Current Affairs - March 17, 2020 Current Affairs

India pledged $10 million toward a Covid-19 emergency fund and said it was putting together a rapid response team of doctors and specialists for South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc) nations as part of an initiative led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The UN's trade and development agency United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) reported that the coronavirus (Covid-19) cost the global economy up to $2 trillion in 2019. The announcement was made by Richard Kozul-Wright, Director, Division on Globalization and Development Strategies at UNCTAD.

The Manipur State government is to provide benefits to sportspersons and artistes of the state and the country. It was declared that it was the biggest ever scheme for the welfare of the sportspersons and artistes of the state. For the Chief Ministers Akhannaba Sanaroisingi Tengbang (CMAST) scheme, around Rs.7.36 crore will be required. Under the CMAST scheme, suitable employment in government services would be provided to sportspersons winning medals in international events, on the basis of criteria laid down by the state government.

On March 16, 2020, the Commerce Ministry reported that the gold imports for the period April to February (2019-20) has reduced by 8.86% as compared to the previous year. India is the largest importer of gold in the world. As the gold imports of the country have been reduced, the trade deficit has reduced to 143.12 billion USD. It was around 173 billion USD a year ago.

Verily is a subsidiary of Google's parent company Alphabet "focused on life sciences and healthcare". Launched in 2015, Verily claims its mission is to "make the world's health data useful so that people enjoy healthier lives". It is helping the US government develop a website "to determine whether a test is warranted and to facilitate testing at a nearby convenient location".

Recently, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has made a proposal to write-down Additional Tier-1 (AT-1) bonds as part of the SBI-led restructuring package for Yes Bank. AT-1 bonds are a type of unsecured, perpetual bonds that banks issue to shore up their core capital base to meet the Basel-III norms.

Chandigarh-based Aadil Bedi wins Bengal Open Golf Championship in Kolkata.

As COVID-19 declared a global health crisis, parallels are being drawn with the Spanish influenza of 1918-19, which is considered the most devastating pandemic in recent history.Spanish flu was caused by an H1N1 influenza virus.

India's second-largest national oil explorer Oil India Ltd (OIL), signed an agreement with Numaligarh Refinery for purchase and sale of crude oil for a term of five years. The agreement was signed by the finance directors of the two companies. Numaligarh Refinery is a joint venture (JV) between Bharat Petroleum (61.65%), Oil India (26%), and Government of Assam (12.35%).

IAS officer Baseer Ahmed Khan appointed Advisor to J&K Lieutenant Governor Girish Chandra Murmu.

The famous annual Chaitra Jatra festival scheduled to be held on March 17 at Odisha's Tara Tarini hill shrine was cancelled as a precautionary measure against COVID-19 infection.

Ace Indian paddler of Table Tennis, Achanta Sharath Kamal wins the ITTF Challenger Plus Oman Open men's singles title. He beat top-seeded Marcos Freitas of Portugal 4-2 in the final played in Muscat.

Taiwan's Tai Tzu Ying won the third women's singles title in four years at the Yonex All England Badminton Championships 2020 in Birmingham, England. She defeated the defending champion, Chen Yu Fei, on 15 March. Also, Viktor Axelsen won the All England title in the men's singles championship. He secured Denmark's first win in the event since Peter Gade's triumph in 1999.

Karnataka has become the first state in the country to notify 'Karnataka Epidemic Diseases, COVID-19 Regulations, 2020' under the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897, Karnataka. The regulation will be in effect for a period of one year starting from March 11, 2020 to prevent the outbreak and spread of the novel coronavirus.

On March 16, 2020, the Minister of State for Jal Shakti Shri Rattan Lal Kataria announced in the parliament that ground water is contaminated with Uranium at 30 micro-grams per litre in the country. The Bureau of Indian Standards has set the maximum permissible limit of Uranium in drinking water as 0.03 mg per litre.

The Kerala health ministry launched a mass handwashing campaign called 'Break The Chain' to protect self and the community from Covid-19 infection.

Every year on the 16th of March, India observes National Vaccination Day. The day is also known as National Immunization Day, and the reason for 16th March to be the date this day is observed is the fact that on this very day in the year 1995, the first dose of an oral vaccine against polio was given in India.

Vittorio Gregotti, Italian architect who designed the 1992 Barcelona Summer Olympics stadium, dies at 92.

Sadanand Fulzele, founder secretary of the Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Smarak Samiti which looks after Deekshabhoomi in Nagpur, dies at 91.

Ministry of Culture has announced that it is to revisit the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1958. The Act regulates construction around centrally-protected monuments and classify them based on their historical significance. Currently, the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1958, imposed a ban on construction of any kind within a 100m periphery of centrally-protected monuments. It also allows only certain types of regulated construction within the 100-200m perimeter.