Daily Current Affairs 26th March, 2020

Daily Current Affairs 26 March 2020 for Banking/Insurance/SSC and other related exams.

NATIONAL NEWS

FM announces Rs 1.7 lakh cr package for poor affected by lockdown
Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman has announced a slew of measures to deal with the economic distress caused due to the coronavirus pandemic and the subsequent lockdown announced to deal with the situation.

• PM Gareeb Kalyan Scheme will entail Rs 1.7 lakh crore.It will include both cash transfer and food security.
• Provide insurance cover worth Rs 50 lakh for sanitation workers, ASHA workers, doctors, nurses, paramedics in case they need it as they are on the frontlines of the corona battle.
• Over and above 5kg of rice/wheat that is already given, another 5 kg per person will be given free to around 80 crore people through PDS. Besides, one kg of preferred and region specific choice of pulse will also be given.

Direct cash transfer through DBT

1. Farmers: First instalment of Rs 2,000 of PM Kisan will be given in first week of April. 8.69 cr farmers will get immediate benefit out of it.
2. MNREGA: Increase in wage rate from Rs 182 to Rs 202 amounting to increase of Rs 2000 per worker leading to benefitting 5 crore people.
3. Old age/widows: An ex-gratia amount of Rs 1,000 for next three months available in two instalments. It will benefit 3 crore widows and senior citizens.
4. Women Jan Dhan account holders: Ex gratia of Rs 500 per month for next three months. This will benefit 20 crore women.
5. Women Ujjawala sheme beneficiaries: For three months, free cylinders. Will benefit 8.3 crore BPL families.
6. Women Self Help Groups: Under the Deen Dayal National Livelihood Mission, collateral free loan will be given up to Rs 20 lakh from Rs 10 lakh earlier. Impact on 7 crore holders through 63 lakh SHGs.
7. Organised sector: Government of India will pay the EPF contribution both of the employer and the employee put together 24% for next three months. This is for those establishments with up to 100 employees, 90% of them earning less than Rs 15,000.
8. For organised sector, EPFO regulation will be amended so that workers can draw up to 75% for their contingency expenditure non-refundable advance or three months of wages in advance whichever is less. This will benefit 4.8 cr workers.
9. Construction workers: State government have been directed to use the welfare fund for building & construction labourers which has around Rs 31,000 crore to help those who are facing economic disruption because of the lockdown.
10. Utilise the funds available under the district mineral fund for testing activities, medical screening, providing health attention needed to fight the coronavirus pandemic

EC allows use of indelible ink for home quarantine stamps
In a rare move, the Election Commission of India allowed use of indelible ink to stamp home quarantine tags on people following a surge in cases of Covid-19 in the country.

• The Commission took a “suo-moto” decision to allow health authorities the use of the ink.

Mayiladuthurai to be Tamil Nadu’s 38th district
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswamy announced that Tamil Nadu’s newest, 38th district will be formed in Mayiladuthurai.

• The existing district of Nagapattinam will be bifurcated and Mayiladuthurai will become the headquarters of the new district.

Coronavirus: Patnaik launches Mo Jeeban programme
Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik launched Mo Jeeban programme and urged people to take a pledge to stay indoors.

• He launching the Mo Jeeban (My Life) programme and appealing to all to remain indoors. If you go outside, you may bring the virus at home which will affect your family. Therefore, please stay at home, Patnaik said in a video message.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

After coronavirus, man dies of hantavirus in China
Amidst the coronavirus pandemic, a man in China’s southwestern Yunnan province has died of hantavirus, a disease spread by rodents

• Hantaviruses are a family of viruses spread mainly by rodents and can cause varied disease syndromes in people worldwide, according to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) which is the leading national public health institute of the United State

Saudi king chaired extraordinary G20 video summit on coronavirus
Saudi Arabia’s King Salman chaired an emergency virtual summit of G20 leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, to advance the coordinated response to the novel coronavirus pandemic that has claimed nearly 19,000 lives and upended life and businesses across the globe.

• Leaders from G20 nations joined by representatives from the coronavirus-affected countries like Italy, Spain, Jordan, Singapore, and Switzerland.

ITU launches “Global Network Resiliency Platform”: COVID-19
The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) launched a new platform “Global Network Resiliency Platform” to help global networks under increasing strain and facing rising demand during the COVID-19 crisis to remain “safer, stronger and more connected”.

• The new platform will assist governments and the private sector in ensuring that networks are kept resilient and telecommunication services are available to all.

WHO begins mega trial of 4 promising drugs to cure Covid-19
The World Health Organization (WHO) has initiated a global mega trial of the four most promising drugs that may cure the novel coronavirus.

