Daily GK Updates - 28th April, 2020

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. UIDAI permits Aadhaar updation facility through CSC: Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has permitted Common Service Centre (CSC), that are designated banking correspondents of banks, to offer Aadhaar services to make Aadhaar updating easier for citizens. Around 20,000 such CSCs will now be able to offer this service to citizens. With these 20 thousand centers available to Aadhaar, the users particularly in rural areas need not visit Aadhaar centres in bank branches or Post Offices for this work. According to the permission, the Common Service Centre are allowed to only update demographic details such as name, address and date of birth.

Note: CEO of the Common Service Centre (CSC): Dinesh Tyagi.

Union Minister for Electronics and Information Technology: Ravi Shankar Prasad.

2. Union Minister of Rural Development & Panchayati Raj Shri Narendra Singh Tomar issues guidelines regarding the SVAMITVA scheme: Union Minister of Rural Development & Panchayati Raj Shri Narendra Singh Tomar has issued the guidelines for the SVAMITVA scheme, which is a new initiative of the Ministry of Panchayati Raj. SVAMITVA scheme has been launched by the Ministry of Panchayati Raj. SVAMITVA scheme aims to provide an integrated property validation solution for rural India, engaging the latest Drone Surveying technology, for demarcating the inhabitant (Aabadi) land in rural areas. The scheme will provide rural people with the right to document their residential properties so that they can use their property for economic purposes. The program is currently being implemented in six states – Haryana, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.

3. Lucknow’s KGMU becomes India’s First Government Hospital to successfully launch Plasma Therapy Treatment for COVID-19: The King George Medical University in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh has become the first government hospital in the country to successfully launch the plasma therapy treatment for the COVID-19 patients. Convalescent Plasma Therapy is an experimental procedure for COVID-19 patients.

What is Plasma Therapy? In this therapy, plasma- a blood component, from a cured COVID-19 patient is transfused to a critically ill coronavirus patient. The blood of a person who has recovered from COVID-19 develops antibodies to battle against the virus. The antibodies from the blood of a cured coronavirus patient are then used to treat another critical patient. The therapy can also be used to immunise those who are at a high risk of contracting the virus.

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

4. IIT Delhi Launches Dashboard ‘PRACRITI’ to predict district, state wise Covid-19 transmission rate: The Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (IIT Delhi) have developed a web-based dashboard named ‘PRACRITI’ which can predict the district and state wise transmission rate of COVID-19. PRACRITI stands for PRediction and Assessment of CoRona Infections and Transmission in India. PRACRITI will give details of the R0 (R nought) number of each state and district in India. R nought refers to the number of people to whom the disease spreads from a single infected person. For instance, if an active COVID-19 patient infects two uninfected persons, the R0 is two. The details will be based on the data available from sources such as the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), and World Health Organisation (WHO). This data will enable the authorities and the public to know the exact rate of spread in India locally and take necessary step to control and mitigate Coronavirus transmission in India.

5. Assam Governor Jagdish Mukhi takes charge of Bodoland Territorial Council: Assam Governor Jagdish Mukhi has taken over the administration of the Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) after its term expired. Governor is the Constitutional head of the Bodoland Territorial Area Districts (BTAD) that fall under 6th Schedule of the Constitution and is administered by BTC. 40 council election to constituencies could not be conducted due to present situation. Meanwhile, Siddhartha Singh has been posted as Principal Secretary of BTC, Kokrajhar.

6. NTPC Vindhyachal becomes India’s largest power plant to achieve 100 percent Plant Load Factor: NTPC Vindhyachal Power Plant has become the largest power plant in India to achieve 100 percent Plant Load Factor (PLF). The 100 percent PLF means that the power plant was run at its full capacity of 3760 MW for a certain period. NTPC Vindhyachal is located in Singrauli district of Madhya Pradesh.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. SIPRI released data on Global military expenditure:  A report titled “Trends in World Military Expenditure, 2019” has been released by swedish think tank Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). The report analysed the global military spending in 2019 stating that the global military spending in 2019 was 2.2% of the global gross domestic product (GDP) i.e 7.2% higher in 2019 than it was in 2010. The total global military expenditure in the year 2019 has been reported to be $1917 billion. As per the report, the total military spending in 2019 represents an increase of 3.6 percent, compared to the spending in 2018.

