Daily GK Updates - 24th March, 2020

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. 1st ‘Made in India’ COVID19 Test Kit gets CDSCO approval: “Mylab PathoDetect COVID-19 Qualitative PCR kit” has become the first ‘Made in India’ COVID19 Test Kit to get the CDSCO approval. Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation has given the commercial approval to the COVID-19 diagnostic test kit made by Mylab Discovery Solutions Pvt Ltd which is also known as the Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) tests. It would cost nearly one-fourth of the current procurement cost and is faster as it screens and detects the infection within 2.5 hours as compared with over 7 hours. Pune-based molecular diagnostics company Mylab Discovery Solutions Pvt Ltd has developed this test kit.

2. ECI defers Rajya Sabha elections amid coronavirus pandemic: Election Commission has deferred Rajya Sabha elections scheduled to be held on 26th March due to COVID -19 outbreak. The election to fill up 55 seats in the Upper House out of which 37 candidates have already been elected unopposed. Now, election was to be held for remaining 18 seats. Fresh date of poll and counting for the biennial elections will be announced soon after the situation becomes normal.

Note: Chief Election Commissioner: Sunil Arora.

Chairman of Rajya Sabha: M. Venkaiah Naidu.

3. IOC Becomes First Company to Begin Supply of BS-VI fuel Across Country: Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), the biggest oil firm of India, has successfully rolled out the supply of the BS-VI grade fuel, with all its 28,000 petrol pumps dispensing ultra-low sulphur fuel across the country. With this, the company is first in the Country to completely switch to world’s cleanest petrol and diesel, two weeks before the April 1 deadline. The government had set April 1, 2020 as the deadline for starting supply of ultra-low sulphur BS-VI (equivalent to Euro-VI grade emission compliant fuels) petrol and diesel. BS-VI has a sulphur content of just 10 ppm and emission standards are as good as CNG.

Note: Chairman of Indian Oil Corporation Limited: Sanjiv Singh.

4. Gujarat Police becomes 1st state police to introduce taser guns: The Gujarat Police became the 1st in India to be equipped with taser guns as a part of their modernization drive to ensure public safety and security, It is an alternative between “ineffective lathis” and “deadly guns”. It is introduced after inspiration from UK Metropolitan Police, the Los Angeles Police Department and the New York Police Department, amid others. The taser guns (electrical weapon) use compressed nitrogen to fire, by sending electricity through attached wires, which disrupt voluntary control of muscles.

Note: Chief Minister of Gujarat: Vijay Rupani; Governor of Gujarat: Acharya Dev Vrat.

5. Shivraj Singh Chouhan appointed as Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh: BJP politician Shivraj Singh Chouhan has been appointed as the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh on March 23, 2020. He has been appointed for the fourth time. This comes after the Madhya Pradesh chief minister (ex) Kamal Nath resigned from his post on March 20, 2020, as his government fell short of the majority mark. The trigger of the downfall of Congress in Madhya Pradesh was Jyotiraditya M. Scindia leaving the Congress on 11 March, taking with him 22 MLAs.

Note: Governor of Madhya Pradesh: Lal Ji Tandon.

6. India’s first COVID-19 dedicated hospital comes up in Mumbai by Reliance: Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) has set up India’s first COVID-19 dedicated hospital in Mumbai. A dedicated 100 bedded COVID-19 centre has been established at Seven Hills Hospital, Mumbai for patients who test positive for COVID-19. Sir HN Reliance Foundation Hospital has done this in collaboration with the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). This first-of-its-kind-in-India centre is fully funded by Reliance Foundation and includes a negative pressure room that helps in preventing cross-contamination and helps control infection. All beds in the hospital are equipped with the required infrastructure, bio-medical equipment such as ventilators, pacemakers, dialysis machine and patient monitoring devices.

Note: Reliance Industries Ltd Founder: Dhirubhai Hirachand Ambani; Reliance Industries Ltd Chief Executive Officer (CEO): Mukesh Dhirubhai Ambani; Reliance Industries Ltd Headquarters: Mumbai, Maharashtra.

7. CBSE announced student helpline for COVID-19 safeguards: The Central Board of Secondary Education has announced new Tele-Helpline numbers on Corona Virus Safeguards for Students. The facility will be available from 10 A.M. to 1.30 P.M. and 2.00 P.M. to 5.00 P.M till 31st of March. This helpline is meant primarily for students to make them aware on how to protect themselves. Psychological helpline will also continue to aid throughout via IVRS at the toll-free number 1800-11-8004 till 31st of March.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Britain Confirmed as First Co-chair of India led Global Climate Initiative: United Kingdom has been confirmed as the first co-chair of the Governing Council on the India-led global Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI). The Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI) was launched by the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the 2019 UN Climate Action Summit in September 2019. It is a voluntary international grouping, linking countries, United Nations (UN) agencies, multilateral development banks, the private sector, and academic institutions, that aims to promote the resilience of new and existing infrastructure systems to climate and disaster risks, thereby ensuring sustainable development. The Governing Council is the highest policy-making body of the CDRI. It is co-chaired by India and a representative of another national government nominated by rotation every two years.

