Daily Current Affairs 25th April, 2020

Daily Current Affairs 25 April 2020 for Banking/Insurance/SSC and other related exams.

NATIONAL NEWS

Govt puts on hold DA hike for employees, pensioners amid Coronavirus
The Centre froze the dearness allowance (DA) for its 4.8 million employees and 6.5 million pensioners at 17 per cent till July 1, 2021, to partly offset the increase in spending on health in light of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) crisis.

  • This will save the Centre over Rs 37,000 crore, and if states follow suit, the combined savings will be Rs 1.2 trillion.
  • The existing rate of 17 per cent DA/DR will continue to be paid till July 1, 2021, after which the new rates will be restored “prospectively”.

Govt reconstitutes National Shipping Board; to be headed by ex DG Shipping Malini Shankar
The government has approved reconstitution of the National Shipping Board to be headed by former Director General of Shipping Malini Shankar. 

  • The National Shipping Board (NSB) is the highest advisory body on matters related to Indian shipping including the development there of and on such other matters arising out of the Merchant Shipping Act.
  • The members of the Board include DG Shipping Amitabh Kumar, Joint Secretary Shipping Satinder Pal Singh, one representative each of the Indian Navy and Indian Coast Guard, not below the rank of Directors, National Union of Seafarers of India representative Abdulgani Serang, Maritime Union of India representative Amar Singh Thakur and National Ship Owners’ Association representative Anil Devli.

BRO builds permanent bridge to connect remote Punjab enclave with country
The Border Roads Organisation (BRO) has constructed and opened a new permanent bridge on the Ravi river that connects the Kasowal enclave in Punjab with the rest of the country.

  • The enclave of around 35 square kilometres had been connected through a pontoon bridge of limited load capacity till now.

Ladakh ‘MP Cares’ initiative to fight COVID-19; masks & hand sanitisers to be distributed free
Parliamentarian from Ladakh, Jamyang Tsering Namgyal, started “MP Cares” initiative to distribute masks and hand sanitisers to all households in the area and create awareness among people on ways to check coronavirus pandemic

  • They will distribute five litres sanitisers with masks to all the 334 medical centres in Ladakh.
  • The kit-bag of mask and sanitisers will be delivered to all the households which are under COVID-19 containment zones and will be made available at the areas recommended by the medical department including tea stalls along the national highway when roads will open for traffic.


INTERNATIONAL NEWS

India attends Saarc health ministers conference hosted by Pakistan
India participated in a video conference of SAARC health ministers hosted by Pakistan to promote greater regional cooperation to deal with the coronavirus pandemic.

  • The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said India was represented at the conference by Director General of Health Services who was assisted by experts from All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) and Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).
  • The virtual meeting was an occasion for India to reaffirm its strong commitment towards greater sharing of knowledge, expertise and best practices in the joint fight against COVID-19 for the larger regional good.


BANKING & FINANCE

World Bank approves Rs 585 cr for Himachal Pradesh State Roads Transformation Project
The World Bank has approved 82 million US dollars (585 crore rupees)  for the Himachal Pradesh State Roads Transformation Project (HPSRTP) for upgradation of major roads and modernization of the Public Works Department in the state.

  • Under the project, Road construction work of Barotiwala-Baddi-Sain-Ramshehar with ‘length of 45 kms, Dadol-Ladraurr Road with length of 14.5 kms, Mandi- Riwalsar-Kalkhar of length 28 kms and Raghunathpura-Mandi- Harpura-Bharari road with length of 3.5 kms would be undertaken in tranche -one.

Bajaj Allianz launches ‘BAGIC GOQii Co-pay Option’ under regulatory sandbox
Bajaj Allianz General Insurance, along with smart-tech enabled preventive healthcare platform GOQii has launched a new add-on health cover called ‘BAGIC GOQii Co-pay Option’ under regulatory sandbox approval received from the IRDAI, that would reward customers with a healthy lifestyle.

  • The aim of the product is  to reward the customers with a healthy lifestyle in the form of co-pay deduction in their health insurance policy named  Health Ensure policy.
  • BAGIC GOQii Co-pay Option can be availed by the individual policyholders with a policy tenure of one year. The policyholder can opt for sum insured of Rs 3 lakh, Rs 4 lakh or Rs 5 lakh. The premium will range between Rs 1,894 to Rs 7,365 for an individual policyholder excluding GST


BUSINESS & ECONOMY

Vodafone Idea ties up with Paytm to launch ‘Recharge Saathi’ 
Vodafone Idea and Paytm, a digital payments and financial services platform, have launched ‘Recharge Saathi’ programme which helps individuals and small businesses to earn an additional income.

