NATIONAL UPDATES:
1.
MHA issues SOPs to maintain supply of Essential Goods: The Union Ministry
for Home Affairs (MHA) has issued the Standard Operating Procedure (SOPs) to
maintain the supply of essential goods in order to relieve the difficulties
faced by people during the 21-day nationwide lockdown to fight against the
Coronavirus outbreak. The SOPs proposes to let e-commerce remain operational
during the 21-day nationwide lockdown and to encourage the home delivery of
essential goods while keeping in mind the practice of social distancing. It
also aims to allow the employees or persons engaged in the supply chain to
commute on the basis of e-pass or any other certification issued by the
concerned local authorities.
Note: Union Minister of Home Affairs: Amit
Shah.
2.
CII sets up ‘CII COVID Rehabilitation and Relief Fund’: The Confederation
of Indian Industry (CII) has set up a CII COVID Rehabilitation and Relief Fund
(CRR) for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) to tackle Covid-19. The
fund will assist small enterprises or MSME in rehabilitation and is expected to
curtail the impact of Coronavirus on the MSME sector. CII will also request to
all its members to contribute an amount from their corporate social
responsibility (CSR) allocation for the CII COVID Rehabilitation and Relief
Fund (CRR). CII requested for additional ad-hoc sanction of working capital to
the tune of 25% of sanctioned limit as a relief measure.
Note: President of Confederation of Indian
Industry: Vikram S. Kirloskar.
3.
DST sets up COVID-19 task force for mapping of technologies: Department of
Science and Technology (DST) has set up a COVID-19 Task Force for mapping of
technologies from Research and Development labs, academic institutions,
start-ups and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME). It aims to fund
nearly market-ready solutions in the area of diagnostics, testing, health care
delivery solutions, equipment supplies. These solutions include masks and other
protective gear, sanitizers, affordable kits for screening, ventilators and
oxygenators among others. The task force will consist of DST, DBT, ICMR, and
MeitY and will identify start-ups that can fulfill this project.
Note: Union Minister of Science and
Technology: Harsh Vardhan; Headquarters of Department of Science and
Technology: New Delhi.
4.
India’s largest COVID-19 hospital to be set up in Odisha: India’s largest
COVID-19 hospital is all set to come up in Odisha, to treat patients tested positive
for the novel Coronavirus exclusively. The 1,000 beds hospital will be
completely functional in the next 15 days. With this, Odisha will be the first
state in the country to set up such a large-scale hospital exclusively to treat
Covid-19 patients. The state government signed two tripartite agreements with
Kalinga Institute of Medical Sciences and SUM Hospital to set up the
state-level hospitals in Bhubaneswar for treatment of Covid-19 patients. The
state govt is also planning to set up a Covid-19 testing laboratory at this
hospital to ease the burden on the only other facility located at Bhubaneswar.
Note: Chief Minister of Odisha: Naveen
Patnaik; Governor: Ganeshi Lal.
5.
Tamil Nadu’s Nagapattinam District Bifurcated to Form Mayiladuthurai as 38th District:
Tamil
Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswamy has announced the formation of a new
district Mayiladuthurai by bifurcating the existing district of Nagapattinam.
With this, the total number of districts in the state has increased to 38. Till
date, Tamil Nadu had 37 districts, of which five new districts were formed in
2019. These are:
Kallakurichi district split from Viluppuram
Tenkasi district split from Tirunelveli
district
Chengalpattu district split from
Kanchipuram district
Tirupattur district split from Vellore
district
Ranipet district split from Vellore
district
6.
Indore Becomes First in the Country to Opt for Drones to Sanitise City amid
Coronavirus Scare: Indore,
the cleanest city of India in Madhya Pradesh, has deployed drones to sanitize
city areas against the coronavirus outbreak. This makes Indore as the first
city in the country to attempt to fight off the virus scare this way. The
initiative is a first-of-its kind attempt by which crowded areas are sanitised
with the help of drones sprinkling chemicals. The Indore Municipal Corporation
has hired two drones for this purpose. Vegetables markets and streets of the
Indore are being sprayed with sodium hypochlorite and bio-clean. These drones
take off with 16 litres of chemicals in each flight and return after 30 minutes
having sprayed chemicals in an area spanning 8-10km.
