Daily GK Updates - 27th April, 2020

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Kerala uses Robots to reduce human interaction in COVID-19 treatment: Robot named "Nightingale-19" and Karmi Bot are being used to provide food and medicines to COVID-19 patients in Kerala. The robot also has a special display facility, attached to it, that allows patients to communicate. "KARMI-Bot" is used in Ernakulam Government Medical College and Nightangle-19 is in Ancharakandi at Kannur district, Kerala. It will serve food and medicines, collects trash, performs disinfection and enables video call between the doctor and patients. The ‘KARMI-Bot’ robot has been donated to the hospital by Viswasanthi Foundation that is owned by Malayalam star Mohanlal.

Note: Chief Minister of Kerala: Pinarayi Vijayan; Governor of Kerala: Arif Mohammad Khan; Capital of Kerala: Thiruvananthapuram.

2. Uttar Pradesh Government bans public gathering till June 30: Amid the COVID-19 outbreak, the Uttar Pradesh Government has decided to ban the public gathering till June 30, 2020. The decision was taken by the state government during the Chief Minister’s meeting with chairpersons of 11 committees of the state over the COVID-19 situation.

Note: Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh: Yogi Adityanath; Governor of Uttar Pradesh: Anandiben Patel.

3. Madhya Pradesh govt launches ‘Jivan Shakti Yojana’ for women: Madhya Pradesh government has launched the “Jivan Shakti Yojana” for women and aims at providing home-based employment for women. Under this scheme, women entrepreneurs of urban areas in MP can start the construction of masks by registering themselves on a portal. The masks manufactured by women will be purchased at the district level at the rate fixed by the Madhya Pradesh government. The government will pay them Rs 11 per mask. Through this, they will not only earn profit by preparing the cotton masks but will also participate in a pious work. CM informed that women wishing to make masks are required to register themselves by calling the call center number 0755-2700800.

Note: Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh: Shivraj Singh Chouhan; Governor of Madhya Pradesh: Lal Ji Tandon.

4. IIT Bombay develops low cost ventilator ‘Ruhdaar’: A team of engineering students from IIT Bombay, NIT Srinagar and Islamic University of Science & Technology (IUST), Jammu and Kashmir have come up with a low-cost ventilator ‘Ruhdaar’ using locally available materials. The prototype cost around Rs.10,000, which can get reduced during mass production and will meet the requirement to treat COVID-19. The ventilator can be used to control tidal volume, Breaths per Minute, and Inspiratory: Expiratory Ratio.

5. Hydrogen fuel car & bus project launched by NTPC in Leh & New Delhi: A Global Expression of Interest (EoI) has been launched by the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) to provide 10 Hydrogen Fuel Cell (FC) based electric buses and an equal number of Hydrogen Fuel Cell-based electric cars in Leh and Delhi. The initiative is undertaken with support from the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy and aims to launch hydrogen-powered vehicles at the decarbonizing quality phase. The EoI has been issued by NTPC's wholly owned subsidiary, NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam (NVVN) Limited.

Note: NTPC Ltd Founded: 7 November 1975; NTPC Ltd Headquarters: New Delhi, India; Chairman & MD NTPC Ltd: Gurdeep Singh.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Saudi Arabia ends death penalty for crimes committed by minors: Saudi Arabia’s King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud has abolished the death penalty for crimes committed by minors. The new order states that any individual who has received a death sentence for crimes committed while he or she is a minor will no longer face execution. Instead of the death sentence, the individual will undergo a prison sentence of no longer than 10 years in a juvenile detention facility. The new rule was announced by the president of the Saudi government’s Human Rights Commission, Awwad Alawwad. Saudi Arabia has already ended the practice of flogging recently. The step is taken to blunt the human rights criticism faced by Saudi Arabia at the international level and an attempt to carry out reforms as per the vision 2030 projected by the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin

Note: Capital of Saudi Arabia: Riyadh; Currency: Saudi riyal.

2. Australian Government Launches Controversial Coronavirus Tracking App ‘COVIDSafe’: The Australian government has launched a coronavirus tracking app called COVIDSafe that will help to trace people who come into contact with someone with COVID-19. The app uses Bluetooth signals. The app will record the Bluetooth connections a phone makes with others so that incase a person catches the virus, the data can be used by state health authorities. The contact numbers picked up by a person’s phone can only be downloaded by a health officer when someone gets the coronavirus. The app is voluntary and will not track the location.