United States ($732 billion), China ($261 billion), India ($71.1 billion), Russia ($65.1 billion) and Saudi Arabia ($61.9 billion) are the top five largest spenders in 2019 respectively. Collectively, they accounted for 62 percent of the total expenditure. Also, this is the first time that two Asian states have featured among the top three military spenders. India’s military spending grew by 6.8 percent to USD 71.1 billion in 2019, to become third largest military spender in the world.

Note: Headquarter of SIPRI: Solna, Sweden.

2. Pakistan Navy successfully test-fires anti-ship missiles: The Pakistan Navy successfully test-fired a series of anti-ship missiles from Surface & Aviation units in the North Arabian Sea. The missiles were fired from surface ships, fixed and rotary-wing aircraft. Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Zafar Mahmood Abbasi witnessed the firing of the missiles. The anti-ship missiles were fired at the sea level by warships and aircraft.

3. World Day for Safety and Health at Work: 28 April: World Day for Safety and Health is celebrated every year on 28 April to promote the prevention of occupational accidents and diseases globally and raise awareness to ensure health and safety at the workplace. The World Day for Safety and Health at Work 2020 will primarily focus on addressing the outbreak of infectious diseases at work, focusing on the COVID-19 pandemic. It was first observed by the International Labour Organization in 2003. The day is a significant tool to raise awareness of making work safe and healthy and political profile of occupational safety and health. Theme for World Day for Safety and Health 2020: “Stop the pandemic: Safety and health at work can save lives”.

Note: Headquarters of International Labour Organization: Geneva, Switzerland; President of International Labour Organization: Guy Ryder; International Labour Organization Founded: 1919.

4. World Veterinary Day 2020: 25 April: The World Veterinary Day is observed on the last Saturday in the month of April. In the year 2020, the day is being celebrated on 25th April 2020. It is observed to mark the importance of Veterinary doctors who serve to protect animals to improve their animal lives and thus human lives. The theme of World Veterinary Day 2020 is Environment Protection for Improving Animal and Human Health.

OTHER UPDATES:

SPORTS

1. Indian middle-distance runner Jhuma Khatun banned for Four years for failing dope test: Middle-distance runner Jhuma Khatun has been banned for four years by the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) of the world governing body, International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), for testing positive for a banned substance, Steroid. The 31-year-old has been banned in a nearly two-year-old doping case which the National Dope Testing Laboratory (NDTL) had failed to detect. Khatun’s dope sample collected during the National Inter-State Championships in June 2018 in Guwahati returned negative when it was tested by NDTL. The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) then decided to test the sample of Khatun at its Montreal Laboratory in Canada and it returned positive for dehydrochloromethyl testosterone. Jhuma won a bronze medal in both the 1500 and 5000m competitions at the Guwahati Championships.

Note: President of World Anti-Doping Agency: Witold Banka; World Anti-Doping Agency Headquarters: Montreal, Canada.

2. PCB Bans Cricketer Umar Akmal for three-year for anti-corruption code breaches: Pakistan’s test cricketer Umar Akmal has been banned from all forms of cricket for a period of 3 years by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Disciplinary Panel, on corruption charges. He has been charged with two breaches of anti-corruption codes of Pakistan Cricket Board after he failed to report details of corrupt approaches made to him ahead of 2020 PSL. He was charged under Article 2.4.4, which deals with a failure of participant to disclose to the PCB Vigilance and Security Department (without unnecessary delay) full details of any approaches or invitations received by the Participant to engage in Corrupt Conduct under this Anti-Corruption Code. Earlier, Umar escaped a ban from PCB in February for allegedly making crude remarks to a trainer during a fitness test at the National Cricket Academy in Lahore.

BANKING AND FINANCE

1. Indian Overseas Bank introduces special borrowing programme: Indian Overseas Bank (IOB) has introduced a special borrowing programme for self-help groups (SHG) to help the SHGs in order to overcome the difficulties posed by COVID-19. The maximum loan amount is Rs 5,000 per member of a SHG with a cap of Rs 1 lakh without any processing fee or pre-payment fee. SHGs with a good track record and a history of minimum two loans from IOB will be eligible. The loan can be availed till June 30, 2020 through branches or business correspondents.