Note: Capital of Madhya Pradesh: Bhopal;
Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh: Shivraj Singh Chouhan; Governor of Madhya
Pradesh: Lal Ji Tandon.
7.
Delhi Government Announces Rs 100-cr “Branding Delhi” scheme to make Delhi
tourism brand: The
Delhi government has announced a new scheme titled “Branding Delhi”, to
introduce the national capital as a tourism brand to domestic and foreign
tourists and create new jobs in the sector. The Rs 100-crore scheme will
re-brand Delhi tourism and the city will be introduced as a tourism brand in
the country and abroad to domestic and foreign tourists.
8.
Grievance Redressal Cell established to resolve food processors problem: Ministry of Food
Processing Industries has established a Grievance Redressal Cell to ensure that
problems faced by food processors due to COVID-19 are resolved. Industry
members facing any problem in operations and distribution of food products can
send their queries to covidgrievance-mofpi@gov.in. A Business Immunity Website
www.investindia.gov.in/bip has also been designed to help business and
investors for hassle free operations.
INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:
1. US
launch Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF) satellite for military
communication: The
United States Space Force launched its first national security mission, the
Lockheed Martin Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF) satellite on March 26,
2020. It will help the US in military communication. The Lock Heed Martin
AEHF-6 (Advanced Extremely High Frequency) satellite was launched on the Atlas
V551 rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida to provide global protected
communications. The satellite constellation provides “global, survivable,
protected communications capabilities for strategic command and tactical
warfighters operating on ground, sea and air platforms.
Note: The Trump administration established
the US Space Force as a separate military branch in December 2019. Gen. John
“Jay” Raymond is the Space Force’s first chief of space operations.
2.
Extraordinary Virtual G20 Leaders’ Summit held: An Extraordinary
Virtual G20 Leaders’ Summit was held on 26 March 2020 to discuss the challenges
posed by the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic and ways to move forward in
coordinating global efforts to combat the Corona crisis. The Video Summit was
chaired by Saudi Arabia. Indian delegation was led by Prime Minister Narendra
Modi. Besides the G20 members, the summit also had leaders from the invited
countries – Spain, Jordan, Singapore, and Switzerland, as well as international
organizations – United Nations, World Bank, IMF, World Health Organization and
World Trade Organization. PM Modi informed that 90% of the COVID-19 cases and
88% of deaths were in G20 countries. G20 nation share 80% of world GDP and 60%
of world population. G20 countries committed to inject over USD 5 trillion into
the global economy to counter the social and economic impact of COVID-19. At
the end of the Summit, a G20 Leaders’ Statement was issued which called for a
coordinated global response to fight the pandemic, adopting measures to
safeguard the global economy, minimising trade disruption and steps to enhance
global cooperation.
3. India
proposes shared electronic platform for SAARC nation: Senior health
professionals representing India at SAARC proposed a shared electronic platform
for all member nations. It will serve as a multipurpose vehicle to discuss and
conduct activities such as online training for emergency response personnel,
knowledge partnerships, sharing of expertise in disease surveillance and joint
research for new diagnostic and therapeutic interventions for epidemic
diseases.
4.
World Theatre Day: 27 March: The World Theatre Day is celebrated all
over the world on the 27th of March since 1962 to promote the art form
“theatre” accross the world. This day is a celebration for those who can see
the value and importance of the art form “theatre”, and acts as a wake-up-call
for governments, politicians and institutions which have not yet recognised its
value to the people and to the individual and have not yet realised its
potential for economic growth. Every year the Executive Council of ITI choses
an outstanding theatre personality to write the message for World Theatre Day.
The author of the Message of World Theatre Day 2020 is: Shahid NADEEM
(Playwright), Pakistan.
Note: The day was initiated in 1961 by the
International Theatre Institute (ITI).
OTHER UPDATES:
BANKING AND FINANCE
1.
