Daily GK Updates - 29th March, 2020

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Centre forms 11 empowered groups and task force to deal with Covid-19 outbreak: Prime Minister Modi government has constituted ten empowered groups and a strategic task force in order to deal with coronavirus spread and its aftermath. These 11 groups, which together have 68 bureaucrats, have been set up under the Disaster Management Act. All the empowered groups has senior representatives from PMO and Cabinet Secretariat to ensure seamless coordination. Each group has been empowered to formulate plans to minimise the impact of the disease and to take all necessary steps for their time bound implementation. The six member strategic task force will deal exclusively with the issues related to the lockdown. Of these 11 empowered groups, 9 are headed by secretary level officers, one by Member, NITI Aayog and one by CEO, NITI Aayog. In case of any need of guidance, these groups may seek guidance from Union Cabinet Secretary.

2. National Book Trust to launch Corona Studies Series Book: National Book Trust (NBT) will launch Corona Studies Series books to provide relevant reading materials for all age-groups for the post-Corona readership needs. It will be the long-term contribution to prepare and engage readers with the various aspects of the Corona times by bringing out affordable books in various Indian languages in the identified subject areas. It will also provide suitable platform to authors and researchers willing to contribute in this genre.

Books for the following segments will be prepared by the Study Group:

1. Corona Virus (Covid 19) Affected Families

2. Elderly People

3. Parents with Special Focus on Mothers/Women

4. Children and Adolescents

5. Professionals and Workers

6. Corona Warriors: Medical and Essential Services Providers

7. Differently-abled, Special Needs and Mentally Challenged Population

Note: Chairman of National Book Trust, India: Govind Prasad Sharma; The National Book Trust, India was established in 1957.

3. Government of India launches coronavirus risk-tracking app “Corona Kavach”: Government of India has launched a coronavirus risk-tracking app in India and is named “Corona Kavach”. The app has been developed by the Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology and the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. The app uses a person’s location to assess whether they are in the high-risk geographical zone or not. It will track the data of the users every one hour to alert them of whether they have crossed paths with any person who has tested positive for the infection. The app is now available for download on Google Play Store for Android phones.

Note: Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare: Harsh Vardhan.

Union Minister of Electronics and Information Technology: Ravi Shankar Prasad

4. Northern Railways makes first prototype of hospital isolation coach for COVID-19 Patients: The Northern Railways zone of the Indian Railways has successfully made the first prototype of hospital isolation coach, to battle the COVID-19 outbreak in the country. There are 10 isolation wards in each coach. The Northern Railways has removed the middle berth from one side of the coach while all three berths have been removed in front of the patient berth to build an isolation cabin prototype. As per the Railways, after clearance, when the prototype will be finalized, 10 railway coaches per week will be converted into isolation wards for Covid-19 patients by each Zonal Railway.

Note: Union Minister of Railways: Piyush Goyal.

5. UP CM Yogi Adityanath Constitutes ‘Team-11’ to Fight COVID-19 Spread: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has set up “Team-11”, which comprises of 11 inter-departmental committees to fight the coronavirus spread, by tackling multiple issues ranging from ensuring medicare to victims to the supply of essentials and tackle long marches of jobless workers back home. Each of the 11 committees will be headed by a senior bureaucrat of the state while the ‘Team 11’ will be headed by the Chief Minister himself.

6. Nagaland CM launches Self Declaration COVID-19 Nagaland App: Chief Minister of Nagaland, Neiphiu Rio has launched the Self Declaration COVID19 Nagaland App (Ncovid-19) which will be mandatory for any person who has entered into Nagaland after 6th March 2020. The app is crucial for tracking and surveillance of high-risk cases and can be downloaded from the following website “nagalandhealthproject.org.”

Note: Chief Minister of Nagaland: Neiphiu Rio; Governor of Nagaland: R. N. Ravi.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Elon Musk’s SpaceX wins NASA award for planned lunar space station: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has picked up a new space capsule from SpaceX to ferry cargo and supplies to the agency’s planned lunar space station. SpaceX will get a portion of a $7 billion NASA contract to use its biggest rocket, Falcon Heavy, to send a new “Dragon XL” spacecraft to the Lunar Gateway, an outpost of NASA that will orbit the moon. The Dragon XL spacecraft will carry research supplies that will help astronauts to collect lunar samples on the surface of the moon.

Note: Administrator of National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA): Jim Bridenstine.

Headquarters of NASA: Washington D.C., United States.

