), his cabinet, the story of his first term as a journey from lynchings to demonetization up to Article 370, the foremost controversial law CAA (Citizenship Amendment Act), implementation of National Register of Citizens (NRC) & the guarantees he made in his first term.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Nepal Commits NPR 100 million to SAARC emergency fund to fight COVID-19 outbreak: Nepal has committed NPR 100 million to the SAARC emergency fund proposed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to help combat the coronavirus pandemic in the region. The announcement in this regard was made by Nepal Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli during his first address to the nation after undergoing a kidney transplant.

2. COVID-19 outbreak: BRICS New Development Bank approves nearly USD 1 bn loan to China: China is set to receive a loan worth RMB 7 billion (USD 989 million) from the BRICS New Development Bank (NDB) in order to combat the epidemiological threat and economic disruption caused by the ongoing coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak. The loan is the largest ever awarded in the NDB’s history and is also the first emergency assistance given to one of BRICS’ member

3. Online Tawajudi service introduced in UAE: Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, United Arab Emirates introduced a new service on its website: "Tawajudi for residents". This will facilitate the safe return of UAE residents residing outside to the UAE. Residents who are currently abroad can register for this service through MoFAIC's website, thus facilitating communication with them in case of emergency.

4. US FDA approved first COVID-19 diagnostic test: The US Food and Drug Administration has approved a corona virus diagnostic test that can be conducted entirely at the point-of-care and can deliver results in 45 minutes. It will be rolled out by March 30, 2020. It is developed by California based company ‘Cephid’. Point-of-care testing means results are delivered in the patient care settings like hospitals, urgent care centres and emergency rooms, instead of samples being sent to a laboratory.

5. ADB announces $6.5 billion initial response to COVID-19 pandemic: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has announced a 6.5 billion dollar initial package to address the immediate needs of its developing member countries (DMCs) as they respond to novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The initial package includes about 3.6 billion dollars in sovereign operations for a range of responses to the health and economic consequences of the pandemic, and 1.6 billion dollars in non-sovereign operations for micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises, domestic and regional trade, and firms directly impacted.

6. World Water Day: 22 March: World Water Day is observed globally on 22nd March every year. It focuses on the importance of freshwater. World Water Day celebrates water and raises awareness of the 2.2 billion people living without access to safe water. A core focus of World Water Day is to support the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal 6: water and sanitation for all by 2030. The theme of World Water Day 2020 is “Water and Climate Change”.

OTHER UPDATES:

BANKING AND FINANCE

1. IRDAI Constitutes Panel Under Pravin Kutumbe to Review Guidelines on Corporate Governance Systems of Insurers: The insurance regulator, Insurance Regulation and Development Authority (IRDAI), has set up a 16-member committee to find ways to improve its current guidelines on corporate governance systems of insurers, in a bid to further strengthen the guidelines. The committee will be Chaired by Shri Pravin Kutumbe, member-finance and investment at IRDAI. It will also consists of six other members from the insurance regulator, members from the Reserve Bank of India and the Securities and Exchange Board of India along with other industry participants. The committee will submit the report to IRDAI in three months.

2. SBI launches COVID 19 Emergency Credit Line (CECL) facility for existing borrowers: State Bank of India has launched an emergency loan facility for its existing loan customers whose business has been hit due to Coronavirus 2019 (COVID 19). The loan facility has been named COVID 19 Emergency Credit Line (CECL). It has been launched to meet the temporary liquidity mismatch arising out of covid-19. The interest rate under this facility will be 7.25% per annum. Which accounts are eligible: All standard accounts as on March 16, 2020 and till the date of sanction are eligible. With CECL, SBI will facilitate funds up to Rs 200 crore which will be available till June 30, 2020.

Note: Chairperson of SBI: Rajnish Kumar; Headquarters: Mumbai; Founded : 1 July 1955.

3. SBI Funds Management adopts stewardship code as mandated by SEBI: SBI Funds Management, a joint venture between India’s largest bank SBI and European asset manager Amundi, has become the first fund house to implement the stewardship code in India from April 1,2020 Stewardship code which requires the fund house to monitor its investor companies and establish voting policies.  This is aimed at complying with markets regulator SEBI’s directive, which mandated all mutual funds and alternative investment funds in the country to adopt a stewardship code, which is applicable for investments in listed equities.

AWARDS AND HONOURS

1. Satyarup Siddhanta, First Indian to Complete Seven Volcanic Summits enters ‘Limca Book of Records’: An Indian mountaineer, Satyarup Siddhanta has entered the coveted Limca Book of World Records for his extra-ordinary achievement of being the first Indian to climb the highest volcanoes of each of the 7 continents. The Bengaluru-based 37-years-old techie mountaineer holds a world record for being the youngest in the world to summit the highest mountains (7 Summits) of each continent. He climbed the highest volcano of Antarctica – Mt Sidley to complete his 7 summits and Volcanic 7 summits. His Seven volcanic summits are: Ojos del Salado (6,893 m) – Chile – South America, Mt Kilimanjaro (5,895 m) – Tanzania – Africa, Mount Elbrus (5,642 m) – Russia – Europe, Mount Pico de Orizaba (5,636 m) – Mexico – North America, Mt Damavand (5,610 m) – Iran – Asia, Mt Giluwe (4,368 m) – Papua New Guinea – Australia and Mt Sidley (4,285 m) – Antarctica.

He has many firsts attached to his name including being the first Indian in the world to play the National anthem with flute at Antarctica. He already has his name in some of the prestigious record books such as Guinness Book of World Records, Asia book of Records, India Book of Records, Champions Book of Records, British Book of records etc.

OBITUARIES

1. Legendary country music singer Kenny Rogers passes away: Country music icon, Kenny Rogers, who dominated the country charts and pop music era of the 1970s and 1980s, died. He was 81. Rogers was a three-time Grammy winner, six-time Country Music Awards winner and a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame. He was well known for hits like ‘Lady’, ‘The Gambler,’ ‘Islands in the Stream’, ‘Lucille’, ‘She Believes In Me’, and ‘Through the Years’.