Current Affairs Today 21st March 2020| Current Affairs News

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Daily Current Affairs PDF of 21st March 2020

CURRENT AFFAIRS: DAYS

The World Day of Theatre for Children and young people

• The World Day of Theatre for Children and young people is an ASSITEJ campaign, promoted and celebrated through the message ‘Take a Child to the Theatre Today’.
• It is celebrated every year on 20^th of March

World Oral Health Day

• World Oral Health Day is celebrated globally every year on March 20.
• It is organized by FDI World Dental Federation and is the largest global awareness campaign on oral health.
• The theme of World Oral Health day 2020 is “Unite for Mouth Health”.

World Forestry Day

• World Forestry Day was decided to celebrate the annual event on 21st March by the United Nations for Agriculture and Food Organization.
• World Forestry Day was celebrated in the year 1971 as it was established at the 23rd Assembly of General for the Confederation European for Agriculture.
• This year, the theme for International Day of Forests is ‘Biodiversity’

About FAO:

• Formed :16 October 1945
• Director-General :Qu Dongyu
• Head quarters: Rome , Italy

World Down Syndrome Day

• World Down Syndrome Day is marked each year on March 21, beginning in 2006.
• Down syndrome is a naturally occurring chromosomal arrangement in human which results in variable effects on learning styles, physical characteristics or health.
• Down Syndrome International focuses on the theme “We Decide”: all people with Down syndrome should have full participation in decision making about matters relating to, or affecting, their lives.

World Poetry Day

• World Poetry Day is celebrated on 21 March, and was declared by UNESCO in 1999.
• It is a day to encourage people to read, write, teach, and publish poetry and to recognise the great cultural contribution poetry makes to human society.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: NATIONAL

Defence Minister releases Draft Defence Procurement Procedure 2020

• Defence Minister Rajnath singh released Draft Defence Procurement Procedure(DPP), 2020 at a function in New Delhi
• The policy is aligned with the vision of the government to empower the private industry through the Make in India initiative with the ultimate  of turning India into a global manufacturing hub. The government has introduced leasing as another category to get defence equipment at affordable rates.
• Mr Singh stated, to facilitate greater participation of the Indian industry and develop a robust defence industrial base, use of indigenous raw materials, special alloys and software has been incentivized under the DPP-2020

About Defence Ministry:          

• Minister of Defence: Rajnath Singh
• Minister of State for Defence : Shripad Yesso Naik
• Ministry executives :Ajay Kumar, IAS, Defence Secretary

Indian Institutes of Information Technology to get ‘importance’ tag after Lok Sabha nod

• The Lok Sabha passed a bill which seeks to confer the status of Institution of National Importance (INI) on five more Indian Institutes of Information Technology (IIITs). The Indian Institutes of Information Technology (IIITs) Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2020, proposes to bring the five institutions under the IIIT (Public-private Partnership) Act, 2017, similar to the other 15 IIITs established under the scheme in Public-private Partnership (PPP) mode.
• The five IIITs which are proposed to be given the INI status are located in Surat, Bhopal, Bhagalpur, Agartala and Raichur. These five IIITs along with 15 others which are also build in PPP mode will now be able to use the nomenclature of Bachelor of Technology (BTech) or Master of Technology (MTech) or PhD degree.
• It will also enable the institutes to attract enough students required to develop a strong research base in the country in the field of information technology.

Finance Commission Constitutes Committee To Review Fiscal Consolidation Roadmap Of General Government

• The Chairman of the Fifteenth Finance Commission has constituted a Committee to review the fiscal consolidation roadmap of the general government. The Committee shall make recommendations on the definition of deficit and debt for the Central government, overall states, the General Government and public sector enterprises by considering all explicit and measurable liabilities of the sovereign and by bringing in consistency between the definition of debt (stock) and deficit (flow).
• The Committee shall also lay down the principles for arriving at the debt of the general government debt and consolidated public sector with appropriate netting to avoid double-counting. The Committee shall define contingent liabilities, provide quantifiable measures of such liabilities, wherever possible, and specify conditions under which “contingent” liabilities become “explicit” liabilities of the public sector.
• The Committee shall review the current status of deficit and debt at different levels. The Committee will be chaired by Chairman N K Singh. Analytical and data support to the Committee will be provided by a team from National Institute of Public Finance & Policy, New Delhi. The Economic Division of the Finance Commission Secretariat shall facilitate and support