• The mega trial is called Solidarity, under which the study, testing, and development of antidote against coronavirus will be made.
• An experimental antiviral compound called remdesivir; the malaria medications chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine; a combination of two HIV drugs, lopinavir and ritonavir; and that same combination plus interferon-beta, an immune system messenger that can help cripple viruses.

UN launches USD 2 bn global humanitarian response plan to fight coronavirus
The United Nations launched a USD 2 billion global humanitarian response plan to fund the fight against the coronavirus pandemic in the world’s poorest countries, warning that it is threatening the entire human race.

• The world faces an unprecedented threat. The COVID-19 pandemic has rapidly covered the globe. It has spread suffering, disrupted billions of lives and endangered the global economy.

BANKING & FINANCE

Jana SFB launches UPI QR-based loan instalment payment facility
Jana Small Finance Bank, along with National Payment Corporation of India, has launched a UPI QR-based loan installment payment facility for its customers.

• The move comes at a time when banks are advising their customers to operate maximum banking services from the safe confines of their home.

BUSINESS & ECONOMY

ITR filing deadline for FY19 extended till 30 June
The finance minister as a part of financial package in the wake of coronavirus outbreak has extended the last date for filing income tax return for FY19 to June 30, 2020.

• The interest rate for delayed payment is cut to 9% from 12%. Meanwhile a reduced interest of 9%, instead of 18%, will be charged for delayed deposit of TDS.

Microsoft, US CDC tie-up to create ‘Clara’, a COVID-19 self-screening bot
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has introduced an AI bot called ‘Clara’ to help people assess potential symptoms of COVID-19.

• The CDC has partnered up with CDC Foundation and Microsoft Azure’s Healthcare Bot service to create Clara, the “coronavirus self-checker.” the bot is currently only available in the US on the CDC website.

Moody’s forecasts recession for G20 countries in 2020
The world’s 20 most industrialised countries will likely suffer a recession this year because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the financial ratings agency Moody’s forecast.

• It estimated that the G20’s overall gross domestic product would contract by 0.5 percent, with the US economy shrinking by 2 percent and the eurozone by 2.2 percent.
• China however, despite suffering an outbreak of the novel coronavirus before everyone else, could see economic activity expand by 3.3 percent

AWARDS

IIM Bangalore topped the D2C Competitive B-Schools 2020 ranking
IIM Bangalore topped the D2C Competitive B-Schools 2020 ranking, outshining everyone. IIM Kozhikode, known for its lush campus and its enterprising students, was ranked a close second.

• Indian School of Business (ISB), which secured the third rank with the next highest number of students who won laurels to the institute. In the fourth and fifth place are MDI Gurgaon and NMIMS Mumbai, respectively.
• Other prestigious B-Schools that managed to rank in Top 10 D2C Competitive B-Schools 2020 are IIM Ahmedabad, SIBM Pune, XLRI Jamshedpur, NITIE Mumbai, IMT Ghaziabad and IIM Shillong, in their respective order.

OBITUARIES

Former Indian footballer Abdul Latif passes away
Renowned footballer and coach Abdul Latif passed away after prolonged illness. He was 72.

• Latif, who played as a midfielder, represented India in the 1970 Asian Games where the team had won a bronze.
• Latif won a number of trophies including the Kalinga Cup (1964), DCM Trophy (1964) and Sri Krishna Gold Cup (1965, 1966). With Bagan, he won the Rovers Cup (1968), Amrita Bazar Trophy (1968), Dr HK Mookherjee Trophy (1968), and the Babu Kuer Singh Shield in Patna in 1968

Veteran Bollywood actor Nimmi passes away
Nimmi, the star of 1950s and ’60s Hindi movies such as ‘Aan’, ‘Barsaat’ and ‘Deedar’, died on Wednesday after prolonged illness. She was 88.

• The actor, born as Nawab Banoo, came to be known by her screen name ‘Nimmi’, which was given to her by filmmaker Raj Kapoor, who first spotted her as a shy teen on the sets of his film “Andaz“.
• She acted in various popular movies including ‘Aan’, ‘Barsaat’ and ‘Deedar’. Her last movie was ‘Love and God’.

Freedom fighter Nagorao Deshpande passes away
Veteran freedom fighter Nagorav Vitthalrao Deshpande died of prolonged illness in Maharashtra’s Aurangabad district. He was 90.

• He led the Satyagraha movement, organised under leadersip of late Swami Ramanand Teerth and Govindbhai Shroff in Marathwada.
• Deshpande was the founder secretary of Marathwada Janta Vikas Parishad and Swami Ramanand Teerth Marathwada Research Centre in Aurangabad.
• He was conferred with the first ‘Granth Mitra’ award by the Maharashtra government in 1996.

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