2. North Korea ‘successfully’ tests ‘super-large’ rocket launcher: North Korea has conducted another test of super-large multiple rocket launchers and it was successful. The launch was aimed at examining the strategic and technical features of the “super-large multiple rocket launchers”, which have been tested a number of times since last August.

3. Earth Hour 2020: 28 March: Every year, the Earth Hour is celebrated worldwide on the last Saturday of the March month to show support for fight against climate change and commitment towards better planet. Earth Hour 2020 is scheduled for March 28, 2020. The Day is a worldwide movement organized by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), encouraging individuals, communities, corporates, and households to turn off their lights for one hour, from 8:30 to 9:30 p.m. It was started as a lights-off event in Sydney, Australia, in 2007 to raise awareness for energy consumption and effects on the environment.

OTHER UPDATES:

SPORTS

1. Indian shot putter Navin Chikara suspended for four years: The Athletics Integrity Unit of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) has suspended Indian shot putter Navin Chikara for four years for using a prohibited substance and failing an out-of-competition dope test. He has been suspended for for using a prohibited substance and his four-year suspension starts from July 27, 2018.

Note: The headquarters of IAAF is located in Monaco; President of IAAF: Sebastian Coe.

BANKING AND FINANCE

1. BP Kanungo Reappointed as Deputy Governor of RBI for a period of one year: The Appointments Committee of Cabinet has approved the extension of the tenure of BP Kaunungo as the Deputy Governor of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for a period of one year with effect from April 3, 2020. The three year tenure of BP Kaunungo was to end on 3 April 2020. Besides Kanungo, the other three deputy governors of the RBI are NS Vishwanathan, M.K. Jain and Michael Patra.

2. India’s GDP growth estimated at 4.5% for FY’20; 2.6% for FY’21: SBI report: According to the SBI Ecowrap report released by the State Bank of India (SBI), the GDP growth rate of India for the financial year 2020-21 is likely to fall to 2.6 percent due to the ongoing 21-day lockdown. The GDP growth estimate for the current fiscal, i.e. 2019-20 is estimated at 4.5 percent.

3. New logo has been revealed by PNB ahead of merger: The Punjab National Bank has launched a new logo ahead of its merger with the Oriental Bank of Commerce and the United Bank of India. This new logo bears the distinct signages of all the three PSU banks namely the Punjab National Bank, the United Bank of India and the Oriental Bank of Commerce. In the process of amalgamation, the Punjab National Bank will be the transferee while the Oriental Bank of Commerce and the United Bank of India will be the transferor banks. After the merger, PNB will become the second largest lender in India after the State Bank of India (SBI).

Note: MD & CEO Of Punjab National Bank: S.S. Mallikarjuna Rao.

4. ICICI Bank launches banking services on WhatsApp: ICICI Bank has rolled out the banking services on WhatsApp which will enable the banks’ retail customers to undertake a slew of banking requirements from their home amid lockdown in the country due to COVID-19 pandemic. To avail the services on Whatsapp, customers have to message ‘Hi’ from their registered mobile number to the Bank’s verified WhatsApp profile number 9324953001. Through this, one can check their savings account balance, last three transactions, credit card limit, pre-approved instant loan offers and block/unblock credit & debit card in a secure manner with end-to-end encryption.

Note: Managing Director & CEO of ICICI Bank: Sandeep Bakhshi.

AWARDS AND HONOURS

1. Ranveer Singh Wins Best Actor Award at Critics’ Choice Film Awards 2020: The winners of the Critics’ Choice Film Awards 2020 were announced digitally on 28 March 2020. The event was supposed to be held on March 14, but was cancelled due to the COVID-19 outbreak. The awards is honoured across eight languages including Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, Bengali, Marathi, Malayalam, Gujarati and Kannada in the categories comprising of Best Film, Best Actor (Male), Best Actor (Female), Best Director and Best Writing.

Winners in Hindi Language

Best Actor (Male) – Ranveer Singh (Gully Boy)

Best Actor (Female) – Geetika Vidya Ohlyan (Soni)

Best Director – Zoya Akhtar (Gully Boy)

Best Film – Gully Boy

Best Writing – Anubhav Sinha and Gaurav Solanki (Article 15)

OBITUARIES

1. Veteran US civil rights leader Joseph Lowery passes away: Veteran US civil rights leader Joseph Lowery who helped in establishing the Atlanta-based Southern Christian Leadership Conference, passed away. The Atlanta-based Southern Christian Leadership Conference, an African-American civil rights organisation was set up to promote racial equality. He was born on October 6, 1921, in Huntsville, Alabama, US and was awarded the “Presidential Medal of Freedom”, the nation’s highest civilian honour, by former President Barack Obama in 2009.