About Fifteenth Finance Commission

• The Fifteenth Finance Commission is an Indian Finance Commission constituted in November 2017 and is to give recommendations for devolution of taxes and other fiscal matters for five fiscal years, commencing 1 April 2020.
• Founder: Ram Nath Kovind
• Founded: 27 November 2017
• Minister responsible: Nirmala Sitharaman, Minister of Finance
• Deputy Minister responsible: Anurag Thakur, Minister of State for Finance
• K. Singh, IAS, Chairman; Ajay Narayan Jha, IAS, Member; Prof. Anoop Singh, Member; Dr. Ashok Lahiri, Member; Prof. Ramesh Chand, Member (part-time); Arvind Mehta, IAS, Secretary

CURRENT AFFAIRS:INTERNATIONAL

Maldives pledges USD 200,000 to COVID-19 Emergency Relief Fund

• Maldives government has committed two lakh US dollars forCOVID -19 emergency relief fund created for SAARC nations
• Foreign minister Abdulla Shahid stated in a message that Maldives welcome PM Narendra Modi’s initiative to create the fund and pledge the amount to address issues emanating from COVID-19. The decision was taken at meeting of National task force onCovid-19 headed by President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih.
• The meeting also commended doctors, nurses and everyone involved for their hard work in full recovery of the first two infected patients in the country. An Indian medical team has reached early this month to help local authorities address the crisis

About Maldives :

• Capital: Malé
• Currency: Maldivian rufiyaa
• President: Ibrahim Mohamed Solih

World Bank, ADB give USD 588 million to Pakistan to fight coronavirus pandemic

• The World Bank and the Asian Develo­pment Bank have committed to providing USD 588 million to Pakistan for its emergency response to fight the coronavirus and to address the socioeconomic impact of the pandemic,
• According to an official statement, the World Bank would provide USD 238 million and the Asian Develo­pment Bank (ADB) USD 350 million to Pakistan in support for the COVID-19 emergency response and to tackle the socio-economic disruption associated with it.
• The announcement was made by the Planning Commission after a meeting with representatives of the two lending agencies on Pakistan’s preparedness and response to fight COVID-19
• The meeting also approved in principle a project concept “Pakistan National Emergency Preparedness and Response Plan for COVID-19″

About Pakistan :

• Capital: Islamabad
• Currency: Pakistani rupee
• Prime minister: Imran Khan
• President: Arif Alvi

CURRENT AFFAIRS: BANKING AND FINANCE

RBI to inject Rs 30,000 cr liquidity into market

• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will inject liquidity of Rs 30,000 crore through open market operations to maintain financial stability in the system in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak
• The Central Bank stated that it will conduct the operation in two tranches of Rs 15,000 crore each in March. It stated that the auctions would be conducted on March 24 and March 30. It also stated that with the COVID-19 related dislocations, stress in certain financial market segments is still severe and financial conditions remain tight.
• It added that its endeavour is to ensure that all markets segments function normally with adequate liquidity and turnover. The central bank had already infused Rs 10,000 crore through open market operations

Recent news about RBI:

• The Reserve Bank of India revised exposure limits of Urban Cooperative Banks. Earlier the RBI permitted 15% of its capital funds to single borrowers and 40% of its funds to group of borrowers. It has now revised the group of borrower fund limit to 25% of its funds.
• GoI to create 75 lakh Self Help Group by 2022
• IIT to set up Data Science Centre at Kanjikode campus
• The board of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) decided to sync the Financial year of the bank with the Fiscal Year. The Fiscal Year begins in April and ends in March and the Financial year is between July and June