3. New Zealand’s University of Auckland Tops THE Impact Rankings 2020: The second edition of the Times Higher Education (THE) Impact Rankings, was released. In the 2020 THE Impact Rankings, 766 universities from 85 countries have been included. The Times Higher Education Impact Rankings are the only global performance index that assess universities against the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The ranking measure how an institution’s research, outreach and stewardship is delivering against the 17 United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The list has been topped by University of Auckland, New Zealand for the second straight year. From India, 26 Universities have been ranked in the lndex. The top Indian University in the list is Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur. It is placed at 57th position. Japan is the most-represented nation in the list with 63 institutions, followed by Russia (47) and Turkey (37). Top 5 Universities in the List are:

(1) University of Auckland, New Zealand

(2) University of Sydney (Australia),

(3) Western Sydney University (Australia),

(4) La Trobe University (Australia),

(5) Arizona State University (Tempe), United States

OTHER UPDATES:

SPORTS

1. Former Pakistan Skipper Sana Mir Announces Retirement International Cricket: Former Pakistan women’s captain Sana Mir has announced her retirement from international cricket on 25 April 2020, ending a 15 year long illustrious career. The 34-year-old cricketer featured in total 106 T20Is and 226 international matches for Pakistan in which she was the captain for 137 international matches from 2009 to 2017. Mir is currently ranked 9th and 41st in the ICC’s ODI and T20I bowlers’ lists, respectively.

Note: Prime Minister of Pakistan: Imran Khan; President of Pakistan: Arif Alvi; Capital of Pakistan: Islamabad.

2. Olympic silver medallist Mathias Boe Announces Retirement from International Badminton: Former doubles world number 1, Mathias Boe of Denmark, has announced retirement from international badminton at the age of 39, to end his 22 years of his illustrious career. Boe was a silver medallist in men’s double at the 2012 London Olympics and 2013 World Championships. He was the oldest active player at the elite level who made his international debut in 1998. In his career spanning two decades, he partnered the with Michael Jensen, Thomas Hovgaard and Michael Lamp, before striking up a successful long-term combination with Carsten Mogensen.

BANKING AND FINANCE

1. RBI announces Special Liquidity Facility for Mutual Funds (SLF-MF) worth Rs 50,000 Crore: The Reserve Bank of India has launched a Special Liquidity Facility for Mutual Funds (SLF-MF) of Rs. 50,000 crore. This has been done for easing liquidity pressures on Mutual Funds in wake of COVID-19. This is a measure taken by the RBI to mitigate the economic impact of COVID-19 and preserve financial stability. The minimum bid amount would be Rs. 1 Crore and multiples thereof. The allotment would be in multiples of Rs. 1 Crore. Under the SLF-MF, the RBI shall conduct repo operations at the fixed repo rate. The tenor will be 90 days. The SLF-MF scheme is available from April 27, 2020 till May 11, 2020 or up to utilization of the allocated amount, whichever is earlier. Banks can use the funds available under the SLF-MF for meeting the liquidity requirements of MFs by: extending loans, and undertaking outright purchase of and/or repos against the collateral of: (1) investment-grade corporate bonds; (2) commercial papers (CPs); (3) debentures and (4) certificates of Deposit (CDs) held by MFs.

Note: RBI 25th Governor: Shaktikanta Das; Headquarters: Mumbai; Founded: 1 April 1935, Kolkata.

2. Life insurance companies register 11.4% growth in premium income in FY20: Life insurance companies in India have registered a growth of 11.4% in premium income in FY20 with respect to the previous year. The collective premium income of all Life insurance companies in India was Rs 48.26 lakh crore during the fiscal ended March 2020. While the same was Rs 43.33 lakh crore during the fiscal year 2018-19. State-owned insurer LIC, however, posted a decline in premium income at Rs 8.32 lakh crore during 2019-20. The combined market share of all private sector life insurers as of March 31, 2020 stood at 17.24 percent.

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY

1. HDFC acquires 6.43% stake in Reliance Capital: HDFC has acquired 6.43% stake in debt-trapped Reliance Capital by invoking pledged shares. Apart from this, Housing Development Finance Corporation Ltd (HDFC) has acquired 8.21% stake in Reliance Infrastructure Ltd, and 6.97% stake in Reliance Power Ltd.

OBITUARIES

1. Former governor of Bihar & Tripura Devanand Konwar passes away: Veteran politician Devanand Konwar (77 years) passed away. He had served as the Governor of West Bengal from December 14, 2009 to January 23, 2010, Governor of Bihar from June 29, 2009 to March 21, 2013 and Governor of Tripura from March 25, 2013 to June 29, 2014. He joined Indian National Congress in 1955 as a student leader and he had been cabinet minister in Hiteswar Saikia-led Assam government in 1991 and Tarun Gogoi-led government in 2001.