Daily GK Updates - 8th May,2020

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Union Health & Family Welfare Minister launches “AYUSH Sanjivani” App: Union Health & Family Welfare Minister, Dr Harsh Vardhan has recently launched the mobile application ‘AYUSH Sanjivani’ App and two AYUSH based studies related to COVID-19 situation. The app was developed by the Ministry of Ayurveda, Yoga & Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha, and Homoeopathy (AYUSH) and Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITY). The app will help to generate data on acceptance and usage of AYUSH advocacies, measures and its impact in COVID 19 prevention. In addition to the App, collaborative clinical research study on Ayurveda interventions as prophylaxis and as an add-on to standard care to COVID 19 was also launched. It is developed by Ministry of AYUSH and MEITY with target of 50 lakh people.

Note: Minister of State (IC) of the Ministry of Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy (AYUSH): Shripad Yesso Naik

2. Government Launches Biggest Ever Evacuation Exercise ‘Vande Bharat Mission’ to bring Indians Stranded Abroad: The Government of India has launched its biggest ever evacuation exercises named the Vande Bharat Mission, to bring home nearly 15,000 Indian nationals stranded abroad due to the coronavirus lockdown. Under the mission, to be undertaken in phased manner, the government will operate 64 flights from 07 May till May 13, 2020, to repatriate its citizens from 12 countries. The 64 flights will include: 10 flights from the UAE, 2 from Qatar, 5 from Saudi Arabia, 7 from UK, 5 from Singapore, 7 from United States, 5 from Philippines, 7 from Bangladesh, 2 from Bahrain, 7 from Malaysia, 5 from Kuwait and 2 flights from Oman. Of the total flights, 15 would bring back people to Kerala, 11 each to Delhi and Tamil Nadu, 7 each to Maharashtra and Telangana, and the rest to Gujarat, Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka, and Uttar Pradesh.

Note: Minister of State (IC) of the Ministry of Civil Aviation: Hardeep Singh Puri.

3. Visakhapatnam Gas Leak Tragedy: Styrene gas leaked from LG Polymers Plant in Vishakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh. The plant was located about 15 km from the coastal city of Vizag. The changes in temperature inside a storage tank resulted in a leak. The gas has spread across a radius of 3 km affecting at least 5 villages and over 3000 people. According to the sources, a gas leak occurred on 7th May – Thursday at 2 AM on in the morning and quickly spread to around 5 villages in the vicinity of RR Venkatapuram where the plant is located.

About Styrene Gas: Styrene is a chemical compound that has been identified as neuro-toxins. It is also known as ethenylbenzene, vinylbenzene, and phenylephrine. The chemical formula of Styrene Gas is C6H5CH=CH2. Styrene gas is a by-product of highly flammable raw material Styrene. Styrene is a flammable liquid that is used in the manufacturing of polystyrene plastics, fiberglass, rubber, and latex. The gas produced by burning styrene is poisonous in nature. Coming to chemical properties, Styrene Gas is a colour-less and odour-less compound.

Health Impacts of Styrene Gas: Styrene gas affects the respiratory system. It causes chest congestion, gasping, air hunger and wheezing. It slowly paralyses the lung muscles causing complete respiratory paralysis. This leads to death due to oxygen deprivation. Death occurs within 10 minutes of continuous exposure to concentrate Styrene gas.

Note: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister: Y. S.Jaganmohan Reddy; Governor of Andhra Pradesh: Biswa Bhusan Harichandan.

4. Madhya Pradesh Becomes First State in the country to Deliver door to door Mid-Day Meal Ration: Madhya Pradesh has become the first state of India to provide door to door ration of mid-day meal amid corona crises. The state government has announced the transfer of Rs. 117 crore in the bank accounts of the parents of 66 lakh 27 thousand students of primary and middle school, in an effort to provide mid-day meal to school children in the corona outbreak. At the same time, ration of mid-day meal has already been delivered at the doorsteps of 56 lakh 87 thousand children, under door-to-door mid-day meal scheme. Anganwadi workers, Panchayat representatives and local teachers were deployed in sending ration to the students at their home after the school closing in April 2020.