Note: Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer of Indian Overseas Bank: Karnam Sekar.

2. Madhavan Menon term as CSB part-time chairman extended: RBI approved the appointment of Madhavan Menon as Part-time Chairman of the Catholic Syrian Bank (CSB) for a period of one year from the date of appointment Menon is currently the chairman and managing director of Thomas Cook India. Extension is in terms of Section 10B (1A) (i) of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949. The private sector bank CSB was formerly known as The Catholic Syrian Bank.

Note: Headquarters of CSB: Thrissur, Kerala

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY

1. Ind-Ra cuts India’s GDP growth forecast for FY21 to 1.9%: India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) has predicted India’s GDP growth rate for 2020-21 (FY21) at 1.9%. Earlier this was 3.6%. According to Ind-Ra, India’s GDP growth rate has been in contraction (means negative) for 5 times. These 5 years are-> in 1957-58 was negative 0.4%, in 1965-66 it was negative 2.6%, in 1966-67 it was negative 0.1%, in 1972-73 it was negative 0.6%, and in 1979-80 it was negative 5.2%.

2. Nokia and Airtel signs deal to boost network capacity & customer experience: Airtel and Nokia sign multi-year deal to deploy Nokia’s Single Radio Access Network (SRAN) solution across 9 circles in India to enhance the network capacity & improve customer experience with 300,000 radio units across several spectrum bands. This will also lay the foundation for 5G connectivity in the future. Nokia's SRAN solution helps operators manage their 2G, 3G and 4G networks from one platform reducing network complexity and increasing cost efficiencies. According to the deal between two companies, Nokia will deploy approximately 3,00,000 radio units across several spectrum bands, including 900 Mhz, 1800 Mhz, 2100 Mhz and 2300 Mhz across India by 2022.

Note: MD & CEO (India and South Asia) of Bharti Airtel: Gopal Vittal.

President and Chief Executive Officer of Nokia: Rajeev Suri.

DEFENCE

1. Australia cancels premier multilateral air combat training exercise Pitch Black 2020: Australia has informed that they have decided to cancel the three week long multi-national air combat training exercise Pitch Black 2020, to ensure compliance with COVID-19-related Government restrictions and to protect the personnel, their families and the community. The exercise was scheduled to be held from July 27 to August 14, 2020. The next edition of Pitch Black will be held in 2022. Exercise Pitch Black is a biennial warfare exercise hosted by the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). Exercise Pitch Black is the Royal Australian Air Force’s biennial capstone International Engagement activity with forces participating from a wide range of regional, coalition and allied nations developing and enhancing military relationships. The last edition of the exercise was held in 2018, in which the Indian Air Force took part in the exercise for the first time.

Note: Capital of Australia: Canberra; Prime Minister (PM) Australia: Scott John Morrison; The currency of Australia: Australian Dollar.

OBITUARIES

1. Veteran Odia Dramatist Bijay Mishra Passes Away: Eminent Odia dramatist, lyricist and screenwriter Bijay Mishra has passed away following a prolonged illness. He was 83. Mishra has written scripts for about 60 plays, 55 films and 7 TV serials. He was a recipient of Odisha Sahitya Akademi and also received Kendra Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 2013 for his book ”Banaprastha”. He also received Jayadev Award for his lifetime contribution to Odia film industry at the 30th Odisha State Film Awards in 2019.

2. Ex-NASA Administrator James M. Beggs Passes Away: Former NASA administrator, James M. Beggs, has passed away due to Congestive heart failure. He was 94. James beggs served Navy till 1954. He was an executive vice president and a director of General Dynamics Corp before becoming NASA administrator. Beggs was the sixth administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). He had served in the agency’s top position from July 1981. He formally resigned from the post on February 26, 1986. NASA had quite 20 successful spacecraft missions during Beggs’ tenure.

Note: The administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA): Jim Bridenstine; Headquarters of NASA: Washington D.C., United States.