SIDBI to start Swavalamban Express on Jun 5 for budding entrepreneurs

• The Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) on stated it will start Swavalamban Express on June 5 this year for budding entrepreneurs.
• The principal financial institution engaged in promotion, financing and development of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) stated the decision to start the train was taken based on the feedback received from various stakeholders.
• “The Swavalamban Express will start from June 5 and will travel to 11 enterprising cities starting from Lucknow and thereafter to Jammu, Delhi, Jaipur, Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Bhubaneswar, Kolkata and finally to Varanasi in a span of 15 days covering 7,000 km,” it stated in a statement.
• The agency noted that the participating budding and aspiring entrepreneurs and start-ups will receive over 20 workshops and interactions which shall help to boost their growth in their entrepreneurial journey.
• “The Swavalamban Express train is a part of our umbrella mission Swavalamban which aims to induce entrepreneurship culture amongst youth. It’s an aspirational journey powered by inspirational India,” SIDBI Chairman and MD Mohammad Mustafa stated.
• As part of the mission, youths will board the train with an idea, and after series of experiential learning will get down with ready business plan, he stated.
• Each enterprising city shall carry theme on enterprise setting up. It would be unique exposure for being a Swavalambi. A school beyond four walls, Mustafa added.
• Swavalamban Express is aimed towards enhancing the knowledge of participants about financial and non-financial aspects of enterprise running.
• This will be done through experts and mentors boarding the train in between, interaction with role models, brain storming and group discussions.
• SIDBI expects 500 youths to be a part of this journey, Mustafa stated

About SIDBI:

• Headquarters location: Lucknow
• Founded: 2 April 1990
• Agency executive: : Mohammad Mustafa, (Chairman and Managing Director)

CURRENT AFFAIRS: STATES

TN CM declares sanitary personnel as ”cleanliness workers”

• Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Palaniswami announced that 64,583 sanitary personnel employed by urban and rural civic bodies in the State will from now on be called ”cleanliness workers” to honour their work.
• Periodic health check-ups, special employment camps and skill development for the children of health workers were also being carried out.
• To honour the work of these personnel and in deference to their long-time demand, all sanitary workers will from now be called as cleanliness workers (Thooimai paniyalargal in Tamil)”.
• As many as 64,583 sanitary workers are employed with 15 corporations, 121 municipalities, 528 town panchayats and 12,525 village panchayats.
• Energy department to install smart meters for 42 lakh electricity consumers here to compute their power consumption will be implemented at an outlay of Rs 4,300 crore.
• He also announced other schemes to develop the power distribution infrastructure to meet the increasing demand at an estimated total cost of Rs 1,998 crore.
• Such plans include upgradation of a 230 KV (Kilovolt) sub-station at Alagarkoil in Madurai district into a 400 kv station and enhancing two 110 kv sub-stations into 230 kv facilities.

About Tamil Nadu:

• Capital– Chennai
• Governor– Banwarilal Purohit
• National Parks-Guindy NP,Gulf of Mannar Marine NP, Indira Gandhi (Annamalai) NP, Mudumalai NP, Mukurthi NP.

Himachal govt launches Police Station Visitor Survey System and e-Night Beat Checking System

• Himachal Pradesh State government launched Police Station Visitor Survey System and e-Night Beat Checking System for Himachal police in
• These systems would help the Police Department in doing self-evaluation and improve the working of Police.
• This systems would be able to get proper feedback regarding their working and take necessary steps for improving their functioning.
• Police Station Visitor Survey System will be linked with http://bit.ly/HPPolice. This system would be used for the surveillance of visitors visiting the Police Stations, Police Posts and all other police units and would help in creating a database of visitors. All the visitors/complainants visiting the Police Stations, Police Posts or traffic units would be requested to fill the survey link.
• The link would be shared by the police with the public through social and print media, Jan Manch meetings, Nasha Nivaran Samiti meetings, Community Policing Meetings, etc. A mechanism has also been included to trace the identity of persons filling fake feedback. All the SPs of the district, Range Headquarters and Police Headquarters would monitor the feedback being given by the public.
• Jai Ram Thakur also launched the Night Beat Checking system for the Police Department which would be linked with http://bit.ly/eNight. This would help the State Police to keep a track of the suspected vehicles and criminals who move in the night.
• The main feature of the System was that it would automatically capture the date, time and GPS Location of the policeman on beat patrolling/night checking duty and thus would help in ensuring the increased presence of police on the roads for better safety of the citizens.

