Daily Current Affairs 12th April, 2020

Daily Current Affairs 12 April 2020 for Banking/Insurance/SSC and other related exams.

NATIONAL NEWS

Ahmedabad railway station gets sanitizing tunnel 
Ahmedabad station of Western Railway has got the unique distinction of becoming the first station on Indian Railways to install a Walk Through Mass Sanitizing Tunnel. The tunnel was inaugurated by Ahmedabad DRM Deepak Jha.

• The walk through mass Sanitizer Tunnel has been set up by Ahmedabad division to ensure the safety of staff and passengers in view of the COVID-1.
• The distance of the tunnel is 20 feet long which can be covered within 10 seconds.

Jobless rate amid Covid-19 lockdown period hits 23.4%: CMIE
Unemployment rate during March 30-April 5 rose to 23.4 per cent and the labour participation rate fell to 36 per cent, reflecting the impact of lockdown to tackle COVID-19 outbreak, data released by Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy showed.

•  For full month of March, unemployment rose to a 43-month high of 8.7 per cent, while the labour participation rate dropped to 41.9 per cent.

• This is the first time that the LPR has fallen below 42 per cent. This fall in the LPR in March was the result of a sharp 9 million fall in the labour force — from 443 million in January 2020 to 434 million in March 2020.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan participates in G20 Extraordinary Energy Ministers’ virtual meeting
Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas and Steel, Dharmendra Pradhan participated in the G20 Extraordinary Energy Ministers’ virtual Meeting.

• The meeting was called by Saudi Arabia, in its capacity as the G20 Presidency, and chaired by Saudi Arabia Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz. The meeting was attended by Energy Ministers of G20 countries, guest countries and heads of international organizations including OPEC, IEA and IEF.
• The G20 Energy Ministers’ focused on ways and means to ensure stable energy markets, which are affected due to demand reduction as result of the COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing surplus production -related matters.

BANKING & FINANCE

RBI urges bank customers to adopt digital payment modes, launches Twitter campaign
Reserve Bank of India urged bank customers to adopt digital modes of payment that are convenient and safe.

• The usage of digital modes to make transactions has become all the more important as the ongoing 21-day nationwide lockdown, imposed to maintain social distancing to contain the spread of the coronavirus, has restricted the movement of people.
• In a Twitter campaign launched in public interest, the RBI emphasised on transacting digitally as it gives the convenience of making payments anytime and anywhere
• The face of the campaign is Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan.

SPORTS

Bangladesh pacer Mohammad Sharif retires from all forms of cricket
Bangladesh pacer Mohammad Sharif, who last played an international match in 2007, announced his retirement from all forms of cricket on Saturday, ending a 20-year-long illustrious domestic career.

• The 34-year-old had an amazing record in the first-class cricket. In 132 matches, he has bagged 393 wickets with an average of 28.03 including 15 five-wicket hauls.
• The right-arm bowler made his debut against Zimbabwe in an ODI fixture in 2001. He went on to play nine 50-over matches for the country and scalped 10 wickets.

APPOINTMENTS

Karnataka Bank gets RBI nod to reappoint Mahabaleshwara M S as MD and CEO for 3 yrs
Private sector lender Karnataka Bank said it has received RBI nod for reappointment of Mahabaleshwara M S as MD and CEO for next three years.

• The regulator has also approved for reappointment of P Jayarama Bhat as part time (non executive) chairman.

Ex-RBI guv Raghuram Rajan named in key IMF external advisory group
Former Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor Raghuram Rajan and 11 others have been named by International Monetary Fund (IMF) managing director Kristalina Georgieva to her external advisory group to provide perspectives from around the globe on key developments and policy issues, including responses to challenges over coronavirus pandemic.

• Rajan, who was the RBI governor for three years until September 2016, is currently working as a professor at the prestigious University of Chicago.

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

Telangana Minister launches App that will provide official data on COVID-19 cases in state
Telangana Minister KT Rama Rao launched “T COVID-19″ mobile application, a single source of information on coronavirus, which is aimed at curbing the spread of fake news.

• To assist healthcare professionals, the Health and IT Electronics & Communications Department has developed the application in collaboration with AWS, Cisco and Quantela, a Hyderabad-based start-up.

IIT Bombay develops ‘smart stethoscope’ which can hear heartbeats from a distance
A team at the Indian Institute of Technology of Bombay (IIT-B) has developed a “digital stethoscope” that can listen to heart beats from a distance and record them, minimising the risk of healthcare professionals contracting the novel coronavirus from patients.

•  This can help doctors and medical professionals practice social distancing with ease and prevent them from making excess contact with an infected individual.
• The data or the auscultated sound from a patient’s chest is wirelessly sent to the doctor using Bluetooth, doing away with the need to go near to take readings, according to members of the team.

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