  • The programme will enable any Paytm customers (following a registration) to start selling Vodafone and Idea recharges on Paytm app.
  • They can start selling mobile recharges by downloading and registering on the Paytm app. Vodafone Idea will also give an assured cashback to merchant partners for multiple recharges


APPOINTMENTS

Sanjay Kothari appointed Central Vigilance Commissioner
Sanjay Kothari was appointed as the Central Vigilance Commissioner, head of the country’s anti-corruption watchdog. He was working as the Secretary to President Ram Nath Kovind.

  • The post of the chief of the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) had been lying vacant since June last year after completion of K V Chowdary’s tenure.


SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

NASA develops high-pressure ventilator to fight COVID-19
NASA engineers have developed a new, easy-to-build high-pressure ventilator tailored specifically to treat COVID-19 patients.

  • The device, called VITAL (Ventilator Intervention Technology Accessible Locally), passed a critical test this week at the Icahn School of Medicine in New York, an epicentre of COVID-19 in the US.
  • VITAL is designed to treat patients with milder symptoms, thereby keeping country’s limited supply of traditional ventilators available for patients with more severe COVID-19 symptoms.

CISF launches ‘e-office’ app for movement of files
An e-office application, that enables movement of files and documents without physical touch, has been launched for usage in the 1.62 lakh personnel-strong Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) to prevent coronavirus infection, officials said on Friday.

  • The application called ‘e-karyalay’ (electronic office) has been designed by the in-house technical team of the force
  • This is an application, which mimics each and every function of traditional file movement in CISF. To handle various securities related concerns and to pace with the existing standard, it embodies the digital signature features.


OBITUARIES

Veteran photojournalist Ronny Roy dies
Veteran sports photojournalist Ronojoy ‘Ronny’ Roy died following a cardiac arrest at a city hospital. He was 57.

  • Popularly  known as ‘Ronny’, he was associated with Bengali daily Aajkaal since 1990s and covered the ICC World Cup in England last year.
  • Having started from the entertainment section, Roy switched to sports and became a well-known face in the Maidan establishing a good rapport with both players and officials of all disciplines.

Former Rajya Sabha MP Basanta Das passes away
Former Rajya Sabha member from Odisha Basanta Das died following a prolonged illness. He was 80.

  • Das was Rajya Sabha member from 1990 to 1996 as Janata Dal nominee.
  • He was also chairman of Bhawanipatna Municipality from 1985 to 1990.


IMPORTANT DAYS

International Girls in ICT day
International Girls in ICT Day is an International Telecommunication Union (ITU) initiative and annually it was observed on the 4th Thursday in April.

  • In 2020, International Girls in ICT Day celebrated on 23 April under the theme: ‘Expand Horizons, Change Attitudes’.

World Immunization Week 2020
World Immunization Week – celebrated in the last week of April (24 to 30 April) – aims to promote the use of vaccines to protect people of all ages against disease.

  • The theme this year is #VaccinesWork for All and the campaign will focus on how vaccines – and the people who develop, deliver and receive them – are heroes by working to protect the health of everyone, everywhere

World Malaria Day
World Malaria Day is an international observance commemorated every year on 25 April and recognizes global efforts to control malaria.

  • The theme of World Malaria Day 2020 Zero Malaria Starts with Me, a grassroots campaign that aims to keep malaria high on the political agenda, mobilize additional resources, and empower communities to take ownership of malaria prevention and care.

Manipur Govt commemorates “Khongjom Day” at War Memorial Complex
In Manipur, remembering the people who valiantly fought in the Anglo-Manipuri War in 1891, state government commemorated ‘ Khongjom Day’ at Khongjom War Memorial Complex, Thoubal.

  • The Khongjom Day, being a state holiday is celebrated every year on April 23 by the State government to pay tribute to the war heroes of Anglo-Manipuri War 1891 who had sacrificed their lives fighting against the British to protect freedom of Manipur.
  • The site is about 35 KM south of Imphal in Thoubal district where the battle was fight between Manipuri and British.


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