Daily Current Affairs 21st March, 2020

Daily Current Affairs 21 March 2020 for Banking/Insurance/SSC and other related exams.

NATIONAL NEWS

JK govt sets up backward classes commission
The Jammu and Kashmir government set up a commission to examine the social and educational backwardness of various backward classes people, including dalits, in the Union Territory.

  • Named “J&K Socially and Educationally Backward Classes Commission”, the panel will be headed by Justice (retired) G D Sharma and will have former Indian Foreign Service officer Lal Bharti and serving Indian Police Service officer Munir Ahmed Khan as its members.
  • The commission will examine the social and educational backwardness of various backward classes people besides those of scheduled castes and scheduled tribes

Himachal govt launches Police Station Visitor Survey System and e-Night Beat Checking System
Himachal Pradesh State government launched Police Station Visitor Survey System and e-Night Beat Checking System for Himachal police in Shimla.These systems would help the Police Department in doing self-evaluation and improve the working of Police.

  • This would go a long way in improving the functioning of the Police Department as police personnel would be able to get proper feedback regarding their working and take necessary steps for improving their functioning.
  • Police Station Visitor Survey System will be linked with http://bit.ly/HPPolice. This system would be used for the surveillance of visitors visiting the Police Stations, Police Posts and all other police units and would help in creating a database of visitors

Government of Goa launch the Self Assessment App for COVID19
Goa becomes the first State in India to adopt an automated technological solution for the citizens to carry out a self-assessment test for COVID19, besides, the App provides information on Self Quarantine, Helpline numbers to reach out to, and other such information

  • The Government of Goa has partnered with Innovaccer, Inc. headquartered in San Francisco, a leading healthcare data activation platform company focused on delivering more efficient and effective healthcare through the use of pioneering analytics and transparent, clean, and accurate data.

CCEA approves Creation of National Technical Textiles Mission
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, has given its approval to set up a National Technical Textiles Mission with a total outlay of Rs 1480 Crore, with a view to position the country as a global leader in Technical Textiles.The Mission would have a four year implementation period from FY 2020-21 to 2023-24.

  • Technical Textiles are futuristic and nice segment of textiles, which are used for various applications ranging from agriculture, roads, railway tracks, sportswear, health on one end to bullet proof jacket, fire proof jackets, high altitude combat gear and space applications on other end of spectrum.


INTERNATIONAL NEWS

UN releases World Happiness Report 2020
Finland has been named the world’s happiest country for the third year in a row, maintaining the Nordic grip on the World Happiness Report’s top spots and India ranked 144.The rankings are based on polling which looks at six variables: GDP per capita, social support, healthy life expectancy, freedom, generosity, and absence of corruption.

  • The report is released by the UN’s Sustainable Development Solutions Network, using data from the Gallup World Poll.
  • The ten happiest countries in 2020 according to the report are:Finland,Denmark,Switzerland,Iceland,Norway,The Netherlands,Sweden,New Zealand,Austria and Luxembourg


BANKING & FINANCE

RBI to infuse Rs 30,000 crore to boost liquidity
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced additional purchase of government securities worth Rs 30,000 crore through open market operations (OMO) to boost liquidity and enhance investor confidence in the financial markets that remain under stress over COVID-19 related disruptions.

  • The central bank issued a statement on March 20 saying that it will conduct purchase of government securities under OMOs for an aggregate amount of Rs 30,000 crores in two tranches of Rs 15,000 crore each in the month of March 2020.
  • The auctions would be conducted on March 24, 2020 and March 30, 2020

Finance Commission sets up panel to review fiscal consolidation road map
The Finance Commission has constituted an 8-member panel to review the fiscal consolidation road map of the both state and central governments.

  • The panel will be headed by 15th Finance Commission Chairman N K Singh.
  • The Terms of Reference of the panel include making recommendations on the definition of deficit and debt for the central government, overall states, the general government and public sector enterprises by considering all explicit and measurable liabilities of the sovereign and by bringing in consistency between the definition of debt (stock) and deficit (flow).

