Current Affairs 16 April 2020

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Day Wise Current Affairs 16 April 2020

♦ World Voice Day 2020: April 16

♦ Prime Minister Narendra Modi had a conversion with Prime Minister Bhutan and king of Jordan, discussed the regional situation in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and steps taken by the governments to control its effects

♦ DRDO shifted testing facility from Defence Research Development Establishment (DRDE), Gwalior to Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Allied Sciences (INMAS), Delhi to avoid delay and swift delivery of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and masks

• INMAS Director: Dr Ajay Kumar Singh
• DRDE Director: Dr Devendra Kumar Dubey

♦ Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology, Trivandrum developed a diagnostic test kit which can confirm COVID19 in 2 hours at low cost. It detects the N Gene of SARS- COV2 using reverse transcriptase loop-mediated amplification of viral nucleic acid (RT-LAMP)

• Test kit funded by the Department of Science and Technology, DST named as Chitra GeneLAMP-N

♦ Donald Trump ordered a freeze about $400 million funds for the World Health Organization (WHO) for “mismanaging” the coronavirus crisis which leads world pandemic

♦ South Korea held a general election on 15 April 2020, exit polls showed President Moon Jaein’s ruling party is projected to win. Voters cast their ballots under strict precautions against COVID19

Country: South Korea
Capital: Seoul
Currency: Korean Republic won
Government: Unitary Presidential Constitutional Republic
President: Moon Jae-in
Prime Minister: Chung Sye-kyun
Legislature: National Assembly

♦ Previous Pandemic diseases in the last centuries which killed millions of people

• Justinian Plague: Deadliest pandemics in recorded history broke in 6th century in Egypt and spread fast to Constantinople, capital of the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire. Justinian Plague killed up to 25 to 100 million people
• Black Death: Recorded in Europe and Asia in the14th century, killed about 75 to 200 million people. The plague arrived. In 1347, about 50% of the Europe population died of this disease
• Spanish Flu: Broke out during the last phase of 1st World War, killed up to 50 million people. Germans and Austrians were affected badly with Spanish Flu

♦ The Tour de France cycle race to start from August 29 to Sept. 20, organisers postponed this event in the outbreak of COVID19 and lockdown which originally slated on June 27, 2020

♦ Central Government extended Nationwide lockdown till May 3, 2020, to contain COVID-19 spread

♦ Fit India and CBSE organized first-ever live fitness sessions for school students amid lockdown

♦ Uttar Pradesh became the first state to initiate Pool Testing of COVID-19

♦ Jim Corbett National Park of Uttarkhand becomes India’s 1st quarantine centre for animals

♦ BSNL in partnership with SBI launched Bharat InstaPay, UPI-based payment platform

♦ IMF cuts India GDP growth to 1.9%, while Barclays forecasted it to 0%

♦ Telangana CM KCR recommended for implementation of “Helicopter Money” in the outbreak of COVID19 economy crisis

♦ Algerian Novelist Abdelouahab Aissaoui won13th International Arab fiction prize 2020 for his book the Spartan Court. Its most prestigious and important literary prize in the Arab world.

♦ Tata Power won Edison award 2020 for social innovation

♦ Andhra Bank MD CEO J Packirisamy and Syndicate Bank MD CEO Mrutyunjay Mahapatra were appointed as Officer on Special Duty, OSDs in Union Bank of India and Canara Bank

♦ MS Dhoni became the new brand ambassador for PokerStars India

♦ DRDO developed COVSACK for COVID-19 sample collection

♦ Researchers at NIT-Karnataka developed cost-effective disinfectant chamber called ‘ZERO-COV’

♦ The government launched ‘CovidGyan’ a science communication initiative online portal, https://www.covid-gyan.in

♦ Former Pakistani first-class Cricketer Zafar Sarfraz passed away at 50 due to Coronavirus

♦ Tourism ministry launched Webinar series “Dekho Apna Desh”, a scheme where citizens can pledge to travel to at least 15 locations across India by the year 2022. If they are able to visit any 15 places cross India then the government will fund your expenses

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