Current Affairs - April 3, 2020 Current Affairs

On April 2, 2020, the Government of India has launched the "COVID-19 Fact Check Unit" under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. The unit is to operate through GMAIL. It will get messages at pibfactcheck@gmail.com and send response at the earliest.

The Government of India launched "AarogyaSetu", a mobile app developed in public-private partnership (PPP) on 2 April. The app is a part of the efforts taken by GoI to contain the spread of coronavirus.

A leading agri-tech focused incubator Indigram Labs Foundation has announced the winners of its smart village program 'Adhunik Gram'. The winner of the program was Indus Till FarmeTech Pvt. Ltd. The firm was awarded a cash prize of Rs.1 Lakh.

Lakshminarayanan Duraiswamy has assumed the charge as new Managing Director of the Sundaram Home Finance. He has replaced Srinivas Acharya who was serving as the Managing Director of Sundaram Home Finance since 2010.

WMA is a temporary liquidity arrangement with the central bank, which enables the centre and the states to borrow money up to 90 days from the RBI to tide over their liquidity mismatch.

The Andhra Pradesh state government has started distributing pensions at the doorstep to 58,44,240 beneficiaries with an objective to offer them held and to avoid the spread of coronavirus. The state used 2.5 lakh volunteers to eliminate the need for pensioners to step out of their homes.

On April 1, 2020, Philip Warren Anderson, a Nobel Prize- winning physicist who expanded the world's understanding of magnetism, superconductivity and the structure of matter, passed away at the age of 96 in Princeton, New Jersey, US (United States). He was born on December 13, 1923 in Indianapolis, Indiana, US.

China is to host the third edition of the Asian Youth Games (AYG) in Shantou in November 2021. The announcement was made by the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) on 1 April 2020. The third edition was supposed to be held in 2017. But was postponed to 2021 by OCA.

The Andhra Pradesh Government is to buy Multi-feed Oxygen Manifold developed by Indian Navy, Vishkhapatnam to meet the requirement of oxygen supply to COVID-19 patients. Initially the Indian Navy provided the equipment free-of-cost to the Andhra Pradesh Government.

India and China postponed all the events planned to celebrate the 70th anniversary of their diplomatic relations due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However the leaders exchanged congratulatory messages.

The Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) has extended the tenure of Shri BSV Prakash Kumar as acting President of National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) for a period of 3 years. MCA informed NCLT about the extension of the tenure to another three months or till the joining of new President, whichever is earlier.

World Autism Awareness Day is observed on 2 April. The day aims to recognize and celebrate the rights of persons with autism. The day makes people understand, recognize, and accept people with autism. This year the day is commemorated by the Department of Community Development, Abu Dhabi, the UAE. The theme of the 2020 World Autism Awareness Day is "The transition of adulthood."

Over 200 have tested positive for COVID-19 from among 4,000-odd who had gathered in Delhi's Markaz Nizamuddin, the headquarters of the Tablighi Jamaat. Literally, it means a society for spreading the faith. It is a conservative Muslim organisation. It is a Sunni Islamic missionary movement. The aim is to reach out to ordinary Muslims and revive their faith, particularly in matters of ritual, dress, and personal behaviour.

Freightwalla, a Digital freight forwarding startup, has launched a mobile application to offer all the services. The app is a part of a larger "work from anywhere, anytime" initiative. The startups aim to make logistics and supply chain accessible 24x7, from anywhere, on any device.

On April 2, 2020, the National Cadet Corps (NCC) launched "Exercise NCC Yogdan" to offer a helping hand to the authorities fighting against COVID-19. Under the exercise, the NCC cadets are envisaged to work in call centres and helpline centres formed exclusively for COVID-19, community assistance, data management and traffic management.

Ministry of Defence (MoD) has received foreign direct investment (FDI) of $8.82 million (around Rs.51.93 crore) during the period April 2000 and December 2019. The Ministry announced it on 1 April. As per the data provided by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, FDI in the defence sector was aggregated at $2.18 million in 2018-19.

National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) Limited appointed Dilip Kumar Patel as its Director Human resources on 1 April. Patel has more than three decades of experience in HR functions. He graduated in Mechanical Engineering from NIT, Rourkela. He gained his Post Graduate Diploma in Business Management (HR & Finance) from MDI, Gurgaon.

The Moong dal price has been raised by about 20% although the supply of other staples is normal. The reason is because of the smaller harvest and disruption in transportation has caused shortages of moong dal.