About Himachal Pradesh

• Capital- Shimla (summer) and Dharamshala (winter).
• CM- Jai Ram Thakur
• Governor- Bandaru Dattatreya.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: BOOKS AND AUTHORS

Messiah Modi: A Tale of Great Expectations by Tavleen Singh

• A ‘Messiah Modi: A Great Tale of Expectations’ written by senior journalist & author Tavleen Singh
• Book talks about helpless dissatisfaction with Narendra Modi the Prime Minister (PM), his cabinet, the story of his first term as a journey from lynchings to demonetization up to Article 370, the most controversial law CAA (Citizenship Amendment Act), implementation of National Register of Citizens (NRC) & the promises he made in his first term.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: APPOINTMENTS AND RESIGNATION

RBI appoints R Gandhi, Ananth Gopalakrishnan as additional directors on Yes Bank’s new board

• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) appointed R Gandhi and Ananth Narayan Gopalakrishnan as Additional Directors on the board of Yes Bank Ltd for a period of two years.
• Gandhi is former RBI Deputy Governor and Gopalakrishnan is Associate Professor at S P Jain Institute of Management and Research.
• Earlier Yes bank appointed former Chief Financial Officer & deputy Managing Director(MD) of SBI Prashant Kumar as its MD & Chief Executive Officer(CEO) and the former Punjab National Bank (PNB) MD Sunil Mehta as Non-Executive Chairman, Mahesh Krishnamurthy & Atul Bheda as its non-executive directors.

Recent News

• The Reserve Bank of India had imposed a moratorium on Yes Bank, restricting withdrawals to Rs 50,000 per depositor till 3 April in view of its poor financial health due to bad loans.
• The government notified Yes Bank Ltd Reconstruction Scheme 2020. Key stakeholders, including the RBI, have put in place various measures to bolster the bank’s liquidity.
• The scheme involves equity infusion of Rs 10,000 crore by eight entities, mainly banks led by State Bank of India.

About YES Bank

• Headquarter– Mumbai, Maharashtra
• Tagline– Experience our Expertise

Madhya Pradesh CM Kamal Nath resigns

• Madhya Pradesh chief minister Kamal Nath resigned from the top post, as his government fell short of the majority mark.
• Nath’s government plunged into a crisis when 22 state legislators rebelled against him. The immediate trigger of the rebellion followed former union minister and senior Congress leader Jyotiraditya M. Scindia’s decision to quit Congress and join the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

CURRENT AFFAIRS: AWARDS AND HONOURS

Satyarup Siddhanta becomes first Indian to complete volcanic Seven Summit, enters ‘Limca Book of Records’

• Siddhanta has been nominated for the coveted Limca Book of World Records for his extra-ordinary achievement to be the first Indian to climb the highest volcanoes of each of the 7 continents.
• After Guinness Book of World Records, the Bengaluru-based 37-years-old techie mountaineer is now shining on the prestigious index of ‘Limca Book of records’.
• He climbed the highest volcano of Antarctica – Mt Sidley to complete his 7 summits and Volcanic 7 summits.
• His Seven volcanic summits are: Ojos del Salado (6,893 m) – Chile – South America, Mt Kilimanjaro (5,895 m) – Tanzania – Africa, Mount Elbrus (5,642 m) – Russia – Europe, Mount Pico de Orizaba (5,636 m) – Mexico – North America, Mt Damavand (5,610 m) – Iran – Asia, Mt Giluwe (4,368 m) – Papua New Guinea – Australia and Mt Sidley (4,285 m) – Antarctica.
• He is also the first Indian in the world to play the National anthem with flute at Antarctica – Champions book of records.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: DEFENCE

Bridge constructed by Border Roads Organisation over Teesta River in North Sikkim opened for traffic 

• In a relief to the residents of Lachen in North Sikkim, the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) opened for traffic 360 feet long bailey suspension bridge over Teesta River in Munshithang near Chungthang town. The 86 Road Construction Company (RCC) of 758 Border Roads Task Force (BRTF), under Project Swastik, commenced the construction of the bridge in October 2019 and completed it in January 2020.
• The approach roads to the bridge have also been constructed. The bridge will give impetus to tourism and facilitate the movement of logistics for the Armed Forces deployed in forward areas.
• In June 2019, a steel bridge of 180 feet span at the same location was completely damaged due to a massive cloud burst resulting in severing the lines of communication in North District of Sikkim. The connectivity was kept open by routing the traffic through restricted Army land

About border roads organization:

• The Border Roads Organisation develops and maintains road networks in India’s border areas and friendly neighboring countries. Officers from the Border Roads Engineering Service and personnel from the General Reserve Engineer Force form the parent cadre of the Border Roads Organisation.
• Headquarters: New Delhi
• Director General: Lt. Gen.Harpal Singh
• Motto: everything is achievable through hardwork…, ‘Shramena Sarvam Sadhyam’
• Founder: Jawaharlal Nehru
• Founded: 7 May 1960

