Daily Current Affairs 19th & 20th April, 2020

Daily Current Affairs 19 April 2020 for Banking/Insurance/SSC and other related exams.

NATIONAL NEWS

Digital directory titled “Covid FYI” launched
“Covid FYI” is a one-stop digital directory containing information of all COVID-19 related services and helplines released by official sources.

• This platform has been made by an international team of 16 members led by Simran Soni, a student of Indian Institute of Management Kozhikode.
• Covid FYI a one-stop COVID-19 platform for accessing emergency services from official government sources.

Government releases 7,300 crore rupees to State & UTs under MGNREGS
Centre has released 7,300 crore rupees to the States and Union Territories under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) to liquidate pending dues of last financial year but also the wage dues for the first fortnight of 2020-21.

• MGNREGS works in Non-Containment Areas with adequate focus on social distancing, must be resumed in an efficient manner. The focus should be on creating durable assets relating to irrigation and water conservation.

Rajasthan Government Partners With Healthcare App ‘Aayu’ to Tackle Coronavirus Pandemic
Rajasthan government has exclusively partnered with healthcare startup MedCords to provide 24×7 online consultation and medicine delivery to the people of Rajasthan as the State battles to control cases of Coronavirus.

• Through its integrated solution -Aayu & Sehat Sathi app, MedCords will help over 68 Million of people in Rajasthan through this collaboration.
• MedCords’ solution is fully adopted in 7 districts of Rajasthan – Kota, Udaipur, Shri Ganganagar, Bikaner, Ajmer, Pali, Jaipur and will be rolling out to complete state within a week.

BANKING & FINANCE

Equitas Small Finance Bank launches Selfe Fixed Deposits and Selfe savings accounts
Small finance bank, Equitas Small Finance Bank, has said that new customers can ‘self-onboard’ to open a savings account or invest in a fixed deposit with no physical contact or branch visits during the on-going coronavirus lockdown.

• According to the bank’s press release, customers can open a ‘Selfe Fixed Deposit’ online for up to Rs 90,000 by using their Aadhaar Number and PAN.

ICICI Bank launches voice banking services on Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant
ICICI Bank has announced that it has integrated its AI powered multi-channel chatbot, ‘iPal’, with the world’s two most popular voice assistant apps–Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant– to enable its retail banking customers to undertake an array of banking services with just a simple voice command.

• This novel facility offers customers yet another way to connect with their Bank from home at a time when they are advised to stay indoors in the wake of the nationwide lockdown.

BUSINESS & ECONOMY

Government increases loss coverage for micro loan defaults under CGFMU scheme to 75% from 50% earlier
The finance ministry has increased coverage of a lender’s loss in case of loan default under the Credit Guarantee Fund for Micro Units (CGFMU) scheme to 75%, from 50% earlier.

• The amendment to the scheme, is aimed at incentivising lending to micro businesses which are bearing the brunt of the coronavirus outbreak and the ensuing nationwide lockdown.
• The CGFMU scheme, announced in April 2016, covers micro loans up to Rs 10 lakh extended under the Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana.

Fitch Solution cuts India’s FY21 GDP growth forecast to 1.8 pc
Fitch Solutions cut India’s economic growth forecast for the financial year 2020-21 to 1.8 per cent saying private consumption is likely to contract due to large-scale loss of income in the face of worsening domestic outbreak of COVID-19.

• For India, it said the real GDP growth rate for 2020-21 (April 2020 to March 2021) has been revised down to 1.8 per cent from 4.6 per cent, previously.
• Fitch Solutions also anticipated a deeper contraction in fixed investments as businesses choose to cut back on capital expenditure to conserve cash amid elevated economic uncertainty.

Facebook launches 3rd party fact check system in Bangladesh
Facebook announced the launch of its third party fact checking system in Bangladesh to discourage the spread of fake news in the country.

• Facebook in partnership with Boom Fact check will review and rate the stories, including photos and videos.
• When third party fact-Checkers rate a post as false or fake, it will appear less or at the bottom of news feed. This will reduce the spread of the post.

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

Govt launches iGOT portal to train doctors, health care workers to combat Covid-19
The government has launched a special digital platform iGOT for training and capacity building of healthcare staff including doctors, nurses, paramedics, hygiene workers and technicians, stepping up efforts to fight the coronavirus pandemic.

• Some of the training courses on this integrated government online training (iGOT) portal include basics of COVID, infection prevention and control, use of PPE, quarantine and isolation, management of COVID 19 cases, laboratory sample collection and testing, ICU care and ventilation management.

Indian Navy develops air evacuation pod for COVID-19 patients
The Indian Navy’s Naval Aircraft Yard has developed a smart evacuation pod for evacuation of COVID-19 patients safely from remote areas such as islands and ships.

• The indigenously designed and fabricated an Air Evacuation Pod (AEP) will help the evacuation team to safely shift coronavirus-infected persons from ships and islands in a fully sealed patient transfer capsule.
• The highlight of the pod is that it weighs only 32 kg and has incurred a manufacturing cost of Rs 50,000 which is only 0.1 per cent of cost of an imported equivalent (Rs 59 lakh).

GoI launches dashboard for combating and containing Covid-19
Union Government has created an online data pool on https://covidwarriors.gov.in of doctors including AYUSH doctors, nurses and other health care professionals, volunteers from NYKs, NCC NSS, PMGKVY, ex Servicemen etc for use by the ground level administration at state, district or municipal levels.

• The information has been uploaded on a dashboard which is regularly updated.
• It contains state wise and dustrict wise availability of the large pool of human resources from various groups alongwith contact details of the nodal officers.

OBITUARIES

Veteran Kolkata based sports journalist Goswami Passed away
Veteran journalist Samir Goswami, a much-liked figure in Kolkata sports journalism fraternity, breathed his last after suffering from cardiac arrest.He was 65.

• At a time when coverage of local sports in Kolkata was on the wane, Goswami was one of the few journalists, who would devotedly cover first division cricket league games and unfailingly updated the scores of hockey league matches as well results of lower divison (second to fifth division) football leagues.
• He represented Calcutta Sports Journalists’ Club (CSJC) in J K Bose Trophy on many occasions apart from going as the manager. The CSJC and Kolkata Press Club deeply mourned the sudden demise of Goswami.

Oscar-winning animator and filmmaker Gene Deitch passes away
Gene Deitch, an American Oscar-winning illustrator, animator, film director and producer has died. He was 95.

• Deitch’s movie “Munro” won the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film in 1960. He was also nominated for the same award twice in 1964 for “Here’s Nudnik” and “How to Avoid Friendship.”
• Earlier, he had created the “Tom Terrific” series, while the “Sidney’s Family Tree,” which he co-produced was nominated for an Academy Award in 1958.
• In 2004, he received the Winsor McCay Award for his lifelong contribution to animation

BMW India CEO Rudratej Singh passes away due to cardiac arrest
BMW Group President and CEO Rudratej Singh passed away  due to a massive cardiac arrest.

• Rudy, as he was popularly called, was the first Indian to head the BMW India operations.
• Singh had more than 25 years of experience and held multiple leadership positions both in the automotive and non-automotive industry.

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