Note: Prime Minister of United Kingdom: Boris Johnson; Capital of the United Kingdom: London; Currency of the United Kingdom: UK Pound.

2. India ranked 120 in the 2020 Index of Economic Freedom: India has been ranked at 120 position in the 2020 Index of Economic Freedom published by Heritage Foundation Index. The index has been topped by Singapore. Hong Kong is on second in the ranking followed by New Zealand on the third. North Korea is at the last position at 180th place. Though there are 6 countries that are not ranked. The Index was first published in 1995 and Hong Kong has topped the charts ever since. This is the first time that Hong Kong has been replaced from the 1st position.

3. World Tuberculosis Day: 24th March: World Tuberculosis (TB) Day is observed globally on 24th March every year to raise public awareness about the devastating health, social and economic consequences of TB, and to step up efforts to end the global TB epidemic. The theme of World TB Day 2020 is ‘It’s time’. March 24 marks the day in 1882 when Dr Robert Koch discovered the bacterium that causes TB, which opened the way towards diagnosing and curing this disease.

Note: TB is a disease which in humans is usually caused by bacteria called Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M. tuberculosis); Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus is the WHO’s Director-General; WHO Headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland.

4. International Day for the Right to the Truth Concerning Gross Human Rights Violations and for the Dignity of Victims: 24th March: International Day for the Right to the Truth Concerning Gross Human Rights Violations and for the Dignity of Victims is observed annually on 24th March every year. This day is observed on 24th March every year to pay tribute to “Monsignor Óscar Arnulfo Romero” as he was murdered on 24 March 1980. The day aims to honour the memory of victims of gross and systematic human rights violations.

Note: Secretary General of the United Nations: Antonio Guterres.

OTHER UPDATES:

SPORTS

1. Canada withdraws from Tokyo 2020 Olympics: The Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) and Paralympic Committee (CPC) has announced that the Team Canada will not participate in the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games to be held in Tokyo, due to concerns about the outbreak of the coronavirus. With this, Canada became the first major country to withdraw from the event. Tokyo 2020 Olympics was scheduled to be held in Japan from 24th July to 9th August 2020. Miraitowa is the official mascot of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has admitted for the first time that the games could be postponed. The International Olympic Committee is expected to decide the postponement of the games which is currently to be held on 24th July.

Note: Prime Minister of Japan: Shinzo Abe; Capital of Japan: Tokyo; Currency of Japan: Japanese yen.

BANKING AND FINANCE

1. Karur Vysya Bank Launches Pre-paid Card ‘Enkasu’: In line with the digital initiative of the Government of India, Karur Vysya Bank has launched a pre-paid card named ‘Enkasu’ in Karur, to reduce the usage of cash in the district. The bank has launched the Enkasu card under its Quit Cash Movement, to do away with the need for cash and it will be beneficial to both merchants and customers alike. Enkasu works on Near Field Communication Technology in a semi closed loop. The cardholder can make tap & go payments, even for small purchases of Re. 1/-. It can be recharged through KVB’s mobile App DLite, UPI, NEFT or through KVB branches in Karur. These cards can be accepted ‘online’ as well as ‘offline’, so internet access is not mandatory for usage. KVB is committed to expanding the usage of Enkasu to other districts in Tamil Nadu after a successful launch in Karur.

Note: Headquarters of Karur Vysya Bank: Karur, Tamil Nadu; MD & CEO of Karur Vysya Bank: P. R. Seshadri.

2. S&P predicts Indias GDP growth forecast for FY21 at 5.2%: S&P Global Ratings has revised its GDP Growth rate projection for India for FY21 from 6.5% earlier to 5.2%. This is due to the coronavirus outbreak. The GDP projection for the following financial years as per S&P is as follows:

2021-22 (FY22): 6.9%

2022-23 (FY23): 7%

2023-24 (FY24): 7%.

AWARDS AND HONOURS

1. The Abel Prize Laureates 2020 announced: The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters has named Hillel Furstenberg from Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel and Gregory Margulis from Yale University, the USA as winners of the Abel Prize 2020 for their “pioneering use of methods from probability & dynamics in group theory, number theory and combinatorics”. They share the prize & the amount of Norwegian Krone 7.5 Million (USD 8.3400).

Note: On the occasion of the 200th anniversary of Niels Henrik Abel’s (Norway mathematician who made pioneering contributions during a sort of fields) birth, the Abel Prize was established by the Norwegian government in 2002.

Capital of Norway: Oslo; Prime Minister of Norway: Erna Solberg; Currency of Norway: Norwegian Krone.