Daily Current Affairs 13th April, 2020

Daily Current Affairs 11 April 2020 for Banking/Insurance/SSC and other related exams.

NATIONAL NEWS

COVID-19: ‘Suraksha Stores’ to meet daily needs on anvil
Ahead of extending restrictions on the mobility of goods and persons, the government plans to set up a chain of 20 lakh retail shops called ‘Suraksha Stores’ across India which will provide daily essentials to citizens while maintaining stringent safety norms.

• The Suraksha Stores initiative will convert the neighbourhood kirana stores into sanitised retail outlets selling daily essentials while adhering to safety norms such as social distancing and sanitisation to control the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Food Bank to help the poor and needy introduced in Manipur
In Manipur, a new initiative titled ‘Food Bank’ has introduced by Imphal East District Administration to provide immediate aid in the form of free food to the poor and needy who are facing scarcity of essential commodities due to the long statewide lockdown in view of the threat of Coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

• Distribution of food items, hand sanitisers and face masks has already started to Drug Rehabilitation Centres and people living with HIV located in Imphal East District.

Yogi Adityanath forms committee to figure out if development work can resume amid lockdown
The Uttar Pradesh government has constituted a committee under Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya to look into how development work in the state can resume amid the countrywide lockdown, while abiding with the social distancing norms.

• A committee under Deputy CM Keshav Prasad Maurya which will look at how development work can begin amid COVID-19 lockdown while following social distancing norms among labourers

Centre announces free LPG refills to PMUY beneficiaries for 3 months
The Central government said that under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana (PMGKY), free LPG refills will be provided to the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) beneficiaries over the period of three months from April to June 2020.

• According to the official statement, till now, the oil marketing companies have initiated the transfer of Rs 5,606 crore to about 7.15 crore PMUY beneficiary accounts for availing free delivery of LPG cylinder under the PMGKY.

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

Union HRD Minister launches e-portal ‘YUKTI’
Union Human Resource Development Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal “Nishank” launched a web-portal ‘YUKTI’ — Young India Combating COVID with Knowledge, Technology and Innovation.

• “YUKTI is a portal to monitor and record the efforts and initiatives of MHRD which have been taken in the wake of coronavirus outbreak.
•  The portal intends to cover the different dimensions of COVID-19 challenges in a very holistic and comprehensive way.

Doordarshan Launches New Channel ‘DD Retro’ To Telecast All Classic Hit Shows As Its Viewership Tops Charts
Riding high on the successful re-telecast of old classic shows like Ramayana and Mahabharata, the state-owned broadcaster Prasar Bharti has now launched a new channel DD Retro which is dedicated to specifically telecasting old classics.

• The development comes as last week Doordarshan emerged as the most-watched channel of India with its viewership topping the charts and beating all other Hindi-centric channels. The viewership of the channel was reported to spike the highest and beat any other genre in the Hindi-speaking markets at times when the epic Ramayana is aired.

OBITUARIES

Former Union Minister MV Rajasekharan passes away
Former Union Minister and senior Congress leader MV Rajasekharan passed away at a private hospital. He was 91.

• He had served as the Union Minister of State for Planning in the UPA-led Congress government headed by Manmohan Singh.
• He represented Kanakapura constituency in Lok Sabha and was known for value-based politics

Legendary driver Stirling Moss passes away
Stirling Moss, widely-regarded as the greatest motor racing driver never to win the world title, has died aged 90 following a long illness.

• Moss, never won the Formula One title, finishing runner-up four times and third three times.

British comedian, actor Tim Brooke-Taylor passes away
Comedian and actor Tim Brooke-Taylor has died aged 79 after contracting coronavirus.

• Brooke-Taylor was best known as a member of comedy group The Goodies alongside Graeme Garden and Bill Oddie.
• He was also a regular panelist on BBC Radio 4’s I’m Sorry I Haven’t A Clue for more 40 years, often appearing alongside Garden.

20-time PGA tour winner Doug Sanders passes away
20-time PGA Tour winner, Doug Sanders passed away at the age of 86 from natural causes.

• Sanders will also be remembered for all his close calls as he had 20 runner-up finishes, including four second-place performances at major championships — the 1959 PGA Championship, the 1961 US Open, and the 1966 and 1970 Open Championships.
• In 1956, Sanders won the Canadian Open to become the first amateur ever to pull off that feat. He turned professional soon after that victory and joined the Tour for the 1957 season.
• Sanders also played in 218 events on the senior Champions Tour and later went on to host his own tournament, known as the Doug Sanders Celebrity Classic.

Former Chelsea and England goalkeeper Peter Bonetti passes away
Former Chelsea and England goalkeeper Peter Bonetti has died at the age of 78 after a long battle with illness.

• Nicknamed “The Cat” for his quick reflexes in goal, Bonetti made 729 appearances for the London club in two stints between 1960 and 1979 — second on the club’s all-time appearances list behind former defender Ron Harris.
• Bonetti kept over 200 clean sheets for the club over two decades and he also made seven England appearances

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