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

5. Defence Minister Inaugurates Strategic Road in Uttarakhand Connecting Indian Posts on Indo-China Border: The Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh inaugurated the strategically important Ghatiabagar-Lipulekh motor road in Uttarakhand, through video-conferencing on 8th May 2020. This key road connects the last Indian post on the Indo-China border in Uttarakhand’s Vyas valley. It has been built by the Border Roads Organisation (BRO). The minister also flagged off a caravan of nine vehicles from Pithoragarh to Gunji to mark the opening of the 75.54-km road. It included four small vehicles and some loaded vehicles of the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) and the Indo-Tibetan Border Police, to indicate that both passengers and load can be sent by the new road stretch through mountainous terrain. The road has been built from Ghatibagar in Dharchula to the 17,000 feet high Lipulekh pass. It is also known as Kailash-Mansarovar Yatra Route. The travel time via this road from Dharchula to Lipulekh will now be reduced to just four hours, which earlier took about five days.

6. Andhra Pradesh Unveils Mobile App CMAPP to Monitor agriculture needs of farmers: In Andhra Pradesh, Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has launched a mobile app CMAPP (Comprehensive Monitoring of Agriculture, Price, and Procurement) to monitor the agriculture needs of farmers. The CMAPP app will display data regarding cost, procurement, and marketing facilities of the farmers for their agriculture produce. The state government has assigned a joint collector in each district to oversee the farming-related issues.

7. IMD Forecast Now Includes PoK, Gilgit-Baltistan in Jammu and Kashmir: After the abrogation of Article 370 from Jammu Kashmir and turning it into two separate Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has included regions of Gilgit-Baltistan and Muzaffarabad, territories currently under Pak occupied Kashmir (PoK), in its daily weather bulletin. The IMD has now included this addition in the Jammu and Kashmir meteorological subdivisions. The news of adding regions of POK into the Indian weather forecast came after Pakistan Supreme court’s decision to allow Islamabad to hold elections in Gilgit-Baltistan.

Note: Headquarters of Indian Meteorological Department: New Delhi; Indian Meteorological Department Founded: 1875.

8. Madhya Pradesh develops unique vehicle ‘Sanjeevani’: In Madhya Pradesh, in a first of its kind initiative, a unique vehicle has been developed at the local level. With the help of this vehicle, health workers can investigate any suspected patients without coming in to the contact of him. This vehicle has been named Sanjeevani. This unique vehicle designed at the initiative of Rajnagar administration of Chhatarpur district, is highly useful for health workers.

9. Tamil Nadu government increases retirement age to 59: Tamil Nadu government increases the retirement age of the government staff, teachers and those in public sector units from 58 years to 59 years. More than 25,000 government employees were set to superannuate this financial year. Those who are due for retirement on May 31 this year will now retire on May 31, 2021.

Note: Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu: Thiru Edappadi K. Palaniswami; Governor of Tamil Nadu: Banwarilal Purohit.

10. Delhi Govt launches e-token system for liquor sale: Delhi Government launched e-token system for liquor sale in the national capital to ensure social distancing and to stop overcrowding. The decision was taken to encourage people to avoid long queues by applying for an e-token with time slot at any nearby shop to buy liquor. Any person can apply for an e-token through the link qtoken.in. Name and phone number will be required while applying and the e-token will be sent at the registered mobile number.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. China Successfully Test Flights New Long March-5B Rocket Carrying Next-Generation Space Capsule: The Ch ina space agency, CNSA, successfully completed the maiden test launch of its heavy-lift Long March 5B rocket on 05 May 2020. This rocket is launched in Wenchang launch site that is located on the island of Hainan, china. The 849 tonnes and 54-metre Long March 5B rocket will be used to carry the country’s Mars mission, dubbed Tianwen, that is scheduled to launch in July 2020.  The rocket carried with it a prototype crewed deep-space spacecraft, demonstrating the launcher’s capability to carry space station modules to low Earth orbit. It is expected that the craft will transport astronauts to a space station by 2022 and eventually to the Moon.

