Daily Current Affairs 29th March, 2020

Daily Current Affairs 29 March 2020 for Banking/Insurance/SSC and other related exams.

NATIONAL NEWS

Punjab residents can seek curfew passes, report mass gatherings via COVA app
People in Punjab can now seek curfew passes for emergencies, report mass gatherings and may request for essentials through the unique Corona Virus Alert (COVA) app.

• The application aims to sensitise people and share with them protective and preventive measures that need to be adopted

Karnataka govt launches food helpline number
Karnataka government launched a food helpline number –155214– for the labourers who have been affected due to lockdown imposed by the central government to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

• Similarly, other states including Delhi have started both official and non-official helpline numbers for necessary assistance.

Delhi Police sets up 24*7 helpline
The Delhi Police started 24-hour helpline number—011-23469526– to resolve issues related to lockdown due to coronavirus.

• Delhi Police also have introduced online passes for the movement of essential commodities in the national capital

UP CM constitutes ‘Team-11’ to beat corona
UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has set up “Team-11″ comprising of as many inter-departmental committees to fight the coronavirus spread and its multi-lateral fallouts on multiple fronts ranging from ensuring medicare to victims to the supply of essentials and tackle long marches of jobless workers back home.

• Each of the committees will be haded by a senior bureaucrat of the state while the the chief minister himself will be the head of the Team 11.

Rajasthan govt hikes DA for employees, pensioners to 17pc
The Rajasthan government on Friday increased the dearness allowance for its employees to 17 per cent from the existing 12 per cent.

• The revised allowance will be effective from July 1, 2019, according to an order of the finance department

Guj launches app “SMC COVID-19 Tracker”  to track home-quarantined persons
The Gujarat government launched a mobile application “SMC COVID-19 Tracker” which can monitor the movement of those who have been asked to follow home quarantine for suspected exposure to coronavirus.

• The Geographic Information System (GIS)-based app was launched in Ahmedabad, Gandhinagar, Vadodara and Rajkot.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

N Macedonia officially joins NATO
North Macedonia officially joined NATO, becoming the 30th member of the alliance after resolving a long-running name row with Greece.

• North Macedonia’s NATO membership will support greater integration, democratic reform, trade, security, and stability across the region.

BANKING & FINANCE

Mega merger of state-run banks comes into force from April 1, says RBI
The schemes for the merger of ten state-run banks into four lenders are coming into force from April 1, according to the Reserve Bank of India.

• The banking regulator in separate releases announced that the branches of merging banks will operate as of the banks in which these have been amalgamated.

RBI extends deadline for meeting last tranche of capital conservation buffer by 6 months
In view of hardship faced by outbreak of COVID-19, the Reserve Bank of India extended the deadline for meeting last tranche of capital conservation buffer (CCB) by another six months.

• The move would leave about Rs 35,000 crore capital in the hands of banks for lending to on-lending to productive sectors of the economy.
• Currently, the CCB of banks stands at 1.875 per cent of the core capital

BUSINESS & ECONOMY

JICA, govt sign Rs 15,295-cr loan pacts for major rail projects for public, freight transport
Japanese government funding agency JICA has signed agreements totalling Rs 15,295 crore with the Indian government for three mega rail infrastructure projects.

• Under these agreements, JICA has granted Rs8,553 crore for phase-1 of the Dedicated Freight Corridor; Rs 4,262 crore for Mumbai Trans Harbour Link Project (II) andRs2,480 crore for the Mumbai Metro Line 3 Project (III).

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