Daily GK Updates - 3rd April, 2020

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Naval Dockyard Visakhapatnam Develops Oxygen Cylinder MOM for COVID-19 patients: The Personnel of the Naval Dockyard Visakhapatnam (NDV), Andhra Pradesh has designed an innovative device called ‘Portable Multi-feed Oxygen Manifold’ (MOM). MOM is an oxygen cylinder that could be used to supply oxygen to six patients simultaneously, using a 6-way radial header fitted to a single cylinder. The device will enable critical care management to a larger number of Covid-19 patients with the existing limited resources. After successful trials, Naval Dockyard, Visakhapatnam has commenced manufacture of 10 portable MOM with two 6-way radial headers catering for 120 patients at makeshift locations. The preliminary trials were conducted at MI Room at NDV, followed by rapid trials at the Naval Hospital INHS Kalyani, where it was successfully installed within 30 minutes.

Note: Capital of Andhra Pradesh: Amaravati; Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh: Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy; Governor of Andhra Pradesh: Biswa Bhusan Harichandan.

2. DRDO develops bio suit “Personal Protective Equipment”: A bio suit named as “Personal Protective Equipment” has been developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). The bio suit has been fabricated by DRDO to keep the medical, paramedical and other personnel engaged in combating COVID-19 safe from the deadly virus. DRDO is seeking biosuits to serve as robust line of defence for the medics, paramedics and other personnel engaged in combating COVID-19. The current production capacity is 7,000 suits per day. The suit has been subjected to rigorous testing for textile parameters as well as protection against synthetic blood exceeding the criteria defined for body suits by Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

Note: Chairman of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO): G Satheesh Reddy; Established: 1958; Headquarters: New Delhi.

3. Government Launches Mobile App ‘AarogyaSetu’ To Help People Track Spread Of Coronavirus: In an effort to contain the spread of coronavirus, the Ministry of Electronics and IT has launched a mobile app called ‘AarogyaSetu’ which will enable people in identifying the risk of their getting affected by the CoronaVirus infection. AarogyaSetu is a Sanskrit term which translates to ‘A bridge of health’. This app, developed in public-private partnership, is a coronavirus tracker based on mobile location. Once installed in a smartphone, the app detects other devices with AarogyaSetu installed that come in the proximity of that phone. Using your phone location data and Bluetooth to assess if you’ve been near a person who was infected by COVID-19, the app will calculate the risk, using cutting edge Bluetooth technology, algorithms and artificial intelligence. The app is available in 11 languages and has been launched on both Andriod and ioS.

4. ‘Watson Assistant for Citizens’ to address COVID-19 queries: IBM has introduced ‘Watson Assistant for Citizens’ in India free of cost to address COVID-19 queries. ‘Watson Assistant for Citizens’ is an Artificial Intelligence platform which provides reliable information on COVID-19 related queries. ‘Watson Assistant for Citizens’ unites Watson Assistant, Natural Language Processing as well as Artificial Intelligence (AI) search capabilities that helps in understanding and responding to common queries about COVID-19. IBM is already delivering this service across the US, as well as engaging with organisations globally in Czech Republic, Finland, Greece, Italy, Poland, Spain and others. The initial solution is available in English and is being tailored to include Indian languages as well such as Hindi.

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

5. NCC offers its cadets to fight COVID-19 under ‘Ex NCC Yogdan’: National Cadet Corps (NCC) has offered its volunteer cadets for national duty to fight COVID-19 under ‘Exercise NCC Yogdan’. It has issued guidelines for temporary employment of its cadets to augment relief efforts and functioning of various agencies involved in battling the pandemic. Only Senior Division volunteer cadets above 18 years of age will be employed.

Note: Director-General of NCC: Lt Gen Rajeev Chopra; Headquarters of NCC: New Delhi; NCC founded: 16 April 1948.

6. Domino’s Pizza launches ‘Domino’s Essentials’ service: Domino’s Pizza has partnered with ITC Foods to launch “Domino’s Essentials”. Through “Domino’s Essentials” service, everyday grocery essentials offered by ITC Foods will be delivered while leveraging the delivery infrastructure of Domino’s. This partnership aims to serve the community by ensuring uninterrupted supply of essential items at their doorsteps, without them having to step outside of their homes.

7. NTPC appoints Dilip Kumar Patel as director HR: National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) Limited appointed Dilip Kumar Patel as its Director Human resources on 1 April. Patel has been the HR Head in various NTPC projects like NSPCL Bhilai, Sipat, and Tanda for around 12 years. He was also the Regional Head of HR in the Eastern Region-2 before he was appointed as the Director (HR).

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

8. Maharashtra Government launched COVID-19 self-assessment tool: Maharashtra Government in collaboration with Apollo 24X7 launched a COVID-19 self-assessment tool through which citizens can assess their symptoms from the comfort of their homes and later contact authorities if they have any doubts about their condition. It is available at https://covid-19.maharashtra.gov.in/. Immediate medical advice and other relevant contact information are also available on this link.