Note: China Capital: Beijing; Currency of China: Renminbi; President of China: Xi Jinping.

2. Iran introduces new currency “Toman” to tackle Inflation: The Parliament of Iran has passed a bill to change the country’s national currency from the Rial to the ‘Toman’, after a sharp fall in the value of the currency as a result of crippling U.S. sanctions. The bill state to effectively cut four zeros from its existing currency, which will make each toman equal to 10,000 rials. For this an amendment has been made to the country’s Monetary and Banking Act. The bill now requires to be approved by the clerical body– The Guardian Council that supervises the Parliament and examines legislation before it takes effect. Once approved, the Central Bank of the country will have two years to implement the change, by removing rials from circulation and issuing tomans instead.

Note: Iran Capital: Tehran; President of Iran: Hassan Rouhani.

2. World Red Cross and Red Crescent Day: 8th May: The World Red Cross and Red Crescent Day is observed every year on 8 May to celebrate the principles of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. The day also marks the anniversary of the birth of Henry Dunant (8 May 1828), who was the founder of International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). He was the recipient of the first Nobel Peace Prize. This day is dedicated to the people who suffer from shortage of food, several natural calamities, war as well as from an epidemic disease.

Note: President of the ICRC: Peter Maurer; Headquarters of ICRC: Geneva, Switzerland.

3. Time of Remembrance and Reconciliation for Those Who Lost Their Lives during the Second World War: 8-9 May: Every year during May 8-9, the United Nations marks the Time of Remembrance and reconciliation for those who lost their lives during the Second World War. The day pays tribute to all the victims of the Second World War. This year is the 75th Anniversary of World War II.

Note: Secretary-General of the United Nations: Antonio Guterres.

4. World Thalassaemia Day: 8th May: World Thalassaemia Day is observed globally on 8th May every year. This day is observed to raise awareness about thalassaemia disease, its preventive measures and to avoid transmission and the importance of vaccination for children’s health, society and among the people throughout the world. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, World Thalassaemia Day 2020 will be celebrated through different online activities. The World Thalassaemia Day 2020 theme: “The dawning of a new era for thalassaemia: Time for a global effort to make novel therapies accessible and affordable to patients”.

Note: Thalassaemia is a blood disorder in which your body has less hemoglobin than normal.

5. UNEP extends Dia Mirza’s term as Goodwill Ambassador till 2022: The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has extended the term of environmentalist and actor-producer Dia Mirza as the National Goodwill Ambassador of the agency for another two years till the end of 2022. The actress is also the United Nations Sustainability Development Goal Advocate. As a Goodwill Ambassador, Mirza will continue work with the UN to further spread the message on key areas including clean air, clean seas, wildlife protection and climate change.

Note: Headquarters of United Nations Environment Programme(UNEP): Nairobi, Kenya; Executive Director of United Nations Environment Programme(UNEP): Inger Andersen.

OTHER UPDATES:

BANKING AND FINANCE

1. Centre Extends Deadline for Filing Annual GST Return for FY19 until September 2020: The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) has extended the last date for filing annual GST return for financial year 2018-19 by three months till September 2020. CBDT has also extended the validity of e-way bills, generated on or before March 24, and had expiry between March 20 and April 15, 2020. The validity of e-way bills has now been extended till May 31. All these measures have been taken in wake of extension of lockdown, making it difficult for the industry to meet the timeline.

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY

1. India’s unemployment rate soars to 27.11% amid Covid-19 crisis: CMIE: According to the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE), the Covid-19 crisis has led to a spike in the country’s unemployment rate to 27.11 per cent for the week ended May 3, up from the under 7 per cent level before the start of the pandemic in mid-March. The rate of unemployment was the highest in the urban areas, which constitute the most number of the red zones due to the Covid-19 cases, at 29.22 per cent, as against 26.69 per cent for the rural areas. As per CMIE’s data, the monthly unemployment rate in April stood at 23.52 per cent, up from March’s 8.74 per cent.