RBI cuts Repo Rate by 75 bps to 4.4%; Reverse RR to 4.0%: RBI Governor,
Shaktikanta Das has announced that MPC Meet was conducted on 24, 26 and 27
March. As per the Seventh Bi-monthly Monetary Policy Statement, 2019-20
Resolution of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) it has been decided to cut
Repo Rate by 75bps to 4.40% from earlier 5.15%. Reverse Repo Rate has been cut
by 90 bps from 4.90% to 4.00%. MSF and Bank rate stands at 25bps above Repo
Rate at -> 4.65% Cash Reserve Ratio has been cut by 100 bps to 3%. The
requirement of a minimum 90% daily CRR balance has been reduced to 80%
effective from fortnight beginning March 28, 2020. This is a one-time facility
available upto June 26, 2020. This time MPC has refrained from giving any GDP
growth or inflation numbers. This is because the outlook is extremely volatile
due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Repo Rate- 4.40%
Reverse Repo Rate- 4.00%
MSF- 4.65%
Bank Rate- 4.65%
CRR- 3%
2.
Jana SFB rolls out UPI QR-based loan instalment payment facility: Jana Small Finance
Bank has rolled out a Unified Payments Interface (UPI) QR-based loan
installment payment facility along with National Payment Corporation of India
(NPCI) for its customers. Initially the facility will be only available to over
40 lakh customers of the Jana Small Finance Bank and will enable the customers
of the small finance bank to generate UPI QR code for their loan account as
well as to make instalment payments instantly with the help of any of the UPI
applications.
Note: Managing Director and CEO of Jana
SFB: Ajay Kanwal.
MD & CEO of National Payments
Corporation of India: Dilip Asbe.
3.
Moody’s cuts India GDP growth in 2020 to 2.5%: Moody’s Investors
Service has reduced its estimate of India’s GDP growth during Calendar Year 2020
to 2.5%, from an earlier estimate of 5.3%. Moody’s maintained its estimate of
5.8% growth for India in 2021. The reason for the slash in the GDP growth is
that the coronavirus pandemic will cause unprecedented shock to the global
economy. Moody’s now expects real GDP in the global economy to contract by 0.5
percent in 2020, followed by a pickup to 3.2 percent in 2021.
Note: Moody’s Corporation is an American
business and financial services company; The Headquarters of Moody’s is in New
York, USA.
4.
NABARD Extends Financial Support of Rs 42,313 cr in FY’20 for rural
infrastructure: The
apex agriculture financial institution, National Bank for Agriculture and Rural
Development (NABARD) has provided a financial support up to Rs 42,313 crore
towards building rural infrastructure in the current fiscal year 2019-20. Till
date, NABARD has disbursed Rs 20,869 Crore during the current year in addition
to providing Rs 5,686 Crore for rural connectivity. In the last five years,
NABARD has disbursed Rs 1.98 lakh crore towards rural development.
OBITUARIES
1.
Renowned Artist and architect Satish Gujral passes away: Padma Vibhushan
award winning artist, architect, sculptor and writer Satish Gujral passed away.
He was awarded with India’s second-highest civilian honour i.e. the Padma
Vibhushan in 1999. He designed the Belgium Embassy in New Delhi. His renowned
works also include the alphabet mural on the outside wall of the Delhi High
Court. He wrote his autobiography “A Brush With Life”.
2.
Indian Celebrity Chef Floyd Cardoz Passes Away at 59 Due to Coronavirus: The World-renowned
Indian-American chef Floyd Cardoz passed away in New Jersey at age 59 after
being tested positive for coronavirus. Cardoz tested positive for Covid-19 in
the USA on March 18, and was being treated at the Mountainside Medical Centre
in New Jersey. He had opened a string of acclaimed restaurants in both New York
and Mumbai and became a TV star along the way.
3.
Padma Shri Awardee Veteran Photographer Nemai Ghosh Passes Away: Noted Indian photographer
Nemai Ghosh, mostly known for working with filmmaker Satyajit Ray as a still
photographer, passed away suffering from age-related ailments. He was 86. He
was awarded the Padma Shri by Government of India in 2010. Ghosh worked with
Satyajit Ray for two decades as a still photographer where he captured the
master craftsman in different moods at sets besides framing actors as they
faced camera. He made his debut with Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne (1969) and was with
Satyajit Ray till his last film Agantuk (1991).
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