9. New features of e-NAM platform launched: Agriculture Minister launched new features of National Agriculture Market (e-NAM). It has introduced two modules: Warehouse based module to facilitate trade from e-NWR and FPO trade module to provide trade facility at their centre reducing their need to come to wholesale mandis for selling their harvested produce. Enhanced version of logistic module has been also released to help users to avail trackable transport facilities for transporting their produce.

10. NBT released questionnaires to evaluate COVID-19 Psycho-Social impact: NBT Study Group has released a set of Questionnaires in Hindi & English of seven segments to assess Psycho-Social Impact of COVID-19 and the Lockdown and How to Cope. The Public circulation of the Questionnaire is intended to create a conducive environment for community participation and sharing of emotions in the lockdown period. The link to access the questionnaire is https://nbtindia.gov.in/home__92__on-line-questionnaire-for-nbt-study.nbt.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. World Bank Rolls out USD 160 billion emergency aid over 15 months to deal with global coronavirus pandemic: The Washington-based development lender World Bank has approved USD 160 billion in emergency aid over 15 months to help countries deal with the impact of the global coronavirus pandemic. In the first set of fast-track crisis funding, World Bank on 2nd April 2020, approved USD 1.9 billion for projects in 25 countries. The initiative will gradually move forward in another 40 nations in coming 15 months. The largest amount of assistance approved in first set was USD 1 billion for India. This was followed by USD 200 million for Pakistan, USD 129 million for Sri Lanka, USD 100 million for Afghanistan and USD 83 million for Ethiopia.

2. UK based 112-year-old Bob Weighton officially recognised as world’s oldest man by Guinness

The Guinness World Records has been officially confirmed Bob Weighton, from the United Kingdom, as the oldest person living (male) at 112 Years and 1 day as of 30 March 2020. Bob Weighton received the record title after Mr. Chitetsu Watanabe of Japan passed away on February 23rd 2020 at 112 years and 355 days.

OTHER UPDATES:

BANKING AND FINANCE

1. Govt cuts interest rates on small savings schemes for Apr-Jun quarter of FY21: The government has cut the interest rates on select small savings schemes by 80-140 basis points (0.8-1.4 percentage point) for the first quarter of 2020-21 (April-June 2020). The new interest rate will be effective from April 1, 2020. Interest rates for small savings schemes are notified on a quarterly basis. Percentage change in Small Savings schemes interest rates is as given below:

Instrument	Interest rate (%) from Jan 1, 2020	Interest rate (%) from April 1, 2020	Change (%)	Compounding Frequency
Savings deposit	4	4	0	Annually
1 year Time Deposit	6.9	5.5	-1.4	Quarterly
2 year Time Deposit	6.9	5.5	-1.4	Quarterly
3 year Time Deposit	6.9	5.5	-1.4	Quarterly
5 year Time Deposit	7.7	6.7	-1	Quarterly
5 year Recurring Deposit	7.2	5.8	-1.4	Quarterly
5 year Senior Citizen Savings Scheme	8.6	7.4	-1.2	Quarterly and Paid
5 year Monthly Income Account	7.6	6.6	-1	Monthly and Paid
5 year National Savings Certificate	7.9	6.8	-1.1	Annually
Public Provident Fund	7.9	7.1	-0.8	Annually
Kisan Vikas Patra	7.6	6.9	-0.7	Annually
Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana	8.4	7.6	-0.8	Annually

2. RBI sets WMA for Central Government at Rs 1,20,000 crore for first half of FY21: The Reserve Bank of India has fixed the Ways and Means Advances (WMA) for Central Government for the first half of the financial year 2020-21 (April 2020 to September 2020) at Rs. 1,20,000 crore. The Reserve Bank may trigger fresh floatation of market loans when the Government of India utilizes 75% of the WMA limit. Apart from this, for State Government’s WMA, RBI has increased the WMA limit by 30 percent from the existing limit for all States/UTs. It must be noted that every state government has a different WMA limit.  The revised limits will come into force with effect from April 1, 2020 and will be valid till September 30, 2020.

OBITUARIES

1. Tony Lewis, one of the inventors of Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method, passes away: Tony Lewis, one of the founding members behind the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method used in weather-affected limited overs cricket matches, has passed away. He was 78. The former England Captain and Welsh cricketer, Tony invented the method along with fellow mathematician Frank Duckworth. The Duckworth-Lewis method was introduced in 1997 and adopted officially by the ICC (International Cricket Council) in 1999. It was renamed as the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern Method in 2014. DLS method is a mathematical formula used to calculate the target score for the team batting second in a limited over’s cricket match interrupted by weather or other circumstances.