SIDBI to start Swavalamban Express on Jun 5 for budding entrepreneurs
The Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) said it will start Swavalamban Express on June 5 this year for budding entrepreneurs.The Swavalamban Express train is a part of our umbrella mission Swavalamban which aims to induce entrepreneurship culture amongst youth

  • The Swavalamban Expresswill start from June 5 and will travel to 11 enterprising cities starting from Lucknow and thereafter to Jammu, Delhi, Jaipur, Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Bhubaneswar, Kolkata and finally to Varanasi in a span of 15 days covering 7,000 km

Star Health, ICICI Lombard launch policies to cover Covid-19 patients
Star Health and Allied Insurance launched a benefit policy to cover all those who test positive for novel coronavirus (Covid-19) and require hospitalisation.

  • The ‘Star Novel Coronavirus’ policy will provide a lump sum payment to any insured between age 18 to 65 years, who is declared positive by a government accredited test and is hospitalised for the same, the private health insurer
  • The policy is available under two sum insured options of Rs 21,000 and Rs 42,000 at premiums of Rs 459 plus GST and Rs 918 plus GST, respectively.


BUSINESS & ECONOMY

Fitch slashes India’s GDP growth outlook for FY21
Fitch Ratings slashes its growth forecast for India from 5.6% to 5.1% for 2020-21, as Covid-19 hit Indian manufacturers after supply chain disruptions in China.

  • Fitch joins a chorus of international agencies that have made similar observations in recent days. Standard and Poor’s (S&P) had slashed its 2020 growth projection for India from 5.7% to 5.2% as it feared that the Asia Pacific region may slide into a recession, with countries enforcing lock-downs to contain the pandemic.

PM Modi announces Covid-19 Economic Response Task Force to tackle virus outbreak
Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the formation of a COVID-19 Economic Response Task Force led by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to deal with the situation arising out of novel coronavirus outbreak.

  • This task force will also ensure that all steps are taken to reduce the economic difficulties and execute them effectively,” Modi said in his address to the nation.
  • The task force will remain in regular touch with all stakeholders, take their feedback and make decisions accordingly.

PM Modi announces Covid-19 Economic Response Task Force to tackle virus outbreak
Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the formation of a COVID-19 Economic Response Task Force led by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to deal with the situation arising out of novel coronavirus outbreak.

  • This task force will also ensure that all steps are taken to reduce the economic difficulties and execute them effectively,” Modi said in his address to the nation.
  • The task force will remain in regular touch with all stakeholders, take their feedback and make decisions accordingly.


AWARDS

Satyarup Siddhanta becomes first Indian to complete volcanic Seven Summit, enters ‘Limca Book of Records
Indian mountaineer Satyarup Siddhanta hails from Kolkata, West Bengal, 37 years old, entered ‘Limca Book of Records’ (LBR) for his extraordinary achievements, as the first Indian to climb the highest volcanoes of each of the 7 contints.

  • He climbed the highest volcano of Antarctica – Mt Sidley to complete his 7 summits and Volcanic 7 summits.
  • His Seven volcanic summits are: Ojos del Salado (6,893 m) – Chile – South America, Mt Kilimanjaro (5,895 m) – Tanzania – Africa, Mount Elbrus (5,642 m) – Russia – Europe, Mount Pico de Orizaba (5,636 m) – Mexico – North America, Mt Damavand (5,610 m) – Iran – Asia, Mt Giluwe (4,368 m) – Papua New Guinea – Australia and Mt Sidley (4,285 m) – Antarctica.


OBITUARIES

Country music legend Kenny Rogers dies at 81
Country music icon, Kenny Rogers, who dominated the country charts and pop music era of the 1970s and 1980s, died. He was 81.

  • The three-time Grammy winner is well known for hits like ‘Lady’, ‘The Gambler,’ ‘Islands in the Stream’, ‘Lucille’, ‘She Believes In Me’, and ‘Through the Years’.


IMPORTANT DAYS

International Day of Forests
The United Nations General Assembly proclaimed 21 March the International Day of Forests (IDF) in 2012. The theme for 2020 is Forests and Biodiversity.

  • The Day celebrates and raises awareness of the importance of all types of forests. On each International Day of Forests, countries are encouraged to undertake local, national and international efforts to organize activities involving forests and trees, such as tree planting campaigns.

World Down Syndrome Day
World Down Syndrome Day is observed on 21 March to raise awareness globally about the disease Down syndrome.The 21st day of March (the 3rd month of the year) was selected to signify the uniqueness of the triplication (trisomy) of the 21st chromosome which causes Down syndrome.

  • The theme of World Down Syndrome Day 2020 is “We Decide”.


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