CURRENT AFFAIRS: RANKING

Finland world’s happiest country, India ranked 144: UN

• Finland has been named the world’s happiest country, according to the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network’s World Happiness Report 2020.
• It’s followed by Denmark, Switzerland, Iceland and Norway, while India is ranked 144 on the list.
• Countries are ranked on six key variables, namely- GDP per capita, social support, healthy life expectancy, freedom, generosity, and absence of corruption

About United nations:  

• The United Nations is an intergovernmental organization that aims to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a center for harmonizing the actions of nations.
• Headquarters: New York, United States
• Founded: 24 October 1945, San Francisco, California, United States
• Secretary general: António Guterres

CURRENT AFFAIRS: OBITUARY

Indian football legend PK Banerjee passed away

• Legendary India footballer PK Banerjee passed away after battling a prolonged illness. He was 83.
• The 1962 Asian Games gold-medallist. Besides winning the gold medal at the Jakarta Asian Games in 1992, Banerjee led India in the 1960 Rome Olympics, where he scored the equalizer against a formidable French team in a 1-1 draw

DAILY CA 20^TH  MAR

• International Day of Happiness- 20th march
• World Sparrow Day-20th march
• World Frog Day-20th march
• Govt creates WhatsApp Chatbot for queries on Novel Coronavirus
• Indian Railways to electrify all broad gauge routes by December 2023, bets on renewable energy
• Government says Rs 6.16 lakh crore investment approved under PMAY(U)
• UAE suspends all types of labour permits
• India gets $1-million materials requests from SAARC nations
• Fitch cuts India’s GDP growth forecast as coronavirus strikes
• ICICI Lombard launches a dedicated insurance cover for coronavirus
• Bank of Americajoins S&P, in cutting India GDP forecasts
• Paytm Payments Bank to now issue Visa debit cards
• Cashfree launches digital payments solution for businesses
• J&K announces Rs 5L free health insurance for residents
• Uttarakhand Government Abolishes Quota In Promotion For Govt Employees
• Goa govt launches chatbot to create awareness about coronavirus
• J&K govt constitutes commission for welfare of socially, educationally backward classes
• Former SBI chief Arundhati Bhattacharya resigns from Crisil board
• Indian umpires Janani Narayanan, Vrinda Rathi named in ICC panel

• Saudi Arabia to Convene Virtual G20 Leaders Summit
• Defence Ministry signs contract with Israeli firm IWI to acquire 16,479 light machine guns
• French Open tennis tournament postponed till September
• Tokyo 2020 Games organisers receive Olympic flame

DAILY CA 21^st MAR

• The World Day of Theatre for Children and young people- 20^th March
• World Oral Health Day- 2oth march
• World Forestry Day-21^st march
• World Down Syndrome Day-21^st march
• World Poetry Day-21^st march
• Defence Minister releases Draft Defence Procurement Procedure 2020
• Indian Institutes of Information Technology to get ‘importance’ tag after Lok Sabha nod
• Finance Commission Constitutes Committee To Review Fiscal Consolidation Roadmap Of General Government
• Maldives pledges USD 200,000 to COVID-19 Emergency Relief Fund
• World Bank, ADB give USD 588 million to Pakistan to fight coronavirus pandemic
• RBI to inject Rs 30,000 cr liquidity into market
• SIDBI to start Swavalamban Express on Jun 5 for budding entrepreneurs
• TN CM declares sanitary personnel as ”cleanliness workers”
• Himachal govt launches Police Station Visitor Survey System and e-Night Beat Checking System
• Messiah Modi: A Tale of Great Expectations by Tavleen Singh
• RBI appoints R Gandhi, Ananth Gopalakrishnan as additional directors on Yes Bank’s new board
• Madhya Pradesh CM Kamal Nath resigns
• Satyarup Siddhanta becomes first Indian to complete volcanic Seven Summit, enters ‘Limca Book of Records’
• Bridge constructed by Border Roads Organisation over Teesta River in North Sikkim opened for traffic
• Finland world’s happiest country, India ranked 144: UN
• Indian football legend PK Banerjeepassed away

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