Current Affairs - April 19, 2020 Current Affairs

Home Ministry extended regular and e-visas of all foreigners who are stranded in India due to the coronavirus lockdown till May 3 on a gratis basis. The Home Ministry also said the visa granted to those foreigners, except diplomats and UN officials, who are supposed to come to India, will remain suspended till May 3.

'Feifei', the mascot for the 4th Asian Para Games at Hangzhou, China in October 2022, unveiled.

US President Donald Trump unveiled a three-phase plan to reopen the country's economy following the COVID-19 outbreak. The new program allows governors to ease the lockdown in their states gradually. America wants to be open and that a national shutdown is not a sustainable long-term solution.The guidelines recommend that states see a downward trajectory for 14 days in the number of confirmed coronavirus cases before they move to lift stay-at-home orders and other restrictions. United States - 746,379 cases, 41,379 deaths.

IIT Ropar designs 'WardBot' to deliver food, medicines to COVID-19 patients in isolation wards without human intervention.

RBI raises Ways and Means Advances limit for States by 60% over and above the level as on 31 March 2020

Around 40 Indian business representatives logged on to a first-of-its-kind virtual roundtable organized by the Indian High Commission in London. They see about the economic impact over the country.Prime Minister Boris Johnson will only be allowed to leave their homes for essential work, exercise, and purchasing food or medicine.

IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva confirmed the world economy was already sluggish before the coronavirus outbreak now bound to suffer a "severe recession" in 2020.Addressing the Development Committee Meeting during the annual Spring Meeting of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, the IMF Managing Director said a massive global contraction in the first half of this year was inevitable. Headquarters of IMF is in Washington, D.C. U.S.

World Heritage Day known as the International Day for Monuments and Sites is observed annually on April 18.

Dubai's Supreme Committee of Crisis and Disaster Management announced the extension of the 24-hour National Sterilisation Programme for another week from 4th April to control the spread of COVID-19 in Dubai.

Union Health Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan had a detailed meeting with medical officials with Delhi Medical Superintendents of various hospitals in New Delhi. Medical Superintendents of the hospitals in the city to take proper care of non-COVID patients. He receives complaints regarding denial of treatment to patients suffering from critical ailments other then COVID-19 and who require dialysis or are suffering from heart disease.

Agriculture Ministry launched Kisan Rath Mobile App. The main aim of the app is to facilitate transportation of food grains, and the National Informatics Centre develops it. The central government to ensure farmers and traders can find transport for Agriculture and Horticulture produce.

TVS Motor Company announced the acquisition of the UK's most iconic sporting motorcycle Norton for £16 million, by acquiring certain assets of Norton Motorcycles (U.K.)

CBDT informed the Income-tax refunds are obtained over eight lakh small businesses worth over five thousand 204 crore rupees issued in the last ten days. Income tax refunds will help MSME to carry on their business activities without pay cuts and layoffs in COVID-19 pandemic situations. Income tax department issued nearly 14 lakh refunds up to five lakh each to date to help taxpayers.CBDT will issue refunds worth of seven thousand 760 crore rupees.CBDT was Formed in 1944.

RBI announces Rs 50,000 crore special refinance facilities for NABARD (Rs 25,000 crore), SIDBI (Rs 15,000 crore), & NHB (Rs 10,000 crore).

Indian Premier League suspended indefinitely by BCCI.

NASA astronauts Andrew Morgan, Jessica Meir and Russian space agency Roscosmos' Oleg Skripochka return to earth from the International Space Station after more than 200 days in space.Meir and Skripochka returned after 205 days in space, and Morgan after 272 days in space. All three served as Expedition 60-61-62 crew members onboard the International Space Station.

Indian Council of Medical Research recently issued an advisory mentioning the protocol for using Rapid Antibody Test kits in COVID-19 hotspot areas across states to use these kits in the affected areas. National Task Force has carefully reviewed the data evolving from various countries on the use of such kits and, based on available evidence tests are revised.

DRDO develops Automatic Mist Based Sanitiser Dispensing Unit and UV Sanitisation Box & Hand-held UV device.

Madhya Pradesh has decided that the health workers who are directly engaged in the treatment of Corona patients will be given a service amount of Rs 10 thousand every month as honorarium. The employees of other departments engaged in the service of Corona patients are also be infected then they will also be given Rs 10 thousand as service amount. The total number of Corona infected patients in the State has reached to 1360. So far, 69 have died of infection while 68 have recovered. There are 892 patients in Indore and 197 in Bhopal. The number of patients recovering in the state is also increasing rapidly.

Group of Ministers (GOM) reviewed the current status and actions for the management of COVID-19. The committee New Delhi under the Chairmanship of Union Health Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan detailed deliberation on containment and management of COVID-19.GoM discussed the actions are taken and the current status of social distancing measures are taken by the government contain the spread of COVID-19. Devoting adequate resources for creating dedicated COVID-19 hospitals, equipping the medical institutes with PPEs, ventilators, and other essential equipment.